Chapter 754
“What did you say? Say it again,” Jareth’s breathing became erratic, his eyes bloodshot, as if holding back a fire that could scorch the heavens and the earth!
At this moment, the man was thoroughly enraged, teetering on the brink of collapse, and Alston took perverse pleasure in watching him unravel.
Alston lifted his chin with the smug smile of a victor, “Mr. Fairhaven, if I have anyone to thank for my current bliss with Marilla, it’s you. Had your Fairhaven Group cherished a gem like Marilla instead of tormenting her to death and engaging in such despicable acts, she would have been yours by now, wouldn’t she? And I would never have had the chance to experience this exquisite fate.”
Earlier, their whispers had been inaudible to Lily and Dean. But now, the revelation struck them like a bolt from the blue, a crushing pain spreading through their very core.
“You’re lying!”
With a bang, Jareth grabbed Alston by the collar, lifting him nearly off his feet and slamming him against the car door with such speed that even the Bartley family’s bodyguards couldn’t react in time!
When they tried to intervene, Lily and Dean blocked them, preventing anyone from getting close to Jareth.
Alston grimaced in pain, feeling as though his spine might break into pieces. Accustomed to a life of luxury, he was not used to this kind of rough treatment, and his voice trembled with fear, “What good does it do you to lash out at me?! Marilla slipped through your fingers; you couldn’t protect your own woman! This is just impotent rage!”
Jareth’s handsome face turned ashen, his throat filled with the taste of blood.
“Even without me, the Abernathy family would never marry their daughter into the Fairhaven family! And do you think it was my family who forced her hand? She agreed to marry me of her own will, thoroughly disappointed in you!”
“Shut your mouth!” Jareth roared hysterically, his fist cracking with the force of his grip as it hurtled toward Alston’s face, who, terrified, clamped his eyes shut.
“Mr. Fairhaven!” Lily intervened in time, her calloused palm catching the iron–hard fist, “Please, stop!”
But Jareth’s teeth were still clenched, and the fury in his eyes couldn’t be quelled.
“Ha, hit me, why don’t you? Why aren’t you hitting me now?”
Alston, knowing their reservations, taunted further, “Because you don’t dare. Your Fairhaven Group has already crossed the Abernathy Group. Mr. Hamilton Abernathy and his son, Mr. Frederic Abernathy, are united in their disdain for you. They’d love nothing more than to see your Fairhaven Group blacklisted in Elmsworth! If you dare lay a finger on me, you can kiss any future Fairhaven Group’s projects in Elmsworth goodbye! I’ll make sure the Fairhaven family falls just as hard as they rose!”
In the chilly early morning hours, Marilla had yet to retire, sitting before her easel in a cozy, fuzzy loungewear, lost in her painting.
In the quiet room, the soft scratching of the pencil on paper was the only sound. The figure taking shape on the paper, though only outlined in simple strokes, was unmistakably the man who haunted her heart, whose slightest touch caused her agony/torturing her inch by inch.
Marilla paused, her trembling fingertips caressing the bright eyes in the drawing, as a torrent of precious memories overwhelmed her. Her heart ached, and she quickly shut her eyes.
In time, it would get better. Eventually, she would get used to a life without Jareth, and he would gradually forget her, finding happiness with someone better suited for him.
Then, a gentle hesitant knock sounded, “Ms. Abernathy, are you still awake?
“Not yet, come in,” Marilla flipped the portrait over.
The one entering was a young maid, once the best friend of Erica at Windermere Estate. Now that Marilla had returned home, the maid had offered to come along and take care of her.
“Why are you not resting at this hour?” Marilla asked gently.
“Ms. Abernathy.”
The maid’s eyes flickered, hesitant before she spoke, “Mr. Jareth Fairhaven has been standing outside the Windermere Estate gates for over two hours. I heard the butlers discussing, that’s how I knew.”
Marilla’s crystal–like eyes trembled, as if a knife had been plunged into her heart, twisting painfully.
“The butlers didn’t dare make a fuss, afraid to disturb Mr. Frederic Abernathy. Even if Mr. Frederic Abernathy were asleep, if Dennis heard about it, things could get very complicated,” the maid said with concern.
Marilla turned away, picking up her phone from the desk and powering it on. The device vibrated wildly, a barrage of missed call notifications flooding the screen, all from Jareth.
But there was only one message:
[Honey, I miss you.]
Tears fell hot and heavy onto the heartfelt words, burning scars into her heart.
These past days, she thought she had grown accustomed to his absence. Even if she hadn’t, she believed she could remain composed.
But now, her carefully constructed defenses crumbled effortlessly at this simple message of longing, leaving her utterly defenseless.
“Ms. Abernathy, go see him, just sneak out,” the maid sensed her tears and felt a deep sympathy.
Marilla kept her head bowed, her slender figure resembling a tender shoot bent by the morning dew.
“If you don’t go, you’ll regret it.”
“If I do, nothing will change.”
“If you truly value what you had with Mr. Fairhaven, you should go see him,” the maid urged with heartfelt concern. “Not for any other reason, but I just feel that ending things so abruptly is too cruel to Mr. Fairhaven. Even if it’s just to say goodbye, you should do it with grace. It’s what the daughter of the Abernathy family would do, isn’t it?”
Jareth stood tall and statuesque, bracing himself against the biting winter wind, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the direction of the villa. He coughed occasionally, feeling a dull ache in his stomach, but he hardly cared, as if his soul had completely detached from his body.
“Mr. Fairhaven, please take your medicine,” Lily offered him a pill and a thermos cup.
Jareth’s long lashes drooped as he stared at the pill in his palm, slowly curling his fingers into a fist. When he opened his hand again, the pill had been crushed into powder, his hope vanishing with wind.
“It’s just pointless, the corner of Jareth’s lips twitched weakly.
“Mr. Fairhaven! Please stop this nonsense!”
Lily was both angry and heartbroken, her voice hoarse with urgency, “Your life Isn’t Just about love! You’ve got frends like Mr. Thaddeus Abernathy, who would stand by you through thick and thin, and you have your father’s legacy to carry on!
Torturing yourself like this, for love, it would break your mother’s heart if she knew! You always say you love her and don’t want her to suffer the slightest bit, but isn’t the greatest pain.”
She stopped abruptly, pressing her lips together tightly
“You want to say that the greatest sin she’s endured, the greatest pain she’s suffered, was all because of me?” Jareth laughed bitterly, “You’re right. If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have gone through such hardship.”
“Mr. Fairhaven! Look!” Dean suddenly shouted excitedly.
Jareth lifted his sorrowful eyes, and his heart clenched unexpectedly.
In the darkness, a shuttle bus was approaching the gate. The man’s gaze instantly found Marilla in the back seat, looking as meek and innocent as a little rabbit.