Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
Sure enough, in less than two minutes, Jolene was escorted into the living room by two bodyguards.
James glanced at her and could see the fear in her eyes. “You want to run? Go ahead!”
Jolene didn’t speak. She’d been living in the villa for a long time, and she usually had a lot of freedom to come and go as she pleased, so she didn’t realize bodyguards were there.
“You should know your current situation, Jolene. Do you still think you’re still the precious daughter of the Zellwegers?” James stood up and approached her, grabbing her chin with one hand.
Jolene tried hard not to cry, but she couldn’t help it.
“If you want to leave so badly, why don’t you ask Danika to speak up for you? If she asks me to let you go, maybe I’ll agree,” James said. Before Jolene could speak, he added, pretending to be regretful, “But will she help you? Think about how you treated her before. Do you regret it now?”
“You’re torturing me for her sake?” Jolene stared at James, her heart bleeding from that sharp stab his words dealt to her.
James raised his eyebrows, not denying it. “Why not? After all, she’s my junior and not someone the likes of you can cross.”
I Swear
That night, Danika didn’t get a visit from Melissa’s senior, but she received a call from Jolene instead. She looked at the screen of her phone with confusion, especially when she saw that the caller was her half-sister. She felt it was somewhat unreal.
“Why is Jolene calling me? Strange!” Danika thought.
After a moment of contemplation, she decided to answer the call. After all, Jolene posed no threat to her now, and she was curious about what she had to say.
“Danika,” Jolene’s voice came through the phone, thick with sobs.
Danika was surprised and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I want to leave Bardoff City and go abroad with my mother. I won’t appear in front of anymore, okay?” she said.
Danika chuckled at her words. “What does that have anything to do with me? You can go anywhere you like with Rowena. Why would you need my permission?”
However, she was still concerned about the news that Rowena was going abroad. She felt that they were letting Rowena off too easily if she was allowed to leave. But then she remembered that she had no evidence to prosecute Rowena. Therefore, she could only watch her leave.
But would Rowena leave everything behind so simply? Danika had a certain understanding of her character-she wouldn’t go down so easily.
“James won’t let me go. He said he’d keep me here and torture me for the rest of my life unless the two of you agree to let me go,” Jolene said, unable to hold back from crying. She wasn’t someone who cried easily, but when she thought about her future, the despair it seemed to hold brought her to tears.
Danika was surprised by Jolene’s words. She couldn’t believe that James had said that.
Before she could say anything, Jolene continued, “I know I was wrong before. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I was in the wrong, and I apologize. Can you ask James to let me go?”
After some contemplation, Danika’s expression became solemn. Her intuition told her that James wasn’t making Jolene stay because of her. She had some suspicions, but they felt surreal to her. Had things really come to that?
Danika felt a little scared. If that was the case, should she have tried harder to stop Jolene from moving in with James back then?
Within a brief two minutes, many thoughts and possibilities ran through Danika’s mind. She didn’t say anything, and her silence made Jolene think she was reluctant to help. Hence, Jolene pleaded again, “Danika, I was wrong. Although I said a lot of nasty things to you before, I’ve never really harmed you. Please let me go.”
At Jolene’s words, Danika carefully thought about it and realized it was true. Rowena arranged for all those assassins to come after her, but Danika thought it was impossible for Jolene to know nothing about her mother’s sinister plans. She had most likely allowed Rowena to harm her or even implicitly agreed to it.
As such, Danika didn’t feel sorry for her at all.
“What you said makes sense. Indeed, you haven’t caused any harm to me, Danika said. But before Jolene could speak, she continued, “Have you really decided to go abroad with Rowena?”
“Yes, I swear,” Jolene thought Danika was afraid she wouldn’t leave, so she immediately swore not to be in her way anymore.
Nevertheless, Danika wasn’t interested in her promises. What she cared about was getting rid of Jolene quickly, otherwise, things would be bad for James James was her senior, and she hoped he could find happiness. But his happiness should never come from someone despicable like Jolene.
“Alright then, I will talk to him. Get ready to leave.” Danika believed that if she spoke up, James wouldn’t refuse. If he refused, it would mean her worst fears had come true.
“Come on, James! Pull yourself together!” Danika murmured.
Let Her Go
After hanging up on Jolene, Danika immediately dialed James’ number without any delay.
The call took a while to connect, and James’ voice came through, saying,” Danika, why are you calling so late? What’s the matter?”
At James’ question, Danika didn’t know what to say for a moment and fell into silence.
“Danika?” James called her name, sounding worried.
Taking a deep breath, Danika decided it was best to be direct instead of beating around the bush. “James, Jolene just called me.’
