Chapter 139 A Fresh Start


    At daybreak, Edric opened his eyes after a deep sleep. Looking at Irene who was still sleeping beside


    him, he anxiously hugged her and nted a kiss on her forehead. "Irene, I''m sorry!"


    The previous night, he knew how crazy he had been, but he couldn''t control it. In the car, he was still


    trying his best to keep it together with sheer willpower. But the moment he returned home and saw


    Irene, he lost all his control. He had to have her right there and then.


    He fiercely made love to her once on the couch. That managed to somewhat calm down the heat inside


    him a little. He held Irene in his arms and asked for forgiveness. Regardless of her punches and kicks,


    he took her back to the bedroom. He wanted to give her a bath, but within minutes, his desire started


    burning inside him again. Hence, he ended up making love to her again.


    He heard Irene begging for mercy, but he could not stop himself.


    Irene''s body was full of marks from the day before. Edric reached out his hand and gently touched one


    on her bare neck. His eyes were pitch-ck. Margaret had used her birthday to trap him; was she


    trying to make him cut her off?


    He was not a rebellious child, and he looked down on those who were. He had always believed that a


    person who was not kind to their parents should not be treated as a person as well.


    He knew how hard Margaret had worked for him, and because of that he had allowed Margaret to do


    whatever she liked in the past. But now when he found out what Margaret was capable of, Edric felt


    extremely disappointed.


    How could she do something so immoral? He was loyal to her but not blindly so. Margaret had gone


    too far this time; he definitely would not let this go.


    He couldn''t forget Lily of course. He had always thought that Lily was kind, but that impression had


    but behind his back, she had colluded with Margaret to carry out such a despicable scheme.


    No matter what kind of reasons or excuses Lily had, she knew clearly that the woman he loved was


    Irene. Despite knowing he would never leave Irene, she still proceeded to plot against him. That was


    enough to show him how terrible of a person she was.


    Thinking about how guilty he used to feel towards her, he found himself incredibly naive. Luckily, he


    had kept an eye on her. Otherwise, he and Irene would really be in deep trouble.


    Irene wiggled in his embrace and opened her eyes. "Irene, you''re awake!" Edric''s eyes were twinkling


    with guilt.


    Irene felt aches all over her body. "Edric, were you insanest night?"


    "Irene, I''m sorry!" Edric apologized.


    Irene was about to scold him when she noticed the scars on his bare skin. The previous night, Edric


    was like a ravenous wolf. She was in so much pain she kept gasping. Naturally, her first instinct was to


    resist him, and hence the scratches on his body and his face. Looking at the several bloody scratches


    on his face, Irene held her anger back. "What happenedst night?"


    Edric sighed. "I drank too much. I''m sorry!" Even though Margaret was the one who had caused this,


    he didn''t want to let Irene know lest she despised Margaret even more.


    He finally understood why Irene refused to tell him about her rtionship with Steven. For Irene, she


    was ashamed to have a father like Steven; she would rather hide the truth than be honest with him.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    It was true that Edric had drunk a lot the previous night, so he wasn''t clear-headed. Although Irene was


    confused about why he was so drunk, she would never have expected that Margaret would pull such a


    scheme on Edric. Hence she didn''t doubt Edric''s answer at all. "You should drink less in the future. You


    have gastritis after all."


    Irene''s concern made Edric''s eyes filled with tears. He hugged Irene tightly and said, "Don''t worry. I


    won''t drink so much in the future."


    "Edric, please be gentle. It hurts." He exerted so much force that Irene whined.


    "I''m sorry! I''m just too emotional!" Edric quickly let go of her and lowered his head to kiss her. "Are you


    hungry? I''ll go make breakfast for you."


    "Forget it. Let me do it," Irene said and got up. Edric thought he had misheard her. He gazed at Irene.


    Irene then red at him and said, "What are you looking at? Is it so surprising for me to make


    breakfast?"


    "I''m not surprised; I''m touched!" Indeed, this was the first time since Irene moved in that she offered to


    make breakfast. In the past, she would always make excuses and said that she forgot how to cook.


    Now that she was willing to make breakfast for him, did it mean that she had let go of the past and was


    willing to ept Edric again?


    Steven had just returned from his morning exercise and opened the door when he saw Lily sitting on


    the sofa in the living room. Seeing him entering the house, Lily smiled and said, "Good morning, Dad!"


    Steven just nodded and went to Lily''s side to sit down. Lily apologized, "Dad, I''m sorry! I drank too


    muchst night! I won''t do it again!"


    "Do you really mean it?" Steven asked without a trace of emotion in his eyes.


    "I know I was wrong," Lily replied. "Dad, I was just out of my head for a moment. Please forgive me!"


    Steven didn''t reply to her. Lily continued, "Dad, Irene hasn''t been home in so long. I miss her so much.


    Why don''t I ask Maisy to buy some of her favorite dishes back so we can invite her and Edric over for


    dinner?"


    Steven looked at Lily at the mention of Edric. Seeing her neutral expression, he nodded slightly. This


    meant that he agreed. Deborah was right. In Steven''s heart, Irene was his everything, yet Lily did not


    even mean anything. Lily''s heart swelled with hatred right there and then but she did not show it on her


    face. "I''ll go and call her right now!"


