"We're still not on good terms so don't start a fight," she hissed at him.
Gideon sighed. "That's too much, I know. But Jewel, you did that to yourself."
"I just want to sleep with you yet you accused me of being a whore? How dare you!"
"I didn't. You misunderstand my words."
Jewel's face crumpled at him but before she could refute him, a woman came out of the house. It was inappropriate to argue with her husband in front of other people so she shut her mouth up.
The woman has a reddish brown hair and hazelnut colored eyes. She waved at them and took a big step towards the small gate of the house, separating them from the house.
"Gideon, I'm glad to see you!" the woman grinned happily when she came out of the gate and hugged her husband.
Jewel's heart skipped a beat. Who is this woman hanging around Gideon? First, Elise. Second, Julie. And who is this third one?
"Angela," Gideon greeted with a smile.
Jewel blinked as she watched the two of them hugging each other in front of her. She could not help but tighten her fist and cast her gaze down. Her tears brimmed in her eyes but she tried hard to keep it from falling her cheeks.
It was an arranged marriage after all. They were not in love and there's no feelings attached between them. But of all those months living with him, Jewel found herself seeing Gideon in a different light. She was attracted to his gentleness and protective nature.
But why... he often neglect her feelings? It hurt so much watching her husband being too close with other women when they weren't even reach that point of closeness yet.
"My wife is with me, Angela."
Jewel eyes widened and looked up. What? Did he profess that she's his wife? The woman named Angela let go and turned to her. Jewel averted her gaze. Angela was stunned for a few seconds before she smiled and looked back at Gideon.
"This is your wife?" she asked, smiling gently.
Gideon nodded. "This is my wife Jewel Laine. I married her last summer."
"Ah." Angela nodded then looked at her, waving her hand and smiling at her. "It's nice to meet you, Jewel Laine. I'm Angela, Gideon's churchmate. I heard a lot about you from him."
Gideon's ears went red and he cleared his throat. Angela laughed when she realized that Gideon's embarrassed. "Alright. I need to talk with you, Gideon."
He glanced at her for a moment before nodding to Angela. The woman smiled again and glanced at her. "You go inside first, Jewel. My husband Sean's there. He'll take care of you first. I need to talk with Gideon."
There's a pang in her chest. Maybe she's jealous of the woman named Angela seeing that she's close to her husband. Jewel once wished that she and Gideon will open up their feelings with each other to bridge the gap between them. But whatever she'll do, it seemed like Gideon's just too far to reach.
She took a deep breath and smiled wryly. "Okay," she said then silently went inside.
Jewel even heard what Angela said. "You don't feel it? There's something wrong with your wife."
Her fist clenched. She didn't want to leave her husband to that woman but she didn't want to get embarrassed in front of Angela if she insist her will. The truth, she doesn’t like Angela. She doesn't like that woman!
"Miss?" someone called her.
She looked to the front. There was a man standing there. He is standing with confidence and has an elegant physique.
Jewel then realized she was just standing at the entrance of the house without moving in. She swallowed and asked, "Are you Sean?"
He nodded. "Are you with Gideon?"
"Yes." She smirked. "Angela is outside talking with him," she said with a slight provocation in her voice.
Sean went still for a second before he cleared his throat and smiled. "Come inside first."
Jewel took a step inside and noticed that there were only a few furnitures available. She sat down on the bamboo chair and looked around. “I’m Jewel,” she said as she occasionally looked outside the door, hoping to see Gideon entering the house.
"Would you like a drink?" Sean asked.
"Uh, just mango juice."
"All right." He turned around and went to kitchen. Few moments passed and he returned with a glass of juice. "Here it is, Miss."
Jewel accepted what he handed to her and gulped it down her throat. She was thirsty and having a mango juice in this fine weather was not so bad. Her gaze turned at Sean who was staring straight at her. She put the glass on the center table and cleared her throat. "Why?" she asked.
"Have you done something wrong, Jewel?"
Her eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"
"You feel different," he said.
"Different?"
He nodded. "Let me guess, you're an unbeliever."
"Unbeliever?"
"You don't believe in the gospel of Christ."
Jewel went silent. That was a signal for Sean to continue. "You don't have the Holy Spirit in you so you are vulnerable to any demonic attacks."
"Demonic attacks?" she mimicked. She frowned, raising a brow. The email of Prophetic John suddenly flashed in her mind. Jewel chuckled. "Excuse me, I'm not here for that."
"You are not, but your husband is."
She was about to refute when Angela and Gideon entered the house. The latter's face turned serious as Angela smiled upon seeing Sean. "Have you eaten lunch?" Angela asked Sean.
"Not yet." Sean looked at Gideon. "Nice to see you again, bro." The he shook hands with her husband.
There were some pleasantries before Angela went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Sean followed his wife.
Jewel quickly stood up and approached Gideon. "I'm hungry," she whispered to him.
Gideon nodded and led her to the kitchen. Jewel looked at him and cleared her throat. "By the way, what did you two talked about?" she asked.
"It's nothing."
"I don't believe you," she said, pursing her lips into a thin line . "And I'm jealous."
Gideon looked down at her for a moment before looking ahead. "You shouldn't be. Angela is married."
"But did you see how she looked at you? That woman's cunning. She's going to snatch you from me."
"Stop thinking that ridiculous idea. You're not living in your fictional world, Jewel. Besides, Angela is not that kind of woman," Gideon said, rebuking her words.
Jewel took a deep breathe. "See?" She frowned. "She gained your favor!"
"Jewel enough," Gideon said. "Don't be a brat again."
Her face became livid and she clenched her fist. "Is it because Angela is your first love that's why you're defending her? Is that so, Gideon?"
He halted and Jewel also stopped in her tracks. Gideon frowned and looked at her straight in the eye. "Where did you get that idea?"
"Tang told me!" Jewel bit her lip and she averted her gaze. "So I indulged in erotica the other night because Tang told me that you still love Angela! That's why you can't love me. And you brought me here for what? To make me realize you'll never love me? Is that so, Gideon Manasseh?! "
She huffed and averted her gaze again. Jewel couldn't meet his eyes specially when she could see the shock written in his face. But when she looked at him in the corner of her eye, she realize that Gideon was not staring at her in shock. He was staring behind her. Jewel frowned and looked over her shoulder.
There, she saw Angela and Sean. And the woman seems to have heard everything she said.