Chapter 531 It's Best If You understand
"Stop!" Francis bellowed. He lunged forward, grabbing Harper by the collar and yanking her back hard.
The car screeched to a halt, throwing everyone forward. Just as Harper was about to slam into the seat, Francis pulled her into his arms, cushioning the blow.
Harper figured it would hurt, so she had to protect herself somehow, arm up to block the impact. But instead, she crashed into Francis, and the hit wasn't as bad. There was a thud, though, and she wondered if Francis got hurt.
Harper didn't dwell on it. A grown man should handle it, and an emergency stop wasn't a car crash; the impact wasn't that bad.
She didn't really want to jump out of the car. If she didn't make a scene, the stubborn Francis wouldn't have stopped.
After the car stopped, Francis still held her arm tight, his eyes showing rare panic. "Are you nuts?" he growled through gritted teeth.
Still fuming, Francis pressed his tongue against his molars. "Jumping out of a moving car, you trying to kill yourself?"
Harper shook off Francis's grip, snapping, "I didn't want to kill myself. You're not worth it."
Francis's handsome face turned pale, his fingertips white from the pressure. After a long silence, he just said, "Good, you get it."
Harper bit her lip, feeling a wave of sadness, but she forced a cold smile. "Francis, I got it a long time ago. Since last time, I've treated you like a stranger, playing by the rules. Why can't you do the same? I haven't said a word about your marriage to Audrey. You know very well..."
Harper paused, her voice cracking. "You know very well that Audrey was involved in the last kidnapping, yet you still chose to marry her. Others may kill with a knife, but you kill with a smile, leaving me no place in Northfield, is that it?"
Harper's eyes welled up, her voice hoarse as she questioned, "Francis, between us, who's really crazy?"
Francis held her arm tight, and Harper couldn't shake him off no matter how hard she tried. Not only did he not let go, but he also gripped tighter, afraid that if he loosened his grip, Harper would vanish.
Harper struggled, her arm hurting from his grip. "Let go of me. I want out of the car. I don't want anything to do with you, and I don't want to be in the same space as you. Why can't you do what I do and treat each other like strangers? Isn't that what you said?"
"Treat each other like strangers," Francis repeated in a low voice, almost like a murmur.
"I'm the one who's crazy." Francis's eyes were bloodshot as he suddenly answered. "Even so, everything I said was for your own good..."
Before he could finish, Harper interrupted with a mocking laugh. "Francis, who are you to care about me? Why would you care about a stranger?"
Without waiting for his answer, Harper pressed on, "Ask yourself. Since you came back, aside from humiliating me and making me feel ashamed, what have you done for my good?"
Harper stared at his cracked expression, waiting for an answer. "Can you explain what you've done?"
"I..." The apology was right there, but Francis couldn't spit it out.
A cool breeze blew by, suddenly clearing his mind. What right did he have to be good to her now? All he could do was clear her path, leaving her with no worries.
In an instant, Francis's face was back to its usual cold mask. His expression turned icy as he said in a low voice, "I was meddling."
Harper clenched her fingers, unable to say anything. She was tired, really tired. Time and again, she rebuilt her hopes, only for Francis to crush them with his own hands.
The ridiculous part was that she had just been thinking that he still cared about her, that he couldn't let her go. Was everything he did for a reason?
But it was nothing. She had overestimated herself.
Harper bit her lip hard, suppressing the bitterness that was about to escape her throat, and slowly said, "Mr. Getty, I hope you won't meddle like this again. I don't need it, and I find it very annoying. Even if we meet again by chance, please treat me as a stranger."
Harper thought about what Jasper had told her. It turned out that Francis was the person she had saved when she was a kid.
Chloe's parents were just guests at the estate, and Francis had tagged along with his parents. Unfamiliar with the estate, Francis accidentally fell through the ice, and it was young Harper who risked her life to break the ice and save him.
The rescue was wild, and Harper fell into the icy water, nearly drowning. After she finally pulled the much larger Francis out of the water, Chloe snatched him away. Chloe then had her personal servant take Francis away.
Harper didn't even know Francis's name and only told her family that she had saved a boy. Harper's mom scolded her for recklessly going into the water and risking her own safety.
But at that time, Harper didn't think much about it. It was a charity day at the estate, and there were many boys and girls. They didn't see Francis again, as his family had obviously taken him away.
The rest of the story wasn't hard to guess. When Francis woke up, Chloe had taken credit for saving him, so he always believed Chloe had done him a favor. Little did he know, Harper was the one who risked her life to save him, and because of that near-drowning experience, she developed a fear of water. Later, she got lost, hit her head, and lost part of her memory, even believing she couldn't swim.
In fact, she was an excellent swimmer, which was why she survived when she fell into the river years later. It was the desperate fear that triggered her latent abilities.
Francis didn't know about this, but there was no need to mention it now. With this matter, she repaid his favor of saving her, and they would part ways, never to meet again.
Before getting out of the car, Harper said decisively, "Francis, I don't owe you anything anymore. Please don't interfere in my affairs again."
With that, she grabbed her bag, opened the car door, and stepped out with firm steps. She called the driver who was coming to pick her up, and he was already nearby.
Francis leaned back in the seat, watching Harper until she got into the car. She never looked back, not even once.
