Eyes Meet

Chapter 43

I looked at her with my weak, shallow eyes. "She slapped me"

"Why did she do that?!"

"Because I called her a liar and insulted her entire ancestors," I answered with the bloody taste still lingering around my tongue. "Something like The Maas are all bad offspring"

"What?" She frowned in response. "Why did you say that to her?"

"Do you know about it?"

"About what?"

"About Lisa paid Houghton Mifflin for my book?"

That was when the anger on Jisoo's face gone, only to be replaced with guilt and worry.

"Ohh God!" I responded with a voice that sounded like a cry, throwing my body against the back rest while I hid my own face behind my palms. "Not you too..."

Jisoo was silent this time when she was the one who was so eager to talk previously. She could be thinking of what to say to me, because to be honest, I was hurt by it. I felt like I was going to cry again and this time it wasn't for Lisa, but for someone I thought was a friend I could trust.

"It wasn't like that, Rosé" She began to speak up, placing her hand on my thigh.

"Tell me then, everything you know"

I forced my eyes to take a look at her as tears managed to escape, wetting my stinging pain cheek.

"I didn't know at first, I was clueless like you but do you remember when you talked about market invasion?" She said. "You asked me if I could suggest it to Mr. Wilson?"

"Yeah I remember"

"That's when Mr. Wilson told me about Melissa funding your book" Jisoo continued to explain.

"And you didn't even tell me" My stare turned into a glare, because that was what resembled my feelings ever since I opened that blue file in Lisa's office; anger.

"You know I'm not allowed to, it's private and confidential-"

"So that's the reason why you were suddenly on Lisa's side?"

"What do you mean?" Jisoo was puzzled.

"You didn't like her before, you even mocked her with Kookie when she came out on the TV"

Jisoo was silent again.

"Just because she funded my book?" I huffed as this money thing already crawling underneath my skin, irritating me to the core. "Lisa did buy people to like her, so called someone who hates public image"

"What's the matter with you, Rosé?"

She looked at me with the same energy like I had now. There wasn't nervousness in her tone. It was like my words just turned everybody's anger switch on. She kind of looked like my wife earlier. Melissa was just calm but suddenly the anger came to strike her.

Why did they need to get mad at me after what they had done? I could say whatever I wanted, it was me who got fooled!

"Am I wrong? She paid for my book and that's why you like her all of the sudden" I repeated myself. "You think she's a kind person just because of her money"

"I didn't think she's a kind person because she funded your book"

"Then?"

"It's because it's you who told me she's a kind person, Rosé" Jisoo said something that acted like bomb, shaking my walls of anger a little.

I looked into her eyes to see if there was any doubt or hesitation as she was speaking, just to spot the possibilities of her lying to me. But I didn't see any.