Chapter 236: Don’t Look

Eric squinted at Crystal, but he kept his peace. He knew that, because of the way Paul treated Nancy, her impression of Michelle would be bad no matter what he said. Now, he assumed that it would be impossible to build a case against Crystal’s prejudice with the way things were.

He picked up a cigarette, lit it, and took a couple of casual drag. He blew the smoke into the room, and when he saw Crystal frown, he realized that she did not like the smell of cigarette smoke. He smiled and said, “If you don’t like the smell, I can put it out…”

Crystal gave him a curious look. “So, if I do not want you to smoke, you won’t?” she asked. “Is that correct?”

“It is,” Eric replied. “I told you that if you agreed to marry me, I would do whatever you want.”

“Then I want you to quit smoking,” Crystal said. She knew that he was addicted to cigarettes, so she doubted that he could do as he said. After all, smoking is an extremely hard habit to break.

Eric nodded and said, “As long as you are with me, I won’t smoke... So, you should never leave me...”

“What if you can’t quit?” Crystal asked. “Lots of people try to quit smoking, but they fail...”

“Failure is not an option,” Eric replied. “Anyway, I was already thinking about quitting.”

“Why is that?” Crystal asked.

“If we want to have a baby, I have to quit smoking three months prior to you getting pregnant,” Eric explained. “If I don’t, it could affect the health of the fetus.”

“A baby...?” Crystal was stunned. She had not thought much about being a mother.

“Of course,” Eric laughed. “I will also ask the doctor to prescribe you some folic acid. You must take it every day.”

Crystal did not know what to say for a while. She had been very resistant to getting pregnant while she was with Nathan. Now that she had seen how worried Nancy was about Clark, the thought of having a child of her own scared her. Furthermore, she was not sure that she wanted to marry Eric, let alone have a baby with him. “Can we talk about this more later?” she asked.

Eric nodded. “Not a problem.”

Crystal thanked him, and then she asked him for a cigarette. Without thinking, he passed her one, and then he gave her the lighter. She was a little surprised that he would allow her to smoke, but then she remembered his vow. He had said that if she agreed to marry him, he would do whatever she asked. However, she knew that men often changed after they were married, so she was suspicious of his promises.

Paul watched in dismay as Crystal lit the cigarette and took her first drag. I thought you hated cigarettes - he thought. Before he could question her, though, Paul came down the stairs. Then, without acknowledging Eric or Crystal, he turned to Michelle. By now, she had passed out. One of the guards had her in his arms, and he had been about to put her on the sofa.

Paul frowned and asked, “What happened?”

“Michelle drank too much, and she passed out,” the bodyguard replied.

“Where were you?” Paul asked as he approached them. Then, before the bodyguard could answer, he pulled out a gun, pressed the barrel to the bodyguard’s forehead, and forced him to the ground.

“Wh-Wh-What d-did I d-do?” the bodyguard stammered.

“I asked you to protect her!” Paul roared.

“Is this what you call protecting her?!?!”

“Michelle said that she wanted to eat ice cream,” the bodyguard explained. “What was I supposed to do? I am not her mother! And look: She is safe!”

Paul’s hand shook furiously. “You are the worst!” he exclaimed. Then he pulled the trigger. The bodyguard fell backward, and Michelle slipped out of his arms and onto the floor. The sound of the gun’s blast was deafening, and Crystal was shocked by the sight of the bodyguard. He had a hole in his forehead, and blood was pooling around his head.

Eric walked over, embraced Crystal, and covered her eyes with his hand. “Hey,” he said. “Don’t look.”

Crystal pulled his hand away. Already, the other bodyguards were cleaning up the mess. She turned to Paul and was surprised to see that he had put his gun away. He was sitting on the floor beside Michelle, and he had her head in his lap. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “Everything will be okay.”

The sight of Paul’s show of affection made Crystal extremely angry. From how he treated Nancy and Clark, she assumed that he was a psychopath, incapable of true empathy or affection. She had been wrong, though. Paul truly favored Michelle over his son and ex-wife, even though she was a worthless party-girl.

Crystal felt awfully bad for her friend, and when she looked up at Eric, she could tell that he knew what she was thinking. He turned her head and pressed it against his chest. “I know,” he whispered. “Don’t worry. I will help Nancy and Clark.”

Crystal suddenly felt a little dizzy. She did not know how Eric had known what she was thinking. Indeed, until that moment, she hadn’t understood that when a man loved a woman as much as Eric loved her, it was possible for him to read her thoughts, anticipate her every move, and meet her needs before they had been expressed. In this way, when she needed help, she did not need to do anything. A look and a movement were enough for him to know what she wanted.

But how long would this kind of love last? She wondered.

Paul picked up Michelle and made his way towards the stairs. As chance would have it, though, Noah happened to be carrying Nancy down the stairs. The two men passed each other uncomfortably, each man glaring coldly at the other. And much to Nancy’s surprise, Paul did not even look at her. It is as if I do not even exist - she thought - All he cares about is his mistress…

Crystal grounded her teeth together when she saw how easily Paul had dismissed her friend. She turned to Noah and whispered, “I refuse to tolerate this.”

“And you won’t have to,” Noah said. “He will get what’s coming to him. You’ll see.”