Love’s New Bloom By Simone Hastings - Season 1 Episode 76

“Exactly! As long as you let me buy you dinner this one time, I’ll let go of this matter entirely,” Eugene immediately promised.

“Fine, come pick me up.” Erin hung up after updating him on her whereabouts. It’d be for the best if she could just get rid of someone so clingy as soon as she could.

While walking to where they both agreed to meet up, she typed a message to Chandler via WhatsApp.

“I’ve already sent my mom home. I’ll be having dinner with a friend, so I’ll be back late.”

Less than ten seconds later, she received Chandler’s text. “With who?”

After giving it some thought, she recalled one week ago when Chandler had stopped ordering Hans to tail her, so she felt that

she should be more honest with him too.

“My bestie’s ex–husband.”

“Eugene?” He texted back within seconds.

Just as she was about to type her answer, she received a call from Chandler instead.

“Why are you having dinner with him, Erin?” he quizzed. He sounded bewildered, and she could even hear that he was suppressing anger over the phone.

Thinking back to the incident where Eugene had molested her, she felt that it’d be a hassle to explain everything to Chandler there and then. Moreover, she knew that he’d start thinking all sorts of bad things afterward, so she thought up an excuse to appease him, “He wanted to ask me about Holly.”

“You’d better come home before ten tonight if you know what’s good for you!” he exclaimed after letting out an exasperated sigh.

And as usual, he hung up first.

As she helplessly put away her phone, she couldn’t help but think of his threat. Surely, his idea of punishment was to make her beg for his forgiveness. It made her cheeks turn hot as she thought about how lustful Chandler had become these past two weeks and that he kept demanding more from her.

She let out a sigh. It was a good thing her period was coming soon. At least she could rest for a few days.

Around ten minutes later, Eugene’s Lamborghini finally pulled up to the Neweast Train Station. His eye–catching luxury car immediately caused more than just a few heads to turn when it arrived at the dingy–looking place.

Erin immediately walked over to his car once she noticed the license plate. He’d already unlocked the car door for her, so it didn’t take her long to slip into the passenger’s seat.

Half a minute later, the sports car sped away from the train station.

Forty minutes later, Eugene took Erin to the city’s most famous revolving restaurant.

It was a special kind of experience to get a seat in a restaurant one hundred and sixty stories off the ground and dine while enjoying the city’s night view.

Since she never really had much of an appetite, to begin with, and not to mention that she was now facing a man she never wished to meet in the first place, she could only feign politeness in front of him.

He ordered the best Ferrence meal the restaurant could offer for the both of them. The only thing he wanted now was to spend more time with her.

Erin’s face was stony as she ate, and she hardly even looked at Eugene the entire time.

After enduring her icy silence until it was time for dessert, he finally exploded in a rant, “You’ve been stone–faced to me the entire time, Erin! How am I supposed to feel at ease when I go home later when you still refuse to forgive me.”

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With that, she lifted her head and gave him a proper look before saying, “You certainly look like you’ve been out in the sun for

too long.”

That instantly brought a grin to his face, accentuating his handsome features and immediately turning him into the sole eye candy in the restaurant. But just as he was about to speak, his sharp eyes fell on a couple who had just walked into the

premises.

The woman in question was his ex–wife, Holly, and the man accompanying her looked so fine that his mere presence was enough to make every female diner turn their heads to gawk at him.

The man’s exquisite and handsome appearance was pleasing to the eye, and judging from his smile, he seemed to be in a good mood. His gaze then locked on the young woman in a yellow chiffon dress.

The woman he was looking at was livelier and more free–spirited when compared to all the other women in the restaurant. It was none other than Erin, the woman whose natural beauty was enough to beat all the heavily powdered women in the room.

Sean, wearing a fashionable suit befitting an aristocratic gentleman like himself, walked up to Erin and said, “What a coincidence. Are you on a date too?”

The moment Holly saw them together, she felt a twinge of displeasure in her lieart, which was why she didn’t go up to Erin to say hi first.

