Ice and Fire novel Chapter 136

Jackson suddenly walked forward and grabbed Cherry's arm. He said, "Please don't go!"

Cherry tried to stop crying, but when she heard Jackson's pleading, tears started to roll down her face again.

Jackson looked at Cherry, anguished, without uttering a single word.

Cherry shook his hand off of her with all the strength that she could muster, and put on a calm expression on her face. She said, "Jackson, if you hadn't had Sally, or if I had been unaware of her existence in the first place, I wouldn't have left you five years ago."

And with that, she walked away with Stephen.

As Jackson watched Cherry leave, tears started to well up in his eyes. He opened his mouth and wanted to call out to her, but no voice could come out of it. He was dying to make her stay with him, but he didn't know how to.

Deep down in his heart, he yelled, 'Baby, I love you too! I love you so much! I know that I've harbored deep hatred, and I apologize for what I've done to Harrison! But not to Stephen, no, because the grudge between him and me is beyond your wildest imagination, Cherry. Even so, I don't want you to let you know about it. Please come back to me, my love! I feel so lonely without you.'

As Cherry disappeared from his sight, Jackson finally confessed, 'And honey, in fact, Jean is still alive.'

Stephen drove the car, and from time to time he glanced at Cherry who was sitting next to him in the front passenger's seat. He wanted to say something to her, but he was afraid that she wasn't in the mood for talking.

"Stephen, I'm sorry, " said Cherry, who seemed to have noticed Stephen's attention.

"No, Cherry, there's no need to apologize, " hastily said Stephen. He had never blamed Cherry for anything that had happened to him.

Cherry, however, started to murmur to herself, "It's all my fault...If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble."

Stephen shook his head, and said, "Cherry, even if I hadn't helped you, Jackson and I would have still ended up like this anyway. We have more grudges against each other than you would expect."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Cherry curiously.

Stephen didn't dare to tell Cherry the truth. If she were to ever know it, then it was Jackson's duty to tell it to her.

Seeing his reticence, Cherry didn't demand the answer. At that moment, she was more worried about Harrison, whose whereabouts were still unknown.

"Drive me home, Stephen. I'm tired, " said Cherry eventually.

"Okay, " replied Stephen, willing to help her with whatever she needed.

The next morning, Elsa walked in Cherry's bedroom and found that both the mother and the son were still in bed.

"You two sleepyheads, do you know what time it is? Time to get up!" called Elsa as she drew open the window curtains.

"But mom, I don't want to go to work today!" mumbled Cherry, still half asleep.

"Grandma, I don't want to go to school today either! I want to stay in bed with mommy, " also said Joe sleepy, before he nuzzled up against his mother again.

"Get up, now, or you'll have to taste my feather duster!" threatened Elsa.

Eventually, Cherry sat up on the bed, and then she patted Joe's back beside her, saying, "Joe, come on, get up!"

"Okay, Mommy!"

After breakfast, Wilson took Joe to school and Cherry drove to the company.

But just before she left, Elsa grabbed her hand, and asked, "Cherry, are you okay? Did something happen yesterday?"

Cherry instantly denied, "No, nothing at all. Mom, don't worry about me. Come on now, I have to go."

She then rushed into her car and drove away.

As Elsa watched Cherry's car disappear, she said to herself, "My poor little girl... When will you ever find your happiness?"

Cherry arrived at the company and started to work at her desk as usual. Selina had been planning to ask her about what she and Jackson had talked about last evening, but did not know how to start the conversation with her.

Cherry buried herself in her work for the entire morning to take her mind off of things.

By afternoon, she had collected all the documents that needed to be signed for the day.

Cherry then entered Selina's office, walked up to her desk and said, "Miss Selina, these documents need signing."

She put the pile on Selina's desk.

"Okay, " replied Selina. She glanced through the papers and signed all of them right after she noticed that the materials were about the arrangements that she had planned for.

When Cherry collected the signed documents and was about to leave, Selina said, "Cherry, can we have a talk?"

Cherry stopped and turned back to Selina.

Selina immediately stood up from her desk and walked up to her. She grabbed Cherry's hand, and brought her to the couch.

They sat down on it, and Selina said, "Cherry, did you talk to Jackson just for Stephen's sake?" Although Selina partially guessed what had happened last evening, she cared more about whether Jackson and Cherry had become closer to each other, and whether they had gotten back together.

