Free Web NovelChapter 233: Wake up (2)
"I should take my leave now," Scarlet said, knowing her presence here would only worsen this.
If only Jack could have stayed away a little more, Scarlet could have finished celebrating with Dorothy. It was obvious that Jack couldn’t read the room and be a little more gentle to Dorothy. Jack of all people knew best what his parent’s relationship was like.
"No, you are to stay. Jack is about to leave since he is not welcome here. Do not make me have to call the town guards to remove you," said Dorothy.
Today was not the day for arguing with Jack. It was finally time to celebrate being free from her marriage.
Jack couldn’t believe his eyes that his mother was sitting with the very woman he was failing to speak to. All along his mother could have helped him to get Scarlet back. "You know that I want to speak to her but you did not call me to let me know the two of you were sitting together."
"Jack, you must stop taking me for a fool. Why would I call you to bother her? And I told you to leave. I have a guest now," Dorothy said, standing up to find the phone.
"You are to be wearing black and mourning your husband’s death. Not drinking like you are celebrating. Do you not care that he is gone? That there will never be a moment when we see him again?" Jack asked, balling up his fists.
His father was dead and no one seemed to care.
"No, I do not care," Dorothy honestly answered. "Your father didn’t respect me well enough to stop his affairs. I do not care what has come of him now. If you wish to get dressed and greet any visitors, I will not stop you. There are clothes in your old room that you can wear."
’Why do I always find myself in these situations?’ Scarlet wondered. This had nothing to do with her but she was forced to watch the two fight. ’I could slip out.’
"Regardless, you’re his wife. He has passed so the last thing you could do for him is to greet those who come to offer kind words and comfort you. Can’t you do that much?" Jack questioned, raising his voice.
The butler returned to grab Jack and throw him out if Dorothy needed someone to do it.
"No, I cannot do that much. You have the same foolish thinking that your wives are just to ignore everything and do as you like. I didn’t love your father for many years and I am not going to pretend to mourn his death now. I am going to open another bottle and enjoy the day. Leave if you are so uncomfortable," Dorothy said, her voice shaky as she didn’t have it in her to fight now. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Scarlet noticed that Dorothy’s hand was shaking and knew she had to help. "Jack, I want to speak with you alone."
Dorothy thought she heard wrong at first but then she saw Scarlet stand up. "Scarlet, there’s no need for you to speak to him. He is about to leave."
"No. I want to have one final conversation with him. If you would just give us a few minutes, Dorothy. Then you and I can get back to what we started. Have a glass poured and wait for me. Do you remember what I like?" Scarlet asked.
Dorothy cleared her throat, calming herself down. "Well, it is quite similar to your mother’s so how can I forget? Then, excuse me for a moment. I might need to fix my appearance."
Scarlet waited for Dorothy to leave with the butler. She never wanted there to come a day when she had to speak to Jack again but she had no choice now. "When are you going to grow up, Jack? I only married into this family and knew what their marriage was like. You should care for your mother more than I do."
Jack walked around the chairs to be standing closer to Scarlet. "Do not concern yourself with my mother unless you are planning to marry into this family again. What are you doing meeting with her when you don’t want to meet with me? I have been trying to get our marriage back."
"Your mother has always been good to me and I would not pick now as the time I turn my back on her. Not everyone goes off burning bridges with the people in their lives. I will happily meet with her but not you," Scarlet answered. "And we will never marry again. We will never even be friends."
"I have realised my mistake-"
"Far too late," Scarlet finished. "I want you to stop trying to revive something that has long died. You and I are not right for each other. I’ve found someone who suits me and I think if you start acting right, you might find someone who loves you and doesn’t just put up with you."
"You’ll settle for a bastard with a bar? I am more well suited for you. Look at the business that I run. It is far more than what he has," Jack argued.
Scarlet was leaving gold for a mere pebble in his eyes.
"I once gave you the chance and that didn’t end well. I have enough for myself to not care about what anyone can offer me. Your chance has long passed, Jack. It is time you accept that we fell out of love with each other a long time ago. I only wished you had the respect to tell me that you wanted to move on instead of seeing someone behind my back," said Scarlet. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
"We should have ended our marriage before we finally did and then you took joy in embarrassing me with Beth. You’ve done far too much for me to consider wanting to have any kind of friendship with you. I so desperately want to make you disappear but I think of your mother. How sad she would be-"
"Oh please. You and my mother have a share in being heartless. She is quite ready to throw me away," Jack replied, not wanting to hear Scarlet tell him about his mother. He never spoke to her about her parents.
"I’ve always admired your mother for how strong she is. I never thought there would be anything to break her but there was one day during the time that we were married when I visited her and found her in tears. She was crying over something you did and you know what, I made the hard decision not to disturb her," Scarlet revealed.
Jack scoffed. "Of course you did since you don’t know how to comfort anyone."
Scarlet resisted the urge to slap Jack. It would make her feel a lot better but now was not the right time. "No, you idiot. Your mother doesn’t want anyone to see that side of her and as hard as it was, I wanted to respect her decision. Do you not notice that your mother trembles when she argues with you? She does not like doing it."
"Your father was not the greatest husband to her. It is quite simple to understand but you men always want to ignore how hurtful affairs are. You know she would never mourn for him. Can’t you be kind to her for once? You’ve only succeeded because of your mother. Did you know that?" Scarlet asked.
Without Dorothy pushing Jack, nothing would have become of him. There wasn’t a time Scarlet could think of Joseph working hard like Dorothy did. Dorothy knew what she had to do to get her son where he needed to be and she became one tough woman to not let anyone get in her way. Not even her husband.
Scarlet sat back down. "Your silence tells me that you know. You once confided in me that you disliked how your father treated your mother. She was your favourite, remember? Or has becoming like your father changed you?"
"What do you want from me, Scarlet?" Jack asked, his voice soft and giving away that he was tired. He spent his days searching for Beth.
"I want you to leave me alone because that part of our life is done and because I care about Dorothy, I want you to be the man that I knew years ago and make all your mother’s sacrifices worth something. Once you calm down, you will realise that you are not in love with me. Wake up and start making changes," said Scarlet.
It wasn’t too late for Jack to change his life around and focus on his work. Only when Jack worked on himself should he think of loving someone.
"You love him over me?" Jack asked, looking to his left at Scarlet.
"Jack, I’ve said it quite clearly. My answer will not change now or in the future. Should my relationship with Ian fail, I will never give you a second chance. We are done for good. If there is love somewhere in your delusion, use it to let me go," Scarlet requested.
