Chapter 166 The Mad Dog

Chapter 166 The Mad Dog
Eden’s Point of View 

“You’re quite good at this,” Madam Jacinta complimented my vase work. Her eyes sparkled as she studied it. “Your arrangement is so good, it doesn’t look like you’re an amateur who came here two days ago.”

The elderly woman wasn’t shy about giving out compliments. I tilted the straw hat, wiped the sweat that trickled down my temple with the back of my wrist, grinning with appreciation.

“Thank you.” My cheeks burned red at the compliment; she patted my shoulders and then walked off, inspecting the works of other florists in the shop. It’s been six days since I left the life I knew behind, running away from everything that tied me to Theron.

The hospital, my family, the house, his family—Everything.

I started working in this floral shop, which was run by the elderly woman in her late sixties, but the shop operates as a charity organization; Madam Jacinta donates free flowers to patients in the nearby hospital and clinics, despite being a struggling elderly woman herself.

It feels very different from the life I was used to; it’s not the usual smell of antiseptic, IV fluids, and blood; it’s rather muddy, earthy, and sweet. And it’s not stressful at all, if anything, it’s relaxing, all I have to do is trim the flowers properly and put them in a vase.

As easy as life seemed, there were moments like this when time just seemed to stop, because I missed Theron so much—I wonder how he is coping without me. I missed being in his arms, snuggling to the warmth of his body, his unexpected kiss, and his clinginess.

I miss him so much, but this was also necessary.

I needed to step away from him so he could learn to control himself on his own. I didn’t want to be the trigger to his madness, because the only significance I had was as a leash.

He was fine when I met him; I wanted him to remain like that; he needed to be someone who has complete control of their actions. Because he was diagnosed as a psychopath doesn’t mean he actually has to become a possessive and obsessive monster who has no control.

For the sake of our marriage, for the sake of our unborn child, and for the sake of his own well-being.

I wanted him to work on himself while I was away.

“Thank you for your work today.” Madam Jacinta muttered as she pressed some squeezed-up notes in my palm.

“No, I can’t receive this.” I shook my head, trying to hand it back. “I am volunteering, I don’t want your money.”

“It’s fine, even if it’s just the bus fare, an old lady like me could afford it.” She folded my palms again. “Please don’t refuse it.”

“Thank you.”

I grabbed the strap of my bag as I walked down the street. It was quite lonelier than usual, the evening breeze fanning softly against my face, and I inhaled deeply.

I twirled my phone in my hand. I had switched it off ever since I left. I know the moment I turned it on, Theron would find me, so I just bought another one, one I could use now that I am away.

Taking a smaller route, the only one that leads to the serviced apartment I rented, when I accidentally bumped into the shoulder of a man, I had been absentminded, so I didn’t notice him, and he was no better because he was staring at his phone.

I staggered back, almost falling to the ground, and a wave of dizziness washed over me.

“Hey, watch where you’re going! Y—” The words stopped in his throat, and my eyes widened as soon as I recognized the sleazy son of a bitch that was standing before me, a mocking smirk crossed his lips, as he leaned into me. “If it isn’t the great and mighty Dr. Eden.”

“Get lost.” I sneered as I proceeded to walk past him, and he seized my arm, pulling me to a halt.

“Is that how to greet an old friend?” He leaned in, his blue eyes gleaming underneath the dim streetlights. “Have some manners for once, and we could catch up on a lot of things.”

“Get your fucking hands off me, Uriel.” I snapped. “If you love your life, that is.”

“Still as loud-mouthed and cocky as ever, um?” He grinned, his eyes darting around the secluded area as if he were searching for someone. “What are you doing in a place like this? Where is your mad dog of a husband? Did you let him off his leash?”

“That mad dog doesn’t play about his wife, so I suggest you unhand me while I am asking nicely.” Uriel’s disgusting smile remained glued to his face, and it made me wonder why I ever found someone like him attractive enough to be engaged to him.

It’s almost as though I was a walking magnet of trash, all the scums of the neighborhood flocked around me.

“I don’t see him anywhere around, though. How is Evangeline, though?” He queried not so curiously; he had a tinge of mockery laced in his voice. “She was so addicted to my dick, she cried for weeks after I left her—such a pity you didn’t get to have some yourself.” His eyes narrowed lustfully at me, and then he licked his lips. “Well, if you’re down, I don’t mind having some leftovers myself.”

In the instant, I slapped him hard across the face, his head yanked to the side.

“Shame on you,” I spat, eyeing him disgustingly again; the sight of this bastard makes my skin crawl. “Tricking a young girl by love bombing, and manipulating her to sleep with her sister’s fiancé doesn’t make you masculine; it just reflects how poor your upbringing is, and if your mother were alive to see the kind of man you have become, she would wish she had an abortion when she was pregnant with you.”

A smirk tugged at my lips, seeing how his face twisted with anger.

“You fucking bitch!” He growled as he shoved me, his hand raised as if to strike me, and I shut my eyes, waiting for the impact of the slap, when a deep voice suddenly cut through the tension.

And I felt myself jolted in response. “If you have use for those worthless fingers of yours, you wouldn’t dare hit my wife.” The warning, or rather threat, came from behind me, and I felt myself freeze; the hairs on the end of my skin stood as if responding to the voice behind me. “How dare an insignificant housefly like you touch my wife so casually?”

Theron Adler… I could smell him now; the sweet musky scent he carried was even stronger than the flowers I had been tending to all day. Uriel’s finger slowly unwrapped from my arms, and he stumbled back.

“And you know what, she is right, this mad dog doesn’t play with his wife.” I heard the heavy sounds of his footstep, slow and dreadful as they neared us, my entire body stilled. “Run along now, or I will bite—and I do really hard.”