Julian Griffin, feeling guilty, shot to his feet in a panic. "I-Ina? What are you doing here?!"
"Does that matter?" Ina Sutton was hopelessly in love with Julian Griffin. "So, in your eyes, I'm just a simp who makes you sick to your stomach?"
"Then why have you been involved with me all these years? Why did you sleep with me!"
"You said you liked me. Was it all a lie?"
Ina Sutton had a domineering and stubborn personality. When Julian Griffin first started messing around with her, he thought it was fun.
But over the years, she became more and more controlling, and he grew tired of it.
Of all the girls he had pursued, only Joyce Monroe had ever put Ina Sutton in her place. Besides, he was genuinely taken with Joyce's looks, so he decided to use the situation to dump Ina.
Knowing Ina's personality, he was sure she would make trouble for Joyce out of jealousy, which is why he had orchestrated the whole flower delivery and "hero saving the damsel" affair.
Joyce Monroe frowned in surprise. "Mr. Griffin, you two... have slept together?"
Julian Griffin had already made the post on his socials; he was clearly planning to dump the simp Ina Sutton for good. Now that all pretenses were gone, he had to secure his hold on Joyce Monroe.
So he said flatly:
"So what if we have?"
"You're the one who took off your clothes and showed up at my door, begging me to sleep with you."
"It was just a fling, completely consensual."
"Can you really take pillow talk seriously? I was just tired of you pestering me, so I said a few things to placate you. The one I love has always been Joyce."
"Oh, so that's how it is," Joyce Monroe said, her tone innocent and harmless.
"Besides, Ina, you've slept with plenty of other men over the years, haven't you? The day you were left stranded in the middle of nowhere—whether you were alone or with someone else—we both know the score. Don't act like you can't live without me."
Joyce Monroe listened in silence.
'This psycho couple really gets into some wild stuff.'
'You two should be locked together forever. Don't inflict yourselves on anyone else.'
"I was just messing around with them! You're the only one I love!" Ina Sutton cried, her emotions running high.
"But the only one I love is Joyce Monroe."
"Impossible! I don't believe you! It's obvious she's the one clinging to you." Even now, Ina Sutton seemed unable to accept it. She glared at Joyce Monroe. "What kind of spell did you put on him?!"
"This has nothing to do with her. And I'm telling you, stop calling yourself my girlfriend. You're so damn annoying."
Ina Sutton's face was a mask of disbelief. "You... you think I'm annoying?"
Joyce Monroe just watched in silence.
'These two have been tangled up since high school.'
'If Julian hadn't led her on, there's no way Ina would still be ambiguously involved with him after all this time.'
'What an idiot.'
Faced with such a love-struck fool, Joyce Monroe found her both detestable and pathetic. She gave a helpless shake of her head, which, in Ina Sutton's eyes, looked like a taunt and a provocation.
"Joyce Monroe, you dare to smirk? You must be so proud of yourself!"
"Julian wants to break up with me because of you! You went abroad, so why didn't you just die out there? What did you even come back for?"
"Do you have any idea how much she slept around overseas? I bet she's caught some nasty disease."
The hand Joyce Monroe was using to hold her small fork suddenly tightened its grip.
"Shut your mouth! I won't let you slander her," Julian Griffin cut in.
"I'm not lying! You've all been fooled by her! She's nothing like the innocent, harmless girl she pretends to be. She's malicious to the core—a natural-born bad seed!"
"That's enough!"
To defend Joyce Monroe, Julian Griffin actually strode forward and slapped her across the face.
The crisp sound of the slap echoed as it caught Ina Sutton completely by surprise.
Her face was still bruised and swollen from where Joyce Monroe had hit her the day before. The new slap made half her face go numb. "You hit me... for that bitch!"
"She's the woman I love. I won't have you bad-mouthing her."
"Joyce Monroe, why don't you dare tell anyone why you were sent to the countryside? Or why you got dumped? Was it because he saw your true colors and found you disgusting?"
The moment the words left Ina Sutton's mouth, her eyes met Joyce Monroe's.
Joyce's eyes were filled with an icy chill.
The fork in her hand glinted with a menacing light in the dim room. She spoke slowly, "Ina Sutton, I warned you. Watch your mouth."
"Haven't you made enough of a scene? Get the hell out!" Julian Griffin knew how crazy Ina could get when she was worked up. He reached out and pushed her, trying to get her to leave.
Ina Sutton had apparently been pushed too far.
The memory of being slapped yesterday for nothing—and having to be the one to apologize in the end—was especially galling. Seeing Joyce Monroe still sitting there, poised and graceful, was a deep provocation.
'She's such a good actress!'
'Said she didn't like Julian, yet here she is on a date with him, seducing him into cutting ties with me.'
'Absolutely vicious.'
She wanted to rip off Joyce Monroe's mask, to smash that pretty face, so she charged straight at her. She never expected Julian Griffin to play the hero again, stepping in front of Joyce to block her.
"Julian, get out of my way!"
"I booked this room. You're the one who should get lost," Julian retorted.
"Joyce Monroe, I'm going to kill you! This is all your fault! All of it!"
...
And just like that, the two of them started physically fighting.
While there should have been a significant difference in strength, Julian Griffin's lifestyle of debauchery had left him weak and out of shape. As they scuffled, neither one seemed to gain the upper hand.
They knew each other too well, and they knew exactly which buttons to push to hurt the other.
They even started dredging up old grievances.
Their insults were vile.
Meanwhile, Joyce Monroe quietly picked up her purse and slipped out of the private room.
Before she left, she even remembered to turn around and snap a few pictures to send to Lily Kennedy, so she could enjoy the show.
She took out her phone and was about to take a picture when a hand suddenly reached out from beside her. Her breath hitched in fear, but she didn't dare cry out. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she instinctively turned her head...
And in the next second,
her heart stopped. Her lips parted, but not a single word came out.
Because—
she hadn't realized he was so close. The tip of her nose brushed against the side of his face, and she instantly held her breath in shock.
His cool, quiet scent washed over her, and as she breathed it in, the sensation spread through her entire body.
"The lens isn't even in focus. You can't take a clear, good-looking picture like that."
His voice carried a standard Northgate accent, deliberately kept low. It was elegant with an undercurrent of languidness.
His fingers slid across her phone screen, adjusting the focus before he casually snapped a few shots.
As for Joyce Monroe, his sudden appearance had sent her heart into a frenzy. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. The close proximity and the intrusion of his unfamiliar warmth caused a blush to creep unconsciously onto her cheeks.
This distance...
it was far too close!
"Want to take some more?"
Silas Thorne spoke again, and only then did Joyce Monroe seem to snap out of her trance. Keeping her voice low, she stammered, "W-What are you doing here?"
He turned to look at her, their eyes meeting.
"Had enough fun?"
"I'm here to take you home."
He spoke in a normal tone, yet Joyce Monroe thought she detected a trace of affection in it.
It was enough to make her ears start to burn.
"Then let's get out of here."
Before the pair inside could notice, Joyce Monroe turned and walked away quickly.
Silas Thorne glanced at the two people grappling inside the room, then followed his wife at an unhurried pace, a faint smile playing on his lips.
As for Joyce Monroe, her heart was racing wildly, and even the phone clutched in her hand seemed to be growing warm.
When Silas Thorne followed her into the elevator, there was nowhere left to hide her flushed face.