Jonathan felt a pang of sorrow, though it remained unclear whether it had been for Scarlett or himself. This was still the first time he'd felt any kind of pity toward someone else.After replacing the bag's contents, he smiled at Julian. "That's all for now. Thanks for your hard work. You did great."The truth, to some degree, still shocked him. He'd never imagined things could turn out this way with Scarlett. Having misunderstood her, the more he thought about it, the tighter his chest clenched, an invisible pain perpetually present between his ribs.Julian replied nonchalantly, "Of course. Whatever you ask of me, I am obligated to carry them out to perfection."After getting off work, Jonathan did not return to his house. Instead, he went to his grandfather's house, knowing Scarlett wouldn't be home anyway. For some reason, the idea of returning to an empty house without her filled him with dread.What he failed to anticipate was the lectures dealt by his grandfather the minute he s
Could he have used too much force last night without realizing it? It made sense, Jonathan supposed. He had trained in the army, after all—strength was nothing if not an asset when one was in the army.A surge of inexplicable heartache flooded him. "Does it still hurt, darling?"Scarlett ducked from his touch instinctively. "What do you want?"She would not cave into whatever this was without a fight.Last night's events replayed in her mind, the sequence of events unbelievably vivid.Jonathan fumed. "How ungrateful can you be? You're worse than a dog that bites its owner for feeding it!""You're the dog!" Scarlett retorted. "Quit your manipulation and your tricks! I'm not going to fall for any of them!"She no longer understood what Jonathan wanted. Did he really think she was a toy for him to play with? His treatment of her varied depending on his mood; when he was in a good mood, all was well, but anything below that had him humiliating her with no regard for her feelings.She wasn'
If he could, Jonathan wouldn't mind living like this every day for the rest of his life—he wouldn't mind having his breakfast made by Scarlett, nor would he mind falling asleep with her in his arms. Jonathan had never had any expectations about what kind of life he would lead since his family had paved his path for him from the very beginning. He never had to contemplate what he wanted; in fact, there had never been a need for him to think about such matters.As a result, he'd never put much thought into the kind of lifestyle he aspired to lead. Regardless of what kind of life he led, living was a matter of getting through the days for him. And yet, with Scarlett in his life now, Jonathan couldn't help but feel like a different man—and he liked it. Somehow, he didn't think he would mind any more changes if they all progressed in this direction.The minute she spotted him, Scarlett greeted him like an enthusiastic hostess. "Come," she said amicably. "Have a seat."Jonathan agreed, altho
Besides, nothing good ever came from her drinking. Scarlett thought about talking Natalie out of taking her to the bar, but her friend's excitement triumphed over her own reservations. Scarlett sighed, accepting her fate. It seemed like she wasn't going home until Natalie was satisfied with her drunkenness.The two of them headed to the bar, their grasps on their respective emotions slipping after a few drinks. Scarlett couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Natalie, but she didn't give much thought to it. After all, today was Natalie's birthday. Perhaps she was simply excited about meeting up with her friends again.Yet, as Natalie took it upon herself to brave the dance floor in the midst of their drunkenness, a figure cropped up in their line of sight.It was Alexander Scott, Natalie's boyfriend. If he'd been alone, things would've been fine, but his arms were currently wrapped around a feisty beauty. The two of them were dancing like there was no tomorrow.Not only
Without thinking, Scarlett splashed her drink onto Alexander before screeching, "Alexander Scott! Are you even still a man? Despite everything that has happened, both you and Natalie had a wonderful relationship before this! Besides, did you forget how much you loved her? You're the one who chased after her in the first place! I don't care that you've fallen in love with someone new; you're just one of the many ungrateful men in this world! However, as a man, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by others for hitting a woman?"Alexander simply stared at Scarlett silently. There was nothing he could say to defend himself because, in the end, Scarlett was right. The fact that he'd lost control and hit Natalie was irrefutable, and he also felt slightly ashamed of his actions.Sierra watched on as Alexander frowned at Scarlett's screeching without saying anything and felt a slight twinge of disgust at his cowardice. She couldn't just let Scarlett badmouth them, so she retorted on his be
Julian rushed to Scarlett's side to ask gently, "Ms. Langston, are you alright? Which of these assholes hit you? You don't have to worry; Mr. Leonard is on his way here right now."Scarlett had no idea how to respond to this man. Who even was he? How did he know who she was? Hearing him assure her that Jonathan was coming made her guess that the two were probably acquainted.Great. Though there had already been a considerable crowd around her when the fight broke out, now that this man had approached her specifically, everyone was unabashedly staring at her. Scarlett felt her cheeks burn, not because her cheeks hurt from the fight but because she was embarrassed by the attention. She silently wondered if she could just stick her head into the ground like an ostrich; at least she wouldn't need to deal with all of these prying eyes then. Julian didn't mind that she didn't answer him and pointed an accusatory finger at the group of thugs before shouting to his men, "Arrest these good-
Seeing that Scarlett was being so sincere in admitting her own wrongdoings without any of her usual snarky remarks made Jonathan's mood improve immensely. He simply looked at her wordlessly before turning his attention back to the road. Scarlett had no idea if Jonathan was upset or not. Regardless of his mood, she decided it would be best for her to just lower her gaze silently, hoping that her obedient behavior would improve his mood.They arrived at Jonathan's home soon after. Scarlett hastily exited the car before Jonathan had even parked it. She rushed into the house to feed Monkey. Since she'd unintentionally upset Jonathan tonight, she had to make it up to him somehow, and she opted to take care of Monkey.Jonathan had to suppress a laugh at how unexpectedly nice Scarlett was being tonight. It seemed like she'd finally learned her lesson after all the time with him and was finding ways to make it up to him for everything she'd done tonight. Though she was clearly barking up the
She didn't know what was going on in his brain for him to constantly be so horny, but she didn't want to sleep with him right now. She struggled against him, but it was all in vain. She could only desperately hit his broad chest as she yelled, "Jonathan! What are you doing?"Jonathan hadn't expected her to ask such an obvious question, but his lips curled into a mischievous grin as he replied simply, "You."Scarlett's face heated up at his lewd words, and she stared incredulously at the shameless man on top of her. Did he have no shame? How could he say something like that so casually? Scarlett was getting anxious and blurted out, "Why are you like this? Get off of me!"Jonathan loved the way she was behaving and didn't feel the slightest bit phased by her annoyance. In fact, his mood lifted as she struggled against him. He couldn't help but tease her just a bit more, so he leaned down to say in a mock-threatening tone, "Don't push your luck. Did you really think you could do whatev