68"Oh, since I made the soup for the ones who were on the table yesterday, I thought it's best to have them join us." Jasmine said. "Jojo has told me that this soup doesn't taste that good when it's cold." Jasmine turned to Kyle, her eyes blinking at him hesitantly, "I hope you don't mind it." Kyle didn't answer. He just nodded his head, avoiding to meet Jasmine's gaze. Unfortunately, he was a man with very little trust left. Kyle had lost faith in people and trusting everyone was difficult for him. Hence, he was easily swayed by Lila's words. He glared at Jasmine with blood in his eyes. 'I've grown to like you, Jessica. Didn't know you'd go around asking about my money. You must have believed you could replace your husband with me— another wealthy man— since I feel guilty over your child's death. You assumed my remorse towards your loss would make me yours.'He felt a bitter taste in his mouth for even liking her. What's more, all Kyle wanted to do was slap her food off the tabl
1Jasmine wiped the tear about to fall from the corner of her left eye as she looked forward. That's what she was going to do after the experience she had today— look ahead of her. She fisted her hands to her sides, watching as impatient vehicles zoomed past her on the busy road. The black and white strips of the zebra crossing made her temples ache. The same black and white dots started blinking and throbbing on the border of her vision. She felt the smooth texture of the parchment she was holding burn in her closed palm— it was the gift she had prepared for her husband. Pain tore through her as the smoothness of the paper turned into unbearable heat. Her hand shook, but she didn't let her grip loosen or more tears fall. 'It's useless to cry on a man who compared my womb to a barren land!' She reminded herself. However, his words triggered emotions she was battling to keep buried in. Tears blurred her vision as her emotions rose up through her like a tide. Jasmine couldn't help b
2When Jasmine stirred back to her senses, she found herself on a hospital bed. The back of her left hand was covered with an IV needle. She tried to move when a man's emotionless voice shook her to the core."Don't move! You just had a miscarriage."The words skipped her heartbeats. Her breathing came to a halt as her throat closed up. Jasmine wanted to cry but her tears had dried up.She sat rigidly like a model used in art studios for painting. Her mouth was sealed tight and her cheeks drained of color. Although the disclosure of the miscarriage weighed down on her, she didn't feel a single ounce of remorse. Miscarriage. For some women, 'miscarriage' was a word filled with trauma and pain. Women who couldn't get pregnant even after trying a hundred times, doing a hundred things, prayed for a miracle to happen to get pregnant. To such women, the mere mention of 'miscarriage' would bring overwhelming anxiety and trauma. But then there were some women who didn't want to do anything
3"You already wasted three hours of mine. Now be quick and tell me how much you want." Kyle's scrutiny seared into her flesh, hot and insulting and agonizing. He was barely keeping his unbridled anger in control because the woman looked pathetic with all the bandages around her right arm, head and that pitiful blue bruise on the corner of her mouth from falling on her face after getting hit by his car. Otherwise he had lost his sanity the minute he regarded the piece of paper in her grip that she had been holding when she was struck by his car. Kyle looked at the woman and felt disgust brimming within him. There was no doubt the woman jumped in front of his car to demand more money. Ultimately her plan was something else! She probably wanted to use the baby in her womb— which he suspected didn't belong to him; after all, a dozen women like her visited him at his mansion, office, and where not, just to claim that he impregnated them— too bad for her that her plan backfired becaus
4The check was lifted again as he calmly spoke, "If you can't think of a sum, I'll make it easy for you. How about 1,00,000 dollars? Is that enough?" "Get out before I stamp your face with my foot." Jasmine rasped. Her audacity amazed Kyle. He had never seen a woman persist so much. Although he encountered many gold-diggers, they happily lowered their masks of naivety once he presented a blank check to them. This woman seemed like a skillful player. Maybe she needed more money. Fine. He thought as he tore another check and filled 5,00,000 in it. "Now, is it enough? It should be. You better stop that act and take it, girl. I don't have much time to waste on you. I have a meeting." Jasmine never felt so humiliated in her life before. Although her husband's treason was a hard slap on her face, it wasn't as hurtful as this. She just lost her baby after losing the mirage of a happy married life she lived, and now this man was carving more painful slits on her heart. "Just who exac
5Kyle stayed in the ward while a team of doctor and two nurses took care of the woman. He watched as they cleaned the dry blood from the back of her hand that had bled from removing the IV pipe and secured it with a bandage. He felt a sting when the doctor pierced her other hand with a new cannula to continue providing her fluids- the hand with a temporary plaster. Now as he reflected back on his harsh conversation with the woman, contrition weighed down on him. Her words echoed in his mind, causing his temples to ache. The baby wasn't his and the woman hadn't really jumped in front of his car to get money from him. That reminded him of the letter he had retrieved from her closed fingers while bringing her to the hospital. Kyle dug into his pocket for the letter. The paper was warm pink, with lots of tiny dark pink hearts scattered all over it. His shoulders stiffened as he reread every word of the letter unhurriedly, like he had all the time in the world. Dear Daddy,Congratulat
6Lila stayed back in Kyle's bedroom after he left to take a shower. She was standing in his walk-in closet, removing clothes for him. Her hands lingered on the rack holding his shirts. She picked a shirt out and slid her hands into it, wearing it to her chest and inhaling his scent."Mmm!" Moaning, she pressed the sleeve to her cheek and smiled.She always imagined him unbuttoning his shirt in front of her, while she laid naked in his bed. Kyle made her feel things he was not even remotely aware of. He made her thighs shiver and heart caught speed."I wish you could feel my emotions, Kyle. I love you so much. Why don't you see me as other women in your life?" Lila pouted at her reflection as she checked herself in the mirror.She had an enticing figure. Heads turned to look at her whenever she went out in public. It was on a daily basis that men approached her to ask her out. But she had saved herself for Kyle Panther, her childhood love.She had a face only she intended to show him.
