After Benjamin left, Sean also left. Connor finally after hesitating in silence for a long time, "Your words really hurt him. You shouldn't speak to him like that. You should know what he thinks about you. What you said was just... too much."
My words were like sharp blades piercing into his heart, but I smiled and said, "I got nothing to say. All of you only see how he pretends to be all nice and charming when you are around, but what about when we are alone? Do you guys even have the first clue about how he hurt me? Oh, I do, countless of them. I never did anything back to him, but it doesn't mean he can keep on acting the way he wants to. Yes, I do love him, but does that give that permission to trample over my heart and dignity as he wants?"
"I can tell he cares about you very much." Connor explained for him, "Benjamin has never given in to a single person since childhood. He had never made the compromises he has made to you, to anyone else!"
"Is that so?" I asked with a smile.
But what did it have to do with me?
Connor hesitated for a while and said, "I can see that you two actually love each other, but... it's good for everyone if both of you take a step back. At least, it's good for Ellis. He wants to live with you, but he can't bear to part with his father who raised him up."
"So what if he loves me or me him? Love has never been only about two persons actually in love. Benjamin and I are over."
"You don't have to say these words to annoy him. In fact, you also feel sad in your heart, so why bother?" Connor said.
Why bother? Because I wanted to let him know what it's like for a heart to be torn up in pieces.
After Connor left, I held Ellis and went home with Anthony. After returning to the apartment, I drowned in sadness.
I wanted to take revenge on him, but it backfired on me.
As soon as I put the child down, I received a phone call. It was a strange City B phone number. I answered it and heard a polite voice from the other side, "Ms. Shears, I am Peter, and now I am the director of one of your departments."
I said, "Thank you for helping me out back at the restaurant."
Peter was very smart. He knew what I meant, so he said with a charming voice, "I don't dare to take credit. These were all Ms. Jenkins's orders. She said that the Jenkins family was acquired by your company to everyone who knew even the slightest part of this. She also said it would be best for you."
"Well, let's get something done together then." I was very grateful to September, but also felt sorry for her. I thought of the Weier project and said, "Kayla will contact you tomorrow. Please go through the project with her. I'm counting on you guys."
Peter said, "Don't worry, Ms. Shears."
Hanging up the phone, I was worried about Joel. I called him and waited for a long time before he picked up. I asked in a cautious tone, "Joel, where are you? Is Neil with you now?"
After a moment of silence, Joel said in a low, hoarse voice, "I'm at home and Neil is here with me. But where's his mother?"
I wanted to give him the real answer this time, but I really didn't know.
Anthony went back to his bedroom. Ellis was lying on the sofa and playing with his bracelet, and he looked quite content with it. I got up and went to the window and said to Joel. "She will come back home."
"She's even left the child to me now and you are still telling me she's gonna be back?" said Joel painfully. "Em, I really don't know what to do now."
I really didn't know how to comfort him, so I had to say, "I will go to you tomorrow and before that, I'll try to get in touch with her."
"Thank you."
Yet again, I gave him false hope.
But besides this, I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to just stand by and watch him suffer, but that was the only thing I could do.
In a gloomy mood, I turned around and carried Ellis into the bathroom to take a bath. After putting on a change of clothes for him, I went to check on Anthony. When I opened the door, he was reading a book.
"What are you reading?" I laid the bedding on the bed. Anthony closed the book and looked at it, then said, "A hundred years of solitude."
"What's your dream?" I asked curiously.
Anthony was silent for a moment. He put down the book in his hand and said, "I don't have a dream but a more practical plan. I think I'd find a job that would put food on the table but not that tiring, and of course, the premise being I really like the job."
"And has a job like that ever come across yet"
I asked.
"Yep." Anthony said in a light voice, "I'm gonna get my bachelor's degree before I'm eighteen and two master's degrees and after that, a Ph.D. And after that, I think I'm gonna be a professor."
Anthony's plan was very detailed. I asked in surprise, "You wanna be a teacher? But what major would take you five years to finish?"
He was 11 years old and he would graduate from high school when he reached 13. So with all things considered, he would graduate from college when he's 17.
But he said eighteen.
"I wanna be a doctor." Anthony shook his head and continued, "I wanna major in medical science before I'm twenty and then I wanna teach literature at a university."
It was true that a medical bachelor's degree would take five years to get. I sighed in my heart and said, "You are very smart. In fact, you don't have to put so much pressure on yourself."
Ellis seemed to know the cause of the matter and decided to compromise. He didn't say anything more about staying with me.
In the morning when I was making breakfast in the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Puzzled, I opened the door and saw Benjamin standing there with a bland expression.
He grabbed the back of my head and pressed me against the wall. I was startled as he sealed his lips against mine. I wanted to push him away because I knew he was simply venting his anger on me, but I gave up on the thought of the three-month deal. Seeing that I didn't resist, his gentle caressing and kissing turned into violent biting and aggression.
I endured the pain and felt the breath coming out of his mouth. It was so warm that I was addicted to it. I stretched out the tip of my tongue to kiss him, but he suddenly let go of me.
He punched the wall beside my face. I was stunned for a moment before he said in a gloomy voice, "Why did you say those words to annoy me?"
I asked with a smile, "So what you did to me doesn't exist?"
He suddenly untied his belt and wanted to press me against the wall. I hugged his waist and reminded him softly, "The children are here. How will you explain it when they see us?"
Benjamin picked me up and carried me into the study. There was a small bed in the study. He threw me on it and pressed me down. I took a breath and said, "You are too heavy."
His weight was all on me. It was difficult for me to breathe. Benjamin pulled open my skirt with one finger and slammed himself directly into my body. I bit down on my lips and did not dare to make a sound.
I was afraid the children might hear it.
He bumped into me and I hugged his shoulders to get myself in a position that could at least allow me to enjoy it. But halfway through, he stopped and asked, "What were you doing in Ireland?"
His tone was cold. "Taking a trip," I said, feeling a jolt in my chest.
He asked faintly, "Taking a trip?"
"What else can it be? Since you know that I went to Ireland, you should know I also went to Switzerland."
Benjamin bumped into me and I yelped subconsciously. He said in a low voice, "You told me you were on a business trip when you were actually having fun in the UK, Switzerland, and f*cking Ireland. You were still in Ireland when I called you from the UK, and you f*cking said that you were on a ship back home! You are so full of horses*it!"
Wasn't he just the same?
I looked into his eyes and asked with a smile, "You've lied to me over and over again. Now it's your turn to suffer. Benjamin, what gives you the right to get angry at me now?"
"Emma!" Benjamin's eyes were red, and he said viciously, "It was my fault, but how much do you know? You are so paranoid that you'd rather believe what you see than what I tell you! The only thing that I regret is that I didn't save you that day!"
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