Beryl had some homework to do before the day ended. She was quite excited to do it since the task
was to paint a picture of her parents. Jacob and Emily had already agreed to become Beryl's models,
so they had to agree to whatever pose she asked them to do, even if they didn't want to.
After thinking about what she wanted for a while, Beryl decided that it would be wonderful if she could
paint her parents while they were sitting down and lovingly hugging each other. In her mind, it was the
perfect way to show everyone at school how happy their family was.
She walked towards Emily and Jacob to tell them exactly what to do. "Dad, Mom, you two sit on this
sofa. Dad, you have to hug Mom's waist like this."
She took her father's hand and placed it around her mother's waist. "And you, Mom, you should smile
like Dad just told you how much he loves you. I want everyone at school to see how great my parents
are."
Because of what had happened earlier that day, Emily was a little hesitant to be so close to Jacob.
However, Jacob whispered something in her ear that made her completely compliant. "You know, Beryl
is very sensitive to people's feelings. It would be bad if she were to find out that you're upset with me."
Emily had no other choice but to pretend like she was fine.
After quite some time, Beryl finally finished her painting. Emily could feel her waist aching from sitting
still for almost thirty minutes. Jacob stood up and walked out of the room. Emily approached Beryl to
see her work. As a mother, it was natural for her to give praise to her daughter and teach her how she
could improve in the future.
Half an hour passed and Emily was still talking to Beryl about her painting. As a result, Jacob was
pretty much bored to death while waiting for Emily. He even started to pace back and forth inside the
bedroom. A few moments later, Emily stepped into the room. The instant she entered, Jacob quickly
started talking. "Honey, listen to me—"
"Jonas can't even stand up! How can you possibly say that you're innocent? What reason do you have
this time? I've told you countless times that he's just a good friend to me. Whatever you say, you can't
justify beating a man that badly! Even if you think that it was inappropriate for him to approach me, you
still can't do that to another person! How can I possibly show my face to him now, especially since my
own husband was the one who sent him to the hospital? How can we possibly continue to work
together at the charity foundation?"
The more Emily voiced out her thoughts, the angrier she became. She completely felt that Jacob had
lost all respect for her as a person.
Jacob was a little stunned by the sheer amount of things she said. Despite that, he tried his best to
respond in a calm manner. "Emily, please listen to me. There's something you have to know. You've
known me for so long. Do you really believe that I would do that? If I really punched him on the face, I
wouldn't cowardly hide that fact."
Jacob's words made Emily think to herself for a while. Deep in her heart, she agreed with what Jacob
had just said. She stared deep into his eyes and her hatred toward him gradually disappeared.
Jacob took Emily's silence as an opportunity to continue. "I've told you before that Jonas isn't just a
simple doctor. I'm afraid that he approached you on purpose. I simply sent my men to follow him, in
order to find out more about the man. I did all this just to protect you. I've talked with my men and they
swore to me that they didn't start the fight. Jonas was the one who suddenly got out of his car and
threw a punch without saying a single word. Furthermore, he's an experienced fighter and my men
were completely outmatched. Quickly after beating my men black and blue, he pretended like he was
weak. My men were then lured into his trap. They were beaten so badly that they wanted to get even.
But they didn't break his bones. They only fought back in self-defense."
Emily couldn't believe what Jacob had just said, mostly because of Jonas's sweet and delicate face.
She replied, "There's no way Jonas would do that. I know him better than you do. He's a gentle,
hardworking, and compassionate man."
Jacob felt that anything he said would be completely useless. "I knew you wouldn't believe me if I didn't
have any proof. Doesn't it seem strange that there's not a single surveillance camera at the place
where it happened? Don't you think that's quite the coincidence?"
However, even after considering Jacob's logical explanation, Emily still believed that Jonas couldn't
have planned all of this since he was the one who had been roughed up so badly in the end. The
thought of Jonas being a sly and cunning person seemed to be extremely unlikely in Emily's mind.
"Even if there weren't any cameras, it doesn't mean he planned it. There are many roads like that,"
Emily firmly stated.
"If you really don't want to believe me, then I'll go find some evidence myself. That man is going to slip
up sooner or later. And I'll be there to capture it all. As I've said, Jonas is not the man he seems to be.
You need to be careful."
