Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

All of a sudden, Jean fell silent.

She was a pretty smart woman, so with the help of Zed's thoughts, she immediately understood without any further questions.

Her face then dropped and turned pale at the veracity of what she had done. After a moment, she looked at Zed uneasily and asked in a hushed tone, "Zed, was it really my fault?"

Zed looked at her and asked, "Well, what do you think?" He didn't want to answer directly, knowing that Jean could accept it better this way.

Jean spared another moment to think about it again. She wanted to shake her head no, instead she nodded and said, "I think I might have done something wrong."

She sighed helplessly and lowered her head in melancholy.

Zed embraced Jean and rubbed her back gently. "It's okay, baby. Don't be sad. You did it out of good will. It's just that Moore..."

He paused, hesitating to continue.

Jean noticed this sudden pause and looked up at Zed. "It's just that what? What's with him?"

Zed thought about it for a moment and said, "Well, you know, Moore has someone else in his mind and heart right now. No matter how hard Avery tries, it would be difficult for her to make him fall in love with her. That's why I stopped you from pairing them up. But then, I was surprised, and it was honestly out of my expectation that Moore agreed to date with Avery. Nontheless, what's done is done, and the things have already taken place, so you shouldn't over think about it."

He sighed and smiled at Jean, trying to comfort her.

Jean sighed as well. She leaned on Zed's chest and said, "I was too naive and stupid. I thought I was doing Moore a favor, but instead, this whole thing trapped him in a dilemma. For sure, he only agreed to date with Avery just to make me feel happy and satisfied. I suddenly feel guilty and sad that he was wronged." Jean paused to look up at Zed once more and asked, "Zed, what do you think I should do to make it up to him? Do you think it's too late for me to fix this tangled situation?"

Zed sighed again and looked at Jean before shaking his head. "I'm afraid that there is nothing you can do. Unless... you want to ruin Avery's happiness. I also have a part in this, Jean. I knew I should have stopped you yesterday, but I just let you because I thought that no matter how much you encouraged him, he would never say yes. To my surprise, he did. But like I said, the dice is cast, and there is no other way to save this situation. I think it's best that we should just wait and see how it goes."

"But I..." Jean started, not knowing what to say. She then buried her face on her hands in misery and said, "But I still can't help but feel sad and guilty of how Moore is forcing himself into things because of me. I will never mess around anymore and make sure that I think about my words and actions before doing anything."

"It's good that you take this as a lesson." Zed removed her hands on her face and wrapped her arms around him. He embraced her tight once more, rubbing her back to comfort her, and said, "It's okay, baby. What matters from now on is that you know what the problem is and that you would pay attention to what you're going to say, because it might make things worse. Also, make sure that you don't give Avery any bad ideas, okay?"

Hearing this, Jean nodded and said in resolution, "I won't. I promise. I will never interfere between Moore and Avery."

"Okay, now remember what you promised. You are just going to sit in the side lines and won't rush into things no matter how worried you are, understand?" With hesitation and uncertainty, Zed cautioned, "I believe that since you regret your actions, you won't be making any meaningless actions from now on."

"You have my word," Jean said softly. She then pulled away to look at Zed in the eyes and asked, "Zed, do you think I am a troublemaker?" Zed looked at Jean, wondering why she was suddenly asking him this.

He sighed and said, "No, you're not."

Jean frowned and said with a bitter smile, "Look at you. You can't even answer me honestly." She knew it deep in her heart, and that Zed just said it as to not break her heart even more.

"Okay, enough of this. Let's just forget the past but remember the lessons gained from that. Now, let's go out before they suspect and assume that we are doing something else in the kitchen." Jean blushed at this and nudged Zed playfully. Zed just chuckled before asking, "So, have you come up with an answer for Avery?" Jean turned serious as Zed waited for her response. She then smiled and said, "Rest assured! I will not give her any bad ideas that make the situation worse." She made a cross on her chest as a sign of promise. Zed nodded. Her confidence persuaded him. He then reached for Jean's hand and led her out of the kitchen.

