The Devil's Good Girl
Chapter 169: Win-win

Chapter 169: Win-win

Lies.

Fil sat on the floor, hugging her knees, eyes staring blankly at the wall across from her. She didn’t know what was she thinking at the moment, but she knew she was alone. Trapped in this web of lies, drowning in the nets of the people around her.

It scared her.

What... had she been doing all this time? Retaliating against an illusion, breaking all her beliefs and principles, letting the anger consume her, for what? To break the broken? To drag down what was already beneath her?

Fil felt trapped in a house of fire and locked herself in it, breaking all forms of communication to call for help. Instead, she went upstairs — in the attic — to watch the house burn from the little window.

’I should’ve stopped,’ she told herself, burying her face in her knees, ignoring the faint knocks on the door. ’I’m scared.’

The knocks continued until the door slowly creaked. Light footsteps caressed her ears until they stopped. She sensed a presence before her, making her lift her head. Jackson squatted down in front of her, allowing the tears she had been holding back to fall.

"I’m scared," she whispered. "I feel... trapped, Jack."

Jackson didn’t say anything, tilting his head a little to the side.

"Marianne... she..." she trailed off as she hiccuped, biting her lips. "I should’ve known I’ve been pushing her beyond her limits, but I didn’t. Now, not only did I have one psycho in my life, but I invited another one. What am I going to do now, Jack?"

"Just one psycho?" this time, Jackson spoke in a questioning and hissing tone. "Are you sure it’s just one? Or there’s more?"

Her brows rose, witnessing how the corner of his lips curled up.

"Filomena, you poor little thing." Jackson slowly cupped her cheek, stroking it with his thumb. "You are always so naive, or so wicked. You embrace the darkness with your light, making everyone rely on it, and then take away what they believed their only beacon of hope from them, only to act as if you were the victim."

His eyes drooped dangerously while she held her breath. "You know you’ve been pushing people beyond their limits. Vincent, for instance. You deprived him of everything and took away the only salvation he could hold on to — his grandfather. You made him tread on eggshells, fearing that one day he’d step on that thin ice too hard and drown."

"Marianne was deprived of love, affection, and care. And what did you do? You have given her a little too much of it. Once she’s hooked, you threatened to take that love and attention away just because you can," he continued. "And now you’re doing it again to Marcus... and to me. Only this time, you’re aware of it."

"Jack... what are you..." her breath hitched as her shoulders trembled. "That’s not true."

"Is it?" he arched a brow. "Don’t you want to hurt Marcus physically, emotionally, and mentally?"

She couldn’t answer.

"And me... what is your reason for keeping me around and giving me just a piece of you, all the while knowing you’d throw me away in the future for your own good?" he added, blinking ever so slowly. "You are selfish and cruel, Filomena. You are not the victim here."

"This situation, your dilemma... were all created by you," he hissed as he slowly slid his hand from her cheek to her neck. "You wanted it, intrigued to see who breaks first. You or us?"

"Jack!" Fil clung to his wrist, trying to peel off his fingers around her neck. "I can’t breathe — Jack!"

She winced and tried to kick him but to no avail. His hand tightened around her neck until all the blood circulation in her head felt trapped.

"Jack — I — Jack!"

*

*

*

GASP!

Fil gasped for air as her eyes snapped open. Sweats damped her entire body as her heart was racing within her chest.

"Are you okay, Fil?"

Moving her shaky eyes, Fil caught the worry swirling in Kim’s eyes. She pressed her lips, gulping down the tension in her throat.

’It was a dream?’Fil intuitively touched her neck. ’It felt... real.’

When Fil shifted her eyes back to Kim, she breathed out a big exhale. She realized she was still on the floor, her head resting on Kim’s lap.

"Kim."

"I saw you come back to your room earlier, and you didn’t look good," Kim explained worriedly. "I didn’t want to come here, but then, I was a little worried. So, I came to check on you, but you weren’t answering."

Fil slowly propped her elbows on the floor, sitting upright. "How did you get in?"

"I called for a personnel. We opened the door when you weren’t answering our calls. Then we saw you lying down on the floor." Kim clarified. "But you asked me not to take you to the clinic, so I had to bribe the personnel."

"Is that so?"

"You don’t remember?"

Fil pressed her lips. She didn’t even recall fainting.

"Sorry." She massaged her temple, eyes closed. "I’m just a little stressed."

"A little stress? You fainted, Fil."

"Please." Fil reopened her eyes slowly. "I... my head is killing me. I’m sorry."

A moment of silence descended upon them as Kim got the cue to stay quiet. This was not the time to ask questions or berate her for anything.

"Fine," Kim sighed. "I won’t ask anything and I won’t say a word to Jack. But you have to eat. I’ll call for room service for some food and medicines. You hadn’t had a proper meal since last night."

Fil’s lips parted but shut her mouth upon that look on Kim’s face. In the end, she just nodded and let Kim help her up and back to the bed. Just as Kim said, when Fil returned to her bed, she called for room service and requested some food and medicines. After that, she sat on the armchair while Fil reclined on the bed.

"Did Mr. Windsor leave?" Fil asked, diverting their attention from her. "If so, do you have his number or email? I haven’t thanked him enough last night."

"Don’t worry about him. Even if you know his email or phone number, it’s useless. He won’t answer or respond." Kim sighed, aware Fil was trying to divert the attention from her. "He’s staying in the country until he finishes his work. He can’t just leave that stone alone and has to work on it. From what he told me, he’s meeting the chairman and Madam Sinclair today to talk about what to do with it."

Kim paused and smiled. "So, you can always thank him and maybe treat him to some barbecue."

"Is that so?" Fil nodded. "Jack really... surprised me. That gift and Mr. Windsor. I’m speechless."

"Just cook Jack something nice and he’ll be over the moon." Kim wiggled her brows. "I’m not holding myself back just because I think you’re not feeling well. Jack is a simpleton. And also, Chris, or rather, what everybody calls him, Mr. Windsor, has always wanted to work on that type of gem."

"Jack makes you happy, and because you’re happy, you’ll probably snuggle up with him or have a wild, memorable sex. And Chris is happy to work on the stone," she continued. "It’s a win-win for everybody."

"What about you?" Fil blurted out, making Kim’s brow rise. "What’s in it for you? Having you at the party as my plus-one helped me a lot. But what’s the benefit you got from it?"

Kim smiled, studying the look in Fil’s eyes. Seeing that Fil needed some logical answers and was ready to doubt everything, she answered.

"Protection."

"Protection? From me?"

"Yep." Kim nodded and grinned. "I don’t like Jack, but he likes you. If we’re friends, then I can annoy the hell out of him and he can’t do anything about it."

She then raised her fingers to count the benefits she could get. "I can have a good friend and then make his life a living hell. That’s two! Oh, and I’ll be happy to watch him suffer and seethe helplessly! So three! That’s three wins for me!"

Fil studied Kim quietly before a shallow breath slipped past her lips. "I guess that’s good for you," she rocked her head, taking that explanation as it was instead of nothing.

At this point, Fil couldn’t help but question every word and everything that others do for her. She would rather accept that reasoning, which was founded on self-interest than a comforting lie using the word of friendship.

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