Still You Still Me Still Falling novel Chapter 47

He spoke again. "Sheila, come here."

Cecil scoffed. "Look at her reaction. Does it seem like she wants anything to do with you? Get a grip, Edmond."

With that, Cecil turned slightly and wrapped an arm protectively around Sheila's shoulders. "Ready to go?"

Sheila cast one last glance at Edmond.

Meeting his eyes felt like staring into shards of ice.

She just wanted to escape his orbit completely and never have the misfortune of crossing paths with him again.

"Let's go," she agreed.

Even though she left Edmond with nothing but her back, Sheila could still feel his gaze piercing between her shoulder blades like a physical blade.

Back in the private room, Sheila sat in a dazed silence for a moment.

Cecil didn't push her to talk. He simply placed a plate of her favorite fruits by her hand and scooped a bowl of warm soup for her.

Before returning to the Rhodes family, he used to crash at Sheila's house for dinner all the time. Her family hadn't been rich either, but her mother had always kept their small home spotless and cozy, always smelling faintly of something sweet.

Unlike his own home, which had perpetually reeked of the bitter scent of herbal medicine.

Back then, the crushing weight of his family's survival had rested squarely on his teenage shoulders.

He lived off academic scholarships, competed in academic tournaments for prize money, and worked odd jobs all through summer and winter breaks.

All just to barely cover his mother's medical bills.

He used to think that suffocating, endless cycle of hopelessness would be the rest of his life.

Until he was brought back to the Rhodes family.

The Rhodes family possessed unimaginable wealth and boundless power.

At first, Cecil thought he had been handed the keys to paradise.

But he quickly learned that the most precious things in this world were genuine kindness and loyalty.

And neither of those had anything to do with money or power.

"Cecil, I'm sorry..." Sheila finally snapped out of her daze. "I..."

"What are you apologizing for?" Cecil smiled softly. "It's not like you did anything wrong to me."

He had already ordered a background check on Sheila, so he knew perfectly well that she had dated Edmond and eventually broken up with him.

The two of them strolled side by side down the street, chatting easily and comfortably.

Sheila had already filled Cecil in on most of what had been happening in her life.

When Cecil finally dropped her off, he said, "Once we're back home, take me to go visit Aunt Nadine."

After her mother passed away, Sheila had been raised by her aunt.

Sheila nodded. "I will."

Sheila headed up to her room, but the moment she walked through the door, her phone buzzed.

It was an unknown number, but the sequence of digits was far too distinct to be a normal caller.

Sheila recognized it immediately. It was Edmond's number.

Why was Edmond calling her?

And how did he even have her new number?

When they broke up, she had deleted every single trace of him from her life.

She had even changed her phone number.