Chapter 23 Make You Jealous #2
"That way there won't be any more rumors about you and me, and the two of you can finally live happily together."
The smile on her face was warm and polite.
The more Juliet spoke, the more Vincent's expression changed.
He stood there staring at her, trying to maintain the same calm and indifferent look, but the tension running through his body betrayed him completely. His jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscle along the side of his face twitched from time to time, and a vein pulsed near his temple.
With every word that left her mouth, his eyes seemed to darken a little more.
He looked furious, and no matter how hard he tried to hide it, the anger showed in the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his fingers curled deeper into his pockets, and the intensity of his gaze as he stared at her as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Juliet, however, seemed completely unaffected by his mood.
Lowering her eyes to the documents on the counter, she picked them up and flipped through them casually, her expression calm and detached.
When she reached the section regarding the benefits she would receive from the engagement, she picked up a pen without hesitation and crossed out the entire clause.
The scratching sound echoed softly through the kitchen, drawing everyone's attention. Vincent's eyes followed every movement of her hand, his expression growing darker as line after line disappeared beneath the black ink.
Once she was finished, Juliet placed the pen down and pushed the papers back across the counter toward him.
"There."
She tapped the documents lightly with her finger before lifting her gaze to meet his.
"Now we're equal."
A small smile touched her lips.
"You don't gain anything from this engagement, and I don't receive any benefits from it either. So neither of us has anything to lose anymore."
She nudged the papers a little closer to him and smiled again, looking genuinely satisfied with the conclusion she had reached.
"Now you don't have to worry about anything. Let's cancel the engagement and the marriage as soon as possible and inform everyone."
Her voice was light and relaxed, and the hopeful look she gave him made it seem as though she had just solved a complicated problem.
Across from her, Vincent could feel his patience slipping away little by little.
He drew in a slow breath and forced himself to remain composed.
Every instinct inside him urged him to react, but he refused to let her see how much her words were affecting him.
Even so, the muscle in his jaw continued to twitch, and his eyes had already darkened considerably.
Every sentence that came out of her mouth felt like a direct blow to his pride.
Swallowing his frustration, he lifted his chin slightly and answered in a calm voice.
"Yes."
His tone was controlled.
"There is no need to keep a dead relationship alive."
He repeated her own words back to her while keeping his eyes fixed on her face.
He was watching carefully.
Waiting.
Expecting some sort of reaction.
Surely she would become upset hearing him agree so easily. Surely there would be at least some sign that she still cared about what happened between them.
Instead, Juliet's entire face brightened.
The smile on her lips widened immediately, and she even clasped her hands together in front of her chest.
"All right then."
Her voice sounded genuinely cheerful.
"That's great. I'm glad we're finally on the same page."
The sight made something tighten painfully inside Vincent's chest.
"We can just be friends from now on."
Juliet smiled at him warmly, as though the idea genuinely pleased her.
"If we happen to run into each other in the future, we'll still be friends."
There wasn't a trace of bitterness or sadness in her expression. She looked completely sincere.
Without waiting for a response, she pushed the documents fully toward him and turned around.
Then she simply walked away.
Her steps were light and unhurried, and she never once looked back.
Vincent remained standing beside the counter, staring at her retreating figure.
His expression stayed controlled, but the anger inside him continued to build with every step she took toward the door.
He couldn't understand it. He couldn't understand how she could be this happy, how she could walk away so easily, or why she looked relieved instead of heartbroken.
Juliet crossed the living room without slowing down. Griffin and Nolan immediately looked up as she passed, both of them sensing the heavy tension hanging in the air. Their eyes moved between Vincent and Juliet, but neither dared to say a word.
Without acknowledging either of them, Juliet continued toward the front door.
Before Vincent even realized what he was doing, he was moving after her. His long strides carried him across the room as his eyes remained fixed on her retreating figure.
Then, just as she passed beneath the light near the entrance, something caught his attention.
