The Devil's Good Girl -
Chapter 193: Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Chapter 193: Absence makes the heart grow fonder
"Oh, dear. Come here. I missed you so much!" Marianne pulled Fil into her embrace the second the latter opened the door for her. "I thought I would never see you again."
Fil chuckled as she patted Marianne’s back. "That would never happen."
"Aww." Marianne pulled away, holding Fil’s shoulder. She assessed Fil’s face, her eyes going up and down. "Did you lose weight?"
"Did you think I lost weight?"
"No. Actually, you look..." Marianne trailed off as she thought of the right words. "... healthier."
The corner of Fil’s lips stretched as she giggled. "I’m working out."
"You are?"
"Working abroad isn’t easy, you know?"
"Working abroad is easy. What makes it hard is that you’re away from your family and friends."
"Good thing I’ve been working away from my parent’s home that I got used to it." Fil winked at her playfully. "And also, it’s not friends, just a friend."
Marianne smiled in satisfaction, moved by her correction.
"Let’s go in. I cooked something for you." Fil pushed the door wider, making way for Marianne.
As Marianne stepped inside, she raised the paper bag in her hand. "I bought something."
"I already told you not to bring food. I’m cooking."
"Well, I can’t come empty-handed." Marianne shrugged nonchalantly, helping herself to the living room and taking off her coat. "So, I brought some desserts."
"Desserts?"
Marianne looked back at Fil and smirked. "Your favorite."
Fil grinned even more broadly as soon as she heard that and then closed the door. She and Marianne chatted like usual as she made her way to the kitchen. Marianne, on the other hand, followed her into the kitchen to put the ice cream in the fridge.
The two of them moved into the kitchen in harmony, still doing some small talk. Fil finished her cooking while Marianne prepared the table. In no time, the two of them sat across from each other.
"Wow." Marianne was in awe as she gazed at the feast before her. "This is a lot."
"Don’t tell me you’re on a diet?" Fil squinted her eyes suspiciously. "I’m also on a strict diet, but today’s a cheat day."
"I’m not going to say I’m on a diet, but I’m worried we won’t finish all."
"The night is young." Fil grinned mischievously. "We won’t get up from here until we’re in a food coma."
"Goodness." Marianne shook her head, but she didn’t mind eating more than usual. After all, this was Fil’s cooking, and she prepared all of this for her. "What can I say? Let’s dig in?"
"I thought you were not going to say that. I’m starving."
They giggled as they helped themselves, eating a few spoonfuls and moaning at the taste. For the next few minutes, all they could do was appreciate the food and make sign gestures to show their appreciation. But as the meal continued, they started to slow down and engaged in more talks.
"So?" Marianne raised her brows knowingly. "Are you okay now?"
Fil furrowed her brows slightly while smiling. "I am okay now — more than okay, Anne."
"Sure?"
"You can put me and Vincent in the same room and I won’t mind," Fil reassured.
"You won’t be mean to him?"
"Unless he’s being stupid." Fil shrugged. "But I’m okay. It was hard at first, but working abroad... the different environment, different faces, the workload — they helped."
She paused as she leaned her one arm against the table. "I cried every night the first week, but slowly, it got better."
"I can see that." Marianne looked at her with appreciation and pride. "I’m happy for you, Fil. I mean that with every meaning of the word. Seeing you like this makes me happy and very proud."
"I thought I couldn’t do it," Fil admitted quietly. "I’m also proud of myself and a little embarrassed that I thought the world was ending. Turns out it isn’t."
Marianne chuckled. "You loved the man. He was your world."
"Until he isn’t anymore." Fil’s smile was subtle, and Marianne knew despite how soft-spoken it sounded, the meaning behind it was deep. "Enough about that. How are things here lately?"
"Well, the usual." Marianne shrugged. "I already told you that I was busy. I can barely call you back, remember?"
"Yep. I promise you I’m not holding a grudge about that."
"Come on, Filly."
