Chapter 28

Tristan took Phoebe home and she couldn’t stop feeling happy on the inside. She felt she has really successfully crushed every soft spot Tristan might have had for Cora. And she felt that he might really take her seriously now.She just had to continue acting like a saint,the perfect saint for him. As Tristan pulled up in front of her house,she said to him with tears filled eyes. “I’ll be fine,Tristan.You don’t have to worry.And please do forgive Cora and her friend.I’m sure they didn’t mean to…” “You need to stop making excuses for people.What Cora and her friend did to you is unacceptable!” Phoebe sighed,heavily and did her best to look even more pitiful. She briefly wondered what Tristan would do if he knew that she had been framing and lying against Cora all along? She quickly shook her head,shaking off that thought. He’d never find out about it. And that was why she had to get rid of Cora from his life as soon as possible. “I…still love you, Tristan.”She confessed wanting to move what they had to another level.”I…wish we could get back together.” She stared at his face trying to weigh his reaction but it was expressionless. And then he asked.”Does you hand still hurt?” She nodded,sadly. “I’m really sorry about that.” She sighed,hating that he had changed the topic but she wasn’t willing to give up. “Will you leave to come in for coffee?” She had expected that he would refuse but he didn’t. He got down from his car and they walked into his house. Phoebe hurried into the kitchen and got busy making the coffee,wondering what else she could do to make this man hers,completely! She wanted him to acknowledge her,to spell it to her that they were in a relationship again. When she served him the coffee,she turned on TV and then occasionally glanced at him as he took sips after sips of his coffee. Unable to help herself,she leaned into him and brought her lips closer to his but he pulled her back. Phoebe blinked at him, surprised at his refusal. “Please,Tristan,I need you.” “I am not in the mood.” “Let me put you in the mood.”She moved her hand to his crotch but he held it. “Phoebe…” “What’s wrong?We did this before…” “That was a mistake.I was drunk.”He reminded. She stared at him,speechlessly.”So you mean…you’ve never had the urge to sleep with me after that night.” She stared at his face knowing that the answer was no but he tried to be polite. “I…I think we should take things slow.I just got out of a marriage with a disastrous woman and I…I do not want to rush into anything.” Phoebe sighed,dejectedly but she tried to look at the bright side. He said they should take things slow. That meant he was considering a relationship with her,right? She smiled at him and nodded.”Fine.Can you spend the night here then. I promise I won’t do anything.You can use the guest room if you want.I’m sure you wouldn’t want to put up with Cora tonight.” She had a point and so he decided to spend the night in her guest room. But Phoebe wanted to give Cora the impression that she and Tristan had spent a passionate night together. ************* *TRISTAN* I had a good sleep that night,probably because of how I didn’t sleep a wink the previous night. As soon as I woke up.I headed straight to the company. There was an old saying that those who work with their brains will rule and those who labor with physical strength were governed by others.Even so,it was not necessarily easier for those who work with their brains to live than those who labor with physical strength. On the contrary,the former paid more efforts,they usually lived more tired and troubled. Fortunately,I had been familiar with affairs of human life since I was a child and was not afraid of the former.No matter how fearless I was,I had to do many things by myself.No one could do a lot of things for me. How bad my temper was,how good a skill I had.It was well-known that I had a bad temper but I was also known for my stability,accuracy and fierceness in business. For one whole week,I didn’t return back to my house.I just didn’t want to deal with any woman so I just hurried myself with work. ************* *CORA* I felt Tristan was doing this purposely to make me mad. He was definitely staying with Phoebe now after that incident. I wasn’t mad,I had already accepted my fate that he belonged to Phoebe now. And I felt so free for that one week,I went to buy a lovely Labrador puppy for Winnie. The dog was so clever that it learned to use the potty in four days. Winnie named the dog,Lily because she needed to get a health certificate or a dog breeding certificate.I had been busy with this matter for a week and I had no time to think about how Tristan would feel about the dog. Lily was very obedient and liked to be around people.Winnie seem to be very happy with the dog. The dog seemed to like me a lot too for it would wait for me everyday by the door. After one week,it was a Monday morning when I went to work as usual.I still haven’t seen Tristan. But then Dylan came by the company. Today,he was dressed in a gray suit and he looked very handsome and professional. I hadn’t seen him since the incident with Phoebe and it felt as if he had changed in a week. “Hey,Cora.”He began. I smiled at him.”What’s with this look?” “I figured it was time to take my family business seriously.My old man has been on my neck.” I laughed and we sat down to talk. “So what’s brings you here?” “I’m here to talk about business.” “What kind of business?” “My company need a new supplier.Will you like to cooperate with us?” I figured I had to grab onto any business proposal I could get at this moment so as to survive Tristan’s claws. I nodded,happily. After the meeting,the two of us went to a restaurant. As always,I had a good time with Dylan. He said the first project was to open two more large-scale supermarkets in the city. I was happy that he seemed to be excited about working now. After dinner,Dylan headed back to his company while I was sorting the documents he had brought with him. Tristan hasn’t been home in a week and this past week,that pervert Marcus had chosen this week to pay Tristan a visit at the house registry and since he couldn’t find Tristan,he kept throwing remarks about us being divorced. It seemed he was determined to get to the root no matter what. I have never seen anyone who wanted the downfall of Tristan as much as Marcus did. Sometimes,I feel bad for Tristan for having such evil relatives. *********** When I came back home,I found Winnie was waiting for me at the door with a strange look on her face. “What’s wrong,Winnie?” “Cora,Mr Godoy brought a woman home.And it seems she’d be living here from now on.” No one needed the tell me who that woman was. I thought he wanted to keep our divorce a secret? But he had the nerves to bring his mistress home?! I pretended to be calm and walked into the house. Tristan was sitting on the sofa and Phoebe was sitting beside him. On seeing me,Phoebe leaned against Tristan,affectionately. Oh I despise the pretentious look on Phoebe’s face. “Tristan,what the hell do think you’re doing?”I thundered. “What?I’m a bachelor now.What’s wrong with having a girlfriend?You of all people shouldn’t judge me for this.You were following different men when we were married and even recently went on a trip to enjoy yourself.So what’s wrong with me having someone of my own.” I glanced back to Winnie who looked shocked. She was probably figuring it out now that Tristan and I were divorced. I stared back at Tristan and sighed. He was right now. We were divorced and he could really be with whoever he wanted. I just didn’t want to be in this house and witnessed all of this but he wouldn’t let me go either. God,I feel so stuck. So frustratingly stuck. Looking at the bright smiles on their faces,I felt heartbroken and I headed upstairs. “From now on,you should sleep in the guest room,Phoebe would sleep in your room.” I stared at him when he said that and his eyes were narrowed at me. I shrugged.”I don’t mind giving her what I don’t want.Afterall,she’s been taking everything worthless to me recently so she should keep on doing that because she’s doing me a huge favor.”