?


    Michelle nced at Jayden, her expression tinged with guilt. "Jayden, I''m sorry. If it weren''t for me, you and Brandon wouldn''t be fighting like this." Jayden turned to her, noticing the tears welling in her eyes. His frustration eased slightly.


    "This isn''t your fault. This whole thing is on Brandon," he reassured her.


    Michelle nodded, though reluctantly. "But I don''t want to be the reason you two are arguing."


    After a brief pause, Jayden''s tone grew more serious. "Don''t worry about it anymore. Leave it to me."


    Seeing his tense expression, Michelle didn''t press further. She stood up. "I''ll head back now. Next time, I''ll try to apologize to Brandon and Vrie. Maybe I can help smooth things over."


    Jayden rose to his feet as well. "I''ll walk you out."


    Vrie had dinner with N, spending most of the time venting about Brandon.


    "I just don''t get what''s going through his head! Michelle is so obviously a maniptive bitch. How can he not see it?


    "And don''t even get me started on Jayden. I heard he''s chasing some campus beauty now. With the way he and Michelle are all buddy-buddy, he has zero chance with her. What a joke!


    "The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Men always stop cherishing what they already have. Ugh!"


    N chuckled, trying to calm her down. "You know, the two of you are six years apart. Of course, there will be differences in how you see things. "At least, Brandon is trying and hasn''t done anything unforgivable yet. Maybe you should argue it out with him and not stay mad for too long?"


    "Yeah, yeah," Vrie muttered, stabbing her steak with her fork, still clearly upset.


    Vrie sighed. Logically, she knew she shouldn''t be this angry. She wasn''t new to rtionships.


    If Brandon ever betrayed her, she could walk away. There were plenty of other fish in the sea. With that thought, her mood lightened considerably. "So, how are things between you and Damontely?" she asked.


    "Same as usual. He''s been really busytely, leaving early anding homete," N answered.


    Vrie raised an eyebrow and whispered, "Doesn''t that... affect your, you know, frequency?"


    N''s face flushed bright red. She knew exactly what Vrie was implying.


    е


    It had been a while since they''d been intimate. Damon was always busy, and by the time he came home, she was already asleep. Their schedules rarely lined up these days,


    However, she wasn''t particrly bothered by it. While their intimate moments were nice, it wasn''t something she craved constantly.


    Vrie, sensing the silence, guessed correctly. She looked at N in exasperation. "You''re way too rxed about this."


    Confused, N asked, "What does this have to do with being rxed?"


    Vrie sighed dramatically.


    et


    "Yesterday, bumped into Damon while I was meeting a business partner. The woman he was working with? Drop-dead gorgeous. She was practically throwing herself at him, but luckily, he didn''t even blink at her.


    "Still, you should be careful of all the women out there who won''t take no for an answer.


    "Even though Damon has made your rtionship public, some women just won''t give up. They''ll keep testing the waters.


    "You need to keep him satisfied at home. If he''s full at home, he won''t be tempted by what''s out there."


    N was rendered speechless.


    She didn''t think Damon was the type


    to cheat. If he were, he wouldn''t


    have spent five years without a


    e


    single woman by his side. Plus, now that they had a child together, she felt even more secure.


    "It''s not as dramatic as you''re making it sound," she muttered.


    Vrie looked at her seriously. "It''s absolutely as dramatic as I''m making it sound. You two are at the stage where things can start to feel stale. "Without excitement, it''s easy for someone to swoop in. I mean, look at what happened with me and Tom—"


    She abruptly stopped herself.