Chapter 156
Josephine heard the voice and simply stopped walking without turning around.
Slow, steady footsteps drew closer, and a familiar scent, one she had breathed in for years, wrapped around her.
A breeze passed, and the scent seemed to fade.
"I had dinner with a client today." Gideon's voice was as deep and pleasant as always, carrying the gentleness reserved only for Josephine. "They gave me some gifts, and I thought these things... Dad might like them..."
Josephine turned around.
Gideon looked at her almost greedily. They hadn't seen each other for a while. He didn't even dare to see her, but his reluctance to see her stemmed only from his unwillingness to face the reality of their impending divorce.
The longing in his heart hadn't diminished one bit.
"I remember you mentioned before that Dad has rheumatoid arthritis, and when it flares up, it's really painful, so..."
"That's my dad, not yours."
Gideon's eyes darkened, and he tugged at the corner of his mouth. "We're not divorced yet. Legally, we're still husband and wife. My parents are your parents, and likewise, your parents are my parents. So I think this form of address is appropriate."
"Isn't divorce just a matter of time?" Josephine felt she understood him less and less. "If you'd just agree, we would've been divorced long ago."
"You know I don't want a divorce." Gideon wanted to reach out and hold Josephine's hand—even just touching her fingertips would fill the emptiness in his heart that had plagued him these past days. But then he realized his hands were full of gift boxes, leaving him unable to free them.
So he decided to set the gift boxes down on the ground, but as soon as he stood up straight, Josephine took a step back.
Clearly, unmistakably stepped back.
Her attitude of disgust was crystal clear.
Gideon clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles ached, yet his face remained expressionless. Perhaps having been rejected by her so many times, he was no longer as anguished as he'd been at first.
All he felt was a deep, burning sense of unwillingness, fierce and overwhelming.
"Jojo, I don't want to say these things. I'm always worried about scaring you..." He moved closer, his gaze fixed intently on Josephine. Deep in his eyes, predatory darkness surfaced like gathering storm clouds, sending chills down one's spine.
"I upset you, you're angry, you even resent me,I can understand all of that. You can throw whatever tantrum you want, and I'll indulge you completely." A hint of a smile seemed to appear on his face, still doting like before, yet the words that came out were different from the past, conveying only boundless obsession that made it hard to breathe.
"But divorce? No. And I won't let you be with Cedric either." His gaze traced every feature of Josephine's face meticulously, as if to carve each one into the depths of his heart. "You and Cedric will never be possible."
Josephine laughed. "How do you know it's impossible?"
Gideon's expression darkened. He stared at Josephine for a long moment, then laughed as well, with the same intimacy as before. "Don't joke with me like that. I know you don't like him."
He raised his hand and gently gripped Josephine's chin.
Josephine was forced to lift her head.
He leaned close, their breaths mingling. In that instant, it seemed like a return to countless intimate nights of the past, when they too had been intertwined like this, without a shred of distance between them.
As if they were the closest people in the world.
But right then, while his eyes were a storm of feelings, Josephine's gaze remained utterly calm.
Gideon didn't seem to mind. He chuckled softly. "How much did you used to hate Cedric because of me? How could you possibly be with someone like him?"
"Before, I loved you." Josephine's words were shocking.
At these words, Gideon's heart skipped a beat, his pulse accelerating uncontrollably.
However, Josephine's next sentence was, "Now I don't love you anymore."
If her love for him could just vanish, then surely her aversion to Cedric could also fade from something to nothing.
"Jojo, take back what you said." In Gideon's life, there were two things he couldn't bear. The first was Josephine leaving him.
The second was Josephine falling in love with Cedric.
Josephine looked at his half-crazed appearance, feeling neither satisfaction nor pleasure, and said calmly, "I'm just stating a fact. You taught me one thing,people don't stay the same."
Gideon could change.
Josephine could change, too.
"You really have feelings for him?" Gideon hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly into his embrace. Before the joy of having his love in his arms again could surface, it was drowned by the jealousy and panic in his heart. "Tell me, you've fallen for him?"
Josephine struggled briefly. Gideon's strength was too great; she couldn't break free. Rather than waste her energy, she simply tilted her head back and looked at him with cold, steady eyes. "Whether I love him or not has nothing to do with you."
So she did love him—before it was just liking, or perhaps having a good impression.
That realization nearly sent Gideon over the edge. The burning jealousy and agony festering inside him made him lose all sense. He grabbed Josephine's chin and leaned in to kiss her.
Josephine slapped him across the face and looked coldly at Gideon as his head turned to the side, a clear handprint on his face. "Have you gone crazy enough?"
The slap showed no mercy whatsoever. Gideon's teeth had bitten his lip, and he tasted blood. His voice was hoarse. "Jojo, do you really need to be this cruel to me?"
"I was already being gentle." Otherwise, the moment he'd embraced her, she should have kicked him.
"I just don't want to make this too ugly. This is where my parents live. The neighbors all know them, so please leave here and don't come back." Josephine wasn't afraid of losing face herself, but she didn't want her parents to be the subject of gossip.
Gideon wiped the corner of his mouth and laughed quietly. "Fine, I won't come here, but you have to agree to resign from the Getty Group."
Josephine raised an eyebrow. "What right do you have to make demands of me?"
"If you don't agree, then I'll come here every day." Gideon looked at her expressionlessly. "I'll come every day to beg you to forgive me, to beg you not to divorce me, until you soften."
"You call that begging?"
This was obviously extortion, pure blackmail! Josephine glared at him, her eyes blazing with anger.
Gideon tugged at the corner of his mouth without any real smile. "You forced me to this."
He hadn't wanted to use such extreme methods, hadn't wanted Josephine to think he was despicable.
But what was he supposed to do? She was the one who wanted the divorce. She was the one who wanted to be with Cedric.
Gideon was going mad with jealousy.
Josephine's expression turned cold. "Suit yourself, but if you affect my family's life, I'll call the police."
With that, she turned to leave.
Gideon's haunting voice rose behind her. "You know perfectly well Cedric has someone else in his heart. Everyone knows he's been hung up on a first love all these years. He only brought you into the company to disgust me. He's just using you. The closer you two get, the only one who'll end up hurt is you."
Josephine suddenly burst out laughing—laughing until tears welled up at the corners of her eyes from the physical reaction. She turned back, her clear, bright eyes carrying unmistakable mockery. "Even so, he's better than you. At least he probably won't cheat."
Gideon's expression changed.
This was the choice he regretted more than any other. Every time someone mentioned it, it felt like a knife twisting in his chest.
"You..."
All of a sudden, a car horn blared behind him. Gideon spun around and spotted Cedric's car parked a short distance away.
Cedric got out, his gaze cold and heavy. "Instead of going to work at the office, what are you doing running here?"