“But you don’t look well. I’ll tell the driver to take you to the hospital right away,” She said. Again, She grabbed Jasper’s arm, preventing him from entering the bedroom. And she took her cell phone from her pocket and tried to call the driver with her other hand.
Jasper gazed back at her without saying anything. He then reached out, snatched her phone, and threw it on the floor.
Before Isabella realized what was going on, Jasper had already let go of her, so she stumbled a few steps forward and accidentally hit her head on his chest.
Instantly, Jasper’s heart began to race, and he started panting heavily. With his eyes filled with desire and affection, he looked her in the eyes, gently stroked the corners of her eyes and cheeks with his index finger, and then her lips. Feeling the warmth and softness of her lips, Jasper felt that all his sanity and rationality had disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The next second, he leaned close to her and started kissing her, inhaling the mint candy scent from her mouth. In a domineering and passionate way, he kept kissing her, trying to taste every sweet corner inside her mouth. He kissed her so deeply as if he were a wolf devouring his prey. In contrast, the way Isabella kissed him before when she was drunk was as soft and gentle as the afternoon breeze.
Isabella didn’t dare to breathe, her mind blank. She couldn’t think clearly and had no idea why he was kissing her. But she admitted that the kiss was so good that she didn’t want to push him away. Yet, she was a bit disappointed because she had just decided to get over Jasper a few hours before. And now, she hesitated once more.
This time, to her surprise, Jasper wanted to do more than just kiss her. He took her by the waist and led her into the bedroom. It was dark inside the bedroom, with only the light of a street lamp reflecting off the floor-to-ceiling windows of the balcony.
As Isabella lay down in bed, Jasper pecked her lips. Slowly, he pressed his lips against her earlobes and neck.
Isabella’s ears began to ring. She realized that if she didn’t stop him now, things would get out of control.
While Isabella was still in a trance, Jasper removed her coat, slid his hand into her cardigan, and stroked her body. The warmth of his palm spread across her skin, making her feel tingly all over.
Being touched like that, Isabella couldn’t help but groan and decided not to resist anymore.
However, Jasper came to a halt when he heard her moan. “Lily,” he then murmured.
Isabella’s eyes widened with surprise. She quickly came back to her senses and pushed Jasper away with all her might before he could continue making out with her. And Jasper passed out as he fell asleep on the other side of the bed.
In the darkness, Isabella could see the outline of his body. She could also smell the wine and his perfume, but it made her feel hopeless. Slightly shaking her head helplessly, she stood up, straightened her untidy clothes, and laughed to herself, So, Jasper, you’re still in love with Lily, right? It seems that I’m the one to blame for your divorce. I just made out with you and didn’t try to stop you. If you hadn’t called out Lily’s name, we might have been having sex and made a huge mistake at this point.
Having collected her thoughts, she picked up her coat from the floor and buttoned up her cardigan. Before she could put on her coat, she heard Sean call her name from outside. She then dashed to the front door. In the end, however, she paused at the door, then returned to tuck Jasper in before leaving his bedroom.
“Isabella, what’s taking you so long? What happened?” Sean asked her with concern.
“Nothing.” Isabella shook her head and picked up the things scattered on the stairs. Then, she left the house with Sean.
In the bedroom, Jasper woke up after a while. His eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet, but he was already feeling sad and self-conscious. Then he got out of bed, lifted the blanket, and went into the bathroom.
With a “click” sound, he turned on the light in the bathroom and placed one hand in front of the mirror. Seeing how haggard and tired he looked in the mirror, Jasper punched himself in the mirror. The next moment, his blood stained the mirror, which shattered into pieces. Immediately following that, he turned on the shower and tried to wash everything away.
***
At the same time, Isabella and Sean took a taxi back to school. Sean looked back at her from time to time to observe her expression. He noticed Isabella was acting strangely after she left the house, but he had no idea what had happened.
“You smell like alcohol.” Eventually, Sean decided to ask the question that had been bothering him the most.
“Jasper was drunk, so I helped him to the bedroom. He reeked of booze.” Isabella didn’t mind talking to Sean about it though she was exhausted. Later, as if lost in thought, she turned her head out the window.
Sean knew she was tired, so he didn’t say anything else. He gripped her hand tightly and followed her gaze out the window.
The next morning, Jasper awoke early and called Liam to pick him up. Before leaving, he packed up his bags and asked the maid to tell Isabella that he wouldn’t be home for a while and that he was too busy with business affairs. So, he would stay in his downtown apartment for a while and would not return home anytime soon.
