Blanche leaned in for a kiss, her lips trembling with anticipation, sending a jolt straight to Eddy’s heart.
He gently turned his head aside, evading her. Blanche had only just come out of surgery; her heart couldn’t handle this kind of emotional turbulence.
Eddy pressed her small face against his chest, his breath scorching against her ear, as if he wanted to hold her so close she’d melt right into him.
Blanche felt as if her whole body had been tossed onto a bonfire, her cheeks flushed a deep, feverish red.
But her eyes were cold as ice. She watched Jeannette emerge from the study. falling in step beside Ingrid–once again, the two of them looked like they’d formed an alliance.
“Kiss her!”
The room erupted in playful cheers. Someone gently tilted Blanche’s face up, so she met Eddy’s tender gaze. His eyes brimmed with affection so deep it felt like a spring welling up just for her–but she didn’t feel any warmth from it at all.
“Sweetheart, it’s time for your medicine,” Eddy murmured.
Blanche merely nodded. When Eddy released her from his embrace, he took her hand firmly in his.
Leading her out of the kitchen, Eddy called out, “Let’s not bother Blanche. She needs some rest,”
No one dared object. “Eddy, you guard Blanche like she’s the apple of your eye. Who’d dare tease her?” someone joked.
“I’m so jealous of you, Blanche,” one of the girls sighed. “When will I ever meet a man as devoted as Eddy?”
Blanche nestled against Eddy, leaning into him with a delicate grace, but stayed silent.
Eddy asked the housekeeper to see to the guests and told everyone, “I’ll take Blanche upstairs to rest for a bit. I’ll be back down to join you all soon.”
“Tonight, it’s your party, Eddy–nobody leaves sober! Blanche, you’re not all get mad at us,” someone teased.
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Blanche offered a faint smile and ascended the stairs with Eddy.
At the second–floor landing, Ingrid and Jeannette appeared, coming straight toward them.
Jeannette eyed Blanche and Eddy’s affectionate closeness. Rather than questioning Blanche about the missing Cartier bracelet, Eddy only seemed to dote on her more, which made jealousy flare in Jeannette’s chest.
“Sis, Professor Reese is out in the garden. You’re just going to leave without saying a word to him?” Jeannette taunted.
Ingrid, standing just behind her, wore a mocking smirk.
Without waiting for Eddy to speak, Blanche let go of his hand, shoved Jeannette aside, and landed a stinging slap across Ingrid’s face.
Caught off guard, Jeannette stumbled and crashed to the floor, letting out a startled
cry.
Ingrid clutched her cheek, staring daggers at Blanche, her eyes blazing with fury.
Below, the open–plan living room fell silent–everyone gaped at the scene unfolding on the landing. The whole house seemed to hold its breath, save for the distant shouts of children at play.
“I treated you as my closest friend,” Blanche said, voice trembling with anger, “and all this time you’ve been after my husband. Last time, at Professor Reese’s son’s birthday party, you secretly photographed me with him and spread rumors that I was cheating. I let it go for old times‘ sake and didn’t call you out.”
She glared. “You’ve got some nerve–showing up at my house again?”
“What’s next? Sowing discord behind my back wasn’t enough, so now you want to barge in and steal him right out from under me?”
The guests downstairs erupted in a flurry of whispers.
“Oh my god, so it was her who tried to frame Blanche last time. Blanche has always treated her well, even helped her family out–remember that project they did together?”
“What a snake! Blanche trusted her, and she tried to stab her in the back!”
Ingrid’s face kept shifting between pale and red as the crowd’s accusations mounted. “Eddy, she really wants to leave you-”
A chill swept through Blanche’s heart. She turned and wrapped her arms around
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Eddy, her eyes glinting with mockery as she smiled at Ingrid. “Leave him? So you can finally get your wish?”
“In your dreams.”
“What nonsense,” someone scoffed. “Eddy and Blanche have been together for a decade–they’ve been through thick and thin. There’s no way Blanche would leave
him.”
“Some women will do anything out of jealousy. She’s fooling herself if she thinks Blanche would walk away,” another guest chimed in.
Eddy pulled Blanche closer, his tone turning icy as he shot a glare at Ingrid. “Get
out.
