Chapter 111


    Benjamin heard the voice recording, and his heart swelled from happiness. Surely, Reba hadn’t given


    up on him just yet. Though she had told him they should meet in person, he couldn’t control himself. He


    went to a private room and ended up calling her straight away. As the phone rang, his heart raced. As


    every second passed, he heard his heart and pulse more and more clearly. The call was answered, and


    there was silence. Nobody spoke. “R-Reba?” His voice contained all the care in the world. “Why did


    you call?” a quivering and unclear voice came from the other side. “I told you we should meet directly


    and discuss.” “Yes, but… were you sleeping? I mean, your voice is shaky.” “Yeah,” Reba rubbed her


    face. “I was tired, so I ended up falling asleep.” A few seconds of silence followed. Both felt like talking,


    but they didn’t know what to speak about. After moving away, she thought his priorities would change


    just as she was trying to change her priorities and get him out of his head, though it didn’t work out. Her


    family kept telling her Benjamin wouldn’t fit in the equation of Sterlings, but her heart still couldn’t move


    away from him.


    Even though she had her family around her, she felt isted all these days.


    “I don’t trust my mom, Benjamin,” she opened up her heart a bit. “I don’t trust anyone in my family. They


    all want to marry me to a guy of their choosing, regardless of my feelings. I worked hard and started


    earning enough so that my words will have some weight in this family, and that’s how I was able to marry


    you.” She paused, a hint of regret leaving her breath. “And I’m not sure where this will lead us… but trust


    me, I will not let their ramblings influence me. So…”


    “So?” Benjamin’s heart was skipping fast.


    “Let’s be… friends, until we sort all these issues, or misunderstandings or whatever they are,” she said.


    “Is that okay with you?”


    He didn’t reply.


    “Benjamin? Are you there?”


    “I-It’s totally okay,” he replied andughed a little. “I mean, they say couples are also best friends, so…


    “About the divorce…” she hesitantly said and paused, but his heart shook from the suspense,“ let’s


    decide that after wee to a decision.”


    Benjamin breathed a big sigh of relief. “Sure. So, when are we meeting? How about we go to a concert


    or a movie tonight… as friends?”


    Reba took her time to reply. “Sorry, I’m tired.” “Okay. How about tomorrow?” “…we’ll see. Can I get


    back to sleep now?” “Yeah, yeah, sure. Oh, wait, one more thing,” he hurriedly asked. “Did you check the


    video I sent you?”


    “What video?”


    Benjamin wasn’t surprised. “It’s been a few days, so check your messages and mail, too. It’s important,


    so don’t forget.” “Okay. Bye.” “Yeah. Good night. Sweet dreams, and…” he hesitantly sent a kiss. “A


    friendly kiss.”


    The call ended, but Reba was shaking her head. “Hees across as really cheesy sometimes.”


    The friendly kiss through the phone didn’t feel awkward or unpleasant, but it definitely felt slightly


    embarrassing. Then again, it was nothing new. Whenever Benjamin got romantic, he would get way too


    romantic with his words, saying things like she was his moon and what not. He definitely used phrases


    that no other man used whenplimenting her.


    More than these phrases, what she had always liked about him was how badly he wanted to make the


    marriage work, despite her hurting him innumerable times in just eight or so months. Could someone like


    him have slept with many other women at the same time? She found it hard to believe, but having seen a


    monstrous man like her father, she could never be 100 percent sure of any man.


    “Nobody is perfect,” she thought, “but that’s no excuse, either. Maybe he’s telling the truth, or maybe he’s


    not. However, he’s been very patient with me, so I’ll try to do the same and see if it’ll work out.”


    He told her to watch some video, but she was too tired, and her head felt heavy, so she put the mobile


    aside and went back to sleep.


    Meanwhile, Benjamin was dancing in the private room. He was so bad at dancing even dogs would have


    laughed at his dance. However, nobody was watching, so he went wild for a good couple of minutes.


