Tina was in shock. She kept staring at Jean's face, puzzled. Was this really true?
For Jean, it made sense not to ask anything because she didn't know the whole story.
But Zed was her husband now. It was only natural for him to want to tell Jean everything.
Why would he even try to keep Jean in the dark? They already had a baby on the way now.
Jean registered Tina's puzzlement and sighed. Understating, she said, "Don't bother yourself figuring out why he didn't tell me. Truth is, he'd been hinting he wanted to tell me everything about him for a long time but I stopped him every time. You know, I didn't marry him for his fortune or social status. If I had come to know about it, it would've become difficult to bury my head in the sand..."
"Bury your head in the sand?"
Tina couldn't process it for a while, but soon understood, staring at Jean's face in awe.
All Jean could manage to do was smile forcefully with a hint of confession in her tone. "It is true. I am running away from reality. You might know, before I married Zed, my family just treated me like a tool to get whatever they wanted. My father made me marry Zed, just to get a piece of land. Of course, Zed took advantage of the situation and married me because he loved me." Jean looked down at her hands, intertwined in her lap. After a brief pause, she continued, "What I mean to say is, even now that we technically share everything, for me, Zed's social status is untouchable. Even after having gone through so much, he's sacred to me because of who he is. And it has nothing to do with how much power or money he has. He truly is godly to me. Which is why I really don't care about the details of his fortune and status I have already accepted my position in his life and it is only to love and be loved by him, devoid of any monetary involvements.
As a woman, I don't even want to compare myself to him in such criterion. I don't have to be proud of myself as the wife of a billionaire. Instead, only for taking his tantrums and experiencing his most natural self, while I get to exercise the same. I can't even compare myself to you and Avery. At least, you two are independent financially, but I…"
She did't finish, looking up at Tina, smiling sheepishly for a split second before sighing.
Tina struggled to find words to comfort Jean even though she completely understood her.
"Jean, don't belittle yourself,"
“Do you still want to run away after what happened last night?”
Their relationship changes overnight. She tries to keep her distance from him, while he comes closer and closer.
Spoiling her, he gives her everything she desires. His only wish is to keep her around. The whole world is envious of what she has.
“Never rush in a relationship,” she says calmly.
were to leave.
Their relationship as lovers had just started. It would do them good to spend some time alone. There was so much growth and strength they had yet to acquire as a couple.
But there was also a selfish reason for Jean to want Juan to go away. She didn't wish for him to follow them to Imperial Capital, which he was sure to do, fun seeking as he was.
It wasn't that she didn't like Juan, just that this trip was almost like a honeymoon she and Zed never had.
Who wants a friend third-wheeling on a honeymoon? Or, even an almost-honeymoon?
Excited, she took her phone and called Zed up.
This was urgent. Preemptive action was the right strategy to avoid the uninvited guest. Hmmm.
The phone rang for a long time. Just as she was about to hang up, someone picked up. But it wasn't Zed. A woman responded, "Hello. Who is that?"Jean was shook. The voice was something most people would decree as quite sexy and absolutely enchanting.
Maybe, she had dialed the wrong number?
Jean looked at the phone screen again to make sure.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she confirmed it was Zed's number. She knew the number by her heart, so much so she hadn't even saved it on her phone.
So, why was a woman answering his phone number. Why would he let anyone else even answer?
And of course, Jean's number was saved on Zed's phone.
'Why would she ask who I am?' she wondered as her heart began to race.
Jean squinted, darting her eyes from cloud to cloud, thinking, trying to make sense of what had just happened and ended up asking out loud to thin air, coldly, "Who are you?"