CHAPTER 118: CHAPTER 118: I’M IN

Vic’s tall figure appeared somewhat awkward in the living room. He scratched his head and earnestly assured Jean Ellison, who was putting on a coat.

"Miss Ellison, don’t worry and go ahead. I’ll take good care of Jesse. If she wakes up, I’ll tell her stories and play puzzles with her."

Jesse had just been discharged from the hospital and was still a bit weak. After eating some light porridge, she had gone to sleep early in the children’s room.

Jean Ellison zipped up her coat and forced a smile at Vic.

"Thank you, Vic. Sorry to trouble you. I... I’ll be back as soon as I can."

Her voice sounded a bit airy, and her gaze was evasive.

"Hey, no need to be so formal with me. I’d just be at home playing games if I had nothing else to do anyway." Vic waved his hand. "You go handle your business."

Jean nodded, took one last look at the tightly closed door of the children’s room, took a deep breath as if making some kind of decision, and turned to walk out of the house.

The elevator descended, with the numbers changing continuously.

Jean leaned against the cold metal wall of the elevator car, looking at her own pale face in the mirror.

She took out her phone, and the screen showed her chat interface with Justin Holden.

The last message from him was sent half an hour ago, only a cold hotel room number.

Her fingers hovered over the screen for a long time before slowly typing a few words.

"I’m on my way."

Almost as soon as she reached the community garden, Justin Holden replied, still succinct.

"When will you arrive?"

Looking at those four words, Jean’s heart felt as if something had gripped it tightly, causing a dull ache.

She stopped, standing under a bare ginkgo tree, as the cold wind lifted the strands of hair on her forehead.

She looked down and typed, her fingertips icy cold.

"Soon."

Message sent successfully.

But she did not head towards the community exit to hail a cab.

Instead, she turned and walked towards a long bench deep in the garden, shrouded in moonlight.

She sat down, the cold stone bench seeping through her thin coat, making her shudder involuntarily.

She tucked her hands into her sleeves, curling up, her gaze hollow as she watched the occasional vehicles and pedestrians entering and leaving the community entrance in the distance.

She wouldn’t go to that hotel room.

The person going there was Leah Sutton.

In the afternoon, she’d already followed Leah’s instructions by using an anonymous number and a considerable fee to bribe a waiter on that hotel floor.

The waiter would enter the room under the guise of a line check at the right time and then cut off the main power switch for that room.

At the moment darkness fell, Leah, who had been waiting outside, would enter wearing identical black lace lingerie and place a blindfold over Justin Holden’s eyes.

The water Justin drank that night would have a small amount of sleep aid added beforehand—not much, just enough to make him sleep more soundly than usual and make his reactions a bit sluggish.

Adding the confusion brought by darkness and unfamiliar surroundings, hopefully, he wouldn’t notice anything unusual about the person beside him.

Jean clutched her phone tightly, her knuckles white from the pressure.

Everything was going according to plan, even smoother than she anticipated. Justin had gone to the hotel without any suspicion, and Leah was prepared...

But why was her heart in so much pain?

It felt as if countless fine needles were pricking the softest part of her heart—not intense pain, but long and suffocating, taking her breath away.

Unbidden, images related to Justin Holden flashed through her mind.

His cold, focused profile the first time she saw him in court.

His silent but strong presence when he occasionally came home for dinner.

His bewildered yet countering look when she threw that box of condoms into the shopping cart at the supermarket; and in the hospital, when Jesse had an accident, that unexpected, solid yet brief embrace...

These fragmented scenes intertwined, chaotically impacting her nerves.

She knew she shouldn’t have such emotions. Justin was always dangerous and distant to her.

Between them, there was nothing apart from that ridiculous agreement and that unexpected night.

She was doing all of this just to protect Jesse, to keep that secret.

But why wouldn’t her heart obey?

Cold wind blew over her, rustling the dead leaves on the ground, making a rustling sound.

The garden was quiet, with only occasionally a late resident passing by in a hurry, unnoticed by anyone, the solitary, thin woman curled up on the shadowy bench.

Jean hugged herself tighter, still feeling cold, a chill that seemed to seep from her bones.

She took out her phone, the screen lit up, then dimmed again. No new messages.

Justin hadn’t urged her again.

Was he already getting impatient from waiting?

Or...had the drug started to take effect?

Jean didn’t dare think any further.

She shut her eyes tightly, trying to drive away those chaotic, painful thoughts.

But what appeared in her mind were imagined scenes of what might happen in the hotel room...

Beneath the darkness, the sound of interlaced breath, entangled bodies...

Her stomach churned, nausea nearly overwhelming her.

She snapped her eyes open, gulping down the cold air, her chest heaving violently.

What had she done?

She had actually... personally sent another woman to his bed using such base means.

Intense self-loathing and a guilty feeling, as if she had betrayed something, enveloped her.

She couldn’t even distinguish whether this sense of betrayal was towards Justin or towards her former self.

The wind grew increasingly cold, stinging her cheeks, making her eyes dry and sore.

There she sat, perfectly still on the bench, like an abandoned stone statue, allowing time to pass by, allowing the cold night and her internal anguish to engulf her.

In the distance, neon lights flickered, faint echoes of the city’s clamor reached her, yet it seemed as though they were separated by a world from her.

She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting there until her limbs grew numb from the cold, until her phone screen lit up once more, displaying an unknown number.

It was a message from Leah.

"I’m in."

Things... should have begun by now.

As she wished, she would carry Justin Holden’s child.

The orange-flavored condoms Leah brought were punctured with holes, rendering them useless.

This night would be enough for her to achieve her aim.

Jean looked at the flashing screen, yet felt no sense of relief.

Instead, the part of her chest where her heart lay seemed completely hollowed out, leaving nothing but the biting cold wind, chafing painfully.

Slowly, she stood up, her legs and feet stiff and numb from sitting too long in the cold.

She took one last glance in the direction outside the community, where the hotel was located, then turned and, step by step, heavily made her way towards the door of her unit.

Each step, the pebbles beneath her feet hurt her soles; the fact she came down in slippers and forgot to change shoes didn’t escape her.

The lighting in the hotel suite was deliberately dimmed, leaving only a faint yellow bedside lamp casting an ambiguous and blurry glow on the expensive carpet.

The air was filled with the scent of high-end fragrance and the intoxicating aroma of good red wine.

Justin Holden leaned back on the sofa in the living room, his head slightly tilted.

He felt an unusual drowsiness and restlessness, his mind wasn’t as clear and sharp as usual, as if a thin veil covered his thoughts, making his reactions much slower.

Was the strong effect of the red wine he drank at night? He wasn’t quite sure.

A dull pain throbbed at his temple, he raised his hand to rub his brow, his fingertips touching the cool metal watchband, bringing a momentary clarity.

He remembered Jean saying she’d arrive soon.

But it seemed he’d been waiting for a while.

His sense of time became somewhat blurry.