Ice and Fire novel Chapter 166

Jackson then hung up the phone without saying any more words, And Cherry quietly snuggled up against his shoulder again.

Jackson dropped his head, and as he gazed at her, he whispered, "Baby..."

But Cherry just stared ahead at the sea without replying to him.

"Are you mad because of the phone call?" asked Jackson, who could definitely tell that Cherry was irritated because of Sally calling him.

She suddenly looked up at Jackson, and said, "Can I ask you something?"

Jackson nodded.

"Can you tell me what's really going on between you and Stephen?" She had always wanted to know the truth, but Stephen had always avoided to tell it to her. All the other people who knew about it also avoided the subject, because they were afraid of Jackson. She had to ask him personally, and Cherry finally found the courage to do it.

Jackson's expression then slowly changed. He looked away, trying to avoid Cherry's inquiry.

Seeing Jackson's palpable reluctance, Cherry became even more eager to know the answer.

"Tell me, please! I'm curious!" said Cherry while nuzzling him.

This time, Jackson didn't dote on her as he used to when Cherry begged him for something. Instead, he coldly said, "Drop the subject."

When Cherry saw Jackson's reluctance again, rage burned inside of her. She then got out of Jackson's arms and rose to her feet, and as she looked down at him, she said, "Am I only an outsider to you?"

"No, baby, you're not!" said Jackson. He also got up and wanted to cuddle with her again.

Cherry, however, stepped a few steps back to avoid his touch.

"Don't touch me!" cried Cherry, making Jackson freeze in his steps. She then looked him in the eye, and said, "You only care about Sally, don't you?"

"Honey, stop it, please! "I only love you, you have to believe me!" helplessly said Jackson. His eyes blazed with sincerity, because Cherry was the only woman that he had ever loved.

Cherry shook her head and refused to believe him. His words meant nothing at all to her.

"Jackson, you said that you want me to live with you, but you still have a relationship with Sally going on! How could I come back to you when Sally is still around lingering in your life? Do you want what happened five years ago to happen again?" As she said this, her memory of Emily suddenly flashed through her mind. When the old sadness struck her, she realized that she had never really forgotten about it.

"Honey, please, listen to me! It's not what you think, " begged Jackson, while slowly moving closer to Cherry.

"No, no! Get away from me!" yelled Cherry, unwilling to hear any of his excuses.

Jackson finally got the chance to grab Cherry's arms, but she was resisting so violently that he had to let her go.

"Enough!" shouted Jackson furiously while he stared at Cherry.

She was startled by his cry, and became silent in an instant.

When he saw that he scared Cherry, Jackson quickly made an effort to compose himself before he apologized to her, "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to yell at you."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" said Cherry, staring at him, emotionless. She continued, "Isn't this what you really are?"

Jackson was on the verge of a major break-out. He really didn't want to lose his temper in front of her, but why did she always have to provoke him?

After some time, Cherry said, "Jackson, go for her if you care about her, because she probably loves you more than I do." She then paused, and after she gnashed her teeth for a moment, she continued to say, "I'll call it quits with you if that's what you want."

After that, she got rid of his hands and wanted to run away from him.

However, Jackson grabbed her arm, and pulled her back to him before she was able to advance a single step.

"Do you really think that you can just run away from me like this?" said Jackson severely, as he put his arms around her again. He said, "You were the one who wanted to mess with me in the first place. How could you just leave me like this?"

Letting her go was the last thing that he wanted to do. The woman he held in his arms was the most valuable treasure that he had in the whole world.

"I didn't mean to mess with you! If I could travel back time I would have rather never known you in the first place!" said Cherry, while she tilted her head back and looked at Jackson.

Anger started to flow in him, and Jackson shouted, "Cherry Shen!"

"What? Are you mad now, ah?" said Cherry, unyielding. She continued, "You always talk to Sally in a gentle tone, but you call my name out harshly. She must mean a lot to you, doesn't she?"

Cherry cared about Jackson's every movement and tone. She wanted Jackson to treat her best, but he didn't, and to top it all, there was also another woman out there that managed to catch more of his attention than she did.

"You're different. You're my..." argued Jackson, but Cherry interrupted him.

"Yes, I'm different from her, I know! I'm helpless for you, but Sally isn't! That means that you can't afford to lose her, can you?" Cherry finally told him what she really wanted to say.

