Chapter 6 Are you still a man?

After Jessica returned to China, she stayed in the old house for only two months before she resolutely moved out. She chose an apartment by the river as her new home, which had a beautiful environment. More importantly, it was located at the north and south ends of the city, echoing the old house of the Smith family, as if they were two completely different worlds.

The wind by the river is always so strong, the north wind is howling, and the leaves are dancing wildly in the wind, making a loud noise. Paul followed Jessica out of the car, picked up a drugstore bag from the passenger seat, and gently handed it to her.

" Mr. Thomas specifically asked me to buy this for you." Jessica was a little surprised. She remembered that Paul had stopped at the door of a pharmacy on the way and said he wanted to buy hangover medicine for Timothy. She didn't expect that he would prepare it for her. She reached out to take the bag and gently opened it. Inside was a box of anti-swelling ointment.

Jessica raised her hand and gently stroked her cheek, her eyes trembling slightly. Although the ointment was not worth much, she was deeply moved by the thought that someone could think of her pain when she was alone and helpless.

"Please thank my uncle for me," she said softly.

Paul nodded to indicate that he would convey the message, but he did not leave immediately, as if he had something else to say.

"Jessica , there is something..." He hesitated, his eyes revealing a hint of hesitation. Jessica signaled him to speak directly, and Paul finally spoke: " Sophia from Changsheng Group seems to have some inappropriate thoughts about our Mr. Thomas . Mr. Thomas has clearly rejected it, but she doesn't seem to give up."

Sophia from Changsheng Group? Jessica was shocked. Could it be Sophia? Sophia likes Timothy? How is this possible! Although Timothy is the dream bachelor of many single women in Jiangyu City, hasn't Sophia always had a special liking for Daniel? Could it be that she really changed her mind?

Jessica quickly suppressed her surprise and began to speculate on Paul 's intention in telling her this.

" So Paul , you want me to help Sophia get rid of her thoughts about her uncle, right? Don't worry, I'll take care of it." She said firmly.

Timothy had helped her a lot, so she should share his worries. Paul smiled and expressed his gratitude: "Then I'll trouble you, Jessica."

"It should be." Jessica responded.

"Jessica," Paul adjusted his glasses and said with a half-smile, "In fact, tonight I thought you would use the grace of saving your life to ask Mr. Thomas to marry you."

Jessica was stunned: "?"

Paul continued: "If you marry Mr. Thomas , you will become Justin 's elder. When he sees you, he will have to respectfully call you aunt, and you can do whatever you want to him. Second, if you marry Mr. Thomas , you will find Jiang Yu's biggest backer, and no one will dare to bully you in the future. Third, if you marry Mr. Thomas, you will steal the man that Sophia likes. There is no better revenge than this, and Alexander and Mrs. Smith will not dare to be partial to him anymore."

He analyzed each point clearly, and finally said meaningfully: "So, I thought that after you proposed to dissolve the marriage, you would want to marry Mr. Thomas , because this is your best way out."

Jessica was silent for a moment, Paul 's words seemed to open a new door for her. Yes, why didn't she think of it! Becoming Justin 's elder and using the status of an elder to discipline him; hugging Jiang Yu's thickest thigh, no one dared to bully him from now on; snatching away Sophia's beloved man... These ideas made her feel excited.

However, this idea was quickly extinguished by her. How could Timothy marry her? She was his nephew's fiancée. If he married her, how would he save face? For a man like Timothy, face is more important than anything else. If she really opened her mouth, I'm afraid Timothy would slap her to death. She didn't dare to have such an unreasonable thought.

…

After seeing Paul off , Jessica returned home with her bag. The apartment by the river was spacious, more than 190 square meters, but it seemed empty when she lived alone. When she opened the door, the room was pitch black, and a cold air hit her. She turned on the light, but it didn't seem to add much popularity.

After the dispute in the old house and the ordeal in the water, Jessica's spirit that had been holding on all the way finally collapsed. She closed the door, bent her straight back, kicked off her high heels, and didn't even have the energy to put on slippers, so she walked barefoot to the study.

