Then, I hung up the phone. Having done so, I hailed a taxi and rushed over to Natalie’s house.
About half an hour later, I arrived at her house. By then, she was already home.
The moment I opened the door and stepped in, I was greeted by the sight of Natalie cheerfully washing fruits and John sitting on the couch in the living room.
Upon seeing the scumbag, my wrath flared at once. How dare he show his face here?
Just when I was about to lay into him, Natalie spotted me and quickly ushered me in.
“You’re back, Anna? Quick, come and have some fruits. I bought a lot on my way home.”
Coming over to me, Natalie took my arm and dragged me into the house.
At that moment, John had also caught sight of me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me was smug and defiant.
As she pulled me into the house, I pointed at John on the couch and turned to her with barely restrained anger.
“Why is he here? Didn’t I say I’ve got something important to tell you? Why did you bring him home?”
Initially, I was going to tell her that he was a scumbag. But now that he was here, I was truly caught in a difficult position.
“Anna, John and I are already the most intimate person to the other, so just say whatever it is in front of him. It’s okay.”
At present, Natalie had already opened her heart to John and completely entrusted herself to him.
Frustration enveloped me right then. I didn’t know how to tell her all the things I had to say. Furthermore, she might not believe me anymore even if I were to tell her everything then.
“Nat, don’t be so naive, will you? Do you know that he’s a scumbag?” I proclaimed loudly as I pointed at John, the reins on my fury snapping.
Natalie was visibly taken aback for a moment, probably taken off guard by my sudden outburst. When she snapped out of her stupor, she looked at me in chagrin.
“What are you saying, Anna? How could you say that about John? He’s now my boyfriend!”
That was also the first time Natalie had ever raised her voice to me.
“Natalie, he’s really not a decent person, so don’t be taken in by him! Do you know that he has another woman out there, and he has even slept with her?”
Regardless of whether she would be angry at me, I decided to tell her about it. She would know sooner or later, and the pain would only be greater as time went past.
When Natalie heard that, she frowned and regarded me irately.
Despite the absurdity of my statement to her, it still aroused her suspicions since we had been best friends for many years.
With a frown marring her face, she eyed John with suspicion clouding her gaze.
Upon seeing that my words were working on Natalie, John promptly sprang to his feet and explained urgently, “I don’t know what your friend is saying, Nat! Why would she slander me like this? I love you wholeheartedly, and you should know that better than anyone else.”
His gaze was unwavering as he stared at Natalie with all the affection in the world. Being besotted with him then, Natalie would naturally trust him, but I could see the panic in his eyes.
“But why would Anna say that you’re cheating on me? She’s my best friend.”
I could tell that she was wavering because of his words. While she wouldn’t doubt me, she probably trusted him more right then.
“Are you doubting me, Natalie? I’m your boyfriend. How could you believe an outsider over me?”
John likely didn’t expect Natalie to be swayed by my words, for his expression turned a touch frantic.
Seeing the suspicion that remained in Natalie’s eyes, he abruptly turned to look at me, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Ms. Garcia, why are you slandering me when I have no past grievances with you? Natalie and I love each other, so why must you concoct such a story to ruin our relationship?”
Every single word out of his mouth sounded exceedingly caustic. I merely stared at him coldly with derision in my eyes.
Hah! He’s obviously feeling stricken by guilt now, yet he’s still playing the victim and questioning me instead. How absolutely shameless!
“You know best whether I’m slandering you and trying to ruin your relationship. As I said, John Young, I’ll never allow you to hurt Natalie!” I retorted without giving him an inch.
There was no longer any pretense of civility between us, so I was determined to lay everything into the open and reveal his true colors to Natalie.
“You’re going too far, Ms. Garcia. I really love Natalie, so how could I possibly do anything to betray her? I don’t know why you’re slandering me such, but don’t you feel guilty for ruining our relationship when Nat is your friend?”
On the surface, John appeared truly unshaken. If I hadn’t met him before or overheard the woman’s voice when I called him, even I myself would have felt that it was me lying.
Frowning, I stared at him coldly. Haha, how ridiculous! He’s the one who betrayed Natalie, yet he’s now twisting the truth and pinning the blame on me! He’s really the worst among scumbags!
“Nat, I merely don’t want you to suffer the same betrayal I did. He’s really a scumbag, so don’t believe him.”
Not wanting to argue further with John, I shifted my gaze back to Natalie after throwing him a furious look.
At that moment, Natalie regarded John and me with confliction written all over her face; she didn’t quite know who to believe.
I looked at her seriously as apprehension flooded me. I was worried that she would still be duped by John, for a scumbag like him would go to any lengths to attain his goal.
“Don’t believe her, Nat. I truly love you and want to be with you.”
Afraid that Natalie would believe me over him, John quickly grasped her hands and looked at her earnestly.
Natalie stared into his eyes, and both of them were silent. I knew that a woman would generally choose to believe the man when she had truly fallen in love with him despite knowing that he was merely stringing her along.
I once felt the same way, and I believed that the same applied to Natalie. Back then, I only accepted the reality that I had been betrayed because I saw Justin and Mabel in bed with my own eyes.
However, the situation was different for Natalie. She was merely hearing it from me, so she would still choose to believe John no matter her misgivings.
Once a woman invested her feelings in a relationship, she would never give up. Even if the possibility of the man’s words being true was negligible, she would still choose to believe him without the slightest hesitation.
Sure enough, Natalie’s subsequent reaction proved my conjecture right.
Turning, she looked at me with irritation in her eyes and a deep frown marring her face.
“Anna, I know you’re traumatic after having suffered a betrayal and feel that all men in this world are faithless. However, John isn’t Justin. I trust that he won’t do anything to betray me.”
In the end, she chose to believe John. While I had expected that, the fact that she ripped my wound open at such a time had a wave of sorrow washing over me.
