Chapter 52
It was still Eddy, swept up in passion, who fastened the leather straps around Jeannette’s wrists.
Blanche tossed the straps at Eddy’s feet, her gaze heavy with utter disappointment.
For the first time, she saw the panic and guilt flickering in Eddy’s eyes.
As she ran out of the villa, she nearly collided with the startled property
manager.
“Which house here belongs to the Simmons family?” Blanche demanded.
The manager wiped sweat from his brow, too nervous to lie. “Mrs. Simmons, it’s this one-the biggest house on the block.”
Just as he spoke, Eddy came running after her.
In that moment, staring at Eddy’s handsome face-so unchanged from the past-Blanche thought she’d already suffered enough, that nothing could hurt her anymore. But pain tore through every inch of her body, threatening to rip her apart.
Tears blurred her vision. She pulled off her wedding ring and hurled it at Eddy, her voice cold and unyielding. “We’re getting divorced.”
Blanche bolted across the street.
Eddy heard her words, and a dull ache gripped his heart. Regret filled his eyes as he watched her retreating figure. Suddenly, he lunged forward and caught her in his arms.
“Blanche, please, let me explain!”
She struggled violently, screaming at him, “Let go of me, Eddy!”
“Fine! Be with her!”
“I never want to see you again-let me go!”
14.09
Chapter 52
Painful memories crashed through Blanche’s mind. Clutching her chest, she felt a wave of suffocating pressure, her breath coming in short gasps. Eddy’s face swam before her, growing hazier and hazier until everything faded to black.
Just before she lost consciousness, she heard him say, “Blanche, I’d rather die than lose you.”
No matter what happened, he’d never let her go.
Blanche passed out.
When she woke, she found herself back in the villa.
On the coffee table sat two identical leather straps.
Kelvin and Jeannette were kneeling before her. Kelvin slapped himself hard across the face as he confessed, “Blanche, I deserve whatever punishment you give me. I never should have used the same leather straps as Eddy-I made you misunderstand, and nearly triggered your heart condition.”
Blanche sat on the sofa, her face cold and expressionless as she watched the scene unfold.
Ingrid, standing nearby, gave Jeannette a sharp kick. Jeannette’s eyes flashed with resentment, but she forced herself to admit fault. “I… I…”
“I’ what?” Ingrid snapped. “You nearly sent Blanche to the ER and you still won’t apologize?”
Jeannette yelped in pain. “I shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have… had an affair…”
Eddy took Blanche’s hand and slid the wedding ring back on her finger. “Blanche, I only found out tonight that Jeannette was staying in the villa. I’ve already told her to leave. Kelvin was hiding her right under my nose. I’ll deal with him.”
At these words, Jeannette jerked her head up, meeting Eddy’s indifferent
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gaze, before quickly lowering her eyes.
For a split second, she couldn’t help but wonder if she meant anything to Eddy at all.
But then she remembered his promise to help her parents, and decided she was just overthinking things.
“Ingrid, what about you?” Blanche turned her gaze to Ingrid. “You were a victim in this too.”
She was the only one present who knew Blanche had learned the truth.
In recent years, Eddy’s tech company had ridden the Al wave to soaring success, leaving all the other families in the dust.
Especially the Marshalls, who clung stubbornly to tradition. With no capable heirs to take over, their business had tanked, dropping out of Novandria’s top ten.
All Ingrid knew was how to party and enjoy herself; whenever trouble came, she’d run to the Simmonses and beg Eddy for help.
Eddy had thrown her a few resources, but had grown to resent’ the Marshalls’ laziness and lack of ambition.
Whenever things got tough, it was Blanche who gave Ingrid advice, came up with plans, and found ways for the Marshalls to win new contracts and rebuild their ties with the Simmons Group.
Blanche didn’t just see Ingrid as a friend-she treated her as family, someone she had chosen herself.
