A hint of tenderness finally cracked in Eddy’s expression. His eyes turned sharp and cold as he looked straight at Kelvin.
Suddenly, Kelvin yanked Jeannette down with him and dropped to his knees. His voice grew smaller and smaller, until it was barely a whisper. “Blanche, I never meant to be with Jean. She… she came on to me, and one thing led to another.
To shield Eddy, Kelvin took every bit of blame onto himself. That kind of brotherly loyalty would move even the coldest heart. Blanche, however, could only laugh in disbelief.
Her gaze on Jeannette turned icy. “Like mother, like daughter! Your mother seduced Pollock, and now you’ve seduced him.”
Blanche shook off Eddy’s hand. “One’s a homewrecker clinging to a married woman, the other’s a shameless flirt, ruining other people’s families. Disgusting. It must run in the blood.”
Jeannette’s face burned with anger and humiliation as Blanche’s words cut into her, but she didn’t dare talk back.
“And you!” Blanche turned her fury on Kelvin. “Never satisfied with what you have, always chasing after the next shiny thing, making promises of love one minute and falling for the first temptress who bats her eyes at you the next!”
Then she looked at Eddy. “You have no sense of decency. Did you leave your conscience at the door?”
Their eyes met. Blanche searched Eddy’s calm face for any sign of guilt, but found none. Only his hand, clenched tightly at his side, betrayed the storm beneath.
Kelvin pressed Jeannette down, forcing her to bow her head to Blanche. “Blanche, I really shouldn’t have done it. And Jean… she’s set a terrible example for Healy. No wonder you’re so angry.”
“We’ve let you and Eddy down.”
Jeannette was a pitiful sight, shoulders slumped and trembling. “Blanche… I’m sorry. I know I was wrong.”
“Don’t call me your sister,” Blanche snapped. “You don’t deserve it.”
Jeannette’s head jerked up, her eyes filled with wounded fury as she glared a
Blanche.
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The onlookers finally snapped out of their stupor. No one had ever heard Blanche always so gentle and refined, speak so harshly.
Those who knew the inside story grew silent, glancing nervously at Eddy, barely daring to breathe.
“Just a few days ago at the Andersons‘ engagement party, the Simmons family went above and beyond. Everyone thought the Simmons and Blanche were so close. Turns out Blanche doesn’t care about that little sister at all.”
“Would you care, if your ‘sister‘ was the lovechild of a mistress? Blanche is handling this with remarkable class, if you ask me. If it were me, I’d have thrown her out. ages an
People who didn’t know the whole story joined in, their voices indignant. “Look at her, glaring at Blanche like that. Someone should teach her a lesson!”
Eddy heard the whispers and, in a voice cold as ice, said, “Are you all planning to keep standing here and pollute Blanche’s sight?”
Kelvin held Jeannette back. “Eddy, Blanche, we’ll go now. We won’t bother anymore tonight
you
Jeannette was dragging her feet, reluctant to leave, but Kelvin gave her a hard tug and all but hauled her downstairs.
As the two of them disappeared, someone sighed, “Kelvin’s really paying for it, getting mixed up with a woman like that.”
The crowd began to buzz again.
Upstairs, Eddy walked Blanche back to the main bedroom on the third floor. “Honey, calm down. I promise, I won’t let Kelvin bring her around you again.”
Blanche stayed silent. After taking her medicine, she sat quietly while Eddy knelt to help her out of her high heels.
She’d been so furious just moments ago, and now she couldn’t help feeling anxious. Did Eddy believe her, even a little?
He gently rubbed his thumb over the scar on her foot, then looked up at her, his gaze steady. “Darling, where’s your Cartier bracelet?”
/as that
Suddenly, Blanche remembered. Jeannette had been wearing a Cartier bracelet when she arrived, but when she’d fallen just now, her wrist had been bai the custom bracelet she’d lost?
If Jeannette had found it, it must have been at the Andersons‘ engagement
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party–maybe in the refreshment lounge.
Just the thought made Blanche’s heart pound. What if the surveillance footage had already been checked?
She forced herself to stay calm, meeting Eddy’s eyes. “I probably left it out on the sunroom balcony.”
“Balcony?” Eddy repeated, his tone turning dark, each word slow and deliberate. Hist hand slid from her foot to her ankle, kneading her calf and working his way upward.
The ache from his touch sent a jolt up her spine. She curled up a little, her body instinctively following the rhythm of his hands, as his intense gaze drew closer and
closer.
Chapter 135
Chapter 135
