72. Anger and Jealousy (2)

At that moment, Sharon was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at him with a panicked look in her eyes. She was only wearing an inner blouse with the outer—she had been wearing when she met Josh this afternoon—lying by the door, near Josh's feet. And there was no denying that Sharon's hair was a mess. Other than that, Josh couldn't afford to wander any further to check what else was wrong in the room.

Even when he saw the silhouette of another man leaning against the window while busy putting on his shirt, Josh averted his eyes and turned away. He walked with very heavy and unsteady footsteps and sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Sharon, with panic filling her whole being, glared at that man while whispering to him to tidy up quickly and get out.

Her hands haphazardly adjusted all her clothes, brushed her hair casually, and wiped her lips carelessly. She did everything as quickly as possible just to avoid looking like a real mess, while running after Josh. She immediately sat down beside him and grasped his hand very tightly.

She made her expression look very sad and anxious. With her arched eyebrows, it emphasizes the picture of her feelings at that moment.

"It's not what you think, Josh. It was all just a misunderstanding. Please don't think anything of it. Because it's not what it looks like," her voice trembled as if she was going to cry at any minute.

Just then, the man who had been in Sharon's room appeared before the two of them with a bow and a polite hand gesture.

“He's Somun,” Sharon quickly emphasized, “You remember my friend Somun, right?”

Josh was still silent. He simply didn't want to say a word in such a confusing situation. His eyes also looked blank as he stared at the empty coffee table.

Sharon, who saw Josh's lack of reaction, felt even more panicked. "Josh? You remember, right? We're just friends."

Josh still showed no reaction.

"I'll try to explain, okay? Earlier, I was really confused because you left me alone at the cafe. And... you know that it's far away from Seoul to here. I'm a scaredy-cat, Josh. You know that well," Sharon affirmed and reminded him of her weakness. "But you still left me like that. I hadn't even finished eating by then. I was so sad and confused. Then I remembered that Somun lived not far from that area. So I called him, asking him to accompany me," Sharon took a breath and let it out slowly and dramatically. "You should thank Somun because he was also willing to drive me here. He also comforted me because you abandoned me!" Again, Sharon emphasized her words to make Josh feel guilty.

Only then, Josh exhaled and let out a voice, “So he's just a guest. Then why did he come into your bedroom?” his tone sounded flat and cold.

“Because—” Sharon's eyes fluttered, she quickly racked her brains for an answer that wouldn't further increase Josh's suspicions. "I suddenly felt dizzy. And Somun helped me to lie down in the room. Yes, that's how it happened!" Sharon tried to speak in a very convincing tone, "Then you came and saw us. It may seem strange, but it really doesn't describe the original incident at all. He was just helping me, that's all."

"Yes, Mr. Lim. I was just trying to help her because she looked so miserable. You should have paid more attention to her,“ Somun tried to extinguish the fire by lighting another fire, ”Poor thing. Living alone by herself, and now she has to suffer because of a man. Tsk, tsk."

Josh raised his head and shot Somun a glare. “You can leave if you have nothing else to do.”

Somun responded with an annoyed expression. But Sharon immediately glared at him and signaled with her eye movements for him to leave immediately. Somun, who felt mistreated by this arrogant rich man, rolled his eyes and wanted to say something back.

However, Sharon, as if she could predict what Somun would do, immediately said. "Yes, that's right, Somun is done helping me. So he can leave now. Bye, Somun. Thank you very much." Then signaled again more firmly, glaring wider as she jerked her head towards the door.

Somun, who could not resist Sharon, finally relented and withdrew quietly.

"Okay. Okay!“ Somun took a deep breath and let it out, showing his annoyance very clearly, then bowed to Josh to say goodbye, ”I'm leaving."

Sharon was slightly relieved after Somun disappeared from her sight.

“Josh...” she whined in a tone made to sound pathetic while wearing a pained look on her face, "Don't get angry again... It's not fair that you should think so. I have you. You're the only one I love. You're the most perfect man in this world, so it's impossible for me to turn my back on you. Especially with an unemployed man like Somun. I'm not that stupid. We've known each other so well for so long... You should know that I really mean it."

Josh was still overcome with a rage that he really couldn't translate well at this very moment. He was so confused, so tired. And Sharon's whining made him waver even more between his own thoughts and the girl's words. It made him unable to think clearly.

“Are you still dizzy?” Josh threw the question lightly. He didn't mean anything by it. Just because he suddenly remembered that Sharon had mentioned that she had a headache and caused all the odd things to happen. And also because he needed a pep talk to break the ice a little.

“Yeah… A little...” Sharon immediately leaned her head against Josh's arm as she massaged her temples. “I even felt nauseous earlier.” Then added a little spice to make Josh feel even less sorry for her.

"Get some rest then. Come," Josh helped her up and walked back to the bedroom.

“You're not mad at me anymore, Josh?” Sharon asked after she had managed to lie down comfortably, and Josh was sitting on the edge of her bed.

Josh nodded as he adjusted Sharon's blanket.

“Hm-hm, that's good,” Sharon was relieved, "I really didn't do anything with him after all. So you really shouldn't be angry," she took Josh's hand and hugged him as she pressed the side of her face into his muscular arm. “Actually, none of this would have happened if you hadn't left me, if you had stayed by my side.”

“Go to sleep.”

Sharon closed her eyes and breathed quietly.

Meanwhile, Josh was thinking hard again at that moment. He couldn't bear to be in that place after what he had just witnessed. He felt that he had to calm his own mind—even though the reason Sharon said might be true, and he also wanted to trust the girl completely. But still, he seemed to need some time to be alone for a while.

So Josh finally chose to leave Sharon's apartment after that.

Slowly, Josh shifted Sharon's embrace on his hand and put it into the blanket. Then he got up from the bed carefully.

“Josh?” Sharon, who realized it, opened her eyes and called out to her boyfriend.

"Go to sleep. I'll be back tomorrow."

“Why?” Sharon's forehead wrinkled unhappily, "Stay with me. Don't leave me again."

“I have to go,” Josh made excuses quickly, "Since my mother-in-law saw you earlier, I have to be more careful. That family is scarier than my mom. You understand, right? It's all for you too. To keep you safe."

Josh managed to contain his emotional turmoil. He explained in a tone that was as calm as lake water.

Sharon felt upset. But she couldn't do anything about it because she didn't want anything bad to happen to herself either.

With a sullen and sad look on her face, Sharon finally let Josh leave her apartment.

But instead of returning home, Josh went to his office building and sat all night in his dimly lit, cold office.

His head was filled with so much turmoil that he couldn't untangle it. Jealousy, resentment, anger, hurt, suspicion, doubt, and questions that began to pop up in a massive way.

Josh couldn't sacrifice anyone. He wanted to hold on to his bond with Ashley because there was something huge that involved his whole family that he couldn't sacrifice. He was already in the game with his own family and Song's family. If he were to dare to break that bond and leave a stain on their reputation, the Song family would definitely not stay silent. They were too powerful. Josh and his family would be completely destroyed in their hands.

But he also didn't want to break his bond with Sharon. He had a huge debt of gratitude to that girl. And she was too weak, too used to depending on him. He would not be able to bear it if the bad events that had happened years ago were repeated again if he left Sharon.