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That was all it was to her. A joke.
Joyce would not believe that he was telling the truth.
The way he had treated her and his previous abhorrence toward her was something she
could not forget. He had even hoped that she and her family would die.
How could a man who despised her so much bear any love for her?
He never once fell for her in the past decade, but now, he was saying that he had fallen
for her in the mere weeks since her memory loss. How could that be true?
It was absurd.
He must be trying to humiliate me in a different way, she mused. If he truly had feelings
for me, he would have acted on them long ago instead of waiting until now. It's not as if
the current me needs his love at all.
Stanley could guess that she still did not believe him, and that made the expression in his
eyes darken.
Never mind. It's not strange that she doesn't believe in me. I'll just work on gaining her
trust gradually.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Do you want to know why I said those words to the person on the other end of the line?”
Stanley asked her.
Joyce shook her head. “I don't. But, Stanley, I beg you, regardless of why you said that,
please don't get my parents involved. They're old, and they don't have long to live. I know
you hate them, but please let them go—let them enjoy the last few years they have on
earth in peace, and let me bear the responsibility for this instead,” she pleaded, patting
her chest.
Stanley quickly understood her intentions. His expression turned grim as he asked, “Did
you think I said those words because I was planning to hurt your family?”
Joyce's lips trembled. “Did you not? Why would you say that all of a sudden, then? I can't
think of any reason besides this.”
Stanley's breathing quickened. “Joyce, you—”
Joyce flinched. “I'm sorry, Mr. Quinn. I don't know if my guess is right or not, but I
genuinely hope that you'll have mercy on my parents.”
Joyce was still determined to beg for mercy for her parents.
At that, Stanley rubbed his temples, his head aching. “That's enough. Stop talking.”
He needed some quiet.
He had guessed that she would not believe his words, but he never thought she would
assume he was trying to plot the demise of the Rivers family by saying those words.
It seemed like his past actions had well and truly traumatized her. That had to be why
everything he said made her wonder if that was a plan to hurt the Rivers family.
Upon seeing the dark expression on Stanley's face, Joyce immediately closed her mouth
and remained quiet.
Stanley continued rubbing his temples for a while before finally calming down completely.
When he faced Joyce, he had a serious expression on his face. “Listen to me, Joyce. I'm not
planning to target the Rivers family. I was only saying what was on my mind. I really—”
“Thank you, Mr. Quinn,” Joyce quickly cut him off with a bow.
She knew what he was going to say next, and it was exactly why she interrupted him.
While she accepted that he was genuine in saying that he did not intend to harm the
Rivers family, she remained unconvinced of his love for her.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThat was enough.
She was going to treat what he said after that as a mere joke.
Stanley knew what she was doing, too, and his lips formed a thin line. She could see he
appeared to be in deep thought, but she could not read his mind.
A while later, she still heard nothing from Stanley, so she mustered the courage to
straighten up and say, “Mr. Quinn?”
Stanley averted his gaze. “Forget it. If you don't want to hear it, I won't say it anymore.”
It was indeed a little early to say such things, but he had not planned to do it either.
It was just that she happened to overhear the conversation.
I should stick to my original plan. Once I do everything I want to do, I'll let her know about
it. It won't be too late then.
Joyce let out an almost inaudible sigh of relief at his silence.
Frankly, she was afraid that he would insist on the topic.
Her slate for romantic love was, at the moment, blank. She neither knew what to do with it
nor did she know how to accept it from someone else.
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