Cherry stared at Selina, and said, "Yes."

Cherry then asked, "Miss Selina, Jackson was the one who decided to buy the Anshi Group, right?"

Selina didn't avoid Cherry's gaze. She knew that Cherry had figured everything out by herself.

She answered, "Yes, Jackson told me about it."

Cherry looked away.

Selina sighed, and said, "Cherry, I don't think that you should involve yourself in the grudges between Jackson and Stephen. Jackson will never change his mind."

"But Stephen has suffered a lot in the past five years because of me!" Cherry almost screamed out, and tears welled up in her eyes. She felt awfully bad at the thought of what Stephen had gone through during the past five years.

Selina then realized that Cherry had no idea about the grudge between Jackson and Stephen. Since Jackson hadn't told her, she didn't dare to tell her about it.

She gently clasped Cherry's hand into hers, and said, "Cherry, you must believe in Jackson, he loves you! If you think that Jackson's takeover on the Anshi Group is a revenge on Stephen for him helping you run away five years ago, it's because that he loves you and wants you to be on his side."

Cherry fought back her tears and shook her head. She started to say, "Can we...can we get back together even after all these years?"

"Didn't he tell you yesterday already?" asked Selina surprised. "He's always wanted you back."

Cherry chuckled, and repeated, "Wanted me back? What is he trying to do? Imprison me? Or does he want me to kneel before him and beg mercy for Stephen?"

Selina was startled by Cherry's reaction and words. What on earth had happened yesterday evening? How could have things gone so awfully wrong?

Cherry took a deep breath and suddenly stood up from the couch. She said, "Miss Selina, I have to leave now."

Selina did not go on about it and let Cherry go.

After Cherry left, Selina was very angry, and she immediately called Jackson, but no one answered. She then called Derek.

Unlike Jackson, Derek quickly answered his phone.

"Hello! Where are you and Jackson?" asked Selina, immediately after the call was connected.

"How did you know that I'm with him?" teased Derek, feeling in a good mood.

"Cut the crap! I need to talk to him right now, " demanded Selina.

"Family residence."

Selina then hung up.

She walked out of the JS office building and drove as fast as she could to the family residence. After she pulled up in front of the building, she marched straight to the Chu's quarters.

Andrew had gone for a walk with the butler and wasn't at home, but Selina saw Jackson and Derek sitting in the living room.

Selina rushed to Jackson and furiously shouted, "What did you say to Cherry?"

Jackson remained quiet, with his head lowered, avoiding her.

On the other hand, Derek rose to his feet and walked up to her, and tried to drag her away. He urged her, "Cut it out, Jackson is already upset."

"Oh, is that so? What's he upset about? Why would he, the young master Chu, be ever upset?" asked Selina mockingly.

"You don't know what's really going on. Stop it already, " quickly said Derek. He then threw Jackson a glance, afraid that he would be mad again.

"What do you mean? Is there anything that I don't know already?" Selina kept her voice aloud, and continued, "Oh, are you upset that you wanted to make Cherry kneel down in front of you but she refused?"

Jackson then got up in an instant and glared at Selina with mad murderous eyes. She had ruffled his feathers.

"Shut up!" shouted Jackson coldly.

In normal circumstances, Selina would have stayed as far away from Jackson as she could when he lost his temper, but this time she wanted to fight for Cherry. She knew that Jackson still loved Cherry, and she wanted to take her chances. The best result were managing to help them get back together and making Sally disappear from the city. If she failed, then she would just accept it.

"Why should I shut up?" protested Selina. "I always believed that you could keep your head clear when you faced Cherry, but I had never expected you to treat her like that. Do you know how sad she is? Do you?"

Jackson glared at Selina without saying a word.

Seeing Jackson's expression, Derek stopped his sister at once, and said, "Give it a rest, already! Jackson has repented for what he's done and feels bad about it."

"He deserves it, " said Selina without thinking with her eyes still locked with Jackson. She went on saying, "Jackson, you should taken care of the things between you and Stephen on your own! Why did you involve Cherry in them!"

Jackson furiously shouted, "Do you think I wanted to? She's the single person that I want to protect and care about more than anything in the world! You know very well that Stephen and I are engaged in a battle to the death, and that only one of can emerge out of it alive!"