Ice and Fire

Chapter 83 She Came Back

Jackson did not respond in haste. Instead, he lifted Sally's chin with his fingers and caressed her. He

carefully measured her delicate face with his gaze.

"You tell me", Jackson finally retorted.

Sally knew already that Jackson had no intension of answering her question. She came forward in a

jiffy, kissed his lips and did not let it go until several minutes had passed.

Staring deep into his eyes, she spoke intently, "Jackson, I love you."

Slowly moving forward, she pressed her breasts against his chest. Her face only inches away from his,

she whispered into his ears tantalisingly, "And I want you."

Jackson didn't push her away. He reached for her waist. Although Sally was perfectly beautiful and she

had been loved by him before, Jackson had never felt his heartbeats accelerate in her presence. On

the contrary, the only woman whose beauty could take his breath away, had now become his pain spot.

Feeling his hands on her waist, Sally smiled and thought Jackson was still attracted by her charm and

he still loved her, thus wanting her body. Tonight, she would do anything to bring him to his knees.

She started to unbutton her blouse. She continued to undress slowly, making sure to get Jackson

restless.

Just when she was about to take off her G-string, Jackson suddenly grabbed her hands and stopped

her midway.

Taken aback by this suddenness, she looked at Jackson puzzled and muttered, "What's wrong?"

He collected her clothes, that she had taken off only moments ago, and put them back on Sally's naked

body. Then, he pushed her away.

Jackson set off, taking several hesitant steps forward, until he finally stopped and turned back to look at

her one last time, "I'm leaving. Goodbye."

But even before he could leave the room, Sally ran forward and embraced him from behind. She cried,

"Jackson, please, don't leave me alone! I'm so scared. I need your presence."

And yet, her pleading tears couldn't touch Jackson's heart. For him, her coquetry meant nothing.

Deliberately moving her hands away from his chest, Jackson turned round and looked into her eyes

with an intense gaze. He stroked her cheek tenderly and said, "Be good. Now, go to bed. I have to go."

With those words, Jackson went away.

Sally stood there, still for a long time. Tears streaming down her face, she stared at the fading

silhouette of Jackson and she screamed desperately, "Cherry has left, will you refuse me forever?"

The thought of Cherry stabbed through Jackson's heart like a sharp knife.

He got into his car in a fury, started the engine and drove away.

His hatred of Cherry had deepened. That dammed woman had dared to leave him! If she ever met him

in the future, she would have to pay the price. Nobody could get away with provoking him.

Instead of going to the military's residential compound, he drove at full speed to his apartment.

Jackson entered the house, walking inside slowly. His heart ached at the sight of the familiar

decoration.

He looked around the living room, then went upstairs, as though dragging his heavy heart. The

memories of him carrying Cherry upstairs flashed across his eyes.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

As he pushed the bedroom door open, he was overwhelmed by a gust of coldness. The absence of her

fragrance and breath froze his heart.

Jackson walked inside, stroking the familiar quilt and looked at the still intact wedding pictures,

reminded of the happy face of Cherry.

Slow tears streamed down his face. Cherry's perfect being brought back to his memories, "Where are

you, babe?", he muttered.

"Why didn't you come back? Without you, I might as well die!"

Late that night, he still stood there, unable to control his sadness. He hardly felt sleepy. The bed before

him seemed too large for his lone body to lie on.

He walked to the French window of the balcony, and sat down unthinking, holding his legs with hands.

He stared at the sky, studded with twinkling stars. The thoughts of Cherry engulfed him again, like an

unending darkness.

"Babe, do you have any idea how much I miss you? Do you miss me too?", questions repeated in his

head.

In the morning, Jackson woke up with a start, only to find the phone ringing. He slowly opened his eyes

and remembered that he had fell asleep in the balcony last night. The sun was slowly rising at the

horizon now.

Getting to his still ringing phone, he pulled it out to find it was Derek.

"Hello, " Jackson finally answered.

"Jackson, where have you been?

Why are you not at the military's residential compound?"

Derek was anxious. He had come to the military's residential compound early in the morning to find that

Jackson wasn't there.

Jackson was in no mood to answer such a trivial question. "What's up?" he said instead.

Derek guessed from Jackson's evasive tone that he must have stayed overnight at his apartment.

Derek decided to hide his anxiety and plainly said, "We should go to the airport and pick up Selina. She

is scheduled to arrive at 10:00 o'clock."

Jackson had almost forgotten about Selina's arrival that morning. Not wanting to make much of it, he

nodded and answered, "I know. Meet me at the airport."

Then, he hung up the phone.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the airport and found Derek there.

Derek approached Jackson and asked, concerned, "Are you fine?"

"Don't worry about it." Jackson replied curtly.

Without any further conversation, he went straight inside, followed closely by Derek.

At the sight of the familiar figure approaching them, Derek couldn't help revealing a broad smile on his

face. Even Jackson's sad face had softened slightly.

Selina wore her hair curly, in chestnut colour. Even her big sunglasses could not hide her perfect

beauty. Her body was curvy and alluring, and drew a lot of attention from nearby passengers.

"Thank you for meeting me here", she said. She hugged Jackson first, before turning to embrace her

brother, Derek.

Derek pretended to be hurt and scolded her, "Selina, who's your true brother, Jackson or I?"

"I can't see the difference, honestly.

I love you both. Besides, it was Jackson who protected us in our childhood. So, he feels more like a big

brother to me, " she said with a pretended sarcasm. Her brother had not changed at all, she thought to

herself.

"Selina, you are hurting me, " Derek was actually mad at his sister. She had always been such a

bigmouth and behaved erratically.

Selina made a face at him and then turned to Jackson who seemed quiet but cold, as always. Derek

had already briefed her on the phone that Jackson's wife had gone missing without any explainable

reason. She assumed that Jackson must be feeling bad.

To lift his spirits, she addressed with a broad smile, "Jackson, won't you throw a welcome party for me?

Or at least you can buy me lunch!"

"Ok, choose a restaurant, and the treat is on me, " Jackson replied with a hint of warmth in his voice.

He did not want to be cold to Selina, who had grown up with Derek and him, and had been like a little

sister to him; He shared a close bond with both Derek and Selina.

Selina was delighted. She grabbed Jackson's arm and teased Derek with great pleasure, "Jackson has

always been so good to me! A man as generous as Jackson is my big brother and you, on the other

hand, Derek...you are so mean, as always."

"Selina, have I ever been mean to you? Don't be so ungrateful!" Derek retorted with feigned indignation

again.

"I have given up every single morsel of delicious food for you, ever since we were kids. How dare you

forget that?" he added in an injured tone.

"Don't be ridiculous, big brother!" Selina shot another devious glance at her brother. Although she

voiced her dislike towards Derek, actually she loved him to bits. They had always been close to each

other.