“Yvonne, why are you still so naive even after so many years?” He scoffed and smiled disparagingly.
I was about to chase him out of the house, but my phone suddenly rang. I thought Christopher was calling me, but when I rushed to pick up the phone, I heard an unfamiliar voice from a man. “Ms. Tanner, due to the fact of your current reputation, you’re no longer qualified to participate in our art exhibition. Your work has been delivered back to your home. Please take good care of it.”
The voice was full of ridicule and mockery.
“Send to my home?” I exclaimed. “What’s wrong with my painting? Why can’t I compete?”
“Ms. Tanner, are you kidding me? Having someone like you participate in the art exhibition makes everyone think it is insulting to have you as a fellow artist.
I stared at the phone in a daze feeling powerless. There had been scandals of other artists before, and those artists just disappeared without a trace.
At that time, those were remotely irrelevant to me because one must first be a famous artist before a scandal could break out. The fact that I had a scandal even before I became an artist seemed funny to me.
Lyle lit a cigarette and took a few puffs. Seeing me petrified with the phone in my hand, he said, “As a new school artist, Crystal has an exceptional influence on the newer generation of artists. Now that you’re exposed, how could they allow you to participate in the competition? Even if you do participate, they will only come up with countless nitpicks on your work to remove you from the competition.”
“So you knew it all along?” I took a deep breath. I had always thought that Christopher and I had broken through the most challenging hurdle, but it seemed like our journey to happy ever after still had a long way to go.
“What do you think? Spencer and Julian only left Crystal’s ward this morning.” Lyle stood up and walked to me.
“So you’re here to ridicule me?
I gave him a stern look and said, “Now that you had your fill, and I’m already feeling miserable; what else do you want? Do you want to avenge your unborn child by having me dead?”
“Eve!” Lyle took a step forward and hugged me from the back. “Don’t be afraid, Eve. I can help you. If Christopher doesn’t care about you, then I will!”
“Let go of me!” I recalled the last time Lyle assaulted me and stiffened my body to struggle.
“Eve, I can help you. Please don’t turn me down.” Lyle constricted me like a brute, and I was unable to move. He rubbed his head on my shoulders, and it gave me goosebumps.
“Look, Christopher doesn’t even solve such a menial matter for you, which shows that he doesn’t care about you at all. If he really cares about you, he won’t let you fall into such a crisis, but he’s nowhere to be found. It would be best if you forget about him. As long as you’re willing to give me another chance, I will prove that I will be helpful to you. I will clarify the matter for you and help you resolve everything. I will let everyone know that you are innocent.”
As Lyle spoke, he turned me around to face him. “Please trust me just one more time, okay? Give us both a chance. If you agree to dump Christopher and be with me, I’ll let you do whatever you want.”
His words sounded familiar. Before I was divorced, Christopher did joke about something similar after we had our lovemaking. That was when I finally understood Lyle’s intentions for coming over. The trip to the deserted island had affected him, causing his love for Crystal to wane, and he started to cling to me again.
“And what if I don’t?” I scoffed. “If I don’t agree to your terms, will you stand and watch as I burn? And help Crystal take me down together?”
