Chapter 52 Do You Believe Me James rubbed at the area where I had pinched him and shook his head feebly.
I shot daggers at him again. When I turned back, I heard him muttering, âWhy are you so fierce at me.
Heâs just right there, so I dare not do anythingâ¦â
Upon hearing that, I stopped moving, turned around, and raised my hand.
âAhem⦠I have a meeting soon. So I better leave. I will leave the both of you to yourselves.â As soon as James finished, he fled the room in a hurry.
After watching him leave the room, I looked towards Dominic again. âWhat do you want me to agree to?
Say it quick. Iâm in a hurry.â
I donât want to stay here anymore. Iâll go back and clean up before I rest early. If nothing happens tomorrow, then Iâll go home.
âCome home with me. Iâll tell you once I think of it,â he stated, reaching out his hands as if to grab me.
I hurriedly put my arms behind me and said, âI will not go back with you. Before this, you wanted me to take care of you. Now you are standing here, with fine limbs. You donât need me anymore.â
He squinted his eyes. I was afraid he would disagree, so I added, âCall me after you think about it. I wonât back down.â
âYou blacklisted me.â
He even found out about this⦠To avoid going back with him, I took out my phone and unblocked his number in front of him.
âOkay? Now you can call me,â I told him softly.
To be honest, I didnât know why I had complied with him. If he actually did force me to go home with him, I could call the police or even apply for a restraining order as they did on television.
There were many solutions I could turn to. However, I compromised.
Dominic stared at me quietly; I didnât know what he was thinking.
Just when I thought he wouldnât accept my proposal, he spoke, âAddress.â
âWhat address?â I was stumped.
âYour current address,â he said nonchalantly.
âItâs not like I will runâ¦â I had more to go on, but I didnât say it with him staring at me. I eventually gave him my new address.
I was sure that I somehow owed him something in my past life.
âIf thereâs nothing else, Iâll be leaving.â I really didnât want to linger around him any longer. The feeling of being threatened by him made me feel helpless.
However, he extended his arm and stopped me again. âWhatâs the hurry? Iâm not finished yet.â
Upon hearing that, I grew a little angry. I raised my head and yelled, âAre you done? Youâre so annoying.â
âBad temper will only make you age quicker. Not that youâre pretty to start with, and you still donât have the sense of crisis. Be careful, or youâll end up dying alone.
I ground my teeth at that, wanting to bite the bastard to death.
âThatâs my problem. You donât need to worry about it. Is there anything else? Please make it quick.â
He smiled and shrugged. Though he didnât dwell on that topic anymore, he asked that I always answer the phone whenever he called.
Although it was a domineeringly unreasonable request, I nodded.
As long as I could go home right now, I was willing to accept anything.
I soon left the building and stood outside by the road. The air felt incredibly refreshing.
The time I spent with Dominic had almost suffocated me.
I returned to my newly rented house, did some simple cleaning, ordered takeout, watched a few TV series episodes, and went to bed early.
I woke up early the following day, so naturally, I also left home early. It wasnât yet noon when I arrived in Dellmoor.
I thought of what my parents said, and I felt a little unnerved.
I was their daughter, but they willingly believed the words of an outsider, not willing to listen to my explanation.
No matter what, blood is thicker than water. I am now divorced; it is a fact that I can no longer hide.
I looked around the house as I got home and saw that my mom was the only one there. Dad should be at school right now.
I came home today without calling ahead, so my mom was surprised to see me. âLili, why are you home all of a sudden. Why didnât you call?â
I pursed my lips and said, âMom, I have something to tell you.â
Her expression changed when she heard the seriousness in my tone, and she sat me down on the couch. Before I could say anything, she asked, âIs it about you and Julius?â
âYes. Him and I are already divorced.â
My mom was a little startled by the news. She let out a long sigh before saying, âLili, youâre so foolish.
Youâre a married woman; why canât you just live a good life? Why trouble yourself? Back then, if you didnât want to get married so soon, your dad and I wouldnât have said anything.â
She continued sadly, âNow youâve done it. Youâve only been married for half a year, and you cheatedâ¦
Youâre really trying to upset us.â
Before I came home, I had already known they would lecture me, but I didnât expect them to actually believe the lies Julius told them.
I grew anxious and angry. âThe one who cheated was Julius, not me! Everything he told you was a lie!â
I thought my mother would take my side after I explained myself. However, I was wrong. She still defended my ex-husband.
âHow could that be? He treated you well. He was so considerate of you even before the marriage. When you both came home after marrying, he had always taken care of everything for you. He would also call us every now and then to ask how we were doing. How could he have been cheating?â
I immediately felt myself be overwhelmed in despair. Theyâre my parents. Am I not the person they should believe in the most?
Perhaps Julius cast a spell on them to make them trust him this much.
I rubbed my sore nose and steadily looked at my mother. âMom, I came home to explain everything clearly. If you would rather believe an outsider instead of your daughter, then I have nothing to say.â
I proceeded to tell my mother everything that had happened between Julius and I.
When I was about to finish, my mother was utterly stunned.
Once I finally finished speaking, she took a long time to react. âIs this⦠true? Julius, he⦠That boy. He doesnât look like someone who wouldâ¦â
Oh⦠Youâre still not willing to believe me?
I didnât know whether to laugh or cry.
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost twelve; my dad should be home soon.
Looking at my momâs reaction, I couldnât imagine my dadâs.
I didnât want to upset him, so I picked up my bag and stood up. âMom, Iâm going now. Take your time and think about what Iâve told you. As for dad⦠do as you see fit.â
Seeing that I was about to leave, my mother took my hand and said, âYouâre leaving just like that? Donât you want to see your dad?â
I gave her a bitter smile and said, âIf you donât believe me, do you think he will? Heâll be angry once he sees me.â
âLiliâ¦â My mom looked worried.