She took out a heavy black diary from the drawer and sank deeply into the sofa. This diary recorded Justin 's various deductions. Every time she gave him a number, she would write down the reason for the deduction in detail in the diary.

Jessica flipped through the pages and came to the last page. The last record was before the cold war, minus 98 points, which was the main reason for the cold war between the two. The traces of her handwriting were very heavy, even puncturing the paper, which showed how angry she was at the time.

When the two were taking wedding photos that day, Justin suddenly received a call and ran away without saying hello. She lifted her skirt, stepped on high heels, and led a group of people to search for a long time, and even sprained her ankle. When she was about to call the police, Justin's phone finally got through.

"Violet's car had a rear-end collision, so I took her to the hospital. The wedding photos have been postponed for a few days." His words were full of anxiety.

She was very angry. The photographer was her teacher abroad and a master in the photography industry. He was specially invited when she returned home to visit her family. She paid special attention to the wedding photos with Justin and strived for perfection in every detail. However, there was only one set left to shoot and it could be finished in ten minutes, but Justin couldn't even wait ten minutes.

Car rear-end collision? How could it be such a coincidence! On the day she and Justin confirmed the wedding date, Violet missed a step when going down the stairs and fell into the hospital. Justin stayed in the hospital for three days; on the day of choosing the wedding house, Violet was blocked by gangsters, and Justin rushed over to beat the man and even went to the police station; on the day of choosing the ring, Violet had a fever, and Justin asked her to get off the car halfway and left her in the rain to accompany Violet. The ring has not been chosen yet. This time when taking wedding photos, Violet rear-ended again...

Anyway, whenever she and Justin were together for more than half a day, something would always happen to Violet . And in that rear-end collision, Violet didn't even have any skin injuries, it wasn't a rear-end collision at all, the other car was parked on the side of the road, and it was Violet who hit it herself.

She told Justin that Violet did it on purpose, but Justin called her vicious and heartless. She slapped Violet , and Justin slapped her too. That slap had already made her heart dead. The subsequent stubbornness was only because she was unwilling to give up because she still had two chances.

Jessica turned the diary back to the first page, pinched the thin paper with her cold fingertips, pulled it down, tore off the entire page, and then tore it into pieces and threw it into the trash can. She tore the entire diary into pieces, and then removed all traces of Justin in the house . In fact, there was not much. After she returned to China, Justin had fallen in love with Violet , and he had never set foot in this apartment. What she threw away were all the gifts she had shamelessly asked him for - lighters that were not expensive but full of memories, rag dolls from street stalls, his keychains...

Throwing away the things would be fine, but what was more troublesome were the photos on the wall. Those were all taken by her for him. She had a camera specifically for taking pictures of him, and she took a wall of photos and organized them into two albums. Now she wanted to throw them all away, leaving nothing behind.

After cleaning up, Jessica found three beautifully wrapped but slightly old boxes from the bottom of the bedside table. These were gifts she bought with her own money before returning to China. She originally planned to... but now there is no need to give them away. She gently stroked the lines on the boxes with mixed feelings.

The scarf for Miriam , the pen for Alexander , and the watch for Daniel , these gifts that were once prepared to be given, now lie quietly in the trash can downstairs. They, along with the items left by Justin , were discarded by Jessica , as if saying goodbye to the past.

Today, she finally ended the love that almost consumed her entire youth, and at the same time, she personally cut off the last trace of ties with her family. After dealing with these relics, Jessica sat dejectedly on the sofa, her eyes empty and her thoughts drifting away. It was not until the feeling of thirst brought her back to reality that she stood up and mechanically poured herself a glass of water.

After drinking the water, she stood there, at a loss. After a moment, she decided to clean up, trying to fill the emptiness in her heart with busyness.

At this time, Candice quietly opened the door with the apartment key and fingerprint record. She saw Jessica holding a mop, wiping the floor mechanically, as if she had lost all her vitality.

