“Come with me now, Jamie!”
Narissa stormed out of the restaurant. Jamie knew he was in the wrong, so he hung his head low and followed her out.
Once the two were gone, Zephyr sat back down and started drinking Narissa’s yogurt smoothie again as if nothing happened.
Danny gave him a thumbs-up. “An excellent move indeed by deflecting the enemy. You’ve directed the conflict into one between the couple instead.”
Zephyr didn’t think too much about it and kept sucking on the straw. “I have to admit that this yogurt smoothie tastes pretty good. Miss Firecracker has good taste.”
“Who’s Miss Firecracker? Is one of your friends coming?” Elise asked cluelessly. Zephyr waved his hand. “I’m talking about Narissa. Think about that temper of hers. Don’t you think Miss Firecracker is an apt nickname for her?”
Everyone was stunned. Danny gave him a thumbs-up again. “You’re a brave man for giving Narissa a nickname. You have my respect.”
“I’m just being a man,” Zephyr declared cockily. “Men should act like men in front of women. Isn’t that right, Alexander?”
“Is that true, Alexander?” Elise raised her eyebrows.
“Ahem-” Alexander faked a cough and cleared his throat. “I’m innocent. Don’t drag me into this. I respect my wife very much.”
“Don’t count me in either.” Danny swiftly declared where his loyalties lay. He held Ariel’s hand as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “I can’t even begin to express my love for Ariel.”
Zephyr shook his head at the two of them. “The Griffiths’ genes are a no-go. You’re such an embarrassment to your fellow men! In the future, my woman’s going to listen to whatever I tell her and do whatever I say. There’s no such thing as saying no to me.”
“I hope you’ll have the courage to say this again when the time comes,” Alexander commented loftily.
“I’m telling you right now! I, Zephyr Lorwhal, will broadcast a live stream of myself running around naked if I ever become scared of my wife!”
Elise and Alexander exchanged looks. They were going to wait patiently until the day when Zephyr would have to eat his words. Outside the barbecue restaurant.
Narissa and Jamie stood by the side of the road facing each other. One had her arms crossed in fury while the other hung his head low like a deflated balloon.
After holding it in for some time, Narissa finally exploded. “Here you go again. You’re always clamming up whenever you’re alone with me. Are you trying to make it seem like I’m bullying you?”
“That’s not it. It’s just that I never know what to say. I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing and make you even angrier,” Jamie mumbled despondently.
“Does that mean I won’t be angry if you just keep quiet? Have you forgotten how we nearly missed our chance to be together?”
“I haven’t!” Jamie became rather frantic. “I know very well just how difficult it was for us to end up together. That’s why I was afraid that Zephyr would get injured. As long as nothing happens to him, Alicia will soon recover fully, and when that happens, I won’t have to waste any time with anyone else instead of you. I’m doing all of this so that I can be with you!”
“At least you’re convincing enough.” Narissa’s temper cooled off just as quickly as it flared up, but she still bore a grudge against Zephyr. “Either way, you’re not allowed to behave the way you did just now in front of that guy ever again! It’s humiliating for me!”
Zephyr was her nemesis. Not only did Jamie protect him, but he even brought up other women in front of him. How was she supposed to have the confidence to fight back against him in the future?
“I’ll never do it again! I swear!” Jamie raised his fingers in a swear before happily sharing the news with her. “Darling, did you know? After Zephyr’s treatment, Alicia’s condition has improved a lot. She’s already left the sanatorium and moved back into her house. With the way things are going now, she should be completely well again in another month or two!”
“Really?” Narissa was surprised. “Does that scum have such incredible medical expertise?”
“Now you know why I tried to protect him, right?” Jamie continued persuading Narissa. “Zephyr’s a legendary figure in the world of medicine. He’s like a protected species. If you hurt him, you’ll be hurting other people’s chances of survival. If you do end up injuring him, it won’t just be the people out there who need his help that’ll come after you. Even Alexander won’t let us off the hook either.”
Lately, everyone could tell that Zephyr was Alexander’s honored guest. While he seemed sketchy, even Alexander was showing him some respect, which meant that they had to avoid offending Zephyr too.
“It’s not like I want to kill him. He’s the one who keeps getting on my nerves and picking a fight with me.” Narissa was quick-tempered, but she wasn’t unreasonable.
“I know. My darling’s a thoughtful and understanding woman. Let’s not stoop to his level. Come on. I’ll take you to a proper restaurant to celebrate our soon-to-come future of just the two of us!”
Thanks to the partnership between the Heidelbergs and the Kellers, all news regarding Alicia was soon taken off the internet. Furthermore, with Zephyr’s help, Alicia was able to resume a normal life.
Coincidentally, her friend, Suella Taggert had just returned from her studies abroad, so to welcome her home, Alicia specially invited Suella to her favorite Cittadelian restaurant. The two friends decided to gorge themselves on a delicious feast. However, as soon as they walked into the restaurant, Alicia wanted to leave.
“We only just got here. Why do you want to leave?”
Suella stopped her and looked over to see what Alicia was looking at. A young, good-looking couple sat by the window. They seemed to be Cittadelians as well. Love was in the air as the man waited on the woman attentively.
“Do you know them, Alicia?” Suella asked curiously. Alicia turned around and hid half her face. She didn’t want to say anything, but after noticing Suella’s questioning look, she explained quietly, “He’s Jamie Keller. Let’s go somewhere else, Suella.”
“That’s him?” Suella’s voice became a lot sharper. “That b*stard! You’re still sick and yet he’s dating another woman! I won’t accept this! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!”
“Don’t, Suella!”
Alicia tried to stop her friend, but Suella ignored her. She charged over to Jamie and glared at him. Jamie had no idea what was going on. He set down his cutlery and looked at her. “Excuse me. Do we know each other?”
“It doesn’t matter whether you know me or not. It’s enough that I know who you are. You’re Jamie Keller, right?”
“That’s me. What’s going on?”
“What’s going on?” Suella snorted before she started berating him. “A cheerful and lively girl was badly hurt thanks to you! Her life is now a living nightmare! How can you act as if nothing happened? How can you go about your life without feeling guilty? You destroyed someone else’s life, but here you are laughing and smiling away in the presence of another woman. Don’t you feel any remorse? She could’ve had a carefree life! She could’ve lived like a princess if she hadn’t met you! You’re nothing but a con artist who tricked her, Jamie Keller!”
Suella chewed Jamie out, but he didn’t refute what she said. He merely lowered his head and silently clenched his jaw. He had a guess as to who she was now, and he deserved everything she said about him..
“Who are you anyway? What gives you the right to scream at my fiancé right here in public?”
Narissa couldn’t hold herself back anymore. Suella looked Narissa up and down before snorting and commenting sarcastically, “My, my. What a world we live in now. How can you sound so confident as if you’re in the right when you stole someone else’s boyfriend? You’ve really opened my eyes!”
