Chapter: 220

He had been so persistent earlier. He was practically throwing himself at her, but now he was pretending as if none of it had ever happened.

He never cared about her feelings or what she had been through.

He was always like this.

Nothing had changed, not even now.

A few days ago, when Joshua hadn't realized she was on her period, he had been so eager to sleep with her that he argued with Shelia just for the opportunity.

But now that he knew there was no chance, he didn't even care enough to step in.

Alicia never counted on Joshua stepping in for her, but that didn't mean she'd let Shelia walk all over her.

“What are you glaring at?" Shelia growled. “You live here, depend on us, and I can't even give you a piece of my mind?"

Alicia fought to keep her emotions in check.

She wasn't in a position to start a direct confrontation with Shelia, not with the situation she was in now.

Keeping her voice level, she asked calmly, "Mrs. Yates, do we have any herbal supplements for the soup? The finest ones, the most nourishing?"

Shelia eyed her suspiciously. “Why do you need them?"

“To make soup for Joshua, of course," Alicia replied with a pleasant smile. “After all, he just hugged me, and you said he was weak. We should definitely take that seriously, don't you think?"

Shelia immediately picked up on the sarcasm in Alicia's tone. Her eyes widened. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Joshua's only in his twenties! There's no way he's weak!"

Alicia put on a forlorn expression. "But Mrs. Yates, you were the one who said it earlier. You said he could barely catch his breath, didn't you?"

Shelia was momentarily lost for words.

Joshua, on the other hand, began to sense something wasn't right.

Even though Alicia's demeanor appeared gentle and harmless, her words unsettled him.

“Enough, both of you, Joshua said firmly. "I just want to eat in peace."

Alicia sneered internally.

"Fuck you!" she growled inwardly.

She had been willing to put up with everything, even preparing a meal for the sake of keeping things calm.

But now, the thought of cooking disgusted her.

Shelia was seated beside Joshua. He wasted no time in badmouthing her.

"I told you not to bring her back, but you wouldn't listen. She's nothing but trouble."

Shelia's tone grew sharper. "How much did she spend on that beauty treatment today? She wastes so much money in a single day. Can you even afford to keep her around?"

Alicia paid no attention to Shelia's remarks.

She opened the fridge, pulled out the priciest herbs she could find, and placed them in the most expensive pot she could find.

On the surface, it looked like she was diligently preparing a meal.

Once Joshua finished eating, he went upstairs with Shelia to visit Jerald.