As they reached the living room, Avery looked up at Jean as if she was her savior. Her eyes lit up and was filled with excitement.

When Jean saw Avery's delighted look, a bitter sadness coursed through her heart.

'I'm sorry, Avery, but I can't help anymore even though I promised that I would.

I just can't bear to think that your happiness will be Moore's sorrow.

I'm sorry,' Jean said in her mind.

She then walked towards Avery and sat beside her with a smile.

Avery bounced excitedly and nudged at Jean, asking her anxiously, "Jean, you said that you have an idea, pray tell!"

"Well..." Jean looked back at Avery and smiled weakly. "I thought about it for a while and realized that it's not a good idea after all. I think we should just let it pass."

"Oh no! As long as it's a solution, you should still say it, and we can decide whether it's good or not afterwards." She looked at Jean and almost begged. Jean knew that Avery wasn't going to let this go easily, so she had no choice but to sigh and said, "My solution is that you go back and persuade Adolf that you are going to develop your acting career or even your sideline here in this country. Then, as long as you have time, you can come and spend time with Moore!"

However, the truth was that she wanted Avery to take Moore with her back home, but Jean knew that it wasn't going to be easy, knowing now that Moore didn't actually completely accept Avery.

Because of that as well, she wasn't sure anymore what to tell Avery without making her suspicious as well that there was something really going on.

Avery fell silent after hearing Jean's advice. She thought about it for a moment and said, "Jean, your solution is exactly the same as mine. I originally planned to direct my work here, so it would be much more convenient to see Moore in the future."

Jean looked at Avery in surprise upon hearing this. The corners of her lips lifted up into a smile.

She never thought that her excuse for a solution would be so similar to what Avery had in mind.

'The workings of the universe is so unpredictable, yet bizarre,' Jean thought.

Avery's feelings for Moore were so strong and evident that Jean could immediately tell from her words alone without even having to think about it more.

Jean knew that Avery loved Moore to the point that she would be willing to give up her career for Moore, but, unfortunately, it was a pity that Avery's strong and blind love couldn't be able to open Moore's heart.

'Who is the girl Moore loves so much that makes he refuse the other girls?' Jean wondered, becoming more and more curious of Moore's thoughts.

She shrugged these thoughts away and looked at Avery with a huge smile on her face. "It looks like that we are on the same page, and Avery, may God bless you, and I wish you all the best."

"Thank you, Jean," Avery said. A happy smile appeared on Avery's face before she added, "If it wasn't for your help and persistence, Moore and I would not be in a romantic relationship now. I really appreciate and am grateful to what you have done for me even though we just met and haven't really known each other that much. With that, I feel really fortunate to have met you."

Jean was moved by this, making her eyes sparkle, and her face beam. "Me too. The pleasure is all mine, as well," Jean replied.

For a moment, both of them shared a silent look filled with huge smiles on their faces and sincerity and appreciation coming from the bottoms of their hearts.

After a while, Avery broke the silence and asked, "Jean, if you don't mind, can I ask a question?"

Jean nodded at Avery and asked back, "Sure, what is it?"

"Do you have an idea who the girl is? You know, the one Moore loves?" Jean's smile dropped. She was caught off guard by Avery's question.

She never expected that Avery would throw her this question at this very moment, but seeing Avery's burning gaze, Jean was instantly pulled back to her senses, regaining her composure. With a weak and bitter smile, she replied, "Honestly, I also don't have any idea. Moore had never brought this girl up, and I didn't know her existence until recently, so I wasn't able to ask him before."

Jean told Avery the truth. She only knew that there was in fact another and unknown girl, because of her series of speculation and finally the words from Moore's mouth.

Avery looked at Jean's eyes, trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth. When she found no hints of a lie, a look of frustration showed on Avery's face.

Jean noticed the look on Avery's face and asked, "Why? What's wrong? Why did you ask, Avery?"

Avery shook her head and mustered up a weak smile before answering, "Nothing. I was just curious."