Chapter 79


    Chapter 79


    Gwendolyn was brimming with curiosity, but the stormy expression on Howard’s face kept her lips


    sealed tight the entire ride.


    It wasn’t until they arrived at the mansion that Gwendolyn found her voice.


    As she and Howard stepped through the door, they saw a disheveled young man in the living room, his


    face and neck a canvas of lipstick marks.


    “My fairy!” Valor’s eyes lit up at the sight of Gwendolyn, and he grabbed her arm, bubbling with


    excitement. “I must sing your praises! You’re a miracle worker!”


    “Huh?” Gwendolyn was baffled.


    “I told you I’d hail you as my savior if my problem got cured. Tonight, I was like a stallion!” His


    excitement had him blurting out every lurid detail.


    “Let go of her.” Howard’s icy gaze settled on Valor’s grip, and Valor awkwardly released Gwendolyn, his


    hands fumbling.


    “Mr. Peterson, what exactly happened tonight?” Gwendolyn had a sinking feeling.


    At her question, Valor’s enthusiasm reignited.


    With animated gestures, he boasted, “I’ve been on fire for days. Tonight, I took three supermodels to a


    hotel and boy, I did it! For the first time in years, I was a champ! They couldn’t stop praising me!”


    They? A hotel?


    Valor was quite the yboy.


    Gwendolyn marveled at his audacity to spill such tales without shame.


    “Just as things were heating up, two bouncers burst in and dragged me here! Howard, are you jealous


    that I’ve regained my manhood?”


    Valor looked at Howard with usation and hurt.


    Howard took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. If he hadn’t had Valor watched, the whole of


    Bayridge City would have known about his miraculous recovery by morning, sshed across every


    news outlet.


    Gwendolyn, the gifted healer who cured his chronic ailment, would be exposed.


    With his loose lips, Valor would brag to anyone who’d listen.


    “Who else knows about this?” Howard’s voice was deadly calm, and he yed absently with a knife on


    the coffee table, bathed in the chandelier’s glow that sharpened his features with an intimidating chill.


    1/2


    11.07


    Just those three models, Valor barely dared to breathe.


    Howardmanded, “Pay them off to keep quiet.”


    Valor bristled at that. “Why! I should be unting my newfound prowess, hiring them to spread the word


    of my conquests. Why silence them?”


    He had suffered humiliation for years. Finally, it was his turn to crow.


    Howard was deliberately thwarting him!


    “I won’t! I refuse!”


    Thunk. The knife flew from Howard’s hand, embedding itself in the mahogany coffee


    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    table.


    Valor’s knees weakened, and he looked on the verge of tears. “Are you that envious of me finally being


    a real man?”


    The air turned ice cold.


    Howard’s face was a mask of fury. “Envy you? Hardly.”


    Valor sniffled and said, “Gwendolyn is your wife, a brilliant healer. She’ll cure you in time. Why do you


    envy me?”


    Gwendolyn hesitated before speaking, “Mr. Chadwick isn’t jealous. He’s concerned about me.”


    SP


    “Gwen, don’t make excuses for him. Men will be men. It’s all apetition.”


    “Mr. Peterson, I implore you to keep it to yourself. My methods must remain secret for now. Besides,


    you’re not fully healed,” Gwendolyn implored earnestly. “Taking those tonics three times a day is just


    depleting your reserves. You should follow my advice and recuperate properly.”


    She added, “I can give you regr acupuncture sessions to restore vitality.”


    Valor’s imagination kicked into overdrive.


    Could Gwendolyn be the disciple of some reclusive master healer burdened with a great mission that


    demanded secrecy? But then, what role did Waldo y?