Ice and Fire novel Chapter 302

Mond watched Cherry while she was deep in thought, but he said nothing. He wanted to see what conclusion Cherry drew.

Cherry looked at Mond, carefully wording her question, "Has Jackson bullied you in the past?"

Mond smiled scornfully, looking at Cherry, "Cherry, you are very silly."

Being called silly by Mond, Cherry felt a little embarrassed, because she was berated by a stranger. Actually, that was merely her guess, but Mond's tone was really harsh after she said what she guessed.

Noticing Cherry's expression was a little strange, Mond realized he was out of line just now. He was used to speaking his mind in front of Sally and Jean, so when he talked to Cherry, he said things he thought as usual.

Mond said, "I'm sorry for what I just said."

Cherry shook her head. A helpless look appeared on her face as she stared at Mond and said, "You do not have to apologize, Mr. Mond. You're the CEO of ZM Group, so you must be used to lecturing people. I can understand."

Mond didn't know what to say and thought to himself, 'Did she say that to show how generous she is? If she were Sally, she would retort or humiliate him, but Cherry was just polite. She lives up to the title as Jackson's wife. I won't admit that she is his wife though because, in my heart, she isn't Jackson's wife at all.'

Cherry noticed Mond's silence. She thought of what she had found in the reading room and she believed that Mond knew Grandpa.

"Mr. Mond, " Cherry paused a moment and then continued, "You must know Grandpa Andrew, right?"

When she mentioned Andrew, Mond's heart filled with hatred. He thought to himself, 'That man is so manipulative. How can he be called Grandpa! He should be in hell!'

Mond leaned back in the sofa and calmly said, "Of course. I know Jackson, so how could I not know his Grandpa?"

"So can I ask you something?" Cherry inquired after thinking. She thought to herself, 'I found the note and knew the Chu family was somehow related to Mond. However, Jackson slapped me. Grandpa has always been healthy, but he suddenly faints and he is in the hospital now. So, I must ask Mond. I can't live with this many doubts anymore. If Mond can't tell me, I don't know who would be able answer these questions.'

Mond said, "It seems that you have a lot of questions. So, ask."

Cherry looked into Mond's eyes and seriously asked, "Did Grandpa give you a lot of money?"

The moment she finished speaking, Mond's expression changed, twisting into a horrible look. He thought, 'This is a turning point. It is my secret. Only three people know it. So, how did she know?"

Mond's tone was sharp as he asked, "Cherry, do you think the Chu family is rich? And they just give money away casually to anyone?" Mond thought to himself, 'This woman just rips at my scars and pours salt in the wound. Did she not realize the consequences of offending me?'

Cherry quickly said, "No." She couldn't tell others she had found a note in the reading room. If so, the whole Chu family would be turned upside-down. So far, she met Mond, Jackson slapped her and Grandpa was in the hospital. So, how could she make it worse?

Mond continued prompting Cherry, "So what do you mean? Cherry, stop believing your family is the richest. I have as many assets as the Chu Family has."

Mond couldn't suppress his rage. He didn't want to bring up what had happened in the past; how dared she ask. How could he respond? Should he tell her that he had left the city with Andrew's money?

"Never mind. Forget I asked." Cherry said when she realized Mond didn't want to answer her question. Besides, based on her understanding of Andrew, he must have given Mond the money for a specific reason. She had no idea of what was going on with Mond, and even though she wanted to guess what happened, she had no clue where to start speculating.

Mond looked away from Cherry.

After a while, Mond asked, "Cherry, do you want to know something about Jackson?"

Mond was quite sure Cherry knew nothing about Jackson, because Jean and Stephen were not likely to tell her anything. So how could Cherry know anything about Jackson? Mond then decided to tell her himself. He wanted to see how she felt about Jackson after she knew more about him.

Cherry nodded. She always wanted to know more about Jackson. She wanted to know the real man, to know everything about him, to be able to understand him, and accompany Jackson and spend the rest of her life with him.

Cherry asked, "Do you know everything about him?"

Mond ignored her question, stood up, took a business card out of his pocket, and put it on the table in front of Cherry saying, "Call me at 10:00 am tomorrow."

Then he left quickly.

Watching him walk away, Cherry was confused and wondered why he didn't tell her right now.

Cherry picked the card up from the table. It was a golden card and on it the words "The CEO of ZM Group Mond Xu" were typed out as well as his telephone number. Cherry thought for a while and decided to call him tomorrow, because she wanted to know everything about Jackson.

Cherry put the card in the clutch that she carried with her all times, stood up and left the hall.

Jean was standing on the roof of the building. The wind blowing through her made her feel better. She watched the nightscape not far off while thinking, 'The city has become strange to me now. Perhaps I have never been familiar with this city. I grew up here, but time flies so fast, and I have no time to stop and enjoy the scenery along my path. All these years, I just enjoyed my wealthy life, engaged in petty intrigue and tried to get the better of other people. I ignored the beauty of this city and didn't think about other people. I still couldn't fully grasp the meaning of thinking of other people, but I can understand a little better now.'

A gust of cold wind swept and Jean couldn't help but shiver. She tightly held her arms, thought for a while and decided to go downstairs, because she was quite bored standing alone there.

As she headed to the elevator she tried to change her mood since Jean knew when she got off the elevator, there would be a lot of people watching her, and she didn't want to face them looking sad.

Jean tried to put a smile on her face. After she smiled successfully, she stopped worrying other people might see her sadness.

Jean walked out to the open-air party. She saw some people she knew, so she joined them, talking, laughing and having a couple beers.

Several women in expensive, elegant looking evening gowns saw Jean and walked towards her.

One woman smiled at Jean and asked, "Jean, my friend, there you are! I heard that you came with Mond of the ZM Group. Where is he?"

Jean laughed as she responded, "He is in the middle of something with his business partners and it would be improper for me to be there, so I left to come talk to you."

Jean looked at the woman next to her. She was also from a wealthy family and had gone to parties with her family since she was a little girl. Jean had known her since they were children. Now her husband was a college professor, whereas her father-in-law used to be a principal. Living in a family of academics, she must be very happy.

The woman continued, "Jean, where have you been these years? Since you got divorced, I have heard nothing from you. If a friend hadn't told me that you'd come back, I wouldn't know where you were."

Other women piped up too, "Yes, Jean, where were you? You lost touch with all of us."