Ice and Fire novel Chapter 519

Mond arrived at home to discover Jean in the living room, waiting for him.

Mond, in his drunken state, staggered into the living room towards Jean. Jean turned away when he bent to hug her. She could smell the alcohol in his breath.

Jean pushed Mond away with her arm and stood up in front of him.

"You're drunk again," Jean stated. Her arm was still firmly planted between them, on his chest.

"It's none of your business!" Mond shouted. He swatted Jean's arms away and flopped on the sofa. He pushed himself to sit up. He didn't need Jean, he could take care of himself. "I can do whatever I want."

Jean stared at Mond, noticed his closed eyes, his knotted frowning eyebrows, and the sorrow in his face.

Jean sighed and took a seat next to Mond on the sofa. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Jean started. She wrapped her hands around Mond's hand. Mond's shoulder relaxed. "Did Cherry call you? She invited us to dinner with her and Jackson tomorrow night."

Mond snapped his eyes open and snatched back his hand from Jean's. "I knew it! You've been plotting against me with your sister, haven't you? You knew I hated Jackson! And you agreed to this dinner. Why? Why did you do that?"

Jean already knew how much Mond hated Jackson.

"You don't have to go. I just thought I should tell you that I'm going. I want to see Joe and Cherry. I haven't seen them since they moved back home," Jean almost whispered, scared to provoke Mond.

"But I have to!" Mond shouted," Cherry already called me. I couldn't say no."

Jean knew he wouldn't break a promise he made to Cherry.

"I'm glad you're going. It's just dinner, after all," Jean justified.

"Cherry's not the one I'm worried about," Mond reminded Jean.

Jean knew Mond was worried about facing Jackson.

"Jackson?" asked Jean.

Mond kept his mouth closed.

Jean faced Mond. "Mond, can you let go of your hatred and just move on? Why can't you let go of the past?"

"You think it's that simple?" Mond demanded," I have tried, you know I did. But how can I move on when he made us suffer, when he made my Mom suffer?"

Jean understood that Mond had a difficult time letting go of what happened in his past. But she also wanted to make it up to Cherry for all the bad things she did to her in the past. She wanted to repair their relationship and dote on Cherry's son, Joe.

"I understand, Mond, I do. But it's an innocent dinner invitation. And Jackson has really changed a lot since Cherry came back. He just wants things to work out with him and Cherry."

Mond took deep breaths to calm himself down before he turned to Jean. "If we didn't have this disagreement, do you think we'd have a great relationship? Better than Derek's and his?"

Mond had always been envious of Jackson and Derek's friendship. They treated each other as brothers and he wished he had that same kind of brotherhood in his life.

Jean faced Mond and looked him in the eye. "Yes. You will have a kind and loving relationship with him. And your relationship with Jackson was supposed to be better than his with Derek's. You are still his little brother, after all."

"But I'm still the bastard of the Chu Family, and they still can't accept me," Mond lamented. His face felt as all the painful experiences came back to him.

"Jackson abandoned you?" asked Jean.

Jean stood up and pulled Mond to his feet. "Come on, I'll help you get to your room and rest."

"Okay, thank you," Mond let Jean pull him to his feet.

Jean placed Mond's arm on her shoulder and brought him to his room. She helped him get to his bed and under the covers. Mond pulled her arm, as she was about to leave.

"Thank you, Jean, you're always so kind to me. You're the best sister I always wanted," Mond mumbled before he snored.

Tears ran down Jean's face. Mond wasn't the cold and mean man he showed the world. He still had feelings.

Jean suddenly wondered if everyone had feelings buried in their hearts that were only dug up with alcohol.

Jean stared at Mond's face and saw Jackson's face in his. A face so perfect without any flaws, probably the same as their father's. Sleeping Mond looked like a child but gloomy.

And Jean thought of Cherry when they were younger. At the time, Cherry missed her mother a lot and she always cried in her room alone, wishing her mother would come to take her away. The Shen Family was cruel to Cherry, including Jean, who was so jealous of Cherry because she was smart and beautiful. Jean even sprinkled ink on Cherry's clothes, hid her homework, and even started a rumor at school that Cherry's mother abandoned her. Despite all that, Cherry simply endured the cruelty without saying anything.

Jean felt guilty about what she did to Cherry. And looking at Mond, and knowing how he suffered because of his childhood, she wondered what Cherry must be feeling.

Jean went to her bedroom, to her balcony, with Cherry in her mind.

The next morning, Joe came downstairs and finds his Daddy in the living room, with a newspaper in his hand.

"Hi, Daddy," Joe greeted his Daddy. He took a glass of juice from the tea table and drank.

"Why are you up so early, Joe? You're not gonna sleep late on weekends anymore?" Jackson put the newspaper down before he asked Joe.