Filed to story: Cheating with My Boyfriend’s Best Friend Novel by Jane E L (Olive & Aaron)
A very long time? Just how early did she like Vincent? Was it before I even met Vincent?
Aaron noticed my change in mood and he locked me in with his piercing gaze. “You promised that you wouldn’t get angry.”
I was about to explain when Aaron reached for his wine glass. He took a big gulp, but he didn’t swallow. Instead, he held my chin in place and kissed me, transferring the wine into my mouth.
“Ack!” I was caught off guard and began coughing violently, drips of red spilling down my chin.
He had me trapped between his body and the table. He teasingly tapped his fingers against my spine. “You poor little thing. I wish I could get you drunk on this wine and f*ck you so hard that you’d forget all about this little issue.”
So that was what Aaron had on his mind. I wiped the stain of wine from my lips, but I could still feel a bitter taste spreading across my tongue.
I suppressed the uncomfortable feeling I had about this and took a deep breath to steel myself. “Go ahead.”
I was ready to finally know the truth.
Aaron contemplated me for a long minute, his eyes searching mine to make sure I was serious.
Finally, he sighed and then said, “I’m sure you know that Emily was born into a prestigious family.”
“Her parents divorced when she was a baby, and her father got full custody, so Emily grew up without a mother. But her father was constantly occupied with his career during Emily’s childhood, and he rarely had time to spend with Emily. Emily’s father has always felt really guilty about the way he raised her, so he tried to make up for the neglect by giving her whatever she wanted. But that’s made Emily so spoiled that she thinks she’s above the law.”
No wonder Emily seemed like such a headstrong wild child.
Her family had money, so she didn’t have to worry about the consequences of her actions. The only thing she had to worry about was how she could have the most fun.
I frowned. Although our family conditions were different, it sounded like Emily and I had very similar experiences in childhood. When I was young, my parents were also absent. But the difference was that Emily’s father still felt some affection or debt to his child. My parents, on the other hand, would let their hearts freeze over before they showed me the slightest glimpse of warmth.
Aaron cupped my hips in his hands and squeezed gently. “Emily grew up wealthy in material possessions, but not in love. And she was always so generous and extravagant with her money. Even when she was in elementary school, she threw these enormous parties at her house, inviting anyone she could think of.”
If she acted this way, it seemed like most of her friends were probably just attracted by her wealth. I thought Emily was st*pid, and I knew people would definitely try to take advantage of a girl like that.
Sure enough, the next words out of Aaron’s mouth confirmed my suspicion. He said, “Emily first started doing drugs when she was in middle school. All the alcohol and drugs affected her health, and when she was nineteen, her father decided to secretly send her away to rehab.”
Aaron’s hands gripped my waist more tightly, and I couldn’t help but feel a pounding in my heart. Could this have been the turning point in Emily’s life? Did she meet Vincent because of this incident? I chewed my lips nervously as I looked at Aaron in a daze.
He kissed my lips and cheeks softly, his eyes full of distress. “Olive, do you want me to keep telling you all this? You might not want to hear this next part.”
I guess I wasn’t quite ready to accept the fact that Emily had known Vincent since she was nineteen. But I also knew there was no point in running away from the truth. I put my arms. around Aaron, burying my face in his chest in an attempt to borrow some of his strength.
After the feeling of dread in the air dissipated, I let go of him “Keep going, I want to hear it.”
“Okay then.” Aaron reached out and gathered me into his arms again.
“After she returned from rehab, Emily’s father sent her to the same Ivy League school that Vincent attended.”
Vincent’s story was unfolding in exactly the way I had predicted in my mind. I guessed as much that Emily must have met Vincent while they were at school together. I had to admit, Vincent had a handsome face and an attractive body. It wasn’t unusual for a girl like Emily to develop a crush on him.
I blinked my eyes at Aaron as I slowly said all this aloud, piecing together the truth of the story. He was a little surprised at first, then nodded to confirm my guess. “That’s right. While they were in school, Emily fell madly in love with Vincent, and she started pursuing him relentlessly.”
