The Seventh Miserable Bride

Chapter 31

Yasmin Taylor shrugged and said, "Your brother is on a business trip."

Tiffany Simons was overjoyed. "Are you upset that my brother is on a business trip?" she exclaimed. "I didn't know that the relationship has gone so deep!"

"Tiffany, are you only pretending not to know?" Yasmine asked. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Perplexed, Tiffany questioned, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Your brother is gay," Yasmine replied.

"My brother is gay? How is that possible?" Tiffany said, with a baffled look on her face.

Yasmine sighed and said, "It's true. His partner said it himself, and your brother didn't deny it."

Based on Sebastian Simons's personality, if it were not true, he would never allow others to slander him.

"Who is his partner?" Tiffany queried.

"Fynn Jaymond," Yasmine answered.

"Fynn Jaymond?" Tiffany burst into laughter and laughed so hard that she could not stand up straight. "Sister-in-law, you've been fooled. Fynn is not gay. He's not only my brother's most capable assistant, but also his best friend. I'd be extremely angry if they were lovers," Tiffany explained.

Hearing what she said, the knot in Yasmine's heart was finally untied. In actual fact, it was not because she was gullible, but because she was too sensitive to the issue that Sebastian hated women...

"Hmm, why would you be angry? Do you like Fynn?" Yasmine asked curiously.

Tiffany had always been a straightforward person, so she nodded without hesitation and confessed, "Yes."

Yasmine liked her straightforward personality very much. "What about him? Does he feel the same for you too?" Yasmine continued to ask.

"I don't know. He'd never said that he liked me. Fynn is an orphan. I'm afraid that I might stress him out if I told him that I liked him," Tiffany admitted.

Yasmine understood the situation and comforted her sister-in-law, "It doesn't matter. As long as you don't give up, family backgrounds are not a problem."

Yasmine felt good while Sebastian was away on his business trip. After a long day at work, she went home and chatted with her father- and mother-in-law in the living room at complete ease. After dinner, she went upstairs early. Recalling her quarrel with Sebastian last night, an idea popped into her head. Why not take advantage of this opportunity and enjoy his room?

The weather was getting warmer. Although the room she lived in had an air conditioner, she always felt that it was too close and stuffy. More importantly, she had to go to the room next door to take a bath every night. With determination, she brought her pajamas and went into Sebastian's luxurious bathroom. His white bathtub was so clean, she was certain that she would not be able to locate a single speck of dust even with a magnifying glass. Sebastian was indeed a clean freak. Every nook and cranny was flawless and spotless.

His bathtub was actually a Jacuzzi. She filled it with hot water, removed her clothes, lay in the tub, and instantly, her fatigue went away. What was more amazing was that music was played automatically in the bathroom. She lay in the tub and closed her eyes, hearing beautiful music playing in the background. She could not help but think that this man really knew how to enjoy life...

After taking a bath, she came out of the bathroom and stood beside his bed. Recalling his unpleasant action of changing beds previously, she rolled on the bed back and forth as revenge. Satisfied, she got up and went to review tomorrow's teaching. At ten o'clock sharp, she closed the book and sat on his bed. After a while, she finally picked up her phone and dialed his number.

The phone rang for a long time before he picked up. The voice on the other end of the phone was cold as usual. "What's the matter?"

Yasmine took a deep breath and asked, "You have arrived, right?"

"Nonsense, I would have arrived at Mars at this hour," he said sarcastically.

She curled her lips and thought to herself, "If he knew that I'm on his bed now talking to him on the phone, and that I had taken a bath in his bathtub, he would go berserk..."

"Oh, when will you come back?" she asked.

"What does it have to do with you?" he replied defiantly.

"It's not that I want to know. It was Mother who wanted me to ask you since you left without informing her," she explained defensively.

Hearing that it was his mother who asked, Sebastian softened and announced, "Next Wednesday."

"Great. Five days to go," Yasmine thought happily.

"Okay, got it. Bye," she spoke.

