I Hated Him, Now I Cherish Him

Chapter 7

"There is absolutely nothing between Sierra and me. Not a hint of impropriety."

Gavin's ironclad assurance still echoed in her ears, but the scene unfolding before her eyes struck like a bolt of lightning, shattering those promises into a million pieces.

Delilah stood frozen to the spot, the blood in her veins turning to ice in an instant, her limbs going numb and cold.

At that moment, Sierra sensed her presence. Her face drained of all color with a sudden gasp, and she hastily crouched down, a torrent of apologies spilling from her lips.

"Mrs. Vance, I'm so sorry, please don't be angry!"

Gavin whipped his head around. Meeting Delilah's dead, hollow gaze, a bewildering panic surged from the depths of his heart.

Sierra, still sobbing, poured out her lament. "Mrs. Vance, I just lost control of my emotions for a moment. It has nothing to do with Gavin, please, you mustn't blame him! If you feel hurt, I am willing to atone with my life. Just please forgive us!"

Before Delilah could even part her lips, this woman had already cornered her with words, painting a picture where any pursuit of the matter would make Delilah seem utterly heartless.

Delilah's nails dug fiercely into her palms.

"I haven't even spoken a single word, and you've already backed me into a corner. So now, if I don't blame you, I'm the one in the wrong."

Sierra's face turned ghostly pale, a violent tremor running through her body.

Gavin shot a complicated glance at the woman beside him, then, with a decisive step forward, he shielded her behind him.

He lowered his eyes to look at Delilah, his tone flat and even. "If you want to blame or punish, let it all fall on me. I alone will shoulder all responsibility."

Delilah felt as if a giant, merciless hand was squeezing her heart in a vice grip.

She stared at Gavin for a long, agonizing moment, her throat so parched she couldn't make a sound.

Finally, she managed a low whisper, "All I want is an explanation."

Gavin was taken aback. As he saw the redness that had crept into Delilah's eyes without him noticing, he let out a heavy sigh. "You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You should find someone you truly love to spend your life with. I was marrying above my station.

"If the Chairman hadn't forced this arranged marriage, our paths would never have crossed in this lifetime. This marriage of ours... it was never meant to be."

Every calm word he uttered was like a needle stabbing her heart, leaving her gasping for air.

'Gavin, you say we're not right for each other. Is that truly how you feel, or is there already someone else in your heart...'

"Enough! Stop it!"

She couldn't bear to hear another word from him. She turned and bolted back to the master bedroom as if fleeing a disaster.

Deep into the night, Gavin finally came back to the room to rest. But he didn't get into bed. Just like before, he simply spread a blanket on the floor and lay down.

The silence in the room was suffocating, pressing down like a physical weight.

Delilah turned on her side and gazed at the man on the floor, the pale moonlight streaming through the window casting a faint glow over him.

After what felt like an eternity, her hoarse voice cut through the silence.

"Gavin, I genuinely want to build a life with you, and I truly want to help you regain control of the overseas project. Can you just trust me once? Just once, please..."

By the end, her voice was laced with undisguised pleading, but the man on the floor breathed evenly.

Normally, even the slightest sound would have him on alert, but tonight he didn't so much as stir.

No more words came.

Delilah's voice died in her throat, and her eyes welled up with tears once more.

A long, cold silence settled between them. Gavin never slept in that bed again.

Their relationship, after all the twists and turns, had somehow returned to the cold, distant state they'd been in right after the wedding.

One day, Delilah and Selena sat in a second-floor window booth of a trendy café along a bustling downtown street.

Selena stared at Delilah, baffled. "Delilah! Have you lost your mind? Moping around all day over a man like Gavin, is it really worth it?"

Delilah's eyes were dull and lifeless; she managed nothing more than a bitter, hollow smile.

Seeing her like this, Selena finally realized that she had truly fallen for him, and for a moment, she didn't know how to offer comfort.

After a long pause, she took a long sip of her iced coffee and sighed softly. "Love is the most unpredictable thing. A man whose heart belongs to someone else, no matter how hard you try to please him, you're just wasting your effort in the end.

"And what's worse, the last time you spoke up for him, the chairman chewed you out in front of everyone, and then he still gave you the cold shoulder. That alone proves he doesn't give a damn about you!"

Hearing that, Delilah couldn't help but jump to his defense. "It wasn't just about Gavin last time. I was genuinely worried about the group's future. That overseas partner is power-hungry, and if we keep giving in, it's only a matter of time before everything blows up in our faces."

Selena fell silent.

After a long pause, she let her gaze drift out the window, following the endless stream of traffic below.

"Even if you're carrying the whole group's future on your shoulders, what can girls like us really do to change a game that's already rigged from the start?"

Delilah blinked, genuinely taken aback. She'd always written Selena off as carefree and a little airheaded, but here she was, seeing the world with razor-sharp clarity.

Then Selena's face broke into a grin again. "So, Delilah, why not take a page from my book? Stop stressing over tomorrow's mess and just live for today."

Delilah could only manage a bitter twist of her lips.

She remembered every gut-wrenching detail, the group going bankrupt in three years, her entire family plunging into the abyss. How could she just shrug off the future and chase fleeting pleasures?

Just then, frantic shouts erupted from the street-level entrance of the café.

"Breaking news! Urgent! The overseas partner just launched a massive surprise attack, all six border cooperation divisions have fallen!"

Crash!

Delilah's glass shattered across the tabletop, sending shards flying. Her face drained of color in an instant.