Emily felt her head throbbing and didn't want to argue anymore. She irritably rubbed her forehead and
said, "I'm tired, let's stop this for now. I need to rest now. I want to have a good night's sleep, so I'll
head to the bedroom next door."
As she was about to walk out, Jacob held her hand and pleadingly said, "You should give it a second
thought. Anyway, just sleep here. I'll go to the other room."
After that, Jacob quietly left the room. There was finally a chance to breathe and relax. However,
Emily's mind was conflicted about who she should believe.
She was fully aware that their marriage had gone through many difficulties along the way. And on every
occasion, they had always stood up for each other no matter what. Because of that, she thought that it
was rude of her to doubt her husband so much. She knew in her heart that Jacob didn't solve problems
with his bare fists.
On the other hand, Jonas had a compelling case as well. He was the type of man who was willing to
devote himself to charity. He had been so kind to anyone he had encountered so far. Moreover, it
seemed idiotic for anyone to hurt themself that bad just to win over some sympathy from a married
woman. However, there was a saying that went, "A person smiling might seem as sweet as a rose, but
every rose has thorns." Emily couldn't rely on his face for answers. At that moment, she had no way of
knowing if he was a good guy or not. Generally, people with a wicked nature were more adept at hiding
their real personalities.
After further consideration, Emily finally admitted to herself that Jonas might actually be a little sketchy.
In the morning of the next day, Emily went to visit Jonas again and even brought some breakfast for
him.
At that moment, her heart was struggling with the doubts she had in her mind. That was why she
planned to carefully observe Jonas's every action the moment she arrived. Upon closer inspection, she
realized that all his wounds were on the body. He didn't have a single scratch on his face, but she
couldn't deny that he was seriously hurt. If this was really part of his plan, it seemed like he didn't care
about his wellbeing that much. If that was the case, there was more reason to keep her distance from
this man.
"How are you feeling? Are you getting better?" Emily asked while peeling an orange for Jonas.
Jonas gratefully took the orange and then shook his head sideways. He then gave her a cheerful reply.
"I'm still in a bit of pain, but it disappears whenever you come and visit me."
Emily felt like something was off with Jonas's response. As a result, she stood up and walked away
from the bed. She sat on the sofa and acted like everything was normal.
Jonas probably realized that she was deliberately trying to distance herself from him. Because of that,
he quickly smiled and said in a playful manner, "I don't have any relatives nearby, so when I get sick
and need to go to the hospital, no one is there to visit me. The lonely feeling I get usually makes it take
longer for me to recover. But now that I have a friend like you, one that even brings me breakfast, I feel
like I'm going to be out of this bed in just a few days."
The way he spoke didn't seem like he was trying to be pitiful. Actually, it seemed quite genuine. If the
way he acted was his real personality, Emily would greatly admire a man like him.
She softly smiled at him and replied, "You're a volunteer of our charity organization and my husband is
somewhat responsible for your injuries. I feel like it's my duty to look after you."
Upon hearing her words, Jonas looked gloomy for a second, but went back to his usual merry
expression. He then placed the remaining half of the orange on the table.
Emily brought him a glass of water. She then asked Jonas with an indecisive tone, "I heard from Jacob
that there were no surveillance cameras around the area that the incident happened."
"What?" Jonas quickly responded. He had a perceptive look on his face when he added, "Is Jacob
spouting nonsense to you again? Or is it because you don't believe what I told you?"
Emily shook her head in disagreement. She was afraid that her suspicions were going to be found out.
She tried to clear things up. However, Jonas talked before she could even say start.
He spoke with a sincere and gentle smile on his face. "It's fine. I understand that he's your husband
and you're more likely to side with him. After all, if you didn't believe him, he would seem like a
completely useless man. However, the bruises on my body tell you what really happened. I guess it's
my fault for underestimating the ones who did this to me. After all, I honestly thought I had the upper
hand. But I was outnumbered and couldn't really do much about it."
Jonas displayed an honest and somewhat blissful smile which made it hard for Emily to find fault in the
man. But in the end, she was still prone to believe Jacob from the bottom of her heart.
She couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh at what had just happened. It seemed that her trip there was
useless since Jonas was so good at reading a person's thoughts. Jonas was fully aware that Emily
might suspect him of foul play. That was why he kept his composure and simply responded in a normal
way. What he said was half-true and half-false, in an attempt to confuse Emily based on what she knew
of the situation.
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