Suddenly, Josie crouched down. She squatted in the corner, crying uncontrollably. “If anything happens to Mr. Zimmerman, I won’t let you off the hook!”
Arnold’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected her to make such a move. He nudged her with his leg and urged, “Get up. There are many people here.”
People came and went, all finding it amusing as they fixed their gaze on her.
Josie continued to cry. “I’ll only stop if you promise me you won’t let anything happen to him!”
Arnold found it impossible to agree. “I’m not the king of the world. How could I possibly know what will be uncovered?”
“I hate you!”
She sobbed uncontrollably, not at all resembling a woman who had given birth. Instead, she seemed more like a little girl.
Hearing her sobbing, Arnold did indeed soften a bit, but he still nudged her. “Get up!”
Josie cried even harder. “Charles was a connection left to me by Old Mr. Russell. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have used him. He trusted me so much, yet I betrayed him. What kind of person does that make me? You’ve really caused a lot of harm!”
It sounded as though it was truly unfair.
Arnold was both amused and exasperated. He squatted down beside her. “Is the network of connections Old Mr. Russell left you really that important?”
“Of course!”
“Dexter is the important one, no?”
Josie let out a choked gasp. “You’re spouting nonsense!”
Tears streamed down her face, a sight Arnold couldn’t bear to witness. He took her by the hand and led her away, distancing them from the crowded place.
Josie followed closely, making faces behind his back. Yet, the moment he turned around, she transformed into a pitiful little girl.
“Why didn’t you go to Dexter for a solution? Why come to me?” he asked. Hearing that, Josie lowered her head and replied, “He doesn’t want me to interfere with these matters.”
Arnold sneered, “That’s his style, always thinking he’s right.”
This sentence wasn’t an insult. Josie nodded vehemently in agreement.
She had drunk too much, her stance unsteady. She deliberately moved closer to him, lowering her voice. “When did you tell Summer?”
Upon hearing this, Arnold evidently became much more cautious. “What?”
“You were alive and the first person you informed was Summer, right? Is Rachel also working for you? Do they all know you’re still alive? You had conspired with them to set a trap for me, to use me. You said Dexter was using me, but aren’t you doing the same?” The night was shrouded in a melancholic haze, and the woman’s eyes were filled with deep emotion yet shattered. “What is real, and what is false?” she asked.
Arnold felt as if he had gone mad, he was unexpectedly moved by the tone of her voice.
“You’re drunk,” he said.
Under the influence of alcohol, Josie asked, “When you said you loved me and that you could take me away, giving up everything else, were you truly sincere?”
Hearing that question, Arnold pinched her waist, applying force. “I have loved sincerely, but you are not worthy of such sincerity.”
“Who cares!” The phone in her pocket vibrated, and Josie forcefully pushed him away. “Your sincerity is nothing but a facade. You claim to love me, yet you use me. It was like this before, and it’s the same now.”
She retreated step by step, a river looming behind her. She almost tumbled in, but Arnold, with his quick reflexes, pulled her back. His head was throbbing with pain. “Stop acting crazy. What on earth are you trying to do?”
Josie stared blankly at the moon in the sky. “I don’t know either…”
In the next moment, she fell into a deep slumber.
When she woke up again, it was already the morning of the next day.
The dawn light roused Josie from her sleep. She awoke with a splitting headache, only to find herself sitting in the passenger seat. Arnold was seated next to her, his head tilted to the side, fast asleep.
She was still wearing his jacket.
