"Anabel, I know you will not believe me. You may say I'm jealous, which I won't deny, but I can boldly tell you that you are actually single. I mean, very single." He said while looking at her in the eyes. She could see how mean he was. "Sylvester is not who you think he is. You are dating yourself, stressing yourself over someone whose only intention was to gain financial assistance from you. You are single." He finished, and Anabel struck him with a sharp glare, then crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
"Single?" She echoed with a disdainful voice. "Is that what you think, Desmond? Let me be clear—I am not single. You are the one who is single. Don’t confuse my situation with a pathetic one like yours."
Desmond frowned as her words hit him with an unexpected force. He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "At least I didn't lose anything to her. But you… you are about to lose everything you have. I will still warn you. Sylvester isn’t who he says he is. He’s just using you. And when he's done, I mean , when he gets the money, he will dump you."
"Using me? Dumping me?" She laughed. "You’ve got quite the imagination, Desmond. Sylvester isn’t using me. You don’t even know him. You are just bitter because he’s better than you. Better than you’ll ever be."
"Better at pretending to love you. Anabel, I know this isn’t easy to hear. But you need to know the truth. Sylvester is not the man you believe him to be. He’s just—"
"Just what, Desmond?" Anabel interrupted, raising her voice. "Are you really trying to turn me against Sylvester right now? You think I’m going to believe you of all people? Spare me the drama."
"Anabel, listen to me," He said softly and stepped closer. "Sylvester and Vanessa are not just friends or cousins or whatever story he cooked up for you. They are lovers. Vanessa is Sylvester’s fiancée."
"Lovers?" She chuckled and shook her head in disbelief. "This was the same rubbish you sent on my phone that made me delay the surgery payment. Thank God for Sylvester's friend, who later paid. I can clearly see you have truly lost it, haven’t you, Desmond? Vanessa is Sylvester’s cousin. She came to visit him; that’s all. I think you need to stop projecting your issues onto other people."
Desmond knew that convincing her would be hard, but he needed to keep trying. "No, Anabel. They are not cousins. They are lovers. While you have been putting your trust in him, they have been planning behind your back. You were their potential prey, Anabel. They saw an opportunity with you. They wanted the money to build their own lives, their own family. They never cared about you."
"You are unbelievable, Desmond," she said through gritted teeth. "You are saying all this because you think everyone is like you—selfish and manipulative. But you are wrong. Sylvester is nothing like you. He’s way better than you’ll ever be. Focus on yourself and leave me alone."
"Anabel, I’m not trying to attack you. I’m trying to help you see the truth. Sylvester isn’t what he seems." He said, and Anabel crossed her arms and replied.
"Stop trying to paint Sylvester as the villain, Desmond," she snapped. "He’s a good man. He’s been nothing but kind and supportive. They are home now, recovering. Everything is fine. I’ll even help pay his friend back."
"Anabel, you’re really planning to pay back three million dollars? After all that I told you?" He asked. "Though I don't know what you are doing that made you rich. I don't know if you have a secret wealth or something, but it's better to give that money to charity than to give it to that scumbag."