The moment Holley looked at Sue, she knew it. The very brief words that Sue gave her were enough to tell her that something had changed between them. 'Something's not right, ' Holley thought.
She knew that she could make good use of Sue, and she did all that she could to drive a wedge between Sue and Sheryl. She had put in a good show and put tremendous effort to destroy the friendship between Sue and Sheryl. As long as she could keep Sue away from Sheryl, she could make her way to win her trust. It came as a complete surprise that her attempt to break them apart had actually brought Sue and Sheryl even closer. How could they act like nothing had happened between them?
Holley felt a roaring monster inside which nearly pushed her to act outrageously. The questions inside her head echoed in her ears, and each waited for an answer she couldn't even find. Why did she fail to separate them? She tried to find an explanation on why Sue showed no resentment with Sheryl despite everything that she had done to ruin their connection. The thought of being a failure hurt her pride, but she had to pretend it did not bother her. Behind her facade was a crazy woman eager to flip the world over to get the answer on how Sheryl beat her in this game of relationship.
She took a deep breath before she asked, "Sue, is there… anything bothering you?" Faking her tone came natural. No one should know that her intentions were never pure. All Holley needed to do was to maintain the good impression Sue had of her.
The least that she had expected was silence. It stirred her more that Sue seemed to have ignored her question. All she needed was a response from her to assess the situation, but Sue seemed to make it too difficult for her to get one. Holley tried asking her again, "Sue, did you not hear me earlier? I am sorry if I sound annoying but I am really worried about you. You do know that you can tell me anything, anything at all. I would be more than happy to sit down and listen if you need someone to talk to. All you have to do is to ask."
Sue looked at her with warm eyes and said, "Thank you, but I am really fine. Everything is good." It took Sue a lot of thinking before she made up her mind to keep her lips tight about her family issues. She found herself uneasy to let anyone know about it. "If there is nothing else, then I would be going now. Thank you, Miss Ye."
That was the last straw. Holley tried her best to control her emotion as Sue made her way out and closed the door. Her heart thumped so hard that she felt she was about to explode. She wanted to throw whatever object she could grab against the wall and imagined if the crash would give her satisfaction. No way could Sue just leave her defeated.
Holley still had her mournful look when George stepped into her office. "You look terrible. What did I miss?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"I just felt so stressed for some reason. It's no big deal." Holley found herself an easy excuse. George could be nosy at times and the last thing she needed was to explain herself. "What brings you here? Are you heading somewhere?" she asked to divert his attention.
"Oh, I have a business dinner tonight so I would probably come home late. You can go ahead and sleep early, even without me," he explained. "Are you sure you are okay?" he asked with a worried tone. "If you need to, we can go to the hospital right now and get you all checked up. Prevention is always better than cure."
"It's okay. I'm fine. You are worrying about me too much," she responded with a grin to reassure George. "It's only a common headache so there's no need for a doctor. I guess getting sufficient rest will be enough.
As for you, please be mindful of your alcohol intake later tonight. I understand that it's unavoidable whenever you go to these business dinners but I don't want you getting sick and all," Holley reminded him.
"Sure, my lady." George nodded gently to show his consent. Holley's response earlier that she was feeling okay did not have him convinced. "Are you feeling okay? I really don't mind accompanying you to the doctor now."
"I'm really feeling okay. Don't worry unnecessarily. I promise to go straight to the hospital if ever it gets worse," Holly assured the worried man once again.
That was all that George needed to hear to be at peace. He was about to leave for his appointment when he remembered something important. "By the way, my mom and Sula have both decided to stay. I have no idea what's keeping them busy so, hopefully, they do not end up looking for you. In case they do, let me know and I'd be more than happy to handle them for you. I absolutely don't want to see you get hurt again."
"Surely, I will," Holley confirmed with a mild smile.
Her pretense of being the victim seemed to have George eager enough to protect her all the time. Little did he know that his damsel in distress was an evil witch in disguise. If he ever came to know about it, he would definitely not be her knight in shining armor anymore.
Donna was still her mother though, and the bond between them would remain to be thicker than blood. No matter how horrible she had been, nothing could change the fact that she had given him life and supported him all this time.
Holley's anger still had not fully subsided after George left. After considering that a chat with Sue would make her calm, she stepped out of the room to find her. Just then, her phone started ringing and an unknown number came up on her caller ID.
She initially hesitated to take the call. 'Could this be someone I knew from the past or a total stranger?' she thought. However, there was only one way to find out.
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