    That surely took a lot of stress out of his body.


    “Pfft,” a restrainedughter reached Benjamin’s ears.


    “What the “he looked around. There were two eyes watching him through the vent-holes.


    “Pardon my offense, Lord,” Shadow said, covering his mouth with his hand for another couple of


    seconds. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat, “you meant to show me a new type of dance, I’m sure.”


    Benjamin’s face turned red from embarrassment. “Shadow, you sneaky little rat!” he lunged forth and


    punched the vent-hole. It broke and smashed Shadow’s face, sending him flying into the artificial


    decorating bushes right next to the street.


    He bled from the nose, but he was stillughing. “Hahaha. I don’t think I can keep this new


    invention a secret for long. Should we call it Benjamin’s Dance? How about Benj-dancing min? Pfft…”


    just thinking back on it made himugh some more, and tears sprang to his eyes. “I see what you did


    there,” Benjamin was boiling mad. He would have crawled out through the vent-hole if only he was small


    enough to fit. “Just stay right there, you bastard. I’ming!” he rushed out through the door. Shadow, of


    course, didn’t stay there but vanished in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, at Sterling vi.


    Selena and Elizabeth were having dinner early just so they could talk with each other. The daughter-in-


    law was personally putting food and curry on her mother-inw’s te. There were no maids around


    them, either. Selena loved how she was being treated, even though she knew that this was all so that


    she would push the agenda of George marrying one of her daughters. “George doesn’t know how to


    behave with women,” Selena said. “He isn’t good looking, either. While his wild and wayward approach


    may fool some women, Reba won’t fall for such tricks. If we leave things to him, he’ll get nowhere.”


    “T-Then, what should we do?” Elizabeth would love it if her useless brother were to be married into the


    Sterling family and also marry Reba who earned in millions. And if she were to be cause for that


    marriage to happen, she could forever make her younger brother owe him. She couldn’t miss this


    chance. “My husband doesn’t even put my brother in his eyes. I can’t make him speak for George. As for


    myself, Reba and I aren’t really close.”


    “Lives of adults are most influenced by two things,”Selena stared at the meat ball at the tip of the fork.


    “Money and sex. We can’t do anything about the money sitting in her bank right now, but we can


    definitely do something about the other thing she’scking.”


    Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean…”


    Selena smiled amusedly. “We just have to drug her with some aphrodisiacs and then make your brother


    visit her often in shorts or something that reveals enough skin or shape.”


    Owned by N?velDrama.Org.


    Elizabeth’s heart almost exploded. “You think that’ll work?”


    “Don’t underestimate the power of drugs. Just do what I said, and she’ll take the bite one day!”


    Just then, Elizabeth received a call. It was from her brother. When she went to the side and answered


    the call, he began screaming and crying on the phone as he told her about getting shot in the hand.


    “Is everything alright?” Selena asked. “Y-Yes, mother-inw,” Elizabeth forced out a smile. There was no


    way she would let Selena know her brother got wounded as that could onlyplicate things. She


    climbed up the stairs and began scolding her brother for never doing anything properly. “How bad is your


    wound?”


    “I don’t know. It hurts like hell. I’m heading to the hospital.” He didn’t want to talk about Benjamin giving


    him first-aid, either. “You don’t know?” she gritted her teeth. “What the fuck are you going to do if one of


    your hands getpromised? Forget about marrying Reba, you won’t be able to work as a


    mechanic!”


    “That can’t happen. Please do something, sister.” “Do what?” she erged her eyes. “I’d kill you if you


    were right next to me. That’s how angry I am with you right now!” George’s blood stirred madly. “I called


    you because I got shot, and you’re yelling at me? You know what? You’ve never been a proper sister to


    me,” he howled at her. “Fuck you, bitch. Go and keep sucking Shawn’s dick for every little thing you


    need.” He ended the call abruptly. Elizabeth went speechless for a long while.