Chapter 6

In the past two years, Gloria's favorite show had changed from dramatic soap operas to dating variety shows. The more scripted it was, the more she enjoyed it. It seemed that Skylar indeed got along with Gloria. Joe's gaze intensified as he scrutinized Skylar, who was engrossed in discussing the show's participants with Gloria. He had been standing there for some time, yet none of them had acknowledged his presence. Gloria saw him first. Startled, she raised her brows and asked, "When did you come? You didn't even make a sound!" Skylar glanced at him, and the smile on her face vanished in an instant. She nodded at him politely. "I just got here." Skylar's drastic change of expression slightly threw Joe off. He felt like he had overlooked something, but he couldn't be sure. "How could you work until so late when you've just gotten married today? You're still being held up at work for so long, even when you have so many people working for you! "In that case, I think it's about time to restructure the company. Hurry up and go back to Galaxy Villa with Skye. Treat her well, okay?" Gloria rolled her eyes at Joe. She missed how adorable he had been as a child; his current aloofness upset her. Well, she preferred Skylar a lot more now. She reveled in Skylar's company because they could watch and discuss dating shows together. Joe let out a subdued response in agreement. He said nothing further. Sending daggers his way, Gloria said, "It's a blessing that you were able to marry Skye! You better treat her well." Joe frowned. He was curious about how on earth Skylar had managed to appease Gloria. "Grandma, I've already prepared the herbs for your foot soak. Make sure to soak your feet before you go to bed," Skylar reminded, worried that Gloria might be too engrossed in the variety show. Gloria nodded vigorously. "Alright! I'll do whatever you say. I'll soak my feet now." Joe was rendered speechless. … There was no traffic on the road, so they arrived at Galaxy Villa within 30 minutes. They had been completely silent along the way. When Joe entered the house, he noticed a small suitcase at the door. Its size left him in awe. A few things were propped on top of the suitcase, one of them being a rolled-up painting. It seemed antique. "There are four rooms on the second floor. One of them is mine; you can pick whichever room you like," Joe said after changing into slippers. Although they were legally married, he had no intention of making love to her during the three years they would be together. Judging from what he had heard about her from Paul as well, she seemed to have ulterior motives. Skylar concurred and also changed into slippers. Then, she went upstairs with her suitcase. Trailing after her, Joe pointed to one of the rooms. "This is my room." "Alright." Skylar continued walking and chose a room that was one room away from Joe's. She could tell that Joe didn't want to be acquainted with her. Thus, it would be better if they steered clear of each other. The last thing she wanted was to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings. Joe was slightly surprised by her cold and distant attitude. "It's getting late, so I'll get some rest first. Goodnight, Mr. Martin," Skylar said before disappearing into her room. The sound of her door closing snapped Joe back to his senses. Raising his brows, he realized that he had been way too attentive to her today. Her existence was probably somewhat meaningful since she made Gloria happy. The rest wasn't that important. … An hour later, Skylar took a shower after she was finally done with unpacking her suitcase and arranging her belongings. After drying her hair, she plopped herself down on the bed and picked up her phone. There were 99 missed calls and countless unread messages on her silenced phone. Lying in her bed, she still felt detached after everything that had happened. She had been reborn, and she had gotten married to Joe in a heartbeat. Then, she had also gotten to meet Gloria again. The number of Christopher's messages topped the rest. He was still sending her messages. There were also messages from Sadie, Jeffrey, and Maisy. Skylar clicked on Gloria's messages first. Gloria had sent Skylar a picture of her soaking her feet and a voicemail. "Skye, I've already soaked my feet. It feels so comfortable! You don't have to reply to me; I'm feeling kind of sleepy, so I'm going to head to bed now. "Oh, yeah, let me know if Joe mistreats you. I'll teach him a lesson!" A surge of warmth flooded through Skylar. Her fingers danced across the screen as she thanked Gloria and sent a goodnight GIF to her. Skylar clicked on Christopher's chat. He had bombarded her with countless voicemails. Given all the time they had spent in high school until now, he certainly knew her very well. The emojis he sent depicted how aggrieved he felt. The texts from him also showed how sorry and remorseful he was, and he begged her to speak to him. Skylar didn't listen to any of his voicemails, worried that she might throw up if she did. Just as she was about to close chat and check what Sadie had said, Christopher called again. She answered the phone. "Skye, why have you been ignoring me for the entire day? I've been restless and unable to eat ever since you mentioned a breakup. You know I can't live without you, right? "Are you mad at me because I told you to apologize to Jeffrey and Sadie? Skye, I'm doing this for your own good. You've just returned to their side, so you should get along with them." Skylar immediately recalled how Christopher had played a vital role in influencing the way she had constantly sought approval from Jeffrey and Sadie. She sneered. "Christopher." "Yes, babe? I know you can't bear to see me sad." On the other end of the phone, Christopher raised his eyebrows smugly. He had her figured out after all. "There's so much to learn in this world, yet you chose to master how to be a jerk! If you don't want the cops to barge into your office, pay me back 100 thousand dollars in ten minutes," Skylar hissed. She hung up promptly. A few days ago, Christopher had said that his family needed urgent money. Without probing into the situation, Skylar had transferred 100 thousand dollars to him instantly. Janine had been sending her money over these years, and Skylar had also saved up during college. Initially, she had intended to send the money to Janine. It wasn't until she had been paralyzed in bed that she had found out that Christopher had splurged the money on buying clothes and skin care products for Maisy. Scumbags like them should be stuck with each other for their entire lives. However, he had to return her money! Christopher was flabbergasted. Was Skylar out of her mind? How could she make him return the money? He had promised Maisy that he would go shopping with her on Saturday, and 100 thousand dollars might not even be enough for her to spend. He began to wonder whether he had been spoiling Skylar too much lately. She was delusional enough to think that she could just threaten him with a breakup. Did she think he really loved her? Christopher bet Skylar would apologize to him in less than two days. By then, she would listen to whatever he said. He clicked on Maisy's chat. "Maisy, don't forget that we're meeting at Phoenix Mall's main entrance at noon."