After getting into the car, Jasper started to look at his laptop. Liam, who was focused on driving, asked, “Why are there so many police cars around here? Is there something wrong?”
“Sometimes, curiosity gets you in trouble,” Jasper said, raising his eyebrows.
Liam realized he had asked the wrong question and quickly shut up.
Half an hour before the senior management meeting, they arrived at the office. Liam walked into Jasper’s office, a pile of files in his arms, and briefed him on the meeting’s basic outline and the necessary details. When Jasper’s phone rang, Liam was just halfway through his speech.
Jasper frowned as soon as he received the call. “Liam, go back to my house and pick up Gary,” he said.
“Huh?” Liam was feeling a little overwhelmed after finishing the first bullet point. He hadn’t expected Jasper to ask him to do something unrelated to this important meeting. Therefore, he became perplexed and even doubted whether Jasper had heard what he had just said. He didn’t dare to say anything about it, though. So he closed the file, nodded, and then got ready to leave.
“Put it here,” Jasper said as he reached for the file.
“Okay.” Before leaving, Liam placed the file on the coffee table in front of Jasper.
Jasper had just moved his company to Birmingham, so he had a lot to deal with these days. It was a tough and tedious task, he needed to be extra focused as a result.
Several minutes later, Jasper got up and paced to the window, looking down from the tenth floor at the entire bustling city. He was at the city’s financial and commercial center, and he could see the Gabriel Group office building was two streets away.
Years ago, he went to college in the United States and stayed there after graduating. Back then, he had never imagined he’d return to England one day. After all, things did change. When he got back to England, he remembered what he had encountered here before.
At the thought of that, he felt a tinging sensation on his right hand, reminding him of what had happened between Isabella and him the night before. Still, he couldn’t figure out why he remembered something from twenty years ago when he pressed Isabella under him last night. He couldn’t even tell the difference between Lily and Isabella in his daze. Thinking about what had happened before, he got a headache.
“The meeting is about to begin, Mr. Thomas.” Someone knocked on the door, forcing Jasper to come to his senses. He then calmed down and left his office.
***
“I am opposed to transferring all the resources we have in America to the UK, and I believe we can consolidate our resources. The UK market may not be as large as the US market, and our technical capabilities are limited. This is not only a big risk to take, but we might not be able to make a profit. As a result, I don’t understand your decision,” One of the employees said to Jasper.
Jasper responded seriously, “I am not relocating resources from the United States, but rather developing a new market here. In other words, I gave up all my assets and interests in New York and transferred them to my ex-wife. You have the option of returning to New York or staying here with me. Of course, it would be best for you to stay. I am confident that I can build a whole new group within five years.”
When Jasper finished his words, the room was deafeningly quiet. “I hope you will consider it carefully,” he said before he left the room.
As Jasper left the conference room, Liam came running up to him, saying, “Mr. Thomas, the maid said Gary is missing.”
“What?!”
***
Originally, Isabella had decided not to return home this weekend because she was afraid of running into Jasper again after what had happened the night before. She didn’t expect Wendy to call her first thing in the morning and tell her that Gary had gone missing. Hearing that, her mind went blank, and she returned home right away.
When she arrived home, she was surprised to find that the police had cordoned off the entire estate, including the foot of the hill. Later, when she entered the living room, she discovered many police officers sitting on the couch. Among them, Jasper was sitting on a single couch across from Ryan, and they both seemed helpless.
“I can’t find the location of Ada’s phone now, and I can’t even confirm whether she’s still on the mountain,” Ryan stared at the laptop screen on the coffee table and said.
“Unfortunately, if her phone is turned off, we have no way of locating her. Damn it, I should’ve seen it coming. Ada’s phone must’ve been out of power as she’s out there in the mountain for days,” Frowning, Jasper said in a regretful tone.
Ryan scratched his brow, leaned back, and asked, “So, all we can do now is wait for her to turn on her phone?”
“She hasn’t yet left Birmingham, so she’ll be looking for someone to take her away. She’ll find a way to charge and turn on her phone.”
Ryan nodded. At that moment, Isabella rushed in and interrupted them, asking, “So, she took Gary away?”
Ryan did not deny it but simply replied, “This morning, the surveillance caught Gary walking to the back of the hill. There’s a hole in the fence, and he escaped through it. There is no surveillance in that area, and we don’t know if Ada finds him or not.”
When Isabella heard this, she got a headache, and her body wobbled as if she was about to fall. Seeing that, a maid ran up behind her and held her shoulders.
Before Isabella could speak, Jasper said gently, “Isabella, you should go upstairs and rest. I’ll tell you if there is any new information.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.