Ice and Fire novel Chapter 136

Jackson suddenly walked forward and grabbed Cherry's arm. He said, "Please don't go!"

Cherry tried to stop crying, but when she heard Jackson's pleading, tears started to roll down her face again.

Jackson looked at Cherry, anguished, without uttering a single word.

Cherry shook his hand off of her with all the strength that she could muster, and put on a calm expression on her face. She said, "Jackson, if you hadn't had Sally, or if I had been unaware of her existence in the first place, I wouldn't have left you five years ago."

And with that, she walked away with Stephen.

As Jackson watched Cherry leave, tears started to well up in his eyes. He opened his mouth and wanted to call out to her, but no voice could come out of it. He was dying to make her stay with him, but he didn't know how to.

Deep down in his heart, he yelled, 'Baby, I love you too! I love you so much! I know that I've harbored deep hatred, and I apologize for what I've done to Harrison! But not to Stephen, no, because the grudge between him and me is beyond your wildest imagination, Cherry. Even so, I don't want you to let you know about it. Please come back to me, my love! I feel so lonely without you.'

As Cherry disappeared from his sight, Jackson finally confessed, 'And honey, in fact, Jean is still alive.'

Stephen drove the car, and from time to time he glanced at Cherry who was sitting next to him in the front passenger's seat. He wanted to say something to her, but he was afraid that she wasn't in the mood for talking.

"Stephen, I'm sorry, " said Cherry, who seemed to have noticed Stephen's attention.

"No, Cherry, there's no need to apologize, " hastily said Stephen. He had never blamed Cherry for anything that had happened to him.

Cherry, however, started to murmur to herself, "It's all my fault...If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble."

Stephen shook his head, and said, "Cherry, even if I hadn't helped you, Jackson and I would have still ended up like this anyway. We have more grudges against each other than you would expect."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Cherry curiously.

Stephen didn't dare to tell Cherry the truth. If she were to ever know it, then it was Jackson's duty to tell it to her.

Seeing his reticence, Cherry didn't demand the answer. At that moment, she was more worried about Harrison, whose whereabouts were still unknown.

"Drive me home, Stephen. I'm tired, " said Cherry eventually.

"Okay, " replied Stephen, willing to help her with whatever she needed.

The next morning, Elsa walked in Cherry's bedroom and found that both the mother and the son were still in bed.

"You two sleepyheads, do you know what time it is? Time to get up!" called Elsa as she drew open the window curtains.

"But mom, I don't want to go to work today!" mumbled Cherry, still half asleep.

"Grandma, I don't want to go to school today either! I want to stay in bed with mommy, " also said Joe sleepy, before he nuzzled up against his mother again.

"Get up, now, or you'll have to taste my feather duster!" threatened Elsa.

Eventually, Cherry sat up on the bed, and then she patted Joe's back beside her, saying, "Joe, come on, get up!"

"Okay, Mommy!"

After breakfast, Wilson took Joe to school and Cherry drove to the company.

But just before she left, Elsa grabbed her hand, and asked, "Cherry, are you okay? Did something happen yesterday?"

Cherry instantly denied, "No, nothing at all. Mom, don't worry about me. Come on now, I have to go."

She then rushed into her car and drove away.

As Elsa watched Cherry's car disappear, she said to herself, "My poor little girl... When will you ever find your happiness?"

Cherry arrived at the company and started to work at her desk as usual. Selina had been planning to ask her about what she and Jackson had talked about last evening, but did not know how to start the conversation with her.

Cherry buried herself in her work for the entire morning to take her mind off of things.

By afternoon, she had collected all the documents that needed to be signed for the day.

Cherry then entered Selina's office, walked up to her desk and said, "Miss Selina, these documents need signing."

She put the pile on Selina's desk.

"Okay, " replied Selina. She glanced through the papers and signed all of them right after she noticed that the materials were about the arrangements that she had planned for.

When Cherry collected the signed documents and was about to leave, Selina said, "Cherry, can we have a talk?"

Cherry stopped and turned back to Selina.

Selina immediately stood up from her desk and walked up to her. She grabbed Cherry's hand, and brought her to the couch.