After everyone was seated, Louis invited everyone to begin eating. Emma sat right next to me and I spotted her gaze darting back and forth between Hannah and Kiki. “What a beautiful pair,” she finally remarked, looking at John, “You guys were a family, right?”
John was stunned for a moment but quickly regained his calm. “You can say so,” he admitted without shying away.
I thought Emma would be affected by John’s forthright answer, but instead, she shrugged indifferently. “Serves you right. You should’ve treated them nicely when you still had them by your side. You only have yourself to blame since you’re the one who had an affair.”
Her comment took me by utter surprise.
John would have lashed out at her on usual days, at least that was what I expected, but I got it all wrong. John looked back at her nonchalantly and emulated her shrug. “If you say so,” he replied shortly.
I really could not get my head around those two. How they interacted with each other was just beyond me.
Everyone stayed back for a little chat after the meal.
Kiki was already fast asleep and everyone was getting ready to leave when a loud ruckus sounded from the outside, so Louis asked someone to go check it out.
The housekeeper returned and walked right toward John. “Mr. Stovall, someone’s looking for you.”
“Me? Who is it?”
The housekeeper looked stumped. “It’s the lady who came over with you last time, Ms. Wilde.”
“I don’t know her. Tell the guards to throw her out before she dirties this place,” John replied coldly.
The housekeeper stared at him uneasily for a second and went back outside to do as John said.
Since it was getting late, Hannah and Chandler decided to make a move first. Louis asked John to send Emma back since Ashton and I was also leaving.
When all of us were at the front gate, we saw Yvonne outside, with a few security guards blocking her way. She looked frail and weak in her hospital gown.
She was wailing and shrieking at the top of her voice, accusing John of being cruel toward her. If a random stranger were to pass by, they might well mistake John for being a heartless brat.
As for Emma, I did not worry for her at all. I was sure she would not take Yvonne’s behavior to heart.
What I worried about was Louis’ reputation if Yvonne kept shouting outside like this.
“You should at least do something. Uncle Louis won’t be able to sleep in peace tonight,” I told John.
John pursed his lips impatiently as he walked outside, glaring at Yvonne, who was throwing a tantrum in front of the guards.
When Yvonne finally saw John, the dissatisfaction on her face disappeared and she quickly put on a pitiful look. “Please don’t chase me away, John. I really can’t live without you. I’ll do anything you want me to, so just let me stay by your side. I know you’ll marry a woman from a wealthy family, but I don’t care. I don’t expect anything from you. Just let me stay with you. I really love you, John, so please don’t make me leave,” she implored with tears welling up in her eyes.
I did not like Yvonne, but for what reasons, I was not sure myself. Maybe I started disliking her back when John and I helped her. She was materialistic and greedy. “You have no loyalty.” I came forward and berated her, “You’re with so many men at the same time, and you still cling to John shamelessly when you know he’s already engaged. You came all the way here to make a huge fuss just so people think he’s a jerk who has wronged you. Now you’re telling me you love him? You’ve got to be kidding me, Yvonne Wilde.”
I finally knew why I hated her. She did not deserve to be loved.
A glint of anger shone in her eyes when she heard my voice. “You again? What did I do to make you hate me so much? Why do you keep coming in between us over and over again? What did I even do to you? Why can’t you just leave me alone?” she shouted at me.
“Watch what you’re saying. It’s true that you’ve done nothing to offend me, but neither have I done anything to break you and John up. You know full well that he doesn’t love you at all, but you still can’t get over him. It’s your greed that’s stopping you from letting him go. He’s already compensated you enough, so you should just take the money and lead your own life. But of course, you can keep hounding us, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’ll regret it when I decide to get rid of you on my own.”
“What do you mean?” She glared at me, holding her arms as she shivered in her thin clothing.
“You know what I mean. The Stovalls are not people you want to mess with unless you don’t want to live in K City or continue mingling in the rich circle anymore. By the way, didn’t you run a background check on that little boyfriend of yours, Franklin, before you guys got together?”