She hung up right away and turned off the lights, ready to go to bed. As soon as she closed her eyes, her cell phone rang. It was Sebastian. She hesitated for a moment before answering the call, "Is there anything else?"

"Don't you ever dare hang up first," he instructed. "Okay," she replied.

"Also, don't call me for no reason," he added.

"Okay," she repeated.

"What else do you know how to say besides 'okay'?" he asked.

"Goodbye," she answered.

On the second last day before Sebastian's return, Yasmine finished a class in school and was walking down the long corridor to the office with a book in her hand when she bumped into Lily Adams. "Yasmine, hurry up, your aunt is here," Lily called out to Yasmine.

Her heart thumped. She frowned and asked, "Where is she?"

"At the school's entrance. The guard called your office phone, and I answered it," Lily explained.

She touched her forehead and sighed as she knew that, clearly, something must have happened again. Her uncle and his family would never come for her for no reason.

She passed the textbook in her hand to Lily and went straight out of the school gate. From a distance, she saw Auntie standing in the shade of a tree, impatiently fanning herself with a newspaper.

As soon as she saw Yasmine, Mindy Yard threw the newspaper to the ground and rushed over. She said hurriedly, "Yasmine, something happened to your uncle. Please think of a way to save him..." she begged.

"What has happened this time?" Yasmine questioned.

Yasmine was not surprised. Besides her father, Chuck Lorris, her uncle, was her only other relative. However, he was no different from her father who was insincere and sought nothing but his own benefits.

Chuck had caused her a lot of trouble in the past few years. If it were not for her mother's warning before her death, she could not be bothered to care about them.

"Yesterday, a group of people from the Commercial Bureau came to our shop and wanted to confiscate our cigarettes. Your uncle didn't allow and even talked back, so they took him away,1' Mindy quickly explained.

With her red-rimmed eyes, Mindy looked like she was deeply wronged.

"Why did the Commercial Bureau confiscate your cigarettes? Are you selling fake cigarettes again?" Yasmine challenged.

"Only a few, not all..." Mindy admitted.

Yasmine rubbed her forehead and asked angrily, "Are you sure it's only a few? How many times have I told you not to sell fake goods? Why won't you listen to me? What's the point of coming for me after you get yourself in trouble? There's nothing I can do!"

"Aren't you married into a rich family? This should be a small matter to you.." Mindy muttered.

"I'm not married into a family only to clean up after your mess. Also, was uncle really taken away just because he talked back?" Yasmine asked.

Even if her Auntie did not tell the truth, she was well aware of it.

Mindy nodded guiltily at first and then shook her head. She knew that she could not hide it from her niece. Left with no choice, she told Yasmine the truth, "He slapped one of them twice in the face."

Yasmine was completely speechless. He dared slap an officer when he himself was in the wrong. Who did he think he was? The emperor?

"What should we do now? They won't let me see your uncle at the police station. With his personality, I'm worried that he will get beaten up by them..." Mindy said.

"Are you only worried now? Weren't you worried when you were selling fake goods? He deserves to be beaten. If he doesn't suffer a little, he will never learn his lesson." Yasmine blurted.

Mindy's face darkened and she commented, "Yasmine, how could you say that? No matter what he's done, he's still your uncle. Remember when you and your mother were in difficult times; if it weren't for our help, would you be standing here talking to me today? You shouldn't be ungrateful."

"I'm not saying that I don't care about him. What I'm saying is that you should not be doing anything immoral. If you don't realize your mistake, I can't do anything about it. You're right that we shouldn't be ungrateful, but it's also important not to go against your conscience!" Yasmine defended.

Mindy knew Yasmine well enough not to step on her toes, so she softened her tone. "Okay, I know we made a mistake. I promise you there will be no next time. Once you get your uncle out of there, we will immediately get rid of all the fakes."

Although uncertain, Yasmine promised, "You should head home. I'll figure something out."

Yasmine was not able to concentrate the whole afternoon. Her absent-mindedness was noticed by Scott Jules, who had always been the one who paid the most attention to her.