    She picked up the phone and was about to dial Irene''s number when Steven stopped her. "Forget


    it. Irene won''t listen to you. I''ll call her!"


    Edric went to the office after breakfast. John was very surprised to see him. "Why are you not at home


    resting?"


    "The bidding is about to begin. I''m worried," answered Edric.


    "The documents are all in order but the designs are running into some problems. You can''t help with


    design so there''s no point in youing over. Although I just received a message…" John trailed off


    while ncing at Edric and saw the scars on his face. He suddenly paused and asked cautiously, "Did


    Miss Irene do that to you?"


    "Mm. What''s the message?" Edric asked.


    Seeing that he was not unhappy about it, John was relieved. "It''s about Mr. Cook. He seems to have


    encountered some troubles."


    "Is it about the suspension?" asked Edric.


    "It''s not that. It has something to do with Tobias, the chairman of the Tobias Group."


    Hearing this, Edric frowned. It must be something serious if Tobias was involved. Was Steven in hot


    water this time?


    While he was deep in thoughts, his phone rang. Steven was calling to invite him and Irene back to the


    Cook family. He had something he wanted to talk to them about. Since Edric was going to talk to


    Steven about the matter of him and Lily, he agreed immediately.


    Steven hung up the phone and called Irene. Irene''s voice was cold. "Mr. Cook, have you recovered


    from your ''sickness''?"


    Steven ignored her sarcastic tone and said, "Irene,e back for dinner with Edric tonight."


    "Mr. Cook, don''t you feel ufortable when you see Edric?" Irene asked.


    Steven gave a dryugh. "Irene, it''s a good thing that you and Edric are back together. I have always


    wanted you to have a good life! The mistake I made in the past was also for your own good. I have


    never wanted to hurt you!"


    "Stop! I don''t want to talk about this anymore," Irene interrupted him. She felt disgusted that Steven


    would make such ims as if he genuinely wanted her to be happy.


    "Mr. Cook, you''re a politician. You must be very generous and forgiving. But your mistress and


    illegitimate daughter are just regr people. Are you sure they wouldn''t mind?" retorted Irene.


    "They know their ce," Steven replied.


    Of course, they did. Ever since Steven pretended to be ill, Irene no longer believed what he said. Her


    intuition told her that nothing good coulde from Steven inviting her and Edric home.


    However, no matter what he had nned, Irene didn''t care. She watched Steven and his family carry


    on their lives as if she was watching a soap opera. Perhaps others would get involved emotionally


    watching them staying under one roof, but not her. No matter what Steven tried, he would never


    seed.


    At six o''clock in the evening, Edric and Irene arrived at the Cook family. At the sound of their car


    arriving, Maisy came out first, followed by Steven, Deborah, and Lily.


    As Irene had expected, everyone was smiling. Irene''s eyes deliberately lingered on Deborah and Lily''s


    faces for a while. She was secretly amused. How could they be grinning at such a time? They truly


    were great actors.


    Edric opened the trunk and took out a series of gifts. Steven took them with a smile. "No need to waste


    your money next time!"


    "It''s what I should do!" Edric answered with a smile. He continued to get gifts from the car. The number


    of gifts he had prepared was more than double what he usually brought over.


    Lily looked at the grin on Edric''s face and felt a sharp pain in her heart. This was the real Edric. There


    was not only a smile on his face but in his eyes too. She had never seen his eyes smile during her time


    with him.


    She had loved him for so many years. In order to get him, it took nine years of nning. She had


    wasted a good nine years of her youth. But what did she get in the end?


    In addition to the humiliation and tears, Edric had never given her the slightest bit of attention. Lily


    hated him so much. Deborah was right. She was too stupid. It was not worthy to put all eggs in one


    basket, just to end up as an essory to him. From that day onwards, she would no longer be the fool


    she used to be.


    Deborah nudged Lily. When Lily came to her senses, she found that Deborah, Steven, and even Maisy


    all had gifts in their hands. Irene looked at Lily and sneered.


    Although there was a smile on Lily''s face, Irene could tell at a nce that Lily was obviously absent-


    minded. Lily wasn''t as skilled as Deborah. For her to be able to put on such an act could be considered


    admirable, given the fact that she was supposed to feel incredibly heartbroken at this moment.


    At the very least she was better than Irene. If the roles were reversed, Irene would definitely not be


    able to do as well.


    Seeing Deborah nudged Lily, Irene smirked and nced at Steven. She wondered if he saw the


    performance between the two of them, or whether he had truly discerned what lied beneath the facade


    they two put on.


    As Edric retrieved the final gift from the car, Lily reached out her hand and called, "Edric, pass it over!"


    Irene was impressed by how nonchnt Lily was. She could see the reluctance and hurt in Lily''s eyes,


    but Lily took the lead to talk to him first.


    It was clear that Lily had learned her lesson and had withdrawn herself from the equation. It must have


    been difficult for her to make that decision.


    Irene wasn''t the only one surprised, so were Deborah and Steven. Deborah was very impressed. Lily


    was really something. The fact that she could recover in such a short time and cooperate with the


    acting was enough to prove that she had matured a lot.


    As long as Lily no longer loved Edric, Lily''s life would be in her own hands. She would be able to get


    anything she wanted with just a flick of the wrist. Living as a puppet to a man would get her nowhere.