7 "So how is it?" Lila asked while holding a breath as she watched Kyle take the first bite. Kyle’s brows drew together, his expression one of critical appraisal, like a master chef carefully testing a dish."Mmm, not bad. But I think if you buttered the vegetables more, it would have been—" "Kyle, you're such a jerk. I'm not eating with you. I'm leaving!" Lila feigned to be hurt by his remark and started to get up. Kyle laughed at her antics and grasped her wrists. He pulled her back in her chair and playfully slapped her forehead. "I always ask you to bring me food because nothing compares to your cooking, Lila. Otherwise, I’d be stuck with takeout, and it’s just not the same.""I know," Lila stuck her tongue out. "But two can play this game."She giggled and pulled his cheek. Kyle smiled warmly in response, making her clench her thighs tightly. She froze in the moment as her eyes lingered on his lips, at the gorgeous smile he wore, and at how he glowed with an otherworldly aura
68"Oh, since I made the soup for the ones who were on the table yesterday, I thought it's best to have them join us." Jasmine said. "Jojo has told me that this soup doesn't taste that good when it's cold." Jasmine turned to Kyle, her eyes blinking at him hesitantly, "I hope you don't mind it." Kyle didn't answer. He just nodded his head, avoiding to meet Jasmine's gaze. Unfortunately, he was a man with very little trust left. Kyle had lost faith in people and trusting everyone was difficult for him. Hence, he was easily swayed by Lila's words. He glared at Jasmine with blood in his eyes. 'I've grown to like you, Jessica. Didn't know you'd go around asking about my money. You must have believed you could replace your husband with me— another wealthy man— since I feel guilty over your child's death. You assumed my remorse towards your loss would make me yours.'He felt a bitter taste in his mouth for even liking her. What's more, all Kyle wanted to do was slap her food off the tabl
67"I have no other way to pay you back and I don't have access to my accounts either. Not that I was going to pay back in money. That would be an insult to your kindness. So—" "What's for breakfast?" Kyle asked, changing the topic. He smiled at her as if saying: You don't have to explain anything to me. I understood, and moved closer towards her. "For the record, I want you to know that I don't expect a pay back from you. I've told you why I'm doing it.""And I've told you why I'm doing this too." She raised an eyebrow.Once again, Kyle found himself staring at her, that strange feeling back again. He stared at her lips not out of desire but out of amusement. She did have a fierce mouth, and he liked very few women with a big mouth.They were lost in the moment, staring at each other in admiration. Lila had been, once again, hiding behind a pillar to overhear them. A fire of jealousy set in her heart. She seethed before coming out of the shadows to break their stare with her inter
66Kyle covered his face in self-loath and shame, recalling the conversation he had with Jasmine the other night. He felt remorseful for sharing so much about his life with her."How could I lose myself like that? She's a stranger. She's going to leave my house one day and we might never see each other again. I was a fool. I shouldn't have told her so much about me— about my past that not even my closest friends know completely." He sighed and rubbed his face."God, what if she uses it against me? What if she hasn't forgiven me for her loss? You can't trust a wounded woman. I'd be in great trouble if she released my past story to the news channels for revenge. The dark side of my life is mine alone. How could I slip out of my control emotionally because of her and pour out what I never told anyone? Damn, I've never been so foolish."He dragged himself to the washroom on heavy feet and took the most painful shower of his life. Kyle was feeling so bad inside that he didn't want to do an
65Jasmine couldn't react in time because he left her alone not before throwing a teasing salute at her. She was in shock and reeling at what he said. When she was able to make sense, she took a deep breath and smiled to herself. "He's being friendly with me. But the way we met and insulted each other.... It's surprising to see we could be so comfortable with each other. You're a nice man, Kyle. I'm glad God made us meet." She inhaled deeply. "I don't intend to keep any connection with you or anyone else... But in future, I'd like to pay you for what you've done for me." Then she washed her face and teeth and slipped under the blanket, calling it a night with an unwavering smile on her lips. On the other hand, Lila was fuming like a mad bull. She paced in the guest room back and forth as she couldn't erase the view she saw in Kyle's room a while back. "H-how could he? We are best friends and we never let anyone come between us. I've been so nice to him all these years since we wer
