Chapter 131 A Jerk by Nature
"She's fat and ugly. Going out with her will only disgrace me."
Patrick then pinched Isabelle's pretty face and praised her, "She can't hold a candle to you. Isabelle, you mean everything to me, and I no longer love her."
"She chased me with a knife. I would never forgive her although she has apologized to me and treated me better. If I hadn't been fast enough that day, she would have hacked me to death."
"What a wicked woman! I've known her for years, but I hadn't seen through her vicious nature until that day. If it were not for Andy, I wouldn't even want to go home. Besides, as my mom and sister said, the down payment for that house came from me. I bought it before we got married, and I'm still paying the mortgage. Why should I let her live in it?"
"She doesn't get along with my family either. Isabelle, you've met my parents and sister. What do you think of them?"
Isabelle thought about it and replied, "Good. Your parents, sister, and brother-in-law are all easy-going and polite."
In front of the Cerones, she was thoughtful and attended to Patrick's every need. The Cerones were not blind. They certainly knew her relationship with Patrick.
Although they were not warm to her, they were not unfriendly either, just because she was Patrick's lover. They were quite cultured.
Penny's attitude changed for the better after she found that Isabelle treated Patrick really well. Priscila even went shopping with her and bought her several expensive clothes.
"Everyone in my family is nice, and they treat Leila well. Leila, however, doesn't get along with them. She talked behind their backs. In her mind, the Cerone family members are all jerks, and she is the best person in the world."
If Leila were there to hear that, she would definitely be pissed off.
The Cerones were pretentious people. In the workplace for years, she didn't think she was stupid. Still, she was fooled by them. Before Patrick and she got married, everyone had treated her well. Within a year after their marriage, the Cerones had been nice to her too.
She thought that she had married the right person.
When the child was born, the Cerones felt secure and began to reveal their true color.
"Your family is so nice, but Leila is not satisfied? She demands too much."
Isabelle was eager to outshine Leila in every aspect.
"Maybe it's because of her sister. After I married Leila, her sister had been living with us. Although she paid for the rent, she only gave us 300 dollars each month. That was barely enough to cover her living expenses. Commodities are expensive nowadays."
"As time went by, I lost my patience and complained about it. My sister-in-law was sensible enough to move away, but Leila started to give me attitude. I've told you the reason for our fight. She was angry with me and refused to cook for me because I drove her sister away."
"She refused to wash my clothes and shared every piece of work with me. I was so busy and had to suffer such grievances at home. We fought, and I hit her on impulse. Unexpectedly, she acted like a crazy person and tried to hack me with a knife. If I hadn't been fast enough, I would have ended up in the grave."
Isabelle heard him out and said with distress, "Honey, that is so sad. Let's not talk about her and spoil your good mood. What time is the party tonight? I don't have an evening dress yet."
"It starts at 7:30. Don't worry about it. I'll take you to buy a couple of dresses since we may be regular guests at parties in the future."
Patrick was unwilling to spend money on Leila. After the domestic violence, he stayed in his parents' house to recover from his injury and asked Leila to give back the allowances. To Isabelle, however, he was quite generous.
He put off his work and took Isabelle out right away.
Isabelle was his secretary, and he often took her out to talk business, so when they left together, no one said anything.
At the entrance of the office building, the cleaning lady saw Patrick driving away with Isabelle in his car and said to an old security guard, "Patrick and Isabelle travel in pairs all day. Isn't Leila afraid that Patrick would cheat on her?"
Leila used to work in the same company before. Many old workers still remembered her.
The old security guard glanced at the cleaning lady in surprise.
He looked around, made sure that no one was around, and said in a subdued voice, "You clean the entire building every day. Don't you know about it? Patrick and Isabelle have a fling."
The cleaning lady yelped and asked wonderingly, "How did you know?"
"I'm not blind. Isabelle always dresses up in brand clothes after work. Each of her two LV bags costs 5,000 dollars. Given her income, how could she be so prodigal? Her family is not rich."
"Her brand clothes, bags, and necklaces are naturally given by Patrick. People saw them having dinner together. They were quite intimate. Without a doubt, they have a fling."
The cleaning lady said, "Is Leila still in the dark? Back when they got married, they invited everyone in the company to their wedding banquet. Her happy face is still fresh in our memories. She was stunning that day."
"It has been just a couple of years, and Patrick ceased to be faithful. Sure enough, good men turn bad when they get rich."
She felt sorry for Leila.
"Leila rarely comes to see Patrick. Presumably, she doesn't know about his love affair. Isabelle is not a virtuous woman. Wait and see, she will put the cards on the table and pressure Leila for sure."
The cleaning lady sighed, "We thought Leila was living a happy life and that she was lucky to marry a promising man like Patrick. Even the big boss appreciates his talent. Patrick has a bright future ahead."
"Unexpectedly..."
After Patrick achieved something in his career and got rich, he acted just like those unfaithful men who abandoned their wives and children. He had failed Leila.
"No one told Leila about it?"
The old security guard replied, "She left the company many years ago. Who will remember her? When she can no longer bring people benefits and interests, they won't even bother to greet her."
Patrick was now a supervisor in the company. He was trusted by their boss and could bring people benefits.
Everyone naturally curried favor with him.
Unless Leila found out herself or Isabelle laid it bare, no one would take the trouble to find Leila and tell her about Patrick's love affair.
This society was too realistic.