Please Come Back, Honey! novel Chapter 126

Chapter 126Zachary understood where Trevor was coming from. After all, he had broken his usual silence in their four-member group chat last night by texting out-of-the-blue, ‘I’ll talk to Emma tomorrow.’When the text popped up in the group, Zachary was drinking, and he nearly spat out his wine in a comical fashion when he read the text. He then swallowed the wine and quickly responded, ‘Good luck on the grand gesture!’Flustered, Trevor replied, ‘No one said anything about a grand gesture.’This was met with an immediate and almost thoughtless text from Kaleb, who said, ‘Good luck on the grand gesture.’Before Trevor could argue, Raymond added unhelpfully, ‘Good luck on the grand gesture.’The series of supportive texts from his friends left Trevor speechless, and he conveyed this through ellipses before ignoring the group chat once more. He had tried to be subtle when he told his friends of his plans to ‘talk’ to Emma, but it looked like they had figured out what the talk would be about. Why else would he talk to Emma if not tell her he had feelings for her? They were amused by his evasive behavior, but they knew he simply couldn’t bring himself to admit the truth.Alas, none of them expected that the great Mr. Bateson’s love confession to Emma would be foiled by his sister, Arianna. As things were, Emma probably hated his guts, and this obliterated any chance he might have at redeeming himself. He could try to make his feelings for her known, but there was no telling if she would even listen to him or believe him.Trevor must have considered this possibility as well, otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such a grizzly mood.Presently, Zachary clapped Trevor’s shoulder and said comfortingly, “The road that leads to the greatest love story of your life might seem endless, but you have to know that the most amazing things don’t come easy. You won’t appreciate it unless you’ve been through hell to get it.”Visibly irritated by the sage advice, Trevor smacked his friend’s hand away and stalked off to the hospital room.Zachary, on the other hand, thought he had made a rather brilliant, if not, philosophical point. Previously, Emma had made herself available to Trevor at all times that he had not known how much she meant to him until she left. I should be a professional Agony Aunt or something, Zachary thought with a pleased grin. I could set up a tribunal for troubled couples.He then traipsed after Trevor. When they arrived in Emma’s room, they saw that Emma was awake and that she had changed into the blouse Cerys brought her. Presently, she was propped up against the headboard, looking tired as she conversed with Cerys.While Cerys had tried to tell her that it was technically Trevor who bought the shirt, Emma still continued to thank her for her efforts and stubbornly refused to acknowledge him.Cerys sighed. She wasn’t sure how Trevor and Emma were going to get along after this incident, especially if this hostility on the latter’s part continued. Wanting to patch things up between them, she explained, “Mr. Bateson asked me to call you when you didn’t show up at the signing event. He knows you would never be late without good reason, and when you didn’t pick up my calls, he sensed something was off immediately. He had Mr. Manson retrieve the security footage in your area so that he could track your whereabouts.”Pausing, Cerys figured she ought to speak up for Trevor’s good character and added thoughtfully, “Emma, Mr. Bateson really does care about you, and he never wanted any of this to happen. Please don’t be too hard on him.”Emma smiled mockingly as she pointed out, “And yet, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s Arianna’s brother.” She knew that Trevor had nothing to do with the incident, but when the images of what Arianna had done to her flickered through her mind, she couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed with hatred for the rest of the Bateson Family as well.More importantly, it wasn’t entirely accurate to say Trevor had nothing to do with this. He had, albeit involuntarily, been the reason any of this happened in the first place.As though hearing the implication in Emma’s words, Cerys made no reply and lowered her gaze. It was at that moment that Trevor and Zachary walked into the room. Cerys straightened up and left the room to accord Emma and Trevor some privacy while Zachary followed suit.In the silence of the room, Emma averted Trevor’s eyes. She remembered how her emotions had burst out of her while she was in his arms. It was his fault that she was so unhinged that she couldn’t even temper the hurt and resentment she had so carefully packed away all these years. If he hadn’t told her he loved her, and if she hadn’t found it so supremely ironic, then she might not have broken down the way she did.She had stayed with him, playing the role of the ever-devoted wife for years, only to have him shun her all the time. In the end, their marriage fell apart. And he has the nerve to come back after we’ve been divorced for a year and tell me he loves me? If that isn’t ironic, I don’t know what is!Trevor looked grim as he walked up to the bed and took the seat next to it. “I’m sorry for what happened to you,” he said gravely.Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he came out apologetic enough, or how he was going to convey the guilt and shame he felt toward her. To think, he had woken up today with the intention of telling her he loved her, and now, he was grappling for words. After the mess Arianna had cooked up, it seemed as if there was nothing he could say to make things better.“I’ll sue Arianna,” Emma said quietly. She still did not meet Trevor’s gaze, but her tone was firm.He kept his obsidian eyes on her as he said without hesitation, “Okay.”Her head swiveled and she shot him a bewildered look as if surprised that he agreed to this so readily. She had expected him to be on his sister’s side unconditionally. She was even more astonished when he added, “I’ll give you Raymond’s number later.”She gaped at him with wide eyes. Is he actually asking me to hire Raymond, one of the top defense attorneys in the city, to file a lawsuit against Arianna?Upon seeing her shocked reaction, Trevor went on to explain, “She has to be punished for her crimes. That’s just the way it is.”He was making his stance clear. He would not try to shield his sister from the consequences of her own wrongdoing.However, Emma recovered from her initial shock and turned down his offer. “No, keep Raymond’s number for Arianna. I’m sure she’ll need his services more than I do.”It wasn’t as if she could afford Raymond anyway, and she would feel even worse about having him on her case if he insisted on doing it for cheap. That kindness would stem from his friendship with Trevor, and she would much rather lose the case than owe the latter any favors.Having heard this, Trevor stared at her silently for a moment before saying, “I have no plans on getting her a lawyer.”Emma lowered her gaze and said nothing.It didn’t matter whether he got Arianna a lawyer or not, because his parents would do it anyway. Being the overly-indulgent parent that she was, Alice would never let her precious daughter be locked up in jail.He was just about to say something else when Emma’s phone buzzed on the bedside table. He glanced at the caller ID, and when he saw Wesley’s name on the screen, his mood hit rock-bottom at the painful reminder that Emma was Wesley’s girlfriend now.For a moment, he felt as if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he didn’t want to leave until he had seen for himself Emma’s interactions with Wesley.Right now, Wesley was miles away in his hometown and completely oblivious to the danger Emma had been in. He asked warmly, “Hey, how was the signing event? Did you manage to get a picture with Wilson?”He knew how much she looked up to the renowned screenwriter, which was why he had asked her about the event as soon as she picked up the line.He sounded so tender and loving that Emma couldn’t help the emotions that seized her. Tears started falling from her eyes, but when she remembered that Wesley was probably already worried about his mother’s illness, she forced the tears to stop and refrained from telling him what happened.Nevertheless, he could hear her voice thickening like she was on the verge of crying, so he asked in concern, “Are you okay? Why are you crying?”Emma sniffed and wiped the tears from her face, then said, “I’m fine. I’m just a little overwhelmed from meeting Wilson in person, that’s all.”