The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 74

"Oh?" Jeremy pulled his hand away and walked toward her. "So, does that mean you're happy to have me back?"

Jocelyn smelled the cloying scent of his cologne and frowned slightly.

"This is your home. Do you need a welcome from me?"

Jeremy opened his arms. "Just give me a welcome hug."

The mere thought of him touching her made Jocelyn's skin crawl. She instinctively stepped back, her body tensing in defense.

When she was eighteen, Jeremy, then only fourteen, had barged into the bathroom while she was showering because she'd forgotten to lock the door. Luckily, she hadn't taken off her underwear yet, avoiding a more embarrassing situation. At eighteen, a girl knows what shame is. So Jocelyn had slapped Jeremy hard across the face.

As someone who had been coddled his entire life, he had never experienced such a slight. He immediately ran to Diana to complain. Jeremy insisted he didn't know Jocelyn was in the shower and that it had been an accident. For that one slap, Jocelyn had been forced to kneel in the living room for three hours. If Marcus hadn't come home and pulled her up, she might have knelt all night.

That night, for the first time, Jocelyn saw Marcus get angry with Diana. It was from that moment she knew that Marcus's love for her was no less than his love for Jeremy. Unfortunately, he was always afraid of Diana. So Jocelyn learned not to make things difficult for him. Even when Jeremy bullied her again, she never told her father.

That little bit of love from Marcus was the only thing that kept her going in the Evans household.

Remembering that scene in the bathroom, Jocelyn now looked at the overtly masculine Jeremy and felt a wave of disgust. She wanted no physical contact with him. Moreover, Jocelyn could read the flirtatious look in his eyes.

Seeing Jocelyn's cold attitude, Diana frowned and criticized her.

"Jo, what kind of attitude is that? Your brother is finally back and he's being so warm to you. What's wrong with a hug? It's not like it'll kill you."

Jocelyn retorted coldly, "Mom, have you forgotten that not long ago, I was the one who solved this family's financial crisis?"

Diana was stunned. "Why are you bringing that up now?"

Jocelyn said, "I'm telling you that the reason you were able to borrow that money and get such easy repayment terms is because of me, Jocelyn Evans."

"So, you'd better show me some respect. I can let you repay that debt over ten years, and I can just as easily make you repay it in one."

Diana was completely taken aback. She had never seen her daughter be so aggressive. Something was different. Or perhaps, this was her adopted daughter's true self.