Ice and Fire novel Chapter 224

Jackson and Cherry strolled along the roadside hand in hand while the breeze gently brushed against their cheeks. Cherry watched the beautiful scenery around them, and for a moment felt her heart free of any hardships.

Jackson then suddenly put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He bent over her ear, and whispered into it, "Baby, please forgive me."

Cherry knew for what he was apologizing. He had locked her away inside the mansion for the last couple of days, and she had had little freedom to do anything.

But she didn't know how she should reply to him, and instead kept silent and just continued walking.

When Jackson saw that Cheery didn't want to answer him, he suddenly stopped walking. He then looked at her with earnest eyes, and asked again, "Tell me, are you still angry with me?"

"No, " replied Cherry, as she cast her gaze to his side, trying to avoid his eyes. She didn't know how to face him again.

"Then why didn't you reply to me the first time?" asked Jackson. He stared at her, and thought, 'I've summoned up all of my courage to apologize to her, but why does she still have the same indifferent attitude towards me?'

After Cherry thought for a while, she slowly cast her gaze onto Jackson and called out his name, "Jackson..."

He met her eyes and waited for what she had to say.

"I've never been angry with you, " said Cherry, "And you don't even need to apologize to me, because I can understand why you got mad that night. Now, let me explain to you what really happened. I went to the club to look for Stephen, but when I entered his office, I was astonished to see that he was talking with Sally inside. Stephen was afraid that Sally would hurt me, so he left there with me, but I didn't expect that he would take me to that hotel at that time..."

She stopped for a moment, and then continued, "We had been in the hotel room for less than three minutes before you arrived there, and then, well, you know the rest."

After Jackson heard all of her explaining, he instantly fell mute. He didn't know that Sally had been in Stephen's office, and he had only thought that Stephen had brought her to the hotel for some other mischievous purposes. Jackson was also angry that Cherry had followed him there, so that was why he had decided to lock her away at home while he had been in his berserk fit of rage. He now knew that he had been wrong about everything all along.

Cherry looked into his eyes, and said, "Jackson, you know by now that I've seen the photos in our apartment's bedroom. I've seen that man together with Sally five years ago, but I had never thought that Stephen also knew him. That's why I visited Stephen that day, to ask him who that man was."

Jackson showed no intention of blaming her for anything anymore. Instead, he slowly touched her face with his hand, and softly said, "Baby, I can understand how you feel, I really do, but could you just listen to my words for a second? You don't need to know about all of these things. You can just stay by my side and be sure that I'll protect you well. I'll deal with all of this trouble by myself."

Just after he finished his words, Cherry slightly covered his mouth with her hand. She then shook her head, and said, "No, I want you to share them with me! I'll always be at your side, I'll always be moving forward with you!"

After Jackson heard her sincere words, he felt his heart fill with warmth. He had given all of his love to her, and he treated her as the most important person in the world for him.

"Baby! I..." wanted to reply Jackson, deeply moved by her, but his words were quickly interrupted by Cherry.

She stood on her tiptoes and boldly kissed him.

After Cherry stopped, she said, "Jackson, could you please tell me all of it? I really want to know about your things, about your past."

Jackson focused his eyes on her and then lightly held her into his arms. He put his head on her shoulder, and said in low voice, "Baby, I'm sorry, I can't do that. You only have to remember one thing, that neither Sally nor Stephen can be trusted."

Cherry heard his words and felt her heart sadden. She thought, 'He eventually refused to tell me about it. Does he still treat me as an outsider? Or does he really want to protect me?'

Indicating on the surface that she understood him, she calmly leaned on his shoulder, nodded her head to him, and said, "Okay."

They continued to stroll outside and didn't return to the mansion until it was noon. After they got back, Cherry found that the security guards had already disappeared from the villa's grounds, and she curiously looked at Jackson, and asked, "Where're the security guards?"

When Jackson saw her astonished face, he rubbed her nose with his finger, and with a smile on his face then said, "Silly girl, how could you think that I would have the heart to still keep you imprisoned at home for any time longer?"

"You mean that I can go outside now?" asked Cherry. She felt surprised because she hadn't expected that Jackson would agree to set her free after such a short amount of time.

"Of course! And I'll also buy you a new car in the afternoon!" replied Jackson while still smiling at her.

Cherry was immediately gleaming with delight. She cheerfully hugged Jackson's neck, and said to him, "Thank you, my dear!"

Jackson felt very flattered when he heard Cherry call him "my dear". It was the first time when he heard her calling him like that, and it was also what he had been waiting for all this time.

"Baby, say it again!" happily said Jackson, with bafflement in his tone.

"My dear!" shouted Cherry delighted as she tightly embraced him in her arms.

Jackson also hugged her with immense pleasure, and the couple formed a blissful scene together.

Lily saw them through the mansion's window, and when she saw them embracing each other and laughing happily, she also started to laugh by herself.