"Can we please… not break up?"
That fair little hand around Boyle's arm gripped tighter.
Boyle took a deep breath and held back all of his awful mixed emotions in his chest as he turned around and stared at her teary eyes. He said, "Stop fooling around. We're incompatible with each other. There is no other meaning to that. You won't be able to fix a damn thing no matter how much you try to change and besides, it's not like you're able to anyway."
Cherie was wailing hard while shaking her head as she grabbed his arm tightly. She pleaded while sobbing, "I can change…"
Her sobbing cries sounded extremely depressing.
Boyle's heart finally wrenched as he raised his hand to gently wipe her tears away as he spoke in a gentle tone, "Cherie, please don't reduce yourself to such an extent. You'll only make me look down on you."
His single coldhearted reply shattered Cherie's heart completely no matter how hard she tried to fix everything.
She gradually let go of his arm while desperately trying to hold her tears back. She looked like a pitiful hurt little kitten at the moment.
Boyle picked up his luggage, turned around and entered the elevator.
Cherie was standing outside while she watched the elevator doors gradually close shut.
Both of their gazes met. However, Boyle could no longer bring himself to keep staring at her as he lowered his head, avoiding her completely at the final second the elevator doors closed.
…
Natalie was scrolling through her contacts in her phone and found Hector's number saved in it.
She saved Hector's number when she previously attended an event. She found Hector much friendlier and more approachable than Huntley.
Since Hector was Boyle's friend, in order for her to know about Boyle's whereabouts, the best way to start was through him.
With that thought in mind, Natalie felt extremely excited as she felt like she had grown a little closer to Boyle.
She walked to the end of the quiet hallway with her phone and made a phone call to Hector.
Natalie said, "Hey Hector, Cherie was feeling quite depressed recently after her break up with Boyle and I feel like there is some sort of misunderstandings between them to cause their break up. However, Cherie can't bring herself to ask Boyle about it due to her pride. Do you know… where did Boyle go in the last two days? Cherie wanted to ask him about it."
Natalie's explanation sounded extremely convincing and Hector was completely oblivious to the bad blood between them. He thought Natalie was actually kind enough to help Cherie.
"You're quite the nice person, Natalie. You guys sure are close as roommates."
"Well of course. Cherie and I happened to be inseparable as best friends. Hurry up and help Cherie, Hector. She was feeling extremely depressed recently and seemed to also have lost weight. It hurts me to see her like this."
Since Hector also wanted to mend Boyle's and Cherie's relationship, he said, "Boyle went on a business trip in S City. He might actually be staying there for two to three days though."
Natalie's eyes glimmered as she thought about Boyle currently being out of state.
"Do you roughly know where Boyle is staying in S City then? Which hotel is he staying at?"
Hector was a little puzzled as he asked, "Is Cherie really going to S City to meet Boyle?"
Natalie said, "Well, Cherie wanted to give Boyle a surprise. Hey Hector, you can't tell Boyle or anyone else for that matter, okay? Or else, Cherie's plans of going to S City will be ruined."
Hector did not suspect a thing so he said, "I was the one to book Boyle's hotel for him. I'll send you the location later."
Natalie had a smug grin as she said, "Alright. Thanks, Hector."
Natalie received a text from Hector after she hung up the call.
It was the location of Boyle's hotel in S City and his room number.
Natalie was in an incredibly good mood as she returned to her room with her phone. She noticed Cherie was sitting alone by the desk, completely ignoring her.
Natalie could not help but speak in a petty tone, "You don't have to pretend not to notice me since I'd be going to S City for a few days soon to look for my boyfriend. You won't be seeing me for the next two days."
Cherie could not be bothered to reply to her as she was in an incredibly foul mood and all she wanted was to be left alone.
Natalie asked, "Aren't you curious about who my boyfriend is?"
Cherie pouted her lips and replied in a cold tone, "Why should I be curious about who your boyfriend is anyway?"
"Fair point since you've just broken up with your boyfriend. You just can't stand it when other happy couples are flaunting their love in front of you anyway."
Cherie ignored her as she lowered her head and continued doing her assignments.
Natalie had applied for a two days leave that very evening. She lied to her counsellor that her mother was sick and had to return home to take care of her mother for two days.
While Joy was applying a face mask that night, she curiously asked, "Hey, since when did Natalie start dating anyway?"
Mandy shook her head and said, "I don't know but she seems to have just started the relationship since she's still in her honeymoon phase."
Joy replied, "I thought she's always been obsessing over Boyle."
Joy bit her tongue the instant she mentioned Boyle's name as she instinctively glanced at Cherie.
Joy let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the lack of reaction from Cherie.
Cherie burrowed underneath her covers after all the lights were switched off and began to silently cry while biting her finger.
Her depression reached its peak during nightfall and in most cases, everyone would feel their weakest at night. Thus, being more prone to breaking down.
She could not sleep, so she picked up her phone and started scrolling through Boyle's Facebook profile over and over again.
His posts were all about her and her friends.
It seemed the longer she looked, the more depressed she felt and after she exited his profile, she began scrolling through her main feed.
She noticed a post made by Hector earlier in the day.
Cherie replied with a bitter look, "I have a life and I can't be bothered to spread rumors about you. Also, let me repeat myself again. I have already broken up with Boyle and whatever you do with him is none of my concern."
"Huh?" Natalie sighed and said, "Well, I thought we were close friends you know and I wanted to share just how happy we both are together with you. I won't show you then."
Natalie played a video on her phone while waving it in front of Cherie before swiftly keeping her phone away.
Cherie noticed two nude bodies doing the deed in the video.
Cherie raised her brows and asked, "What's that?"
Natalie replied with a smug look. "Oh this? Well, this is a little secret Boyle and I shared."
Cherie was not in the mood to listen to her comments so she immediately snatched Natalie's phone away and played the video. The man was facing his back to the camera. His face was obscured but there was an obvious tattoo of a mandarin orange on his left arm.
That tattooed man was committing an unspeakable sin while lying on top of a woman's body.
Cherie's fingers grew pale from gripping too hard while her heart thumped.
She desperately wished and hoped this was nothing more than a prank Natalie pulled on her.
Natalie smirked when she noticed how hurt Cherie looked as she replied with a smug look as if she had won, "Oh Cherie, have you ever been this intimate with Boyle when you were dating him back then?"
Cherie threw her phone downstairs and furiously stared at Natalie before exclaiming in a clear tone, "Shameless b*tch!"
Natalie did not expect Cherie would smash her phone and felt a little furious. She exclaimed, "Who exactly is the shameless one, Cherie! Don't you think you're also shameless when you're clinging onto Boyle back then? What right do you have to call me shameless?"
Cherie raised her hand and violently slapped Natalie's face.
Natalie was furious after getting slapped by Cherie so she reached out and pushed Cherie downstairs.
Cherie lost her balance and immediately fell.
"Ouch!"
Intense sharp pain was shooting through every inch of her body in an instant.
Her belly was the most painful.
It seemed Cherie realized something in her dazed state as she reached her shaky hand out to caress her belly while she opened her eyes and ignored all of her hatred and anger as she pleaded, "Save me… Save my child… please…"
Natalie was completely stunned and frozen while she stood by the stairs. She could see the lower half of Cherie's body completely covered in blood.
A student screamed when she walked by the stairs. This startled Natalie so much that she ran away.
It was not her! She was not the one who pushed Cherie downstairs earlier! No one had seen her do it!
She recalled that in order to maintain the privacy in the women's dorm, no cameras were installed there, so no one could see her push Cherie earlier.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Passionate Devotion: Master Fudd's Beloved Wife