BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1178 - Friends And Traitors (6)
Bradley opened the box in front of him and found that it contains photos. He checked first few and noticed that his girlfriend Paige is on each of them. Well, Paige is not Bradley\'s real-real girlfriend because he is hiding her due to his parents not approving of her, but they are in a relationship.
Rage bubbled inside Bradley. What kind of a gift is this? He does not know the full details of what Jasper, Vincent and Russel got, but based on their reactions he can tell that it\'s something good. Why did he get photos of his woman?
"What is the meaning of this?", Bradley asked Jeff.
Jeff coolly gestured toward the box indicating to Bradley to keep looking. "See for yourself."
First few photos are Paige shopping, Paige in a coffee shop, Paige next to a swimming pool… Based on Paige\'s hairstyle, Bradley can see that some are several years old. How did Jeff get his hands on these?
Bradley guessed that Jeff would not give him photos of his girlfriend just like that. There must be some meaning behind it. Bradley observed the photos again and noticed that there is a young man with Paige. And that man is not Bradley. The man is visible from the back, but there is no mistake that it\'s the same man on each photo and Bradley can\'t deny that the man looks familiar.
As Bradley went through photos, the man\'s profile was revealed. Paige and the man were getting more intimate with every next photo. There was at least one hundred photos! Bradley impatiently flipped to last few: Paige having a candlelight dinner with the man, Paige kissing the man, Paige in a hotel room with a man… and that man is Cooper Sherman, Bradley\'s friend from high school!
Bradley paled. Since when is Paige cheating on him? The last photo slipped from Bradley\'s shaky hand while he remembered all the heated arguments he had with his parents because he wanted Paige by his side, as his official girlfriend and then his wife!
Bradley\'s parents called Paige a cheap gold-digger, that she is not sincere, that they can see hunger in her eyes the moment she steps on their property… and he didn\'t believe them.
And what is worse, Cooper met with Bradley and Paige often. Cooper would bring girls with him, so they had a double-date. Bradley never suspected a thing. Now that he thinks about it, it was always a different girl. But even if Cooper came by himself, Bradley would not believe that Cooper is sleeping with HIS Paige behind his back!
Bradley will not claim that he is a saint. Over the years he had a number of women warming his bed (other than Paige). But those other women were never on Bradley\'s radar as potential wives while Paige was the only one he imagined himself growing old with. As a young master of a prominent family, he is used to getting his way, and people obeying him. And Paige is HIS woman and Cooper is HIS high school friend who knew very well that Paige belongs to Bradley. How dare they!
Bradley was deeply hurt that Cooper is sleeping with Paige, and they are doing it for a very long time! The pain and hollowness which filled his chest made his head buzz and was indescribable.
"Sorry buddy…", Jeff\'s voice came at the same time when Jeff patted Bradley\'s shoulder with much more force than necessary, startling him out of his thoughts.
Jeff narrowed his eyes at Bradley and said: "I know firsthand how it sucks when a person who is by your side for many years turns into a traitor. I just hope that you didn\'t do anything for her sake that you might regret."
Jeff\'s words alarmed Bradley. He slowly turned to look at Jeff and when he faced Jeff\'s icy gaze directed at him, he realized that Jeff knows. Jeff knows that he made a deal with Marcus! And even though Bradley didn\'t act on it, the deal was made.
Bradley started panicking, how can he get out of this? How can he pacify Jeff? Is that even possible? He needs to punish Cooper and Paige… that couple of ingrates!
In the back room…
JoAnna, Sarah, Ellie and Aiden are enjoying the show on a large TV with a scrumptious food in front of them. Whatever food Jeff and his buddies have, the back room has it as well.
Ellie is watching her smoking-hot fiancé and smiling. She loves that Jasper and Jeff are in this together because she knows that Jasper does not have many friends to rely on. The fact that Jeff is JoAnna\'s husband is giving Ellie confidence that Jasper will not regret being close to Jeff.
Ellie glanced at Aiden who is stuffing his face with food for half an hour already, and she is happy that Jasper is getting along well with Aiden. Aiden is different than his serious-domineering-king brother, and Ellie can describe Aiden as a mischievous-karate-glutton. But no matter how he looks like, the fact that Sarah is with Aiden is telling Ellie that Aiden is not the one who will betray Jasper.
Aiden is happy with the food and that Sarah is next to him. He is a simple man with simple needs, and the food is amazing and the fact that Sarah is so close to him on the sofa that their legs are touching is making all this several folds better. And yes, he also approves that his brother is showing those people who is the boss.
"I think that Bradley will pass out.", JoAnna commented on health indicators which drones captured (Eve analyzed) and are shown on the screen.
"Hmph...", Sarah made a sound of disapproval. "He needs to stay awake in order to suffer."
"While on the topic of staying awake… I hope all this ends quickly so that I can go and sleep.", JoAnna said before she yawned.
JoAnna is tired and all this is exhausting, but she wants to be with Jeff especially because she is aware that this is very difficult for him. No matter how confident her husband appears on the outside, she knows that he is suffering when faced with the fact that two people he considered friends are ready to sell him out.
In the main room…
Christopher looked at Bradley who is sitting next to him and his face is changing colors from pale to bright red and he wondered, what got Bradley in such a bad state?
Christopher took a sneak-peek at the photos. His eyes widened when he realized what those photos are showing, and he had an ominous feeling.
His mind was working a thousand thoughts a second while trying to figure out why would Jeff give something like that to Bradley? Does Jeff have anything to gain from that? Even if he assumes that Jeff gave those photos to Bradley because he does not want to allow his friend to be cheated on, why didn\'t he give him that in private? And the timing is off… with all the mess Jeff is in because of Marcus, does he really have the time to sit and enjoy dinner with his friends and give presents and… evidence?
Evidence, yeah. They were all wondering why would Paige, smart and pretty girl, allow Bradley to keep her as his mistress. No matter how they look at it, Bradley treats Paige as his plaything. He called her to accompany him when he had time and when it worked for him, while she had to keep quiet and suffer when he went out to attend parties with other girls which his parents approved of. And no matter how much Bradley spoke that Paige is the only one for him, they all know that Bradley did with his dates more than just sit at the table and dance. Yup, Paige is not the only one to sleep outside of their so-called relationship. Well, what goes around comes around.
Christopher\'s gaze moved to his hands and he realized that he is holding onto a box. It reminded him that he is the only one who didn\'t open his \'present\' from Jeff. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.
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