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
Having his *ss handed in public made Raiden a very angry man. Who did this student think he was to lay his hand on his lecturer like that? This was an act of disrespect, pure and simple! Of course, Javier had always been that guy. Raiden was hardly an educator in even the most charitable sense of the word! He was just a parvenu at best; a sh*tty parvenu. A teacher teaches and an educator educates, both by spreading knowledge and exhibiting exemplary behavior. And then there was Raiden Foxx, whose only motive was to take advantage of the young women under him. How could that make him a lecturer?Javier rubbed his knuckles to prepare them for Raiden’s face. Raiden clapped the dust of his hands to ready his palm for Javier’s cheek—Suddenly, Megara Galloway strode past the room. Catching the prelude of a fight out of her periphery vision, she frowned and stepped inside. “What is the meaning of this? A lecturer and an undergrad brawling on campus? This isn’t a bar fight! Have some clas
More than two hours later, Javier and Megara finally stopped. It was two hours of paradise to her. The pleasure she had drawn out of the experience was indescribable. They were engaging in some post-sex teasing for a bit when Javier’s phone rang. He picked it up and heard Harley’s panicked voice. “Bro, are you still in Miss Galloway’s office? Get out of there, man! Now! You’ve gone viral!”Javier was confused at first, but once he asked and received an answer, his mood soured. Frustrated, he hung up and told Megara, “Go home. I’ll handle this.”She had overheard the conversation too and was stunned as the reality of it sank in. Megara had believed that their secret was foolproof. She had allowed herself to think that no one would ever find out about whatever was going on between them. And yet, someone had filmed their activity clandestinely and uploaded it for the viewing pleasure of the campus. Everyone in this university knew. Everyone!Megara was mortified. Now that everyone
Zenya could claim that getting fired from her job as student president was at least reasonable. The university had picked this exact moment to run an investigation, and incriminating evidence had cropped up. Except the news of her mother being kicked out of the hospital could not possibly be right. Parrson Group, which was supposed to pay for her mother’s bills, suddenly withdrew all their support for no discernable reason. No, there was no reason. There was no reason because paying the bill had been voluntary on their part too—basically no different from a corporation’s whim to help. There was no law or contract mandating their support, so there was no penalty for withdrawing it either. It was nobody’s business. Zenya was shocked witless. She quickly called her contact in Parrson Group to get an answer. Her call never reached them because they had blacklisted her. Then, her landlord called her. He told her that the price of her rent had just risen, and the terms of renting had
Megara was a good woman. Javier was happy that she could have happiness. However, he was no longer happy after he left Megara’s place because he recalled Raiden. He was disgruntled once he remembered that Raiden had actually dared stab him in the back.Once Herschel came back with an address, Javier drove there right away. Herschel had picked a good spot this time. It was an abandoned crematorium. Since it had only been days after the move, the incinerator and everything else were still available.Javier found Raiden, who was tied on the incinerator stretcher, soon after he entered. The man was scared witless. Fear had taken over his expression, as he had not expected to end up like this just because he had exposed Javier and Megara’s video to vent his resentment.Raiden’s heart lurched in fear, and he could barely speak due to how shaky he was. He knew what a crematorium looked like, as well as the function of the incinerator, so he begged Herschel to let him go in a quivering voic