Normally, Emily wasn’t a very restrained person. I figured when she chose a guy to go after, she was probably aggressive enough to make sure the whole school knew about it.
Wait a minute! I suddenly remembered that to my knowledge, Vincent had a girlfriend at that time. When I was with Vincent, he told me he was dating a senior while he was in college. Had he been talking about Emily?
I slapped myself on the forehead. Of course not, you idiot! Emily was several years younger than Vincent, so she couldn’t have been in a higher year than him.
But I did remember Vincent telling me he had a girlfriend in college.
So how did Emily fit into the picture?
+ couldn’t figure it out, so I asked Aaron directly. “If I remember correctly, Vincent was in a relationship during college.
Didn’t Emily know that when she was pursuing him?”
“That’s right,” Aaron said, nodding again. “But at that time, Emily didn’t care. She was willing to be the mistress because she was so obsessed with Vincent.”
I frowned in confusion. “So her father didn’t care either?”
Trying to invade someone else’s relationship and making it known to the whole school would have really affected Emily’s reputation. To me, it seemed like Emily’s father would probably not approve of that kind of behavior, especially with his wealth and prestigious status.
Aaron laughed when he heard that. He grabbed my waist and leaned down to face me. “Which do you think her father would prefer, a daughter who hits on a guy who’s taken, or a daughter who dies of drug addiction?”
That shut me up. Compared with her former life, of course Emily’s father wouldn’t care what she did in school. He was probably even happy about it, as long as she was staying sober.
After a long silence, I suddenly remembered something else. “Wait…
So you guys all knew about Emily and Vincent?”
Aaron pursed his lips and didn’t say anything, just stared at me with those big blue eyes.
I didn’t need him to give me an answer anyway. I had already figured out the truth of the matter. My shoulders slumped, and I felt a little depressed. I’d never guessed that Emily had known Vincent for so long.
Aaron reached out and gently tilted my chin up with his hand. He stared deep into my eyes, and his voice was very serious as he said,
“Why else do you think Vincent was able to get into our circle?”
His question confused me, and I said automatically, “I thought it was because you’re all alumni…”
“Ha!” Aaron laughed coldly. “I have so many alumni applying every year. Why do you think Vincent stood out to us?”
His words were almost arrogant, but I knew Aaron was so powerful that he had a right to be arrogant.
But I couldn’t help arguing on Vincent’s behalf. “But Vincent is different. He got into Morgan Stanley at such a young age, and he’s so talented…”
After all, Vincent was still a person I had once respected and cared about deeply. I didn’t want my memories of him to be stained and corrupted like this. Of course, I really just didn’t want to face the fact that my judgment of Vincent had been so completely wrong.
Rather than defending Vincent, I was mostly making excuses for my own lack of intuition about him.
Aaron’s face shuttered over when I said this. His hands gripped my shoulders tightly, and his eyes became icy and cold.
He interrupted me, clearly uninterested in hearing any more praise of Vincent. “You think he really got into Morgan Stanley on his own merit?”
What else could it be? I was stunned.
Aaron smirked, no longer making any effort to conceal his contempt and disdain for Vincent. Everything he was saying was hitting me like a blow to the head.
Was it only because of Emily’s background that Vincent had gotten together with her? No. No way. It’s not possible.
My impression was that Vincent had always been extremely smart, and he maintained a reputation as an honorable, successful student. I couldn’t imagine him as the type of guy who would use a woman as a tool to achieve his own goals.
I licked my dry lips, met Aaron’s burning eyes, and argued weakly,
“But he performed very well during his internship. That must be why he was hired full-time.”
“Do you think every intern has what it takes to become a full- time employee? Besides, haven’t you ever wondered where his great performance came from? It was all because of Emily!” Aaron’s voice rose almost to a shout, and his disgust with Vincent was plainly written across his face.
Would Vincent really put aside his integrity for a woman?