His gaze dropped to her neck.
And he stopped.
A red hickey stood out clearly against her skin.
For a moment, Vincent went completely still.
The anger that had been burning inside him vanished so abruptly that it left him almost disoriented. The frustration, the resentment, and the bitterness all disappeared, replaced by a shock so intense that he could barely process what he was seeing.
His eyes locked onto the mark.
His breathing slowed.
His entire body seemed to tense at once.
A rush of realization hit him so hard that his heartbeat seemed to skip before crashing violently against his ribs.
He stared at it, unable to look away.
By the time the meaning of it fully settled in his mind, Juliet had already stepped through the front door and disappeared outside.
Vincent’s head snapped toward his friends, his eyes sharp and filled with disbelief as if demanding confirmation that he had seen correctly.
His friends immediately rose from their seats.
Vincent pointed toward his own neck and then toward the direction Juliet had left.
"Was that a fucking hickey on her neck?" he asked.
Vincent's jaw tightened so hard that the muscle flickered visibly beneath his skin. Fury flashed across his face, and before anyone could answer, he turned and started striding toward the exit, clearly intending to follow Juliet and drag her back for an explanation.
The anger rolling off him was impossible to miss.
Seeing the look on his face, his friends knew something was about to go wrong. One immediately grabbed his arm while Griffin rushed to his other side. Together, they stopped him before he could leave.
"Did you even see it correctly?" Griffin asked, tightening his grip when Vincent tried to jerk his arm free.
"Yeah, there was a hickey on her fucking neck," Vincent snapped, his voice low and furious.
Griffin exchanged a look with the others before speaking again.
"Or maybe she's trying to make you jealous."
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"No wonder she didn't make a scene. No wonder she didn't get angry, threaten you, or try to cause problems over your relationship with Alexa," Griffin said calmly, his gaze fixed on Vincent.
"Think about it. Juliet was the one who wanted you the most. She spent years holding on to you and never wanted to let you go.
So how does someone like that suddenly walk away without a fight? "
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"You're telling me a woman who loved you that much saw you with another woman and didn't argue, didn't demand answers, and didn't even try to stop you? Instead, she just left as if none of it mattered. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"
Griffin shook his head.
"People don't change that quickly, Vincent. A woman who spent years loving you doesn't suddenly stop caring overnight. If she walked away so easily."
Vincent remained silent, his chest rising and falling heavily.
"I'm telling you, something is off," Griffin said.
"She's trying to get a reaction out of you.
Can't you see that? Every other time you did something that upset her, she'd be furious.
She'd argue with you, make your life miserable, refuse to let things go.
But look at her now. She doesn't react at all. "
Griffin shook his head.
"That doesn't mean she doesn't care. It means she's trying not to show it. She's acting indifferent because she wants to get under your skin."
Hearing those words, some of the rage in Vincent's eyes eased, though only slightly. He gradually went still, his mind replaying everything that had happened.
Juliet had never been someone who accepted indifference or humiliation quietly. She fought for everything she wanted. She argued, challenged, and refused to back down. Yet this time, she had let him go so easily.
The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed.
There had to be a reason.
His friends were probably right. Maybe she was doing this on purpose. Maybe she wanted him to notice her. Maybe she wanted him angry, frustrated, and thinking about her.
The thought settled in his mind, and he slowly straightened.
Even so, something inside him refused to calm down completely.
His emotions were tangled into something he couldn't quite understand or put into words.
Every time he remembered that mark on her neck, a sharp irritation twisted in his chest. But his pride refused to let him acknowledge it.
His ego wouldn't allow him to admit that Juliet's actions had affected him this much.
So he forced himself to relax.
His shoulders loosened, and his expression gradually returned to its usual cold composure.
But the nerve ticking relentlessly in his jaw gave him away.
No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, the fury burning inside him wasn't disappearing nearly as easily as he wanted everyone to believe.