Erin, on the other hand, was all smiles. “Are you here to grab dinner too, Holly?” she said happily, standing up to greet her.

Holly merely glared at her with a trace of jealousy in her eyes. Erin was undoubtedly a natural beauty. Even without any makeup on, she still looked too beautiful to ignore. Her male companion tonight, Sean, was a living, breathing example of that. Not to mention her ex–husband Eugene, who had always seen Sean as his rival in love. With Erin talking to her with such an innocent and simple look on her face, it was the first time she ever resented her friend.

“Well, aren’t you a jokester, Erin? What else can I be here for apart from having dinner? Do you suppose I came all this way to watch a movie?” Holly said sarcastically.

Her snarky remark instantly caused the smile on Erin’s face to fade away. She wasn’t stupid either, as she could sense that Holly was mad at her. She then turned her gaze to Eugene, who had been staring at her with a strange look on his face the entire time, before looking back at Holly and suddenly realizing something.

Erin continued grinning as she explained, “Holly, it just so happened that Eugene ran into me, so we both decided to grab dinner together. He even brought your name up while we were talking just now.”

Not knowing Eugene would refuse to play along, he immediately retorted, “Oh, shut up, Erin. You know damn well that I didn’t mention her name at all!”

It caused her to be at a loss for words for a split second. “Look at how embarrassed he is, Holly! To think that he’s still trying to hide it until now,” she replied nervously, not wanting to escalate the matter into a bigger misunderstanding.

“Don’t you use the excuse of being Holly’s best friend to twist our relationship, Erin! She’s my ex, okay? You’re the one I invited out for dinner tonight, so I’m damn well not sharing this table with anyone!” Eugene barked as he purposefully shot

Sean a hostile glare.

Not only did Sean bring his ex–wife over for dinner, but it seemed like he knew Erin too, which made Eugene hate him even

more.

Sean, who had been hung out to dry this whole time, finally let out a laugh and said, “Ha! Who knew that dinner would be so entertaining tonight? You don’t even need to go to a cinema for a good show like this. You guys won’t mind if I grab a chair to sit and watch, right?”

Holly merely snorted the more she listened to Eugene and Erin. “You two can stop acting already. Erin, as Eugene said, he’s no one but is my ex–husband only. You have the right to date anyone you want, especially now that you’re single after your divorce. It’s not like I can do anything if you two feel any spark-”

Erin was finally at her limit as she interrupted her, “What’s wrong with you, Holly? Did you really have to be so hurtful with your words? Don’t tell me you don’t know how I feel about Eugene? I only agreed to have dinner with him tonight because I wanted to give him a last chance to apologize, but if this is enough to make you angry, then I’ll take my leave.”

She then pulled back her chair, picked up her bag, and left the building. When Eugene attempted to stop her, she shot him a cold look. “Don’t follow me!” she yelled.

As Holly stared at Erin leaving the restaurant by herself, she could only stand in place with an embarrassed look on her face. Not only did Erin’s words make her feel ashamed of herself, but they also helped her come to her senses. She realized that she only said all those awful things to her because her mind had gone haywire the moment she spotted Eugene.

Holly started to regret everything. To think that she had doubted her best friend so easily!

“What are you gawking at? Go after her! Didn’t you say that Chandler was your best friend? Then you should be in charge of sending his girl home!” Holly shouted at Sean.

“Well, aren’t you an interesting one? I never thought you would want me to take the fall after you accused your friend like

that.” He smirked.

“Just take it as I’m begging you right now! I don’t even have the guts to look her in the eyes now.” Holly whimpered as a wave of emotion swept her.

“Fine, I’ll help you this time since you said that. It’s your treat next time, alright?” Sean said with a nod.

“Fine, fine, it’s my treat next time! Just go already!” she urged.

With that, Sean got out of his seat and started running after Erin.

Back at the restaurant, Eugene stared at Holly with a disgusted look on his face. “You’re pathetic! It took me so long just to get Erin to agree to have a meal with me, but you just had to show up and cause a scene! Don’t tell me that you’re only jealous now?”