Chapter 11 To Let an Outsider Witness Such a Scandal

• My countenance shifted as I stared at the door to my bedroom. This is my house! How dare they do this on my bed?
• It was apparent that Dylan heard that noise too, as there was pity in his gaze while looking at me. I never expected Jolene and Carson to be so shameless as to bring their affair back home, nor did I ever expect to bump into it while with an outsider.
• Shame, queasiness and embarrassment whirled and cut into my being as I shot up from where I was, then dragged Dylan out of the house with the present I bought in hand. I stumbled my way downstairs without entirely registering it. All of the sh*tty things that Carson and Jolene did, I never wanted anybody, especially Dylan, to know, as I didn’t want someone whom I’d turned down to see me living such a petty life.
• “Lily...” Dylan called out to me while feeling sorry for me.
• However, a smile bloomed on my face as I lifted my head. “Dylan, you might have misunderstood something. Carson likes to watch porn, so he might’ve forgotten to turn it off. It was a bit awkward though, having an outsider hear that, so I dragged you out.” I wasn’t sure what expression I wore as I spoke, nor did I care about how crappy my excuse was, as all I wished for was to hide myself along with my shameful existence.
• “I see, so that’s what’s going on...” Dylan wore a sorry smile as he spoke, “So your husband likes watching porn, which can be awkward...”
• I knew he didn’t believe in a word I said, but he didn’t expose my lie, so I would also rather deceive myself. After bidding goodbye to him, I walked aimlessly on the streets for a long while before heading to Isabella’s house in a daze. As soon as I saw her, I broke down while shrieking as I held her, but I didn’t shed a single tear.
• By the next day, I returned once again with the present and my luggage in hand. Keira jumped into my arms as soon as I opened the door. “Mommy, I missed you!” She kept kissing me on my cheeks as she spoke.
• Warmth coursed through my heart as I held her lithe body. “I missed you, too, my dear baby!” Upon observing her innocence, I began blaming myself for being too ruthless, as I left her out in the cold in order to seek revenge against those b*stards.
• With that in mind, I glanced at Carson who was standing behind Keira. He was in a casual outfit that was very becoming of him as he stood there with much poise, as well as a bouquet of flowers in hand. While noticing that I was staring at him, he approached me with a smile on his face before handing the flowers to me as he pulled me into an eager embrace. “Darling, I missed you.”
• His gentle words of love sounded nauseating, but I pushed him away as I suppressed those feelings. “Keira’s still here.”
• “There’s nothing wrong about me hugging my wife.” Seeing that he tried to hug me again, I shied away while saying I would like to take a nap. Although he stopped in disappointment, he wore a gentle smile nonetheless as he said, “That reminds me, darling, Keira prepared a present for you.”
• Keira was reminded of it upon him mentioning it, thus handed me a piece of drawing. “Mommy, this is the present I prepared for you.”
• “I’m happy that you would prepare a present for me.” I gave her a kiss before opening that piece of drawing. It was a childish piece of work which depicted two grown-ups holding the hand of a child as they strolled on a lawn with some grass and an orchard beside them.
• “This is me and you, while these are some grass, flowers, as well as loads of fruits that we won’t be able to finish. I want to live happily ever after with Mommy and Daddy.”
• Tears stung my eyes as I listened to Keira’s explanation of the drawing she made, while I could hardly contain my emotions as I held her in my arms. I figured that the gods were still kind to me, as I was gifted with such a lovely angel although I was sterile. For a split second, I considered not seeking revenge against Carson and Jolene.
• I thought of talking things through with Carson, as I would be willing to maintain our relationship in order to provide Keira with a warm home in which she could grow up carefreely, as long as he agreed to repent and cut ties with Jolene. Unfortunately, those were my wishful thinking.
• While I was on the verge of tears with Keira in my arms, Carson coughed as he wore a weird look on his face. “Darling, I have something I need to talk to you about.”
• I wiped my tears away before asking, “What’s the matter?”
• “My dad isn’t in the best of health, while my mom has a hard time looking after him alone. We have a lot of rooms in our house, so I had them move in with us. That way, it’ll be more convenient to take care of my father.”
• Does that mean that his parents and sister have moved in already? This wasn’t a discussion at all, but a mere notice after he’d implemented his decision. Besides, they didn’t even show themselves to greet me despite having moved in. Such arrogance!
• “They’re your parents, so it’s normal that you take care of them,” I said calmly as I mentally scoffed. I was wondering how I should enact revenge, and here you are offering yourselves up on a silver platter. Just wait till I pull everything off!
• “I knew you would be accomodating.” A gentle smile bloomed on his face upon saying so. “There’s one other thing that I would like to tell you about.” There was a moment’s pause on his side. “It’s about Jolene.”
• Her name alarmed me, as I already had a premonition that his parents moving in was merely a prelude to something more, which turned out to be true.
• It was then he said, “Jolene’s boyfriend just passed away.”