64Jasmine's eyes were moist. She looked at the layer of stiffness that had cracked and revealed his vulnerable side. She pitied the boy that he was in the past as at the same time she pitied his mother too. Jasmine believed that his mother might have her own reasons to leave him with his father— not knowing that she was actually hearing those words for the same woman who was also ‘her adopted mother’— Her adopted mother who gave Jasmine memories that she held on to survive! The pained looked on Kyle's face, the trembling in his lips from bad memories and the trauma of being abandoned as a child shone in his eyes bright. Since he looked so broken and miserable, Jasmine felt like hugging him. "You see this man here— he's just a handsome zombie. There's no heart here inside." He pointed at his chest, his lips pursed. "What hurts the most is the fact that my father also neglected me after my mom's departure. He married his mistress because of whom my mom left us... And the first thing
63Jasmine's voice shook with frustration. She didn't want to spill her heart out in front of a stranger she wasn't going to see again in future. But the emotions boiling and bubbling within her needed to be let out. She wanted to be heard and she couldn't help but rely on Kyle to be the listener. "I'm so sick of feeling like this! I'm sick of being the victim, poor, cheated-on wife. Mari is helpful but she's excessively careful towards me... Like she would hurt me with her words and actions if she's not careful. Even Jojo was keeping his distance from me when we were in the kitchen.""He acted as if I was fragile and his touch would break me. This is not how I was before I found out about my husband's betrayal. I've been an independent and strong woman. One who didn't need anyone's hand for support." Jasmine sobbed "You're still strong, Jessica. You went through so much and you're still smiling and living like a strong woman should. This is part of healing. You are doing what is rig
62"I'm so wounded that everything makes me want to jump at someone and scratch their face beyond repair. You have no idea what it feels to be capable but still have not enough strength to help yourself, Lila." Jasmine got up. Lila's eyes followed her movements, her mouth hanging open. Jasmine's rise was elegant and it did look like she came from wealth and power like herself where maintaining etiquettes was an important part of elite life. "It was nice meeting you, Lila, and thank you for your support. But I'm not looking for advice or sympathy right now.... I just need good memories that I will carry out of here." She gave a curt nod, making her point clear that she wasn't going to let anyone belittle her. As her eyes turned to Kyle, he straightened up, otherwise he had his chin in his hand and his eyes glued to her face, totally lost in her fierce but polite retort. "Hope you enjoy the food, Kyle. I don't care about others or what they think of the food I made— but the fact that
61"I... I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you. I thought—" "That's okay. I'll take care next time and make sure I cut on the oil." Jasmine smiled genuinely, thinking that Lila was really innocent. "No, I truly mean it. I'm sorry. I thought it was Jojo. If I knew you made everything today then I wouldn't have— I'm sorry. That might have sounded mean and we've not officially been introduced to each other. You must feel so bad because of me. But I didn't..." Lila trailed off, looking at Kyle regretfully as if she would cry if he didn't help her. Kyle let out a heave as he touched Lila's hand in her lap. All the three sitting on the other side of the table— Jasmine, Jojo and Mari— saw his hand movement too. "This beautiful crazyhead here is my most valuable, amazing, always available for me, sometimes cute and sometimes crazy, my forever partner in crime... My closest friend, Lila. Lila Calvin. She's a social media influencer and one of the best advisers I have in life." Kyle said with
60"Well, well, well… looks like someone’s having a grand feast! But I feel disappointed, Kyle. What have I done to not get an invitation? Your guest seemed to have gained her senses back too." Lila walked in on them as she refused to stay in the corner while a stranger was enjoying Kyle's attention and compliments. She sat down next to Kyle after kissing him on the cheek, her eyes fixed on Jasmine darkly. "I am sad! How can you do this to me?" "Oh, Lila," Kyle rolled his eyes the same way he did each time Lila threw an unnecessary tantrum. "Stop being ridiculous. You were out of town for a big brand's ad shooting, weren't you? And you said it'll take about a week or two before you come back. How could I have known it would be over within a week!" Lila's ears turned pink. She wasn't expecting Kyle to treat her with such offending boldness— like yeah, she knew that he assumed her as a 'good' best friend. But she still had a reputation. It felt like an insult in front of Jasmine and