Chapter 72
Josephine set her phone aside, completely uninterested in dealing with this bizarre text message.
But the sender wouldn't quit. Message after message kept popping up.
[Ms. Kennedy not replying? Feeling guilty? Or did I hit a nerve?]
[So what if you still hold the title of Mrs. Gideon? He doesn't love you anymore.]
[You think just because he's by your side—what if I told you one phone call from me could make him drop everything and come running?]
Josephine hit dial.
The other person seemed caught off guard. The line rang for ages before anyone picked up.
"Got the guts to say all that to Gideon's face?" Josephine asked point-blank.
"Why would I need to tell Mr. Getty?"
"Can't do it? Just say you can't." Boring. Josephine rolled her eyes. "I'm not wasting my time on you. Whatever you want to say, go tell Gideon yourself."
She hung up and blocked the number in one smooth motion.
When Lorelei tried calling back, all she got was a recorded message: "The number you have dialed is not in service."
But they'd just been talking—it couldn't possibly be out of service! Josephine had straight-up blocked her!
...
That night, Gideon showed up.
Josephine didn't feel like dealing with him. She finished her work early and retreated to her bedroom.
He stood outside her door for two solid hours. No one came to let him in.
When Gideon started calling her phone, he literally woke Josephine up. Irritated beyond belief, she yanked the door open with a scowl. "Disturbing someone's sleep in the middle of the night—what's wrong with you?"
"I missed you."
His eyes held an unmistakable intensity, raw and unguarded.
"All I want right now is sleep," Josephine said flatly. "Whatever you need to say, say it tomorrow."
"Don't you want this house anymore?"
Josephine's hand paused on the door. Slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet Gideon's. "You're willing to give me this house?"
"That was our agreed-upon bet."
Of course, he'd honor the terms.
Josephine studied him through narrowed eyes. "Then we'll handle the property transfer tomorrow."
"Fine."
He agreed readily.
Josephine closed the door in his face. Even with his promise to transfer the house to her name, she still wasn't letting him in.
Gideon stood in the hallway and sighed.
Inside, Josephine had already climbed back into bed, sleeping peacefully.
Come morning, when Josephine headed out for breakfast, she found Gideon sitting on the floor outside her door. He'd fallen asleep leaning against the wall.
The morning air still carried a chill. Sleeping against the cold floor and wall like that, he looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
Josephine looked down at him from where she stood. In the end, she said nothing, simply turned and left.
By the time she returned from breakfast, Gideon was gone from the doorway. She frowned, about to call him.
Before she could dial, Gideon appeared. He must have gone somewhere to change—he'd swapped his clothes and no longer looked like the disheveled mess from earlier.
"Let's go handle the transfer."
She was determined to get this house at Clearwater Ridge. More importantly, it was rightfully hers to begin with. When it came time to sign, she didn't hesitate for a second, her eagerness barely contained.
After the transfer was complete, the Clearwater Ridge property officially belonged to her. She had every right to keep Gideon out. Every right to throw out anyone she didn't welcome.
As she stepped outside and headed for her car, Gideon stopped her.
"The press conference—will you be there?"
"Of course I'll be there."
She wanted to see exactly how Gideon planned to handle this crisis. Wanted to see what fate ultimately awaited Lorelei.
"Jojo, you've changed a lot lately."
The observation came out of nowhere.
Josephine frowned. "Changed how? Haven't I always been like this?"
"You seem... impatient with me."
'Impatient' was putting it mildly. She could barely stand to look at him. Even calling it impatience was generous on his part.
"Why don't I want to see you? You should know the answer to that," Josephine said coolly. She pushed his hand away.
"I don't know how important Lorelei is to you—important enough that you'd rather believe her than me." She smiled, but the expression dripped with mockery. "Guess that means a secretary matters more to you than a wife."
"It's not like that. How could she possibly compare to you?"
Gideon's response came without hesitation, not a trace of tenderness for Lorelei in his tone, only urgency. "Jojo, no matter what happens, you'll always be the person I love most."
Josephine studied him, genuinely confused now.
"Really? Then what about Lorelei?"
"She's just a secretary."
The words came out ice-cold.
If Josephine hadn't seen them tangled together with her own eyes, she might have found it hard not to believe him.
Too bad...
"If you really cared about me," she said evenly, "you'd put the person who hurt me behind bars. And she stole my manuscript—you did nothing. Makes me seriously doubt how sincere you actually are."
"I am sincere."
Gideon had his reasons, but he couldn't voice them. All he could do was grab Josephine's hand and pull her forcibly to his side.
"Trust me. Give me a little time. One year. After one year, we can live quietly together."
Josephine couldn't believe it. So even now, he was still planning to have Lorelei give birth and hand the baby over to her to raise.
She closed her eyes, forcing down the revulsion and disgust churning inside her. When she opened them again, she'd arranged her features into a smile. "Didn't you say you have a press conference to prepare? Get going. I want to head back and rest—I didn't sleep well last night."
It had been so long since Gideon had seen her smile. For a moment, he actually froze, then broke into a smile himself. "Alright. I'll listen to you."
He left with visible reluctance.
Little did he know, the second his car pulled away, the smile vanished from Josephine's face. She wiped at the back of her hand where he'd touched her, then turned and slammed the door behind her.
On the day of the press conference, Starlight Group had spared no expense—PR teams, journalists, making sure the whole thing generated maximum buzz. They wanted the entire world to know.
The turnout was massive, nearly filling the venue to capacity. Everyone wanted to know how this would all shake out.
Josephine arrived with Cedric. Tall and devastatingly handsome beside her striking, bold beauty—together they looked like something out of a painting.
The moment they entered, they became an undeniable focal point. Neither seemed to care, both equally composed.
"I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed," Cedric said quietly.
Josephine took a sip of wine. What she wanted most was to see Lorelei utterly ruined, with Gideon getting nothing good out of it either.
But if he was saying this...
"Looks like Mr. Getty has inside information."
"'Inside information' is putting it strongly. But I did catch wind of something." Cedric noticed the flush creeping across her cheeks, and his eyes darkened slightly. He took the wine glass from her hand. "Alcohol's bad for you."
Josephine stared at the glass now in his possession.
"You're drinking too."
"I can handle it better."
Josephine had no words. Fine. No more wine then.
Once most everyone had arrived, the host—who also happened to be Starlight Group's CEO, Gideon—took the stage.
The first thing he did was scan the crowd. His gaze quickly landed on Josephine and Cedric among the attendees. His grip on the microphone tightened imperceptibly before he calmly looked away.
"Recently, due to my negligence and failure to properly manage my staff, our company became embroiled in a scandal involving the theft of someone else's manuscript. After conducting my own investigation, I've discovered this was not a misunderstanding. It genuinely happened."
The room erupted into shocked murmurs, everyone talking at once.
Something felt off to Josephine. Gideon had clearly intended to protect Lorelei, but admitting to this now didn't benefit him in the slightest.