Chapter 18 Hurt Jocelyn Accidentally
Jocelyn fell asleep before we got back home. After parking the car, Oswald came over, took Jocelyn, and carried her all the way back to her bedroom. I got Jocelyn settled and was ready to take a bath. Oswald’s phone rang from time to time. He glanced at it and hung it up, looking restless. And I knew he wouldn’t answer in front of me. Taking a nightgown and a phone with me, I went into the bath. I turned on the bath tap, and then I quietly propped the bathroom door a gap, paying attention to the outside. And sure enough, I heard Oswald talking in a low voice. I found Eleanor’s number and called, and the line was busy. Sure enough, Oswald was talking to Eleanor on the phone, and I was so angry that my hands were shaking. I took a quick shower and walked out of the bathroom. Oswald heard the noise, quickly hung up the phone, and came back from the balcony, pretending nothing had happened. “Honey, are you done?” Oswald forced a smile, took the towel from my hand, and stood behind me, wiping my hair for me, but he seemed absent-minded. “Who just called?” I asked. “My mom!” Oswald replied in a hurry without thinking. And I flew into a rage inside. Jocelyn suddenly cried, and Lelia flustered the towel in his hand to me and went to her room to escape my continued questioning. I took the towel and thought for a while. I knew Oswald lied and it was not his mom calling. I turned and went to the bathroom again. Then I called his mom, and sure enough, she did not call. I leaned against the wall of the bath, feeling helpless. Oswald walked in with Jocelyn in his arms. It turned out that Jocelyn wanted to pee and woke up. He brought her to the bathroom to pee. Jocelyn was still sleepy with her eyes closed. I knew she must have had too much juice during dinner. Suddenly, Oswald’s phone rang again. In the small bathroom, the bell was rather harsh. He was immediately frightened and panicked, forgetting Jocelyn in his hand and loosening his hands to get the phone. Jocelyn fell and landed on the toilet. I watched the scene with horror, but I couldn’t catch her in time. Jocelyn then fell off the toilet to the wet floor and burst into tears. I rushed over. While Oswald was still dumbfounded, I picked up Jocelyn and saw her lips got hurt and were bleeding after hitting the hard floor. “Oswald, you…” I shouted at the top of my lungs, looked at Oswald, who was still in a daze and rushed out of the bath with Jocelyn in my arms. Jocelyn cried out of breath, and the blood on her lips flowed down. I sat on the sofa in a panic and pulled out some tissues to wipe the blood away. I felt so depressed that I couldn’t even breathe. Oswald’s phone was still ringing. He, too, seemed stunned by what was happening or distressed by his own fault. Then he followed us out. Looking at the blood on Jocelyn’s lips, he seemed sorry and rattled. Then he also began to coax Jocelyn with regret. I shivered, carefully pressed the corners of Jocelyn’s mouth with a tissue, and kept kissing her forehead, asking her not to be afraid. An unprecedented pain swept through my whole body. I never expected that the once perfect husband and father in my eyes would be so infatuated with a woman that he could ignore his own daughter. Jocelyn was so little, but she had to bear the brunt of our failed marriage. I could not bear it, growling, “Answer the phone! I want to see who is calling! Answer it…” Oswald cut off the phone in a panic. I held Jocelyn in my arms who was still crying so hard. That pretty little face of hers was flushed. She was asleep just now, but suddenly such a horrible thing happened to her. She had just come out of the panic of falling down the slide. I regretted letting Oswald take care of Jocelyn, and the pain in my heart has made me lose my mind. “It’s OK, sweetheart! I am sorry, sweetheart!” I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer, and I started to cry with Jocelyn in my arms. At this time, her little mouth was swollen. “I’m sorry, honey! I am really sorry…” Oswald flustered. I glared at Oswald. “Look what you just did! Oswald, do you still have any conscience? Are you worth being her dad? Tell me… Who was calling? Why didn’t you answer it?” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Oswald looked a little uneasy. He stood there, looking at me who was questioning him harshly. There was anger on his face, but he still managed to say in a soft tone, “I… Cass, it’s not what you think at all. It’s not an important call. You must believe me. I would never do anything wrong to you!” His voice trembled a little. “Will you stop being so paranoid, Cass? It’s because you’ve been thinking too much lately that I’ve been walking on eggshells trying not to upset you, so…” “I’m asking you who was calling?” I asked again, not wanting to hear a word of Oswald’s nonsense. Oswald swallowed with his eyes wandering a little and the corners of his mouth twitching. Then he avoided my eyes. “It’s… It’s Orlando. He wants me to cover for him. He has cheated on his wife and his wife’s looking for him! I was afraid you would think too much, so I didn’t answer his call in front of you! You know, I can’t give him any advice in your presence for fear you’ll accuse me of complicity, and I know you hate such things!” Oswald explained with a face of sincerity and grievance. “What a silver tongue!” I thought. Looking at Oswald, I was hopeless, thinking, “With such being the case, he is still lying to me!” I was so pissed that I shivered with anger. Just then, Oswald’s phone rang again.