148 Verbal Fight!

John woke up first, gazing at Catherine's sleeping form. Half of her thighs were exposed, so he made sure her entire body was covered by the blanket.

He rose to his feet and picked up their scattered clothes one by one, he starts donning all his clothes to his body. He folded her clothes neatly and placed it near her head. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I will be back shortly...love," he whispers into her ears.

John exited the room, walked towards the adjacent room and pushed the door open. He entered the room, Jerome is wide awake, watching him.

Both men's eyes were fiercely clashing at each other. Jerome was throwing daggers at John, the latter did the same.

John was smirking at Jerome. "You like the live show we prepared for you, eh? I bet you wish you are the one who is fucking Catherine instead of me, isn't it?" he was mocking him and was he grinning from ear to ear feeling like he was the ultimate winner of a one-sided war that is going on between them. "Too bad Jerome, you can only watch with envy but you can never taste Catherine's body as I do. Do you want to know how many times we made love? Many times that I can no longer count with my fingers. You know now how much she loves it when I fuck her. I am the only one who can make her happy and satisfied in bed. You must have seen her face when I fuck her, eh? You can never reach that level with her. You can only dream, wish and die, but you will never be able to hear Catherine moan your name! You're such a fucking loser! A scumbag!"

Jerome wanted to cuss John and wipe the smug smile on his face but the duct tape was firmly plastered on his mouth he can only growl at him in frustration.

John glared at him. "You want to talk---?" he asked taunting him further.

Jerome nodded...

"Let me think a second if you deserve to have a privilege to talk...," answered John in a cold voice, he stared at Jerome with hostility and contempt in his eyes.

John sauntered closer to the mirror and covered it with a black garment totally concealing the entire length of the mirror as if it doesn't exist at all.

He was only planning to allow Jerome to talk when he and Catherine will come face to face to each other but he changed his mind on the last minute, he walked towards Jerome and removed the duct tape from his mouth. The room was soundproof so even if he will scream or shout no one can hear him. Just in case his voice will get through the adjacent room and Catherine wakes up then so be it...she will know about him anyway.

"You're crazy as hell, John! Let's see how will Catherine react if she knows about the two-way mirror! " shouted Jerome, gritting his teeth in anger.

John laughed derisively at him. "And what will Catherine do if she knows you are attempting to r-ape her with a knife in her room? You will rot in jail for sure, Jerome!"

"You and your men have no evidence to prove that am guilty of your so-called charges!" Jerome laughed diabolically.

John's eyes grow darker with each passing seconds. He would like very much to put a bullet in Jerome's head right now but he's not worth it, he won't smear his hands with this guy's pathetic blood. John went to the table on the corner and grabs a sharp knife, he walked back towards Jerome and brandishes it on his horrified face. "If you tell Catherine about the mirror I will give myself the honor to cut your tongue and chopped them into tiny pieces and feed it back to you! You hear me! Bear it in your mind!" he growled sneering at him.

Jerome gritted his teeth. He knew that John and his men can do great damage to him physically if he will antagonize them further. So, the best recourse, for now, is to keep his mouth shut for the time being. The only person who can save him right now is Catherine. If he will apologize and asked forgiveness to her and promise to her that he will never bother her again and stay away from her for good, she might listen.

John stared at Jerome hard, anger oozing from his nostrils. "What----? Why the sudden silence, Jerome? Afraid---? Or are you planning now in your mind how to convince Catherine to set you free? You bastard!"

Jerome smirked at John. "You certainly look ugly, John! I wonder why Catherine like you instead of me? You are first and foremost a rapist yourself! You seemed to forget that! Don't pretend you are a holy guy in front of me! You are worse than me!" he would like very much to spat on his ugly face.

John let out a throaty laughed. "In Catherine's eyes am not his rapist, I am the love of her life. I am the guy she loves so much. I am the guy she was going to marry soon, isn't that clear enough for you?!" he said in a sarcastic voice. "But you...she can never love you! As long I'm alive she is mine! She will forever belong in my arms!" he added. While in his mind, he wonders how Jerome knew about his first encounter with Catherine, probably from Thelma?

Jerome bowed his head pretending he was feeling dejected and desolate. He will never win against John because he got the upper hand, with his situation right now John and his men can easily trample him like he was a tiny defenseless ant among the giants, he doesn't want to waste his remaining strength in a verbal fighting him, he might as well starts thinking now on how to convince Catherine, he will appeal on her soft-hearted side 'coz every woman has that side of them. They've been friends once, he had been treating her nicely in her early days in the restaurant. Hopefully, she will consider his good deeds before condemning him for good.

Jerome just realized now that he doesn't want to rot in jail, his family in the province especially his siblings were depending on him solely for their school tuition and other school expenses every month. He had a hard time accepting right now how he ended this way? How on earth did he become so stupid and so reckless with his obsession for one woman? He released a deep sigh, sorrow and shame start to drown him into the abyss of hell. He regretted now that he didn't listen to Mark's advice. If he can only turn back time, he would have stopped his madness early on so that things won't escalate this far. Deep inside he was hoping and praying it wasn't too late yet...

John was reading Jerome's face. A myriad of emotion was flashing on the guy's face. He can see regrets in his eyes right now, however, he didn't feel any pity for him at all. He put back the knife in the table and walked out of the room quietly.

He went back inside the room where Catherine was sleeping.