Chapter 261 I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry
Harmony knew Jennifer better than anyone. Though Jennifer might have been born a woman, she possessed a strength that many men envied. Never, in all the years they'd been friends, had Harmony heard her sounding so utterly broken.
Her stomach twisted with guilt.
'Could Jennifer have found out about my feelings for James?' she worried.
But she quickly dismissed this idea.
'James has deleted those photos. There is no way Jennifer could have seen them. Unless… unless that idiot has confessed everything himself?' Harmony wondered.
The thought sent a shiver of dread through her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat. She stood there, paralyzed by a mixture of guilt and fear.
Jennifer, sensing her hesitation, understood. It was a silent confirmation, and it cut deeper than any words could have.
"Jennifer," Harmony finally choked out, her voice trembling. "Do you… do you know?"
There was no point in denying it now. Their friendship, their shared history, meant they could read each other like open books.
Tears welled up in Harmony's eyes. She bit her lip, trying in vain to hold back the sob that rose in her chest. Shame washed over her in waves.
'I've fallen in love with James. How could I have been so foolish?' she was consumed by guilt.
The silence in the stairwell was deafening, broken only by the muffled sounds of Harmony's distress.
Jennifer, listening to her friend's pain, felt her own heart breaking all over again.
"Why, Harmony?" she whispered, her voice thick with tears. "Why would you do this?"
Harmony flinched as if struck. The dam broke, and the words came pouring out, each one laced with self-loathing and regret.
"I'm so sorry, Jennifer. I betrayed you. I'm so, so sorry."
The apologies tumbled out, one after another, but they felt hollow, meaningless in the face of what she'd done. She brought her hand up to her face, striking herself hard on the cheek. The sound echoed through the phone, sharp and painful.
"Harmony, don't!" Jennifer cried, her voice raw with anguish.
But her concern only fueled Harmony's self-recrimination. Harmony hit herself again, and again, each blow harder than the last.
"Stop it, Harmony! Please, just stop!" Jennifer pleaded, her voice rising in panic.
Harmony ignored her, lost in a whirlwind of guilt and despair. She continued to punish herself, her hand a blur of motion as she struck her face over and over again.
"Harmony, I beg you, stop it!" Jennifer screamed into the phone.
The commotion finally attracted attention. Harmony's family, alarmed by the sound of her distress, rushed into the room. They found her sobbing, her face red and swollen, blood trickling from a cut on her lip.
"Harmony! What are you doing?" her mother cried, rushing to her side. "Have you lost your mind?"
In the chaos that ensued, the phone slipped from Harmony's grasp, the call dropping. Jennifer could hear the distant, muffled voices, each sound a heavy weight dragging her heart deeper into despair.
The pain, the betrayal, the sheer emotional exhaustion of it all finally overwhelmed her. She felt strangely numb, as if she were detached from her own body.
Perhaps, she thought dully, this was how it felt like to truly have your heart broken.
She stood there for a moment, clutching the phone, her eyes vacant. Then, driven by some primal need for answers, she pushed open the door and stumbled out of the stairwell.
She had to find James. She had to understand.
But in her distress, she'd forgotten about her own appearance. Her face was streaked with tears, her hair disheveled, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. She moved like an automaton, her body on autopilot as she made her way back towards the theater.
Her appearance drew stares from the passing shoppers. Jennifer, usually so composed and elegant, was a heart-wrenching sight.
"What happened to her?" someone whispered.
"Poor thing. She looks like she's lost her best friend," another voice murmured sympathetically.
"Look at her face. Someone must have really hurt her," a man said, his voice filled with pity.
Jennifer remained oblivious to their stares, her mind a jumble of pain and confusion.
As she walked, two young men emerged from a nearby elevator. Their eyes lit up as they spotted her, their gazes predatory.
They were foreign students, used to getting away with anything because of their nationality. They'd perfected the art of using their looks and charm to their advantage, preying on women who were vulnerable.
And Jennifer, in her current state, was the perfect target.
They exchanged a knowing smirk, their intentions clear. They approached her, blocking her path.
"Hey there, beautiful," one of them said, his voice dripping with false concern. "You look like you could use a shoulder to cry on. Why don't you tell us what's wrong?"
Jennifer, lost in her own world of pain, didn't even acknowledge them. She simply sidestepped them and continued walking.
The men, taken aback by her dismissal, frowned. They weren't used to being ignored.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
