Chapter 785

Jared was gloating over my misery.

“You’ve been keeping tabs on me, huh?” I sneered. “And every guy I’ve dated, too? Jared, why don’t you just go find a woman and have a second kid already? You’re way too bored.”

Jared gave me a deep look, a faint smile on his lips. “Victoria, don’t you get what I feel for you? I just don’t want to watch you keep courting disaster.”

“Are you pitying me, Mr. Holcomb?” I shot back, my eyes cold. “Just like in my previous life—you waited until I was dead before marrying Tracy.”

“Can you stop rubbing salt in my wounds?” Jared’s face went a little pale. “I’ve already come to terms with what I did back then.”

“Then you really don’t need to butt into my life. I can make my own choices,” I said coolly, shutting down his so-called ‘concern.’

“Can you really call the shots? The Jennings family isn’t the kind you mess with. If anything goes wrong between those two, Jeffrey will pin it all on you. Hope you know what it means to be the one everyone blames when things go south,” Jared warned, dead serious.

On the outside, I kept my cool, but inside, anxiety was eating me alive.

Just then, Yvonne came running out. When she saw Jared and me standing there, her whole face brightened up.

“Dad, Mom, how come you’re both here to pick me up? Did you plan this together?” Yvonne asked happily as she ran over and grabbed our fingers.

I glanced at Jared, and he gave me a look—he was clearly telling me, ‘Don’t ruin her happiness!’

I nodded. “Yep, we did. How’s school going lately?”

Yvonne suddenly let go of our hands, crouched down, and dug through her backpack. Finally, she pulled out two test papers and handed them to me. “I got perfect scores on both!”

I smiled. “Nice job, you’re getting better and better.”

Jared couldn’t help but smile proudly too.

“Victoria, why don’t we all have dinner together tonight? It’s been a while since Yvonne ate with both of us,” Jared suggested.

I nodded. “Sure. There’s a new place in Hachester called Spice Kingdom. Let’s check it out.”

Jared looked curious. “Since when are you so into trying new restaurants?”

“I heard about it from someone and thought I’d give it a shot,” I said casually.

“If Mom wants to go, it must be a really pretty place! Dad, just come with us,” Yvonne chimed in, clearly just trying to make me happy.

Jared shrugged. “Hey, I never said no.”

When we got to the restaurant inside the mall, there was already a long line.

“Wow, it’s so crowded?” Jared said, sounding impatient. “Let’s just go somewhere else. It’s not like we have to eat here.”

“I just want to eat here,” I said firmly.

“What, is this place owned by someone you know?” Jared asked, a bit annoyed.

“Yeah, someone I know pretty well. I want to show some support,” I replied, heading over to get our number.

While we waited outside, I was scoping out the vibe, listening to people around us rave about the dishes. Hearing all the hype actually cheered me up a little.

After half an hour in line, it was finally our turn. We headed inside. Jared was used to quiet, upscale places—he hardly ever came to noisy spots like this in a mall.

“Looks like this place is seriously popular,” Jared said as he sat down, glancing around. “Which friend of yours opened it? How come I’ve never heard about this?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so there really are things you don’t know?”

“Quit being mysterious. Just say the name and I’ll know,” Jared said, sounding a bit annoyed.

Didn’t bother answering him—I just buried my head in the menu and started ordering.

The menu was packed with all kinds of dishes.

I ordered two dishes, then let Jared choose the rest. He picked two local favorites.

Yvonne’s eyes flicked back and forth between us, then she asked me softly, “Mom, are you going on another trip? How long will you be away this time?”

I smiled. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Oh,” Yvonne mumbled, dropping her gaze, lost in her own thoughts.

Jared tugged at his tie, looking a little restless.

When the food came out, it smelled great and tasted even better—I was really into it. But Jared started nitpicking. “Too spicy, too sweet, way too greasy.”

“Dad, I think it’s super yummy! Maybe you’ve just eaten out too much lately, so nothing tastes good to you anymore?” Yvonne puffed her cheeks.