Ice and Fire

Chapter 798 Drown His Sorrows In Alcohol (Part One)

Just when Selina walked out of the airport, Francis went in carrying his suitcase.

With a boarding pass in his hand, Francis took a look at the time table on the large screen and silently

said in his heart, 'Violet, wherever you go, I'll be there with you. Remember we made a pact of

friendship? Well, you'll always have a friend in me. And now, here I come!'

Two days later

It was very quiet, both outside and inside the room. In the room, it was also dark, except for soft

moonlight sipping in through the window.

Greg sat on the floor of the living room with a bottle of wine in his right hand and a glass in his left

hand. As he poured the alcohol into the glass, he muttered, "Why did you leave me? Why? You

promised you'd never leave me."

Taking swig after swig, Greg lost count of how much alcohol he had drunk. But sloshed as he was, he

clearly knew Violet had left him. She wasn't coming back!

Vaguely, he heard a knock at the door. Skeptical that he must have heard wrong, he shook his head,

trying to sober up. He then pinched himself and sure confirmed there was someone knocking at the

door.

"Violet, Violet, is that you?" Delighted, Greg immediately put down the glass and bottle, turned on the

light and staggered to answer the door.

But when he opened, it was not Violet, but Cassie's apprehensive?face zoomed into view.

Disappointed, Greg scowled and wanted to close the door.

A strong gust of alcohol fumes slapped Cassie?on the face, as soon as the door opened. The stench

and Greg's hooched-up state depressed her immediately.

"Greg, why do you drink yourself silly like this?" Asked Cassie, overwhelmed by deep concern for him.

With her right hand, she blocked the door that was about to slam closed in her face. But she realized at

once that Greg was unstable under his drinking binge, so she stretched her left hand too, trying to

steady him and save him from collapsing into a heap on the floor.

"You just go! Don't come to my house! I am waiting for Violet!" Unable to close the door against her

strong push, Greg turned around and walked into the living room, leaving Cassie behind him. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Stubborn and determined to stay around, Cassie with sweeping steps caught up in a flash and

hooked?Greg's?arm?around?her shoulder. Together, they?staggered?towards the sofa, even though

he tried to put up some resistance.

After she helped him onto the couch, Cassie noticed the bottles scattered everywhere on the floor. It

shocked her how much booze Greg had downed.

Intentionally, Cassie sat beside Greg and softly stroked his face.

"Greg, why would you be so careless to get yourself this high like a kite? Since she left, just let her go!

You still have me by your side, after all. Is it that you don't trust me to be there for you, always?" Cassie

emphasized her undying affection to Greg.

As a matter of fact, she felt thrilled when she got the news that Violet had left. It was the best chance

Cassie would have wished for. Now, she was closer to her goal. Since Violet had disappeared, no one

knew when or whether she would ever return at all.

But if there was even the slightest shred of doubt that Cassie would eventually win her man's heart

again, the chance was here now. Violet's disappearance would make it a cinch for Cassie to more than

prove her worth to Greg.

"Get your hand off me!" Fighting for coherence, Greg dazedly pushed Cassie's hand. "I just want my

Violet! I want my Violet back!" he mumbled.

"Greg, you have to sober up! From the look of things, you and I know she's gone and not coming back!

Shouldn't you be grateful to have me by your side instead? Come on Greg. You just can't be so

thankless." Somehow, Cassie enjoyed the moment with Greg's pickled state. She wanted to take

advantage of the fact that in such fuddle, Greg wouldn't sternly ask her to go away. He might even

mistake her for Violet, to which Cassie was ready to play along.

In the garage at the apartment, Alice hurriedly got off the car, just as Tim, who was driving pulled up

and killed the engine, and walked into the building.

"Hey, Alice, wait for me!" Tim knew that Alice was very anxious. On their way, she kept urging him to

accelerate. Now they arrived at Greg's apartment, and Alice couldn't wait to see how was Greg doing.

On her way up, in the elevator, Alice had a bad feeling. Greg didn't answer her phone call all day long,

and she wondered what was going to him. It was very sad for her to get the news that Violet left. But

perhaps Greg was was worse of, overwhelmed by the news of his wife's heartbreaking decision.

thinking of how Greg had received the news distressed Alice on end.

When they arrived at Greg's room, Alice kept pressing the doorbell and flapped the door by her hand.

"Greg, open the door! Quickly!" she impatiently shouted.

Tim also flapped the door and shouted, "Greg, It's me! If you can hear me, please, open the door!"

Persistent knocking, accompanied by the voices of a man and a woman, alerted Cassie. Certainly, she

knew they must be here for Greg.

An idea suddenly struck her while she fumbled on what to do with Greg who was dead asleep on the

couch. 'If the two people at the door see me sitting here, downcast and so obviously ignored by Greg,

they'll wonder what brought me here. I'd look so desperate - an opportunist trying to force herself on a

man who had just been dumped by his wife. I don't want to appear as if all along I've been lurking in the

shadows, hoping and praying that Greg and Violet would fight and part their ways.' she thought.

An?unnatural?smile?crossed her?face. She deliberately ruffled Greg's hair, unbuttoned his shirt and

cluttered his collar so that his clothes looked a total mess.

After she finished staging her scene, Cassie stood up and opened the door, the corners of her mouth

curving into a satisfied smile.

The moment the door was opened, Tim was excited to shout out, "Greg, are you okay?"

But immediately he saw Cassie, his face darkened. Alice too was shocked with the appearance of

Cassie.

It took them several seconds before they came back to the present moment.

Considering Cassie from head to toe with a quizzical look, Tim asked, "What brings you here, madam?

Where is Greg?"

"Oh, you two are here!" Cassie greeted them as if she was the hostess. She shrugged her shoulders

and in a natural tone, told them, "Greg has had one too many. He zonked out on the couch."

The arrogant attitude with which Cassie carried herself pissed them off. Not one to suffer fools gladly,

Alice raised a hand and slapped her hard on the cheek. It happened so fast that Cassie gave a terrified

shriek. Not so much for the pain as for the shock of not knowing what hit her. As she recovered from

the shock, Cassie instinctively moved back several steps, rubbing her cheek, which she feared was

swelling.