Chapter 243

Ross's assistant walked in from outside and found Ross sitting in his chair, staring blankly at some documents as if his mind were elsewhere.

The assistant stepped forward. "Mr. Jean, we found Ms. Shelly’s earring that she left in the pantry last time." He handed over a small box with the stud earring inside.

Ross stared at the orange-red earring. "Take it to the hospital tomorrow when you get a chance and give it to her."

The assistant obviously knew that Ross and Danielle had broken up, which was really too bad. Danielle was perfect for Ross, but what a shame—he wasn’t into her. The whole thing had been nothing but a show to him.

“Got it.” The assistant was about to take the earring away when Ross stopped him. "Actually, forget it. Just leave the earring here."

The assistant had no clue what was going through Ross’ head anymore. He set the earring down and headed out.

Ross picked up his phone from the side table, opened WhatsApp, and clicked on Danielle’s profile. He typed: [Found your earring that you left in the pantry. Come by and pick it up when you have time, or I can drop it off if that’s easier.]

Danielle happened to be replying to someone else’s messages when she saw Ross’ text pop up. She responded coldly: [I don’t like that earring anymore. Just throw it in the trash.]

Danielle actually loved those earrings. They were her absolute favorites—a gift from her mother that she rarely wore because they meant too much to her.

But when she was getting ready to see Ross, she’d put them on with such excitement. What a waste of happiness that turned out to be.

Now, Danielle couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Ross at all.

When Ross saw her reply, he gripped his phone tighter, feeling this weird mix of frustration and stubbornness that he couldn’t even explain.

Ross: [I’ll bring them over tomorrow.]

But the message never went through because Danielle had blocked him.

Ross felt his head pounding as he stared at those agate earrings. He tried calling instead, but that didn’t work either. The phone rang once and got cut off immediately. She’d blocked his number too.

Ross had never dealt with anything like this before, so he just sat there staring at the earrings without saying a word. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to throw them away and stuck them in his drawer instead.

By ten o’clock, both Danielle and Shermaine had knocked back quite a few drinks.

Joshua showed up to pick them up. He’d been missing Shermaine like crazy but had to wait since she was taking her sweet time coming home. He dropped Danielle off first, then finally headed back to Riverswood Villa with Shermaine.

Joshua sat her down on the shoe cabinet and slipped off her heels, then helped her into house slippers. "Want to walk or need me to carry you?"

"Carry me." Shermaine giggled.

He scooped her up and headed upstairs. Shermaine looked at him and asked, "You didn’t like me at first either, so how did you end up falling for me?"

Joshua said, "I never disliked you. I just figured it out pretty late." Good thing he came to his senses quickly though. Once he realized he liked Shermaine, he didn’t fight it at all and just wanted her.

"You’ve known Ross for years," Shermaine said. "Why do you think he doesn’t like Danielle?" She wasn’t exactly great at reading other people’s feelings. She had her own love life figured out, but everyone else’s was a mystery.

Joshua carried her into the bathroom and grabbed some makeup wipes to clean her face. "Honestly, he might be even more clueless than you."

"He had a girlfriend before though."

"Yeah, I heard about that. But honestly, Ross probably never even liked that ex of his."

Shermaine frowned, "Then why would he date her?"

"You’d have to ask Ross that one."

"Never mind then." Everyone deserved their privacy, including Ross. Shermaine didn’t want to pry too much into his business.

Joshua helped her take off her makeup, then pulled her close and kissed her lips. "Sheary, has anyone ever told you that you’re completely different when you’ve been drinking?"

Shermaine pressed her lips together. "Different how?"

"You get all cute and flirty."

Shermaine just stared at him. ‘Cute? I’m a boss. What the hell does cute even mean?’ she thought.

They didn’t keep talking about it though. After Joshua finished removing her makeup, he ran her a bath and basically gave her the full spa treatment. He got her all clean and sweet-smelling, then tucked her into bed.

About 10 minutes later, Joshua finally came to bed himself, totally satisfied as he turned off the lights.

In the darkness, Shermaine rested her hand on his waist. When he didn’t make any moves, she couldn’t help asking, "How come you don’t want to tonight?"