A Night of Desire

Chapter 391 - 384: We Owe Each Other Nothing

Some of the hot water that had just filled the teacup spilled onto Cedric Grant’s hand. The cup then crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

Hot water instantly splashed everywhere. Cedric Grant, wearing long pants and leather shoes, was mostly unharmed. But Skylar Hayes was in a midi skirt and sandals, and when the water splashed onto her bare skin, she instinctively jumped back.

Though the water had been boiled that morning, it was still scalding hot. Skylar Hayes felt a searing pain on her feet and legs where the water had splashed, and her eyes subconsciously flickered to Cedric Grant’s hand.

Unsurprisingly, a large, red patch had appeared on the web of his left hand where the water had burned him.

This man claimed he’d come to apologize, yet he was still making excuses for his infidelity. He was still defending the woman Skylar had always treated like a sister—the same woman who had stolen her husband and destroyed her family. But as Skylar looked at his burned hand, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of pity.

’To her, he was a classic, irresponsible scumbag. His betrayal had spanned nearly the entire course of their marriage.’

’But the way he was defending and protecting another woman so fiercely now... perhaps it meant that woman’s love for him hadn’t been in vain. After all, she had been with him for so many years without any official title.’

’If her failed marriage could finally awaken his sense of responsibility as a man, then maybe it hadn’t been a complete loss.’

’Besides, even though he had betrayed her, he had helped raise her daughter for over twenty years. When she thought about it that way, maybe he didn’t owe her an apology after all.’

As Skylar Hayes stared at his hand, hesitating on the verge of speaking, Cedric Grant suddenly crouched down, anxiously trying to inspect the burns on her leg and foot.

Skylar Hayes flinched and took two steps back, dodging his outstretched hand.

"You should go. And don’t come back. You said you came to apologize, but there’s no need. You betrayed our relationship and our marriage, but I suppose you’ve made up for it over the past twenty-odd years."

"So, from now on, we’re even. Let’s go our separate ways and live our own lives. And since we’re even—since we’re nothing more than strangers—there’s no reason for us to ever see each other again."

Cedric Grant sneered inwardly. ’We’re even? I raised you and your daughter for more than twenty years for nothing, and now you tell me we’re even? If I don’t get something out of you two, it’ll make a mockery of all the years I’ve silently been the cuckold!’

That was what he thought, but his expression remained calm. He slowly stood up and sighed. "Alright, I’ll be going then. You should check yourself for burns later. It’d be best to put some ointment on them."

As he spoke, he suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. He raised his hand to look at the burn on the webbing of his thumb, frowning and blowing on it twice before lowering it again and walking slowly toward the door.

"Never mind. You should put some ointment on it first," Skylar Hayes’s hesitant voice came from behind him.

Cedric Grant stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Alright."

"Wait here."

Skylar Hayes went into her room and returned a moment later with a small vial of ointment. She handed it to him without a word, then turned to sweep up the shards of the broken cup.

Cedric Grant’s expression was unreadable. He stared at her back for a long moment before finally opening the vial, dabbing some ointment onto his finger, and applying it to the burn.

The ointment was cool and soothing, and its effects were noticeable almost immediately. It also had a unique but very pleasant scent.

He knew this was an ointment Skylar had concocted herself. Back when they were married, whenever he got a scrape, a bruise, or a burn, she would always be the one to apply this very ointment—cool, fragrant, and remarkably effective.