She started eavesdropping at the door.
Chloe wanted to eavesdrop if Eddie was talking about her marriage with Cormac with Jeffery, so she walked downstairs. Seeing that her mother was eavesdropping, she asked with a frown, “Mom, what are you doing?”
“Shush!
“Come over,” Mrs. Chambers whispered to her daughter.
Chloe came over. “What are they talking about now?”
Mrs. Chambers let her eavesdrop.
Chloe was quite curious, following her mother to lean against the crack.
“Who told you those things?” Eddie tried his best to be calm.
However, his brain worked fast, wondering how he could deceive Jeffery.
“How can I question you without any firm evidence. If you are eager to let Chloe marry Cormac, you can tell me directly. Don’t you know how close we are? How can I ignore your request? I gave you a suggestion but I didn’t keep my words. I should apologize to you. But isn’t it so improper to do those things behind my back?”
Eddie was in a panic. “Do you have the evidence?”
That was quite fatal.
“We are pals for so many years. Tell me honestly — you spent so much effort and time. Why do you want Chloe to marry Cormac so much?”
Eddie was silent.
Suddenly, the door of the study was pushed open. Standing at the door, Mrs. Chambers said, “I know why he spent so much effort to let Chloe marry Cormac Mendelsohn.”
Everyone gazed at her, including Chloe, who was completely shocked.
Eddie suddenly stood up, snapping, “I’m talking to Jeffery. Who allows you to come in?”
Mrs. Chambers looked at her husband. “I’ve married you for so many years. I’ve been working hard and taking care of you. Have I ever turned you down on your request?”
Eddie couldn’t utter any word. His wife was quite virtuous, taking care of this family and their daughter, serving him.
“I’m talking to Jeffery. Why did you break in? You are a woman. What on earth do you know? Put down the tea and go out.” Eddie didn’t continue speaking in a loud voice and he calmed down a bit. Since Jeffery was there, if he reacted too excited, it would seem as if he was trying to hide something.
However, his eyes were full of warnings when he gazed at his wife.
Mrs. Chambers stared at him, feeling quite upset. “After I’ve married you, you became the center of my life. However, I won’t listen to you this time.”
Chloe was standing aside. Her gaze swept between her parents. “Mom, what are you doing?”
Mrs. Chambers looked at her daughter with reddish eyes. “I want you to know what’s on your father’s mind.”
Eddie was in a panic. “You, get out!”
If it were in the past, in face of her furious husband, Mrs. Chambers would definitely leave. However, she couldn’t let her husband immerse in his obsession and even pay the price of her daughter’s future. She walked in, put down the tea plate, walked to the bookshelf, and pulled out a book, named The Strategies.
With a livid face, Eddie gazed at her. Jeffery and Chloe were quite curious, wondering what she would take out. They stared at her without a blink.
Under all the gazes, Mrs. Chambers found a photo from the book.
Chloe had never seen such a photo before, and neither did she know who the girl in the photo was. However, Jeffery could recognize that was a photo of his younger sister.
He walked over, took the photo over from Mrs. Chambers’s hands. It was taken when Jolene was fifteen. She was wearing a white dress, loosed hair, and standing under a big tree in the yard. Her features were still childish, but faintly she looked delicate and pretty. Particularly her eyes, which were as clear and bright as stars, made others unforgettable after a glimpse.
Under the light, Jeffery found there were words behind the photo. He turned it over and saw Jolene’s name and the time were there.
The time was the year when Jeffery joined the military.
He looked back at Eddie. “What is this?”
Eddie turned away, looking at nobody at the scene.
Mrs. Chambers wanted to smile, but she failed. Her whole body was stiffed. “I always know that he has a beloved woman, but I’ve never wanted to find it out. But now, I can’t ignore it. He’s already nuts!” In the beginning, she didn’t know that Eddie was in love with another woman. As a husband, he treated her quite coldly. After having sex with her, he would lock himself in the study.
At first, she thought that it was because of Eddie’s character, so she accepted it gradually. Shortly after Chloe was born, she found that he had hidden a girl’s photo. Once, she came to look for something in the study. By accident, she knocked down that book, from which a photo fell.
Mrs. Chambers wanted to question Eddie why he had hidden another girl’s photo, but for their daughter’s sake and because the girl on the photo didn’t look mature, Mrs. Chambers thought she had overthought.
Later, after having sex with her, Eddie would still stay in the study for while. Hence, she deliberately broke in without knocking on the door and found he was looking at the photo at that time.
Mrs. Chambers was quite upset at that time and wanted to question him. However, she was afraid and didn’t. She was afraid that her daughter might be hurt, and also, she loved Eddie.
“You’ve spent so much effort, isn’t it because you just want Chloe to marry the son of the woman you’ve loved secretly for so many years?”
Mrs. Chambers covered her mouth. All her suppressed tolerance broke out at this time. She had never told anyone about her bitterness at all. She couldn’t speak it out.
How could she tell others that her husband was in love with another woman? How could she tell others that during having sex, when her husband was moved, he would call another woman’s name?
She felt too ashamed.
Chloe gaped. “Dad, is what Mom said true?”
Eddie’s body stiffed, faintly trembling.
“Dad, say something!” Chloe couldn’t accept this matter. Her father urged her to marry Cormac in the name that for the family’s own good.
However, it was just because of his selfish purpose.
Jeffery stood with hands behind his back. Looking at Eddie, he asked, “I also want to know what’s going on here.”
“Do you still remember that I went to your house when we first joined the army that year?” Eddie didn’t look back. His voice was suppressing.
“Of course.” Jeffery wouldn’t forget that day.
“I was waiting for you in the living room…”
It was a pretty nice day that day. The sun was shining in the early summer, but it wasn’t hot at all. It was just warm.
With a long-sleeved T-shirt, Eddie was standing in the living room. Suddenly, someone clung to his back, covered his eyes, and asked in an extremely soft and sweet voice, “Guess who I am!”
The girl spoke in his ear. While speaking, she exhaled on the skin behind his ear. He felt numb and tickled. He could even smelt the faint scent from the girl.
Obviously, the person who was so intimate to him was a girl. His heart was hammering.
Jeffery went downstairs after changing his clothes. Seeing that his sister was covering Eddie’s eyes, he asked in confusion, “Jolene, what are you doing?” Looking at Jeffery at the stairs, Jolene stiffed. In a hurry, she let go of the man.
New Book: Beginning with a Daring Encounter
Celsie was tired of being labeled as an introvert, workaholic, and dull virgin by her friends. Determined to prove them wrong, she made a bet that she would do something daring on her 25th birthday. Now that the day had arrived, it was time to fulfill her promise. On her daring to-do list, there was one task: a one-night stand with someone.