James’ face immediately darkened upon hearing that, though Danika couldn’t see it.
“She said she wants to go abroad with Rowena, but you won’t let her.”
“That’s right. She had plotted against me, and we’re not even yet. Of course I won’t let her go.’ James tried to keep his emotions in check and not let them fluctuate too much. It wasn’t worth getting emotional over a woman like Jolene.
Danika frowned, her intuition telling her that this wasn’t the real reason James was stopping Jolene from leaving. “James, that’s enough. She’s my sister. Just let her go.”
She didn’t want the two of them to continue to be in each other’s lives.
While Jolene thought James kept her around so that he could torment her, Danika didn’t see it that way. It was clear to her that James had other feelings for Jolene, although he hadn’t realized it and thought it was pure hatred against his schemer.
Then again, Danika could see it wasn’t hatred. Based on how James and Jolene their recent interactions, she was sure James no longer held any grudge against Jolene.
The anger he had felt toward her initially had dissipated overtime.
James was genuinely surprised that Danika would plead on Jolene’s behalf again.
“Danika, did she threaten you again?’
“No. I think it’s better for her to leave with Rowena. We won’t have to see each other in the future, and it’s better for us to act like she doesn’t exist.”
Jolene didn’t matter to her anymore. She only spoke up because she didn’t want James’ judgment to be clouded by his confusion.
James didn’t say anything, clearly showing his reluctance.
At that moment, Danika’s heart skipped a beat. Could her speculation have come true? Had James fallen for Jolene?
Although it was easy for two people to develop feelings when they cohabited and kept seeing each other day in and day out, Danika had believed that based on James’ dislike toward Jolene, it was impossible for any feelings to develop. However, reality was proving her wrong.
“James, you don’t want to let her go?” Danika’s tone changed slightly, becoming stern.
James was equally alarmed, wondering what got into him. Why couldn’t he let Jolene leave even after Danika had spoken up?
He wasn’t a fool, and he had already noticed that something was off. He quickly suppressed his excessive emotions and said, “Of course not. I don’t care if she leaves or not. The reason I don’t want her to leave is that I want to avenge you. After all, she treated you so badly before.”
“That’s all in the past. Let her go,” Danika said.
“Fine. Since you’ve said so, I naturally have no reason to refuse,” James agreed and then hung up the phone.
Danika breathed a sigh of relief on the other end of the phone. If James gave his word, he would see it through. Danika thought maybe she was just being too sensitive.
After hanging up the call, James got out of his study and walked straight to Jolene’s room. He kicked the door forcefully and shouted, “Jolene! Come out this instance!”
“W-what do you want?” Hearing the commotion outside, Jolene dared not come out.
She cowered in her room, trembling in fear.
“Open the door!” James bellowed angrily, his anger level visibly rising every second.
Don’t Let Me See You Again
Jolene finally opened the door. On the one hand, she was afraid that James would wreck the door, and on the other hand, she understood since this was James’ house, he could still unlock the door with his keys even if she refused to open up.
“Why…why are you looking for me?” Jolene looked at him reluctantly, fear written all over her face.
“Ah!”
The next second, James lifted Jolene, and the feeling of being suspended in midair amplified her fear to the extreme.
“James! What are you doing? Are you crazy?”
“I underestimated you. You had the gall to call Danika. Don’t you feel ashamed?’ James asked her, eyes stormy and cold.
Upon hearing that, Jolene’s emotions became immensely complicated. While she was happy that Danika called James, she was also saddened at the same time by James’ huge reaction, which was likely because of Danika. She thought that James reacted that way because he was displeased that she’d disturbed Danika.
Jolene gritted her teeth and tried to keep her fear from overpowering her.” Weren’t you the one who told me to call her?”
“Jolene!” James gritted his teeth, hating the woman before him to the core.
“Did she ask you to let me go?” Jolene asked. Since Danika called James, she must have told him to let her go.
James said nothing, but flames were about to burst out from his eyes.
Seeing that, Jolene knew she’d hit the nail on the head, and her eyes were filled with joy. “Since that’s the case, shouldn’t you let me leave?”
“Are you really so eager to leave?” James looked at her and asked in a low voice.
“Of course. Do you expect me to stay here and serve you for the rest of my life?”
In fact, Jolene was willing to serve James for the rest of her life, but she couldn’t bear the thought of serving his wife and children in the future. She felt that she couldn’t be so generous. Instead of being miserable, she’d rather leave.
Their eyes met, and neither of them backed down. The standoff lasted for God knows how long until James finally let go of Jolene.
“Go away. Leave immediately, and don’t let me see you again.” James turned and went back to his study without giving her another glance.
