His kiss was gentle and lingering as if he was kissing a woman he loved. His sudden gentleness took me completely off guard, sending my heart racing a thousand miles per hour. I had no idea why he suddenly had a one-eighty change, but I could not help but fall for this tender side of him.
I continued to let him kiss me and forgot to push him away as my mind went utterly blank.
After a couple of minutes, Michael finally let me go and smiled at me affectionately. On the other hand, I was stupefied.
When he was about to inch closer again, the magnified view of his attractive face snapped me back to my senses.
“I should get going now. Bye!” Panicked, I hurriedly bade him goodbye, opened the door, and hopped out of the car. As I turned around to close the door, I caught a glimpse of smugness in his eyes.
I was baffled at first, but a second later, I found the answer.
Not far away from us, Yuval was staring at me with a scowl on his face.
Seeing him made me freeze in an instant.
Michael must have kissed me on purpose a moment ago to drive a wedge between Yuval and me. How conniving!
As I stood frozen on the spot, Yuval strode toward me, and all I could do was stare at him wordlessly. No doubt he had seen us making out just now, and an explanation simply couldn’t suffice. After all, we were kissing — and that was the truth.
After a while, Yuval stopped in front of me. Currently, his eyebrows were furrowed deeply, and his usual amiable demeanor had disappeared.
“Yuval, I…” My voice tapered off into silence. Looking at him, I had a million words to tell him, but I did not know which one to say.
“Where were you last night? I called you many times, but you didn’t answer any of it,” Yuval inquired.
He did not raise his voice, but I could hear the reproach in his voice.
It was the first time he spoke to me in such an indifferent tone, given his gentlemanly personality. Even though I felt uncomfortable with it, I knew he was trying hard to keep his cool, so I felt no resentment toward him.
If I were him, I wouldn’t have been as calm as he is now.
“Yuval, is it okay if I explain it to you next time? I don’t know what to say now,” I pleaded, wringing my hands nervously.
Everything happened so suddenly, and I was not prepared for it at all. I’m so overwhelmed now.
All of a sudden, Michael’s voice rang from behind. “What do you mean you don’t know what to say? Just tell him that you stayed the night at my place, and you didn’t answer his call because we were busy last night.”
Although he did not say the exact thing we had done, it was not difficult to understand what he was implying. Upon hearing his insinuation, Yuval’s face fell immediately, and the anger in his eyes blazed.
“Anna, is it true? Were you two together last night and even had…” Yuval’s voice trailed off.
He probably did not finish the sentence out of courtesy. Or perhaps he could not bring himself to say the word.
Uneasy with his questioning, I could no longer hold his blazing gaze and looked away guilty.
With his sensibility, he should be able to derive the truth from my reaction just now. I really want to explain myself, but what’s happened has happened. I can’t deny anything he has said.
Seeing that Michael was still standing beside me, Yuval flicked a glance at him and said coldly, “Mr. Shaw, this is between Anna and me. Please don’t meddle in our affairs.”
I had never seen Yuval getting so mad before.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, and you don’t get to decide for Anna as well. She can choose whichever man she wants!” Michael let out a scoff, staring at Yuval with equal spitefulness.
The intense stare-down ensued for a couple of seconds until Yuval blinked, backing down.
Exasperated with Michael’s behavior, I finally said, “That’s enough, Mr. Shaw. I believe I’ve made myself very clear. From now onwards, I hope you will stop causing chaos in my life. You and I are just colleagues.”
I knew that Michael was deliberately sowing discord between Yuval and me, but I could not understand why he did that. Is it because he doesn’t want me to be with another man so that he can continue to sleep with me? How absurd!
Immediately averting his gaze from Yuval, he shot daggers at me and bellowed, “Anna Garcia!” An arrogant man like Michael certainly could not tolerate any criticism, especially comments that would make him lose face in front of another man.
Unfazed by his livid expression, I continued to look at his eyes and added earnestly, “I beg you, Mr. Shaw. Can you please stop interfering with my personal life? I’m very thankful for your help last night, but I don’t wish to have any contact with you anymore. Please?”
Before this, although Yuval had never asked me about my relationship with Michael, I knew that he was quite concerned about it. Since I had decided to date Yuval, naturally, I had to cut off all ties with Michael.
“Anna, you’ll regret losing me,” Michael snapped, glowering at me before storming off in a huff.
After he sped off, the atmosphere between Yuval and I turned awkward.
“Anna, last night, did you really…” He looked at me with his eyebrows knitted, agonized.
Although he did not complete his sentence, I knew what he wanted to ask.
“Sorry, I know I’ve hurt you deeply. It’s okay if you want to break up with me,” I replied, lowering my head in shame.
Even though I said that I could accept him breaking up with me, the thought of him cutting ties with me filled me with dread. I did not love him, but he was the most suitable man to be my future husband.
If we really break up, I’ll blame myself forever. It’s entirely my fault after all. No man on earth can tolerate their partner cheating on them. No matter how good-tempered he is, it doesn’t mean he can forgive every mistake I make.
He went silent for a while before letting out a sigh and eyed Michael’s shirt. “Let’s go back first. I don’t want to see you wearing another man’s shirt again.”
Looking at the ground guiltily, I said no more and trailed behind him.
Throughout the journey to Natalie’s house, none of us spoke a single word. It was obvious that he was mad at me. Although I wanted to strike a conversation with him to take the edge off the awkwardness, I could not bring myself to do it. No matter what I say now, he doesn’t have the mood to listen.