A bitter taste spread from his chest to his throat. Francis's eyes were bloodshot, and a single tear silently fell.
On the way back, Harper stayed silent, feeling an emptiness inside her, like everything had finally settled. She let out a sarcastic laugh. Each time she went from hope to disappointment, her heart hardened a little more. How wonderful, soon she could completely erase Francis from her life.
When Jessica woke up and saw the scattered clothes on the floor and the half-naked Jasper on the bed, she was shocked. This kind of thing really did happen more than once.
Last night, Jasper had brought her home, had some coffee upstairs, and then refused to leave, saying he was too tired and would sleep at her place.
Jessica told him to sleep on the couch, but in the middle of the night, feeling sorry for him, she went to cover him with a blanket. Jasper pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she was dizzy.
In a daze, she was coaxed into bed by Jasper.
They were both mature adults, and with two hot bodies embracing each other in bed, it was impossible to control themselves. But Jasper held back at the last step, letting her use other means instead.
When Jessica was confused, Jasper said, "Aren't you on your period?"
Now, thinking of it, Jessica realized that he had mistaken her bleeding from not being able to handle intense intimacy for her period.
Actually, she had only had sex twice in her life, and the intervals were long. It was normal to have some stress reactions to sudden intrusion.
Jessica smiled bitterly. To others, how could a divorced woman like her be pure? Especially since she had married the notorious Oscar.
Oscar had repeatedly told his friends in public about the various ways they had played together and how cooperative she was. Even after their divorce, Oscar spared no effort in slandering Jessica, saying she was a woman he had worn out, pretending to be proper but actually having a higher sex drive than men.
Thinking of Oscar made Jessica's face turn pale, like dried white paper that would crumble at a touch. Every time she woke up from a nightmare, it was always about Oscar, and she had lived with that demon-like man for two whole years. Those hellish nightmares would always resurface with his name.
Feeling uncomfortable at the thought of Oscar, Jessica got up to pour herself a glass of ice water to calm down. But she didn't expect someone to approach from behind.
"Ah!" Jessica screamed in surprise, dropping the glass in her hand. Luckily, Jasper caught it. He felt the temperature of the glass and frowned. "Can your body handle such cold?"
Before, Jasper definitely wouldn't have been this attentive. Thanks to getting Harper back, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to take good care of her, so he had researched a lot of information.
So, if a man cared, he could understand anything. It just depended on whether he wanted to and if the person was worth it.
Jasper poured out the ice water and refilled the glass with hot cocoa. "Drink this."
Jessica, feeling flattered, took the glass and said softly, "Thank you."
After drinking, she awkwardly prepared to return to bed, but Jasper trapped her. With his hands on the counter, he enclosed Jessica beneath him and raised an eyebrow. "You haven't explained what happened last night."
The position was too intimate, easily making one think they were in a passionate relationship. But Jessica knew her place; at most, she was Jasper's sex partner.
With Jasper's strong chest in front of her, she felt a sense of panic and lowered her eyes. "What?"
Jasper stared at her and bluntly said, "1008, is your door lock code my birthday?"
His suspicion was almost confirmed, and he felt a bit troubled, not knowing what to do with Jessica. Their relationship would never be approved by his father. Even if Jessica hadn't been married, it wouldn't be acceptable.
Jessica pinched her palm and, under Jasper's gaze, softly answered, "It's Oscar's birthday."
Jasper was stunned. How could he forget that Oscar shared the same birthday as him?
Back then, because of their shared birthday, they were closer than others. He never expected the person he shared the birthday with to be such a beast. But what Jasper couldn't understand was that Jessica, who had been treated so badly, still loved Oscar.
His eyes darkened as he looked at the marks on Jessica's back. "If you loved him so much, why did you run away?"
Jessica felt Jasper's gaze on her back and instinctively shrank her shoulders, a sign of her insecurity. Unlike other women who could confidently show off their beautiful backs, hers was covered in scars, proof of her time in hell.
Jessica shook her head and said faintly, "I don't love him."
Jasper felt a pang of inexplicable joy. Jessica continued, "I was just his wife for two years, and I got used to it."
Just like how thinking of Oscar's name made her shiver.
She was just used to pretending to love Oscar, to being submissive, to worshiping him. Habit was scarier than love.
Jasper was taken aback, clearly unprepared for her to say she was used to Oscar.
"Go back to sleep." Jessica pushed Jasper away and almost ran back to bed. She feared that if she stayed a second longer, she wouldn't be able to hold back her grievances and show a pitiful look in front of Jasper.
She didn't want his pity.
Jasper stood in the kitchen for a while, lost in thought. When he returned to the bedroom, he saw Jessica curled up on her side of the bed, and his heart ached. Even in bed, she could still keep her distance.
The cold wind blew in, clearing Jasper's mind. Even if he was clueless about emotions, he could sense Jessica's detachment. Even their sexual relationship was probably out of gratitude.
Despite this being a situation where both could be at ease, Jasper felt a blockage in his chest, unable to go up or down.
After a moment of thought, Jasper's pride wouldn't allow him to stand there any longer. He quickly dressed, regaining his usual noble and aloof demeanor, and looked at Jessica, who seemed to be asleep or pretending to be.
Without a word, he closed the door and left.
The door clicked shut. Jessica immediately opened her eyes.
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