Ice and Fire novel Chapter 206

After they lingered for about an hour in the bathroom, they finally walked out of it.

After that, Cherry put on one of her casual home dresses and went downstairs. She saw Joe playing with Bill in the courtyard and watering the flowers with a sprinkler in his hand. When she saw how happy he was, Cherry smiled delightedly.

Downstairs, Lily was preparing lunch, and Cherry decided to go to the kitchen and help her.

When she saw that Cherry was downstairs, Lily hastily said, "Madam, you're up already?"

"Yes, " said Cherry as she nodded, "Are you cooking lunch?"

"Yes, " replied Lily.

"Let me help you, " said Cherry, and after that, she washed her hands and started to help Lily prepare the meal.

Jackson also came downstairs, and when he saw that Cherry was cooking with Lily in the kitchen, he felt in a good mood and light hearted. He then went to the courtyard to see his son.

He saw that he was watering the flowers but that his feet were wet, and shouted, "Joe!"

Hearing his Daddy, Joe quickly answered in a loud voice, "Daddy!"

"Don't play in the water, be careful not to catch a cold!" said Jackson, very concerned about his son's health.

"It's fun to play in the water, Daddy, " said Joe, while he continued watering the plants with his feet soaked in water.

Jackson could not help but shake his head when he heard him. He ordered Bill, who was standing beside Joe, "Watch him, and don't let his clothes get wet!"

"Certainly, Mr. Jackson, " replied Bill politely.

Jackson then turned around, walked into the living room, and sat on the sofa to read his newspaper.

After lunch was ready, Cherry walked into the courtyard and shouted to her son, who was still playing, "Joe, come and have lunch!"

"But Mommy, I still want to play some more!" said Joe, unwilling to go back inside the house.

"Stop now, you've played all morning! It's time for lunch now, " said Cherry, in a very serious tone.

Joe pouted, and was reluctant to go to Cherry, but was soon pulled inside the house by her.

When Cherry saw that Jackson was still sitting in the living room, she told Joe, "Ask your daddy to come to lunch."

Joe was still unhappy, and shouted to Jackson in the living room, "Daddy, Mommy asked you to come and eat lunch!"

Jackson raised his head and saw Cherry pull his son into the dining room. He then put down the newspaper and went to them.

While the family was having lunch inside the dining room, Joe silently looked at how his father and mother were. He saw that neither one of them were smiling, but that his father had a much more tender expression on his face than he had the day before.

"Joe, what are you looking at?" asked Cherry, noticing that from time to time her son was gazing at both her and Jackson.

Joe snickered, and hastily replied, "Nothing."

After that, Joe lowered his head and started to eat his meal.

Jackson also looked at Joe and Cherry, and didn't feel that they looked different as they usually did.

After lunch, Joe went upstairs to take his noon nap. Cherry was watching TV in the living room with Jackson accompanying her next to her on the sofa.

Suddenly, Jackson's phone rang.

The call came from Derek and Jackson immediately answered it.

"Hello, " said Jackson.

"Are you home now, Jackson?" asked Derek, with his voice sounding a little bit anxious.

"Yes, I'm at home. What's up?" asked Jackson.

"We have to go back to the barracks this afternoon. Something happened..." said Derek.

Jackson thought a while, and then replied, "Okay, got it. I'll be on my way soon."

After he hung up the phone, Jackson pondered what could have possibly happened and hastily started to get himself ready.

Cherry noticed that something was off, and she asked Jackson, "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I have to go back to the barracks. Derek said that something happened and that we have to deal with it, " said Jackson.

"Then you should go back, it must be something important, " said Cherry.

Jackson looked at Cherry, and in a serious tone, said, "I may not come back home this evening."

"Stay at the barracks then. Anyway, everything's alright here at home, and I will ask Bill to drive me to work tomorrow, " said Cherry, in a very understanding tone.

Jackson circled her waist with his arm and planted a big kiss on her forehead. He was reluctant to leave Cherry's side, and in a tender voice, he said, "Then you and Joe stay at home and call me if anything happens. Okay?"

Cherry nodded.

Then, Cherry accompanied Jackson to the villa's gates and didn't come back into the house only after she saw Jackson drive his car away.

After she returned, Cherry continued to sit on the sofa and watch TV, but she felt somehow lost; Jackson wasn't beside her anymore, and she felt absent-minded.

Suddenly, Cherry then thought of the apartment in which she had once lived with Jackson. Since they had moved to the villa, she hadn't had a chance to go back to the apartment, and wondered whether all the stuff that she knew was in the apartment was still there. Had Jackson got rid of it?

After she thought for a while, Cherry decided to go to the apartment and have a look at the place. If the stuff was still there, perhaps she could bring something over, and anyway, she thought that since they didn't live there any longer, the stuff would be sitting there idle, so Cherry immediately asked Lily to call in Bill.

Bill stood in front of Cherry, and respectfully said, "Madam, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Bill, I need you to drive me to the apartment, the one in which me and Jackson had once lived, " said Cherry.

After she said that, Cherry turned her head to look at Lily, and told her, "When Joe wakes up, ask him to do his homework. I'll go to the apartment now, but I'll be back before dinner."

"Okay, " said Lily, while nodding to her.

Bill then drove Cherry to the apartment and arrived there fast.

As she stood in front of the apartment and saw the familiar surroundings, Cherry felt that everything seemed to have happened just yesterday.

Cherry then walked into the building, opened the apartment's door, and went inside.

Everything was the same. Although covered with dust, the furniture was exactly in the same place as it was placed five years ago.

Cherry looked through all the apartment, but she had no idea why she had suddenly wanted to come back and look at it. She didn't care much about what had happened there before, but the thought of coming back had simply just sprung in her mind.

Cherry then slowly opened the door of the study and saw that it was the same as it had used to be. The shelves were full of Jackson's books, and his computer was still on the desk.

She walked inside and used a book to dust off the chair. She sat down at the desk.

Cherry couldn't help but recall their moments there. She then pulled one of the drawers under the desk.

She saw that there were several books inside it of no interest to her and wanted to close it, but suddenly she was attracted by a piece of paper hidden inside one of them.

Curious, Cherry took out the paper.

When she saw what was on that piece of paper, Cherry couldn't help but open her eyes wide, totally astonished by what she found written on it.

It was a bank receipt with a huge amount of remittance written on it. The receipt was dated one week before she returned home, but what was more surprising was that the recipient was unexpectedly Sally.

She wondered why had Jackson transferred fifty million to Sally's account. She knew that Sally had always accompanied Jackson during the past five years, and even if Jackson had given her some pocket money from time to time, it shouldn't have been that much! Each time Jackson had given her some money, the sum would be a few hundred thousand. Now she wondered why had Jackson transferred such an incredible sum to Sally. Was it because something that related to their past?