Facade of Love

Chapter 358 I’ll Rub It for You

I bit my lip, my hand instinctively going to my hot check. It was not very painful, but it sure did not feel good. My angst suddenly seemed kind of silly now.

I looked at her, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, “Do you even see me as your daughter anymore? You’ve been camped out at the hospital all week. Did you even pay attention to your own daughter? Did you see me fall and come home limping? Or did you only see a daughter who always defies you, leaving without your blessing, not listening to a word you say?”

Mom’s face said it all–she was floored. Her mouth hung open as she finally seemed to really see me, maybe for the first time in days.

My heart was pounding as I lugged my suitcase out to the front yard. Idris’s car was waiting just outside, and he was heading my way when he caught sight of my ghostly expression. His eyebrows pinched together in concern. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing!” I grumbled, my rear end throbbing. He grabbed my bag, and I awkwardly climbed into the car.

Mom stayed back, just watching from the yard. Idris stowed the luggage and went inside for a moment. Left in the car, I was clueless about what he and Mom were discussing.

Soon after, he hopped back in, and we hit the road, both of us wrapped up in our own silent worlds.

At the airport, Madam Young and a bunch of the Young family’s aunts, as well as Liam and his folks, were all there gabbing away in the VIP lounge.

Madam Young caught sight of us and beamed. “There you are!” Then she paused, eyeing my limp. “Yvette, is something wrong?”

made the rounds,

boarding

I settled into our cushy business–class seats. Normally, I would be out like a light the second I buckled in, but

the clouds below, feeling a heavy sadness I

I turned to find Idris with a tube of

confused for a second. “What?”

taken a nasty fall, and my tailbone

I quickly brushed him off. “No need,

a word I said, squeezing a dollop of Icy Hot into

clothes, along with other things. As I hesitated, a warm, solid sensation spread across my lower back, and I could feel his slightly rough hands pressing firmly on

washed over me, making my cheeks flush with

to my ear,

then added in a low voice, “Relax. No one is paying attention to us.”

in so close that with every breath, I could catch the familiar

hear the soft sound of his breathing.

but I could not quite shake off my unease. Since I could not escape, I steeled myself and let him continue. Thankfully, when my breathing got a little choppy, he stopped, screwed the cap back on the Icy Hot, and

it was on fire, and managed a raspy, “It’s much