Chapter 139 Engagement joke
Chapter 139 Engagement joke
Chapter 139: Engagement joke
Pearl stormed out of Brandy’s mansion with her chest tight and her face burning. She did not look back. The laughter still rang in her ears, sharp and careless, Carey’s voice cutting the deepest, Brandy’s pity stinging worse than outright insults.
Her fingers clenched around her phone as she walked down the long driveway, heels striking the pavement too hard, like she was trying to punish the ground for letting her stand on it. The ring on her finger felt heavier than it had moments ago, less like a promise and more like a question she did not want to answer.
She got into her car and slammed the door shut. For a second she just sat there, breathing hard, staring at her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glossy, her lips pressed together to keep from shaking. “They think I’m stupid,” she muttered to herself. “They think I’m desperate.” She turned the key, started the engine, and pulled out of the mansion without slowing down.
Pearl drove straight to Detective Flynn’s place. She did not call ahead. She did not want to give herself time to think or cool down. All she knew was that she needed to see him, needed him to say something that would erase the look on Brandy’s face and the sound of Carey’s laugh. By the time she arrived, her anger had sharpened into something brittle and dangerous.
She knocked hard on the door. When there was no immediate answer, she knocked again, louder. The door finally opened, and Flynn stood there in a plain T-shirt and jeans, his phone in his hand, his expression distracted.
“Pearl?” he said. “What’s wrong?”
She pushed past him into the apartment without waiting for an invitation. “What’s wrong?” she repeated. “What’s wrong is that your engagement ring just got laughed at like it was a joke.”
Flynn closed the door behind her slowly. “What are you talking about?”
She turned on him, eyes blazing. “Your ring. Our engagement. I just left Brandy’s place, and they mocked me. They laughed. They acted like I was embarrassing myself.” Her voice cracked despite her effort to keep it steady. “And I came here because I need to know something. I need to know if you’re serious.”
Flynn frowned and ran a hand over his face. “Pearl, calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” she snapped. “Answer me.”
He hesitated, and the hesitation landed like a slap. “Of course I’m serious,” he said, but his tone lacked urgency. His eyes drifted to his phone again, the screen lighting up briefly.
Pearl noticed. “Who is that?” she asked sharply.
“No one,” Flynn said, locking the screen and setting the phone down on the table. “Just work.”
She folded her arms. “Work. Everything is always work with you.”
“That’s not fair,” he replied. “You know my job isn’t something I can switch off.”
Pearl laughed bitterly. “Funny how you can’t switch it off even when your fiancée is standing in front of you asking for reassurance.”
Flynn looked at her more closely then, as if realizing for the first time how shaken she was. “What exactly did they say to you?”
“It’s not just what they said,” Pearl answered. “It’s how they said it. Like I was pretending. Like I was reaching for something that wasn’t mine.” She lifted her hand, the ring catching the light. “Tell me this means something. Tell me this isn’t just… convenient.”
Flynn was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “It means something.”
“That’s it?” Pearl asked. “That’s all you’ve got?”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked, irritation creeping into his voice. “That I’m madly in love and can’t breathe without you? We’re adults, Pearl. Not everything has to be dramatic.”
Her jaw tightened. “Funny you say that, because you had no problem being dramatic when you wanted information out of me.”
Flynn stiffened. “That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?” she shot back. “Tell me honestly. If I weren’t Brandy’s sister, if I didn’t have access to Coco, would you still be here?”
He looked away.
The silence that followed was loud. Pearl felt it settle into her bones, cold and heavy. “Say something,” she demanded.
Flynn exhaled slowly. “Pearl, you know things are complicated right now.”
“Complicated how?” she asked. “Because all I see is you checking your phone and thinking about someone else.”
“That’s not true,” he said quickly.
“Then why,” she pressed, “do you look more interested in what Coco is doing at Roy’s mansion than in the woman you just put a ring on?”
Flynn’s eyes snapped back to hers. “What do you know about Coco?”
Pearl’s lips parted in surprise, then pressed together. “There it is,” she said quietly. “That’s what you care about.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Flynn replied, but his tone was defensive now. “Coco is… involved in things that matter.”
“And I’m not?” Pearl asked.
“That’s not what I said.”
“But it’s what you meant,” she said. She shook her head slowly. “You didn’t even deny it.”
Flynn rubbed his temples. “Look, Coco being at Roy’s place changes things.”
“Changes what?” Pearl asked. “Your feelings?”
“It changes the situation,” he said. “The political landscape. My investigation. The risks.”
Pearl let out a hollow laugh. “So that’s what this is. Strategy.”
Flynn frowned. “You’re twisting my words.”
“No,” she replied. “I’m finally hearing them clearly.”