Immediately after he heard her, Jackson gripped her shoulders fiercely. His temples were throbbing with rage, and he snarled at her, "What did you find out?"

Jackson's sudden eruption frightened her. She didn't dare to utter another single word, and wondered whether she had said anything wrong to him.

Jackson demanded again, "How did you find out? Who told you?"

"No, no, no one, " stammered Cherry, too scared to speak anymore.

Jackson squeezed Cherry's arms, and as he ignored the scared expression on her face, he said, "Did Stephen tell you? Did he?"

"No, " denied Cherry immediately. "He had nothing to do with it!"

Her quick reply alarmed Jackson. He stared at her, and thought, 'She must have found out something.'

Cherry then looked into Jackson's eyes, and said, "Why do you think it was him? Why don't you suspect Sally?"

"It can't be her, " said Jackson, convinced.

Cherry then gave a helpless smile, and said, "You really trust her with your life, don't you?"

Jackson looked at her, without speaking another word.

Cherry continued, "Would you believe me if I tell you that Sally was the one?"

Jackson frowned, still doubting.

Cherry was very hurt by Jackson's expression. 'He trusts Sally more than anything, ' she thought.

Jackson continued to gaze at her in silence.

When she saw him, tears started to flow down on Cherry's cheeks; she had received the answer to her question.

"Perhaps I lied. You should trust her, " said Cherry eventually. She then summoned all of her strength and got rid of Jackson and walked away.

Jackson didn't go after her this time, and just stood alone and confused on the beach watching her leave. Cherry couldn't lie to him, and even if she did, he would still believe her. 'Did Sally really tell her about it?' wondered Jackson. 'What did she say to her?'

A murderous look then emerged on Jackson's face. Except for Cherry, anyone who dared to cross the line with him was doomed.

Cherry was still silent when they returned to the hotel. She walked straight into the bedroom and locked the door behind her, leaving Jackson alone in the living room.

Jackson knew that Cherry was very mad at him. He felt resigned to be locked out in the living room, but instead of going against her again, he just accepted the situation as it was. He didn't want to provoke her anymore.

Cherry laid alone on the bed in the middle of the night, unable to sleep because of the thoughts that she had swirling in her mind.

The door of the bedroom suddenly flung open, and Cherry got up, wondering what was happening. She saw that Jackson was there, holding a key in his hand that was probably borrowed from the hotel's reception.

Instead of turning the lights on, he walked towards the bed guided only by the dim moonlight.

As soon as he laid in the bed, he put his arms around Cherry, eager to feel her scent.

"Let me go!" cried Cherry, struggling to get out of his arms.

Jackson simply ignored her resistance, and gently comforted her, "Baby, I was wrong earlier, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Cherry sat up in the bed again, and said, " You didn't believe me, you wretch! I can't believe that you would rather believe her than me! Why don't you go after her and leave me alone?"

"Easy, easy now. Let's go to sleep, okay?" Jackson tried to put an end to their arguments.

"Get out!" demanded Cherry while pointing at the door.

Jackson stared at her in silence.

After some time, Cherry took her pillow and tried to get out of bed. She said, "If you won't leave, then I will!"

Jackson immediately grabbed Cherry's hand to stop her, and said, "Okay, okay, I give up. I'll leave you alone."

He then got off of the bed and walked out.

Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw that Jackson disappeared. 'Jackson, ' she said to herself, 'Why do you care so much about Sally? If only once I heard you speak ill of her or blame her, I wouldn't argue with you, but why on Earth do you treat her so well?'

Jackson sat in the living room, lost in thought. He picked up his phone and called Derek.

"Hello Jackson!" answered Derek on the other side of the line.

"Make an appointment for tomorrow; I want to see him, " ordered Jackson.

"Tomorrow? Why in such a hurry?" asked Derek, very surprised by his command.

"Ask Selina to stay with Cherry tomorrow. We had a fight, " confessed Jackson. Afterwards, some thoughts occurred to him, and he added, "Also, tell Selina to change the return flight for the day after tomorrow. I have something urgent to deal with."

"You must be kidding me!" cried Derek, astonished. On what kind of vacation were they, if they left a couple of days after their arrival?

"Cherry seems to have found out something. I think it was Sally who told her about it, " answered Jackson frankly.