Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Chapter 23 I Can Make It For You Anytime You Want
Vera waited until Eric emerged from the study, walking up to him. “What’s the matter, Why do you look so upset? Did he… give you a hard time?”
Eric?
Eric had a blazer draped over one arm, brightening up at the sight of Vera. “I’m alright. Let’s go back.”
On the way home, Eric’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he thought about the conversation in the study just now.
“This is an invite to the charity gala happening in a week. I’ll send some people over to help you out. You know what to do!”
Eric took the invite from Will. “Do you want to network with the Friedman family?”
“No, I’m thinking of an arranged marriage. You’re not getting any younger; it’s time you start a family of your own. From the looks of things, the Friedmans seem like a pretty good pick.”
“Yes. I won’t let you down, Dad.”
Eric stopped the car abruptly for some reason, and Vera looked at him. “What’s the matter,
Eric?”
The next second, Eric reached out and pulled the girl into an embrace, deeply inhaling the scent of jasmine on her.
Vera was frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do. She had been with Eric for so many years, but there seemed to always be a barrier between them that neither of them was unwilling to cross.
Something was definitely off about Eric in the way he reached out to hug her on his own.
The tension in the car took a shift, and Vera slowly relaxed her body. She raised her head, propping her chin on his shoulder and stroking his back softly with her hands. “Eric… what…. what’s gotten into you? Did anything upset you?”
Eric eventually let go of her. “Vera, I’ve got some things I need to sort out. I’ll need you to live at your school dorm for a while.”
Vera was shocked. She had not expected that Eric would have asked for something like this, and could not help the sinking feeling in her chest. “Was I a burden to you?”
Eric smoothed out her tousled hair. “Of course not. You’re wonderful. Give me a little more time, alright? I promise I’ll tell you everything you want to know after you’ve graduated.”
|||
14
Vera looked into his earnest gaze, and felt her heart rate kick up on its own as she lowered her head and blushed. “Eric… alright then. I’ll listen to you.”
Eric smiled. “I’ll pick you up from school on Friday.”
Vera nodded. “Alright.”
Eric returned to the office at once after sending Vera home, and Gavin reported to him what the plan was.
Gavin Walsh was Eric’s personal assistant. He took out several documents for Eric to sign.
Clad in a black vest and gold-rimmed glasses and radiating an air of authority, Eric looked through the reports and the upcoming proposals.
It was already dark outside when the phone on his desk began to vibrate. Eric did not look away, focusing on his papers as he reached out to accept the call. “Eric Snow. Who is this?”
“Darling, I miss you so much!” A female voice rang from the phone, sultry and low.
Eric frowned. He put down the documents in his hand, leaning back in his chair and frowning in annoyance.
He seemed to hear the sound of splashing water from the call.
“You’ve got three minutes, and you’d better make them worth my time.”
“When did you turn into such a coward, Eric? What, are you scared that our little secret might get exposed? Why don’t you guess what I’m doing? I’ll go and keep you company if you get it right, you can do whatever you want to me…how about one round each in all your favorite positions?”
“Elsie, I don’t have the time to be wasting it on you. You can just turn me down outright, there’s no point testing me like this. I told you, you can get out of this anytime you want.”
Eric hung up the phone, when a message popped up on his screen.
The notification showed that it was a text from Jasper Smith.
The Mont Blanc cake you made was really good. Thank you, Eileen. I really enjoyed it.
Eileen replied soon enough.
I can make it for you anytime you want, just hit me up
Sure.
r
Eric looked at the message on the screen, his gaze a little dark.
For some reason, watching Eileen reply to another man’s text…
Eric felt like someone had taken away something that belonged to him, and it made his chest thump in discomfort.
These messages had come from spying on Eileen’s phone.
He had downloaded the surveillance app when he was at the hospital before.
After that, Eileen spent the next half an hour talking to Jasper, mostly about their interests. and hobbies when they were kids.
It was boring and dull, but Eric still read all of it.
He realized that Eileen had indeed changed quite a bit from before.
Eric read all the way until they finished talking, feeling a little frustrated out of nowhere.
He glanced at the time: a quarter to nine. He had spent over an hour on Eileen…
Over at the Swan household.
Will was out for business, and it was unclear when he would be back. Eileen was sure he wouldn’t be, not for the night.
Her father had countless women outside, it hardly mattered where he spent the night.
Having sent the final message, Eileen went upstairs to take a shower.
Sharon had been the one really making the Mont Blanc cake. Eileen herself had just helped. knead the dough and weigh out ingredients, but it wasn’t that she didn’t know how to make the dessert Sharon had simply not allowed her to do too much in fear of making her.
wounds worse.
In the past life, Eileen had learnt how to cook all kinds of things in an attempt to please Eric. She was a pretty decent chef.
After all, the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.
Eric had fallen for this, and had even become a picky eater as a result. He could hardly even eat outside anymore.
Eileen had learned to cook because Eric had stomach problems. He used to come home wasted almost every single day since taking on the Swan family company.
|||
г
34
Every time he was drunk, he would use it as an opportunity to take it out on her.
He would only stop after she had fallen unconscious.
During the worst occasion, Eric had even been hospitalized. Eileen had been the one who admitted him. The doctor said that he was bleeding internally.
Ever since then, Eileen would cook every single day. She never missed a meal, even if Eric did not like her showing up at the office.
Eileen would stand outside the company, waiting for his assistant to bring the food to him. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
Eileen once thought that Eric would never get sick of her food.
But he had still gotten sick in the end!
Their third anniversary came up eventually. Eileen cooked up a feast, waiting for him to come home.
She spent four to five hours waiting for him, and it was in the wee hours of the morning. when he was finally back.
It was snowing that day, but his words had been colder than the weather. “Eileen, it doesn’t matter even if you use different ingredients every single meal. It’ll all eventually taste the same, it’s impossible for someone to not get sick of it.”
“Don’t waste your time anymore. You’re better off focusing your time and energy on doing. yourself up and looking pretty, right now you look as disgusting as this food does.”