Chapter 2
751 Words
Jeffrey walked out holding Beryl's hand. Only when he reached the door did he finally speak, without even turning back. "Put some medicine on your knees when you get home."
I dragged my exhausted body back to his villa and went straight to the bedroom to pack my things.
Beryl was back, which meant it was finally time for me to leave.
I had only stuffed a few clothes into my suitcase when I heard the front door unlock.
Jeffrey was home.
He leaned against the bedroom doorway, his eyes fixed on my hands as I packed.
I tightened my grip on the suitcase handle and looked up at him, my voice trembling slightly. "You promised me. I want to study abroad."
Jeffrey suddenly laughed under his breath and slowly walked toward me.
"When did I promise that, Joyce? You're acting out again. Don't make me angry."
The truth was, the moment I heard Beryl had returned to the country, I'd already packed everything and rushed to the airport. But the second I reached security, Jeffrey's people surrounded me.
Not long after, Jeffrey arrived in person. In front of everyone, he dragged me back to the car without giving me a chance to explain.
Back at the villa, he never once asked why I wanted to leave. Instead, he used the roughest, cruelest way possible to remind me who I belonged to.
Afterward, he pressed against my ear and whispered, "I never said you could leave. So don't even think about going anywhere. For the rest of your life, you belong to me."
My mind drifted back to the first day we met.
Freshman year, I worked nights at a bar to pay my tuition. One night, a group of creeps cornered me outside.
Jeffrey was the one who saved me.
Back then, I treated him like the only light in my darkness. I chased after him desperately, willing to stay by his side even without a title, even if all I was to him was a secret lover.
I lied to myself and believed I was special. That I meant more than the others. Until my birthday, when I had gone to another city for an exam.
I missed him so much that I took the last train back overnight, excited to surprise him. But when I opened the door, there was another woman underneath him.
Even after getting caught, Jeffrey showed no panic at all. The desire in his eyes hadn't even faded yet.
I wanted to run away immediately. Instead, he pulled me into his arms and kept repeating, "Joyce, you're different. No one compares to you. Stop overthinking."
The next day, Kelly Vance, Jeffrey's mother, came to see me.
She sat elegantly on the living room sofa, looking down at me with cold judgment.
"Honestly, out of all the women around Jeffrey, you're the most obedient. Beryl won't be back for another four years. Once she returns, Jeffrey will marry her. Until then, staying by his side makes you the most suitable choice."
At the end of the conversation, Kelly offered me a large amount of money.
And I accepted it.
The moment she opened her mouth, I already understood something.
Neither she nor Jeffrey were asking for my opinion. They were simply informing me. I never had the right to refuse.
So I returned to Jeffrey's side and quietly continued being his lover.
After Jeffrey found out his mother had spoken to me, he only glanced at me indifferently.
"Don't take her words seriously. Our relationship has nothing to do with her."
After that, he stopped hiding things from me altogether. Sometimes in the middle of the night, he'd wake me up just to make me go buy condoms for him.
The latest time I remembered was around two or three in the morning. One phone call from him and I automatically headed to the same twenty-four-hour pharmacy.
Even the clerk recognized me by then. She glanced at the box in my hand and joked with a grin. "Girl, your boyfriend's got insane stamina. Can your body even handle that?"
I forced a smile but couldn't say a word.
Those condoms were never for me.
For me, there was only the morning-after pill afterward.
That night, just like always, I brought the bag back to him.
When Jeffrey took it from my hand, something unreadable flashed across his eyes.
After a long silence, he finally spoke softly, "Not this time. Beryl and I want a baby."
- Writer
