Bella was, of course, reluctant to have Javier stay with her, but there was nothing she could do. Would she offend him? She could not afford to offend Javier. Persuade him? It would be in vain.Especially now that Taylor was here and was doing such an amazing job, Bella found it too risky to offend Javier. What if that caused Taylor to leave as well?Unable to do anything, Bella could only agree to take Javier home. It was fortunate that she was living with her mother and they were staying in a mansion, so there were plenty of rooms and she did not have to worry about sleeping in the same room with him.“Is this considered living together without sleeping in the same bed?”Bella glared at Javier but did not answer when his question reached her ear.When she stepped into her house, contemplating how she should break the news to her mother, she heard an argument breaking out inside.“I’m telling you, Bell has to get married whether she wants it or not. This isn’t your decision to
Javier was led upstairs by Bella. He would be staying in the second-floor bedroom tonight, while Bella and Kellyanne were staying on the third floor.Bella apologized to Javier after she took him to the bedroom. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why my mom’s acting like this either. She didn’t use to be like this.”While Bella was troubled over it, Javier analyzed the situation for her, claiming that it had to do with Kellyanne being bullied by the Greenes for years.“It shouldn’t be a big issue. Get her a therapist and let her heal slowly. I believe it’ll be better in the future.”Bella found what Javier had said reasonable and was thankful that he understood.After a short chat, Bella left and Javier washed up and got in bed. He pondered coming up with a strategy to handle the old woman, who only picked on the weak and stayed fearful of the strong. It was just a little tricky. If she had been the mother of someone else, he could have just spent some money and beaten her up. He could n
To be honest, Javier really wanted to do something more, but he ultimately removed his hands. Bella had already agreed. As long as he could keep Chase at bay, she had promised to spend a period of time with Javier.Bella probably thought that Javier would never achieve this and had only agreed since there was nothing else she could do. Despite that, Javier was well aware that it would be too easy for him to fulfill his end of the promise. After letting go of Bella, he pulled back his finger and popped it into his mouth. “Hmm, kind of sweet.”The comment made Bella flush until she turned scarlet. “Jerk!”She got out of the car and frantically went into the office. She could care less about everything else the moment she stepped in the company and made a beeline for the restroom. That jerk Javier. She could forget about spending her work day in peace now…When Javier left Bella’s model agency, he called Herschel and drove to Chase’s father’s bank. He stopped outside of the bank, en
Javier returned to campus after taking care of the issue. He believed that the bank president would take care of his one-eyed son. As for Lana’s son, that would be even simpler. Herschel had gone to tackle the task, and Javier was not sure what kind of method he was using, but there would definitely be results.If someone dared resist moving in the direction that he had planned out, said person would vanish from the world. This was proven true, as Bella received a call from one-eyed Chase at around five in the evening. She did not answer it, but Chase later texted her. She wanted to delete the text but could not help swiping to read it upon glancing at the content.For the most part, the message was basically him admitting his mistake and apologizing, then reassuring Bella that he would not harass her anymore.Bella almost wanted to call him and ask what had happened upon seeing the message. It was unbelievable. Why? Had he just backed off and turned nice because of what Javier ha
Javier ended the call while Kurt’s eyes watched eagerly, his heart swelling and yearning for the eventual good news. Kellyanne was not buying it at all. “He’s a fraud, a child, a goddamn hoaxer! A big fat liar telling lies as if baiting the Lord to incinerate him with lightning. The only time he’s telling the truth is when he calls himself a liar. Mark my words, Kurt. I’m just waiting for the Lord to smite him for all the bold-faced lies he keeps spouting!”Being fooled by him had soured Kellyanne’s opinion of Javier. She simply could not believe he was capable of telling the truth or keeping his promises.Javier was not going to waste his breath on defending his reputation. The truth would come out soon anyway, so why hurry?Kurt was back at begging Kellyanne. The latter’s reluctance and doubts persisted, as she had no idea what to do. She was starting to wonder if she should ask Chase Young for help behind Bella’s back. At that moment, Kurt and Javier’s phones rang in unison.
Before Javier could say anything, a thought entered Bella’s sheepish mind. ‘Wait a sec—how could Grace betray my secret?!’ It was a terrible thought...Mortifying, even! It was a testament to how close these two were. Grace would not have told Javier had they not been intimate with each other. But that also meant Javier was already seeing her while he was actively wooing Bella!His audacity p*ssed Bella off a little. They were cousins! How could he even think this was okay?!Javier saw the indignant flash in her eyes and knew what was going through her mind. He lowered his head and leaned close to her ear. When he whispered, Bella’s cheeks burned intensely and her breath hitched. Javier had just told her all about the intimate things he had done with Grace—without a shred of reservation or euphemism!This embarrassed Bella greatly. “And that’s why Grace has no secrets. ‘Cause I’ve found out all of them,” he finished. “But you? You’re still a mystery. I’m curious about your sc
Javier grimaced and waved hurriedly. “No, I can’t. I really shouldn’t! I can feel the liquor burning my guts!”Rowan furrowed his eyebrows. “So you’re willing to compromise for Mr. Schitt’s sake, but not for me? That’s favoritism, Mr. Kersey! How disrespectful!”Bella tried to intervene. “Mr. Kerr, please! He means nothing like that. Mr. Kersey’s just not that good at drinking, so it’d really be best if we…”It did not work. Bella’s attempts at dissuasion and Javier’s evasion could rescue the latter from Rowan’s dogged insistence. In the end, Javier complied under pressure and clinked the edge of his glass against Rowan’s before finishing his drink in one go. Within the span of five minutes, 250ml of wine was gone. They had been drinking nonstop. Wiser drinkers would have known it was time to rest and slow down by this point. Joey, though, was so impatient to knock out Javier that he was hardly going to give the latter any breathing space. “Another one, Mr. Kersey!”Three more gl
Bella would never say yes to Javier’s advances. In fact, her no was so definite, complete, and unnegotiable that she hurried away from Javier’s bedroom in a panic.She hid under the covers in her room. She tossed, she turned, she tried her damnest, but sleep seemed to evade her. All she could remember was how she had felt when he had touched her. There were times when she felt the impulse to act, only to stop herself out of bashfulness and shame. Javier had no problem sleeping, for his part. He was not losing a wink of sleep to impatience or worry—not when he was sure Bella was steadily falling for his unstoppable charm…The next morning, the two of them left simultaneously after having breakfast. Javier watched Bella’s car vanish into the distance, a confident smile hanging on his lips. Her mind would grow more and more restless these days, he was sure. And that restlessness was going to push her into his arms soon…At school, Javier started searching again to nail any suspect be