No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

I froze. "What the heck was that all about?"

How come he'd been on the phone with Ernest all this time?

Conrad, having just ended the call, looked at me and said, "Ernest called me just now. I thought he had hung up, but it seems he didn't because he was worried."

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" I retorted sarcastically.

It was clear as day that Conrad had intentionally not ended the call, and deliberately asked me if I still wanted Ernest in my life.

Caught out, Conrad didn't try to deny it. Instead, he admitted, "Call it my selfishness, if you will. It just so happened to let Ernest know where you stand, to show him... that Felicia isn't someone who comes and goes at someone else's beck and call." Honestly, I wasn't afraid of Ernest knowing how I feel. In fact, it was better this way; it saved me the effort of explaining myself.

"Thanks for your thoughtfulness'," I said mockingly before getting out of the car.

Conrad followed, starting to fill me in on Dustin's living situation, "This place, Dustin bought it with his own money. He's lived here all four years he's been abroad. You see these flowers and plants? He's been taking care of them all by himself, never once hired a maid or a gardener."

This was all news to me. Dustin had never mentioned it, and even when I was living with the Wagner family, they barely talked about Dustin. On the rare occasions they did, it was just to say that he'd called and was doing fine over here.

Wagners, Dustin was less like a son and more like

Dustin had spent those four

such a big house, all on his own. Besides his nature of doing things himself, it

his way of passing

also Dustin's own design," Conrad's words surprised me

things up fast-way better than me,

admiration for Dustin was undeniable. Thinking about Dustin's ambitions, it seemed Conrad was still in

almost said something

was a smart

thrived in the

a blind eye for the sake of brotherhood, to

up? You've gone quiet," Conrad asked, noticing

"it seems Dustin did quite

beyond this house. He has other investments,"

education, he had

from the past. Conrad used to be fiercely competitive, unwilling to accept anyone being better than him,