"I’m kidding." Fil chuckled as she reached for her wine glasses. "Though, as far as I remember, I am the one who is cutting off Vincent’s friends. They were your friends too. So, I don’t want you pushing your friends away because of me."
Marianne deadpanned. "Seriously?"
"What?" Fil shrugged. "It’s true though."
"They were my friends because my best friend introduced me to them, telling me they were her friends. And also, I didn’t purposely make myself busy," Marianne clarified. "It’s just that with my schedule, I’d rather sleep than go out. Though I kept in touch with Marcus."
"Marcus?"
"Don’t tell me you’re angry now?" Marianne squinted her eyes. "You just told me you don’t want me to push them away because of you."
"No." Fil shook her head. "It’s not that. I mean, I know you and Marcus are getting along well before. But it sounds like you’ve gotten closer."
"I swear, Fil, I’m not sleeping with him," Marianne clarified before Fil could make awful guesses, making the latter laugh. "It’s not like we really go out and hang out. But we kept in touch, small talks, things like that."
"Oh..." Fil rocked her head and her reaction warranted Marianne’s interest.
"You’re interested to know more, do you?"
"No?"
"Fil?"
Fil sighed as she threw her hands in the air. "You got me."
"So?" Marianne raised a brow. "Why’s the interest?"
"I can’t say it’s interest per se. More like, you know?" Fil wanted to keep it vague, but Marianne’s expression told her she needed more than that. "Fine. I’m just wondering if he was spying for Vincent. You’re my best friend, and Marcus is Vincent’s best friend."
Marianne chortled. "Haha. Don’t worry. It’s nothing like that. Marcus never asked about you."
"He didn’t?"
"Not a word. We didn’t even talk about you." Marianne shrugged. "It’s mostly casual chat between friends. And even if he tries to ask anything about you, do you think I’d tell him?"
"Of course not, because if you do, you’ll really get an earful."
"That’s why I kept my mouth —" Marianne zipped her mouth to finish her sentence. "Let’s eat more. This food is good. I missed your cooking."
Fil simply laughed before shoving another spoonful in her mouth. Marianne continued to talk, but Fil’s mind briefly drifted to another thought.
’He never asks anything about me?’ Fil pondered about it. ’Did he move on? It’s not like I’m not glad about that, but... whatever.’
Thinking about it would only give her a headache. Fil just wanted to believe that Marcus’s feelings for her had passed with her absence. Marcus was a man who wouldn’t cling to someone when he could have all the other beautiful women out there.
*********
[FLASHBACK]
"Ever heard of the proverbial expression: absence makes the heart grow fonder?" The crown prince swirled the drink in his hand, sitting leisurely on the settee in the Duke’s office. "We skipped a few nights of making a stop just to reach the duchy earlier than scheduled."
Jackson stood in front of the window, a drink in his hand, eyes from afar. "How long would you be staying here, Your Highness?"
"We’ll be staying for two weeks," said the crown prince. "I want Latrice to bid everyone farewell properly. Two weeks is enough time for her to do that."
"And she would be crowned as crown princess?"
"While Latrice was away, there was never a day I didn’t think of her." The crown prince smiled lovingly at his glass. "I prepared everything for this day. Once we return, we’ll move on to the wedding preparations."
"But you already finished the wedding preparations."
The crown prince let out a short laugh. "It’s for formality. I want to make her mine as soon as possible, Jackson. And soon, you’ll not only be the Duke of the South but also the cousin of the crown princess."
The crown prince’s tone sounded excited and happy, but Jackson couldn’t share his sentiments. The former was drinking as a celebration because his plan was slowly coming together, but Jackson’s drink’s sole purpose was to squash down the growing longing and pain in his heart.
’Absence makes the heart grow fonder,’Jackson thought, chugging down the entire drink in one go. ’Yet, she is still here, but my longing for her leap every second.’
That night, after drinking glass after glass, Jackson found himself standing in front of Latrice’s quarters.
Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at (f)re𝒆we(b)novel.com Only
Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Report