?<strong>Chapter 1158:</strong>


    “What?” Laney responded weakly.


    Kailyn released a heavy sigh at her friend’s pitiful state. “Forget it, he’s a jerk. We don’t need him.”


    Hidden in the shadows, Cliff remained silent. Fine, he would take the me. Better to bear their scorn than be discovered in his current pathetic state. He’d rejected her advances firmly, yet his own body had betrayed him. He couldn’t stomach such a blow to his dignity.


    When sobriety finally imed her, Laney’s drunken boldness returned in hazy fragments of memory. Her fingers traced the bite mark on her corbone and then drifted to her swollen lips. She froze.


    “Did I really kiss someone?” Laney asked Kailyn, her voice tinged with horror.


    Without opening her eyes as she applied her skincare product, Kailyn replied, “I didn’t see it, but Cliff probably did.”


    The color drained from Laney’s face. Her lips quivered. “He saw?”


    Kailyn briefly described how Cliff had taken Laney away. “Then you called me but said nothing. I thought something happened to you, so I rushed over, but Cliff had already disappeared.”


    Laney immediately jumped to the conclusion that Cliff was mad. He must have witnessed her hanging on another man, judging her impropriety, too disgusted to even care for her anymore.


    “But really, wasn’t it Cliff who kissed you?” Kailyn asked, curiositycing her voice.


    Laney shook her head miserably. “He would never kiss me. Last night, that guy used his tongue and even bit my chest. Cliff can’t stand even touching me.”


    Laney’s words grew heavier with each syble, and she buried her face in her hands with self-loathing. “Why did I drink? Why do I be like that when I’m drunk? I haven’t even kissed Cliff with tongue.” Laney had a hazy memory of the man resembling Cliff, and in her anger at Cliff’s perceived deception, she had impulsively kissed him.


    Kailyn squeezed Laney’s shoulder reassuringly. “It’s just a kiss. No big deal. Wake up, Laney. Cliff is only good to look at. If you’re seeking a real rtionship, he’s not the right person. His character iscking.”


    Just as Kailyn finished speaking, Laney’s phone lit up with a call from the very man they’d been discussing.


    Laney froze, caught between the fear of answering and the terror of not answering.


    Once connected, Cliff’s voice carried its usual cial tone. “I’m outside your building with some soup for you.”


    Kailyn’s boldness was all for show. When confronted with Cliff, she became just as timid as Laney herself.


    “Cliff has never hit you, right?” Kailyn asked.


    Laney shook her head. “No.”


    Kailyn announced, “Then you’ll be fine. I’m leaving now. Call me if you need anything.”


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