Tabitha's POV
The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Kelsey took a deep breath and shot back, "You said you'd marry me, but all of a sudden, you married someone else. When did that even happen? Why didn't you tell me about it?"
Her words left me bewildered. I turned my head to Derek, wanting an explanation.
The tension in the air was almost palpable.
Derek's gaze turned icy as he shot daggers at Kelsey. "Miss Arnold, we're neither friends nor relatives. Why would I have to tell you about it? As for your claim of me wanting to marry you, that was just some childhood games you forced me to play with you. If I refused, you'd run home crying to your parents about it."
His reply totally embarrassed Kelsey.
She looked hurt, like she couldn't believe how cold Derek had become after all these years apart.
After taking a deep breath, she regained her composure.
"I'm really sorry. I thought you were having as much fun as I was. After all, I've liked you since childhood. I never expected you would actually hate it. You could have just told me."
She then turned to me with an apologetic look. "Ma'am, I'm sorry. I have liked Derek for a long time. You won't mind, right? After all, he never made his relationship with you public, and I thought he was single."
I always saw jokes about conniving bitches online, which I thought were all made up. How could anyone be that disgusting in real life?
But today, I finally realized I was wrong. I met a living example of a conniving bitch.
And she was even more annoying than flies.
I wasn't angry, though. Wanting to give her a taste of her own medicine, I grabbed Derek's hand and shook his arm.
Imitating Kelsey's voice, I asked in a coquettish tone, "Darling, she's been infatuated with you all this time. Why haven't you married her after all these years of being single, making her suffer from unrequited love for so long?"
Derek playfully pinched my nose, replying, "A lot of women are head over heels for me. If I have to marry all of them one by one, when will I get to marry you?"
He was gentle and affectionate towards me, but when he turned to look at Kelsey, he immediately put on a cold expression.
"Miss Arnold, Tabitha graduated earlier than you because she's a genius who skipped grades. In fact, she is a few years younger than you. You don't have to call her ma'am. Besides, I was merely forced into playing house with you. You're not really expecting me to marry you for that, right?"
Derek lightly stroked the back of my hand before casually adding, "According to this logic, when I was forced to play with you by your parents when we were kids, I even thought about wiping out your whole family. Shouldn't I fulfill my childhood wish before marrying you?"
As soon as he said that, Kelsey gasped in disbelief.
I was shocked, too.
He was cruel indeed.
Finally realizing what he had said, Kelsey burst into tears.
She cried so dramatically it made me wonder if she'd taken acting classes or something.
"Derek, how could you say that?"
"Kelsey," he replied firmly, "we're adults here. So stop playing dumb with me. I've already told you she's my wife, so why did you say those misleading words?
"I can have only one woman on my mind. And I won't fall for someone else. If she's upset because of someone irrelevant like you, I'll blame myself for it. Since we haven't seen each other for so long, let's keep it that way."
Then he approached the journalists and got the negatives. Spinning around, he threatened, "If you ever show up in front of Tabitha again, trust me, I won't hesitate to make sure everyone gets their hands on those unflattering photos capturing you falling to the ground."