Scott approached Lily to find out the reason for Yasmine's distress. After knowing what had been bothering her, he understood how she felt. Her husband's family was rich and influential, so there was nothing that could not be solved. However, selling fake cigarettes was something really embarrassing to talk about.

The next morning, on the way to school, Yasmine received a phone call from Auntie. "Yasmine, your uncle has been released. Thank you, your uncle and I will remember this favor..." Mindy said gratefully.

Yasmine's eyes widened in surprise and asked uncertainly, "What? He's been released?"

"Yeah, he was out since last night, all thanks to you. We'll visit you at school at noon," Mindy replied.

"No, it's not..." Yasmine muttered.

Before she could finish her words, Auntie had already hung up the phone. Yasmine was puzzled. She had not mentioned her uncle's issue to her family. How could he be released?

Her doubts were immediately clarified when she met Lily. It turned out that it was Scott who helped her. She had been working with him for two years. Of course, Scott's father was the head of the Public Security Department in City B.

Suddenly knowing the truth, Yasmine felt very embarrassed. Yasmine and Scott had not exchanged words since they parted at the lake that night.

She held back until noon before finally bringing herself to knock on the principal's room door. Hastily, she said, "Thank you for helping my uncle."

Scott smiled gently and teased, "Is that all? You're too insincere." "What do you want?" she asked.

Yasmine was perturbed and worried that he would make unreasonable requests.

He thought for a moment and suggested, "How about treating me to a meal? Does tomorrow night sound good?"

This request was not at all unreasonable, but she could not agree immediately. On the one hand, she knew Scott has feelings for her; on the other, she had not forgotten Sebastian's warning that night.

"No? Forget it if you're uncomfortable with the idea," he assured.

Seeing a hint of sadness in Scott's eyes, Yasmine's heart stung. It seemed that she was being a little too cruel to him. She then said, "Okay, no problem."

Reluctantly, she agreed.

As soon as she walked out of the principal's room, Scott stopped smiling and closed his eyes, hurt. To say that he was not sad would be a lie. He had been suppressing his sadness in his heart all this while. But, if he could wait for two years, three months would not mean anything to him.

All he could do now was to wait for the man, who had always taken divorce lightly, to abandon this woman whom he regarded as important as his life.

Sebastian would be back the next day. But that night, Yasmine was still lying on his bed, reluctant to leave his room. Except for the dull colors, there was not a single flaw in any part of the room.

She really hoped that he could go on a business trip for a longer period - a year or half, or at least this whole summer. Though only a small wish, it was hard to realize.

In the middle of the night, when she was sleeping soundly, she felt a sudden chill. A sliver of moonlight spilled into the room, and she vaguely saw a black shadow standing in front of her. Shocked, she sat bolt upright in bed, and asked with panic in her voice, "Who are you?"

The bedside lamp suddenly lit up. "Who do you think I am?"

Yasmine breathed a sigh of relief. The person standing in front of her was Sebastian. She began to see stars and she could already predict what would happen next.

"Why...Why are you back now?" she asked curiously. Didn't he say Wednesday? Or did she remember wrong...

"I would only be able to find out if someone is discontented if I came back now." Sebastian's eyes revealed a dangerous signal. "Yasmine Taylor, how dare you to sleep in my bed..." he hissed.

"I can explain. Don't be angry. Calm down, calm down," she quickly said.

Yasmine tried her best to calm him down. If he went berserk in the middle of the night, the whole family would be awakened.

"You don't have to explain. Your behavior is the best explanation. Since you are so desperate to have close contact with me, I will grant your wish," he said.

After saying that, Sebastian took off his suit aggressively, threw it on the sofa, and rushed to her. "What are you doing?!" she shrieked.

Immediately, Sebastian's cold lips pressed hard against hers. Her eyes widened in horror. Like a petrified statue, she let the tip of his tongue push through her neat set of teeth. He did not let her finish her sentence before he stuck his tongue in her mouth, playing with her tongue endlessly.