Chapter 301: Begging Moira Ford to See Him
Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Begging Moira Ford to See Him
"This is all a misunderstanding." Linus Hollis took Moira Ford’s hand, explaining, "It’s not what you think."
"Is that so?" Moira Ford yanked her hand away and gave a sarcastic laugh. "If it’s not that, then what is it? Under what circumstances would you tell a girl, ’I like you. Be my girlfriend’?"
"I really didn’t cheat on you." Linus Hollis reached for her hand again.
Moira Ford took a few steps back, putting distance between them. "Just say what you have to say. Don’t touch me."
Linus Hollis’s eyes were red-rimmed as he said sorrowfully, "Una, we grew up together. Don’t you know what kind of person I am? There’s no way I would ever cheat on you!"
"I thought I did," Moira Ford said, looking at him, her tone tinged with disappointment. "But I’m only realizing today that I never knew you at all."
"I lost a game of Dare when I was drinking with my coworkers. They randomly picked a girl from my contacts and dared me to confess my feelings to her," Linus Hollis said. "It was just a game."
Moira Ford rolled her eyes. "Can you stop treating me like an idiot?"
"It really was just that." His eyes welled with tears as he choked out, "Una, after all our years together, don’t you have even a little bit of trust in me?"
"Linus, if you don’t love me anymore, you can just tell me straight up," Moira Ford said mockingly. "You don’t have to worry about me clinging to you."
"How could I not love you?" Linus Hollis said, agitated. "Una, I love you. I love you more than anyone."
Tired of arguing, Moira Ford turned and sat on the sofa. "To be honest, I’ve never really felt your love—not when we first started dating three years ago, and not now."
Her feelings for Linus Hollis... were actually more akin to those one would have for a best friend.
But if Linus Hollis hadn’t messed up, she probably would have chosen to marry him, because he was the kind of marriage partner her parents approved of.
When she found out he was cheating, she wasn’t heartbroken, just a little disappointed.
To think that the man who had seemed so perfect in her eyes could be so despicable.
"How could I not love you?" Linus Hollis looked displeased. "I love you so much, can’t you see it?"
Moira Ford frowned. "And how, exactly, do you love me?"
"I buy you gifts and cook for you whenever I have free time. Isn’t that loving you enough?" Linus Hollis shot back.
Moira Ford’s lips twisted into a smile. "If that’s what love is, then fine. I’m speechless."
If she hadn’t looked at his phone today, she never would have known that every time Linus Hollis bought her a gift, he bought one for Eve, too.
When he came over to her place to cook, he would be on his phone the whole time, chatting with other girls.
He had made countless posts to his social media feed, all hidden from her, carefully cultivating the image of a single, domestic man.
"I don’t accept this breakup." Linus Hollis walked over and crouched in front of her, gazing at her with deep affection. "Una, I love you. I want to marry you."
"Just stop," Moira Ford said, crossing her arms and turning away from him. "Let’s just part amicably. Don’t make this ugly."
A dark expression crossed Linus Hollis’s face, and a vicious glint flashed in his eyes.
A few seconds later, he reined in his emotions and put on a pleading expression. "Una, I love you. I really can’t live without you."
Moira Ford frowned, her nails digging into her palms as she suppressed her irritation. "Can you just stop pretending? If you loved me, would you be hitting on so many other girls?"
She had wanted to let him save some face, but since he was determined not to, so be it.
"You DM all those local girls because you want to meet up and sleep with them, don’t you?"
The color drained from Linus Hollis’s face. A vein pulsed at his temple, and his fists clenched. "You went through my phone?"
Moira Ford sneered. "If I hadn’t, how would I have ever discovered your true colors?"
"You..." Linus Hollis clenched his jaw. After a moment of silence, he suddenly dropped from his crouch to his knees. "Una, I know I was wrong. Can you please forgive me? Just give me one more chance."
"Can you please not do this?" Moira Ford hadn’t expected him to actually kneel and quickly moved to a different seat.
Linus Hollis shuffled on his knees to get in front of her and began slapping his own face, his voice breaking into a sob. "Una, I’m begging you, please forgive me..."
Moira Ford stared at him in shock. "Are you insane?"
"Una, if you don’t forgive me, I won’t stop." Linus Hollis slapped himself, again and again.
Watching this scene, Moira Ford felt none of Linus Hollis’s supposed love. Instead, a thread of fear began to unspool deep inside her.
’How could he be this kind of person...’
"Are you trying to force my hand?" she asked.
Through his glasses, Linus Hollis’s eyes gazed at her with longing. "Una, I can’t bear to lose you, and I don’t want to be apart. Stay with me, okay?"
"I..." Moira Ford pressed her lips together, hesitating for a few seconds before she spoke. "Can you give me some time to think? My head is a mess right now."
"Okay!" Seeing she was no longer insisting on a breakup, Linus Hollis immediately brightened. "Una, take your time and think it over. You won’t find anyone better than me if you leave."
Moira Ford: "..."
She didn’t reply, just frowned and said, "You should go now. I’m tired and I want to sleep."
Linus Hollis got up from the floor, his demeanor once again becoming attentive and caring. "Alright, you go take a hot shower. I’ll warm up a glass of milk for you, so you can drink it and have a nice, restful sleep."
"No, thank you." Moira Ford shook her head. "I don’t want any milk today. Please just go."
She walked to the entryway and opened the front door for him.
Linus Hollis pushed his glasses up his nose and walked over slowly. "Alright. You get some rest."
A few days later, Moira Ford told Linus Hollis that she had thought things over and was still set on breaking up.
However, when she returned home from work that day, the moment she opened the door, she saw Linus Hollis kneeling in the entryway, his eyes fixed on her with a gloomy stare.
"Una, I don’t want to break up!" Linus Hollis knelt on the floor and began slamming his forehead against the ground. "I can’t lose you..."
Moira Ford, trembling with fear, didn’t even try to reason with him this time. She just fled to her room in a panic.
Linus Hollis stared at the closed door with a venomous expression, then slowly rose to his feet, clenched his fist, and slammed it into a cabinet.
For two days in a row, Linus Hollis was kneeling in her entryway when she opened the door. Unable to bear the terror, Moira Ford had the locks changed that very night.
Just when she had managed to get a few days of peace, Linus Hollis showed up at her office.
The way her colleagues looked at her changed.
Unable to stand the harassment, Moira Ford quit her job and told Linus Hollis she was going to tell both of their families that they had broken up.
Linus Hollis suddenly changed his tune. He said he would agree to the breakup, but asked Moira Ford to keep it a secret for the time being.
He said Susanna Hollis wasn’t in good health and he was worried she couldn’t handle the news.
Moira Ford’s heart softened for a moment, and she agreed.
But then, on the afternoon of June 1st, she suddenly received a video from Linus Hollis. He was begging Moira Ford to come see him one last time. If she didn’t, he said, he would jump from the roof.