"Candice? Aren't you on a business trip?" Jessica looked up, her eyes dazed, and it took her a while to recognize Candice in front of her.

Candice noticed Jessica 's abnormality at first sight, and tears welled up in her eyes instantly. She gently kicked the door shut, dropped her bag, walked quickly towards Jessica , and hugged her tightly.

" Baby, let me hug you." Candice 's voice was choked with sobs. She looked at Jessica with heartache. This once proud and enthusiastic girl seemed to be broken at the touch.

Candice had received the video from Charles on the way here, and had heard a little about what happened to the Smith family tonight. She cursed Justin in her heart and felt indignant about what happened to Jessica.

…

At the same time, Paul parked the car steadily in the courtyard of the club, and then sent a message to Timothy to inform him of his return. The card game in the box was still going on, but Timothy had no intention of playing anymore. He threw down the cards in his hand and left first.

Charles won several games in a row and was in a good mood. He wanted to play a few more games, but when he saw Timothy leave, he had to give up. The car started slowly, and Timothy asked, "Have you bought the medicine for her?"

"I bought it," Paul responded as he turned the steering wheel. "Jessica asked me to thank you for her."

Timothy leaned back in the back seat, exhausted from frequent business trips and poor sleep. Adding to the alcohol he had just drunk, he felt a little overwhelmed.

Paul hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but voice out his doubts: "Mr. Thomas, are you really... planning to marry Jessica?" He was originally just a driver, responsible for sending Jessica home, but Timothy specifically asked him to buy medicine and said those suggestive words. This shocked and curious him.

Timothy just said "hmm" softly, as if he had expected Paul's reaction. Seeing this, Paul didn't dare to ask any more questions. The car fell into a brief silence, with only the sound of the engine echoing in his ears.

Suddenly, the phone rang and broke the silence. It was Justin calling.

" Uncle, did Jessica complain to you?" Justin 's voice was anxious and uneasy. He had just sent Violet home and had supper with her when he saw the message from Timothy. His first reaction was that Jessica had complained to Timothy.

" Uncle, did Jessica say something bad about Violet ? I've already promised to marry her, what else does she want from me?" Justin 's tone revealed a hint of dissatisfaction and complaint. Too many things happened tonight, making him a little out of control.

Timothy 's voice was calm and cold, as if it could penetrate all hypocrisy and lies: " Justin , don't be so hypocritical. Why did you agree not to break off the engagement? Don't you have any idea in your mind? Jessica only said that she wanted to break off the engagement with you, and didn't mention anyone else." His tone was full of contempt and ridicule, "You are guilty, but you still want to throw dirty water on her? Justin , are you still a man?"

These words were like an invisible hurricane, tearing off Justin 's fig leaf. He did reluctantly agree not to break off the engagement because of Timothy 's threat. At the beginning, Timothy had clearly told him: "If you don't break off the engagement, you will be given 2% of the shares; if you break off the engagement, the shares will be given to Jessica as compensation. You decide." Although he fell in love with Violet and wanted to marry her, as a man, he also longed for power and status. Although he is a distinguished young master in Thomas family , his shares are far less than Timothy's . Although the 2% shares are not much, they are enough for him to surpass his cousin who has been secretly competing with him. So he chose shares and Jessica . However, this choice made him feel embarrassed and humiliated. He didn't want Jessica to know this secret and control him or threaten him, so he kept this secret deep in his heart.

Faced with Timothy 's questioning and ridicule, Justin didn't dare to refute, and could only say embarrassedly: "Uncle, don't worry, I won't cancel the engagement. I will marry Jessica . It's just a misunderstanding tonight... I just called Jessica and her phone was turned off. Maybe it was out of power... I will go to her tomorrow and explain the misunderstanding to her..."

Timothy listened to his endless chatter and finally lost his patience: "Don't be late by 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, otherwise you will bear the consequences!" After saying that, he hung up the phone.