Lily was speechless. She stared wide-eyed at Fernando. "How dare you!" she shouted before she ran to fetch her handphone from her handbag.
"No! Don't call her." Fernando was quick to stop Lily. "Please… it will only embarrass her."
"That's because you were such a jerk!" Lily glared at him. Disbelief written all over her face. "How could you be such a jerk? Gosh… can I just slap you for once?"
"Please do. I deserve it." Fernando shrugged. "I was afraid that she would get mad at me for taking advantage of her. I... It has been a week and she still haven't called me. I don't even know if she is even mad at me."
"Of course she will be mad. Fernando… how can you be this irresponsible? You two need to talk and I mean a proper talk between two normal adults!" Lily guessed that Li Shanshan must have been devastated after Fernando ran away that night. She didn't think that Li Shanshan would want to talk about it even if she called her right now.
Lily let out a sigh. "Alright… you stay here. I will go and change my clothes."
It was common knowledge that Fernando had a thing for women of color. However, Li Shanshan missed the fact that she was one. She was exactly the kind of woman that Fernando liked but she failed to realize this. She treated Fernando like an older brother, teasing him for being gay and for sleeping with both men and women.
While Li Shanshan would occasionally pick up actors and models for a hookup, Fernando picked up girls just to show off. Through that, he was telling everyone, especially Li Shanshan that he was not gay. Who could blame Li Shanshan for misunderstanding Fernando's actions, right?
Lily took a quick shower and changed into a comfortable set of pajamas. Then she realized that she hasn't informed Zhuo Jingren that Fernando came to visit her. She promptly send out a text message to him before walking out of her room.
To her surprise, Fernando was already fast asleep on her couch. She shook her head before she got an extra blanket and placed it on top of him, to cover him. Though Lily really wanted to help Fernando out, she also knew her boundaries.
Lily let out another sigh before she proceeded to work on the things that she needed to work on.
…..
While Lily was finalizing her plans, the Arisons were in chaos.
Sofia was crying on the couch. Her eyes were puffy and her body was trembling from crying too much. "George please… it was just a single mistake. I was drunk. Please… I would never have betrayed you..." Sofia's voice was frail, her shoulders were hunched as she begged her husband. "You know how much I love you…"
"Stop it," George Arison hissed. "You are too noisy! Just sign the papers so that our divorce can be finalized."
"Father… you cannot do this to Mother…"
"Shut up Liam! You are just like your mother!" George said before glaring at Sofia. "Sign it."
"No…" she shook her head. "No… I won't. Over my dead body!"
"You Sl*t!"
"George please… how can you treat me like this? Did I ask for a divorce when you cheated on me back then? You cheated on me not with one or two women but many women. Don't you remember how you slept with so many women while I was pregnant with Liam back then. While I… I just made a single mistake! How could you be so cruel?"
George scoffed at her words. "You think this is about you? You stupid woman! This is about my reputation! You think I would care if you cheat on me! NO SOFIA!" he loosened his tie and downed a glass of whiskey. "You can sleep all the men out there and I wouldn't even care! As long as you keep it a secret, I wouldn't have a problem with it!"
"You-" Sofia stuttered. "Do you…"
"Of course, I do! You think… I didn't know that you have been sleeping with your driver for god knows how long now? But did I say something about it? No! As long as you act your part as my wife and smile for the shareholders, then I would have no problem with it." Seeing Sofia's shocked face, George continued, "But you just have to offend someone and expose yourself."
"What do you think will happen to the company if I keep a wife like you?" he added as he poured himself another glass of alcohol. "Now sign it."
"Is this all that you care about?" Sofia rose from her seat and pointed at George. "George, what about me? What about our family? Tell me… for the past thirty years that we had been together… did you even love me? Have you ever loved me? Even once?"
Sofia's words earned a scoff from her husband. "You speak of love as if you know what it is." He looked at his wife from head to toe. "You disgust me!"
Seeing that her husband had gotten up from his seat and was walking away from her, Sofia hastily walked towards him and hugged him from behind. "Please George… we can fix this. I… I am… I will leave London. We can leave Europe and start all over again," Sofia said, her tears were like rivers flowing endlessly on her cheeks. George hated her... Somehow she knew that he had hated her even before he agreed to marry her. This was all her punishment… her karma for killing the woman that he once loved.
But was it her fault? As a young woman who had been engaged to George since she was a child, Sofia could not accept the fact that a simple clerk won his affections. No… Sofia would never blame herself for what happened to that woman. She only did what she had to do to have the man of her dreams. Was it wrong for her to love him too much?
"Sign the divorce papers and leave London all by yourself. I still have business to attend to." George shook off Sofia's hands with a sneer on his face. "This marriage is what you always asked for Sofia. You can't complain like a righteous woman because that is not what you are."
…
Editor: Swaning
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