Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman
Chapter 378 Sealed With A Kiss

Jean wanted to rage against him. But Zed no longer could take it. Before she could say a word more, he lowered his head and touched her trembling lips with his.

"Uh..." The sudden kiss swept Jean into a whirl of conflicting emotions. As soon as their lips met, she swung her arm on his shoulders but struggled hard to pull away from the embrace. Zed felt that her whole body was inclining against him as if it were tender without bone. Jean was beating him with her fists more and more slowly. At last, she stopped. The long, gentle kiss had unfurled something inside Zed. He looked deep into the eyes of the young woman. He wanted to lose himself in as he bared his feelings to her. Jean was gasping from the passion that was coursing through her body. Her cheeks blushed crimson and she tried to meet the arduous look Zed was giving her. Zed's inflamed gaze stoked the fury she had been feeling.

'How spiteful he is! He even stopped me from speaking, so that I couldn't reply to him.

Does he think that I can forgive him so easily?

Don't even think about it!' Jean grumbled.

She opened her mouth to say something mean, but before a sound came out, Zed immediately put his fingers on her lips and whispered in a cooing voice in her ears. "Jean, you listen to me first and then scold me if you want. Okay? I promise that I will give you time to scold me as much as you wish, and I will not answer back," Zed implored her.

Looking at Zed in bewilderment, Jean felt weird.

She wondered what made Zed's attitude change over the short time he had left her.

Or had Zed finally listened to his conscience and admitted his fault?

So had he come to apologize to her?

With the last thought, Jean quickly shook her head.

'How can he admit he is wrong?

He is arrogant. Why has he admitted his mistakes in front of me so easily?

And, after all that insisting that his relationship with Jesse is pure, what had made him think that he has wronged me? Time and time again, he has thought that I am petulant when I complain about their relationship. He thought I was unncessarily making a fuss about it. "Okay, what do you want to say?" Jean nodded. She really wanted to know what on earth Zed had to say to her.

"I am sorry. When problems occurred between us, I didn't solve them. Instead, I isolated you due to my stupidity, which has caused you great hurt..."

As soon as these words came out of Zed's mouth, Jean looked at him with eyes wide open.

Sorry...

This was not the first time that Zed was saying sorry to her but his apology about him and Jesse was hardly made before. How strange he was!

Just on an impulse, Jean badly wished to feel his forehead for fever. She couldn't believe those words coming from his mouth.

"Jean, trust me. I will not act like that again," Zed sighed. After a moment's pause, he said, "I know that I act more or less like a male chauvinist. I've told you again and again that I love you, but I don't know how to understand you. You used to object about Jesse repeatedly but I misunderstood it for your meanness. This doesn't mean that I don't care about your feelings. I act this way because I have always considered my relationship with Jesse pure. But when you doubt me again and again, you insult me." On hearing Zed bare the truths of his heart, Jean lowered her head, deep in shame.

"But I have ignored one thing for way too long. It is the fact that the relationship between Jesse and me, despite being clean, was getting perceived differently by others. It is impossible for me to really show you what's in my heart. But I promise you that I will pay attention to my relationship with Jesse and keep some distance from her. I assure you that I will not make you sad again. Honey, you are my wife. Of course, no one can be more important than you in my heart. I hope that you won't ask me these trivial questions again. Okay?" Zed pleaded to Jean with his gaze fixed on her.

The heaviness in her heart lessened as Zed uttered that she was the most important to him. Looking up through her tears, she nodded and smiled with her heart brimming with love.

"Now, let me talk about Jesse." Seeing her smile, the tension Zed was carrying was significantly reduced.

In a low but direct voice, Jean said, "You don't have to report to me about everything that happens between the two of you. Zed, in fact, I don't need too much. Knowing that you care about me is enough."

"Honey..." Zed immediately wrapped her in his arms, and paused to bury his head in her hair. He then said in a half-choked voice, "I have always known that you can read my mind. But, I have ignored how selfless and kind you are. From now on, I will go all out in being the best husband to you. Does it make sense if I don't care for my own wife?"

Soothed by Zed's show of affection towards her, Jean sighed deeply.

"Jesse and I have known each other since she was born. As you know, our families lived together inside a yard and our elders got close. Naturally, this warmth carried forward among the next generation as our ties got deeper and deeper. But I only think of Jesse as my younger sister.

I fed her milk and changed her diapers often when she was little. Because I was older and looked after her, she has grown to be dependent on me. I don't hate her for following or clinging to me, but my love for her is always for a little sister. When she was a little kid, Jesse fell sick too frequently. In those times, I tended to her by doing cold presses or wiping her nose.

You can say that I have done almost everything a biological brother would do. Do you think brothers will fall in love with their younger sisters? It's all clear in my heart. I feel that Jesse treats me in the same way as I treat her. All her life, she has been treated like a princess, spoiled by everyone around her. Perhaps some of her words and behavior are strange in your eyes, but our relationship is absolutely pure."

On hearing Zed said that "Jesse treats me in the same way as I treat her", Jean couldn't help smiling bitterly.

Should she tell Zed that Jesse, on growing up, didn't see him the same way he sees her?

But how should she tell him so that he could believe her?

Jean looked away, speculating if there was anyway she could break his illusion.

'Just forget it!' Jean thought.

To be straight, she and Zed would always be unhappy if she kept on raising an issue about his relationship with Jesse.

Now that she knew Zed's feelings for Jesse and his love for herself, Jean thought that there was no point in stretching this topic any further. What she had to do was watch out and protect herself from being framed by Jesse over again.

"I trust you." Jean looked at Zed with a solemn expression, and added, "I won't misunderstand you from now on." "Jean..." Moved by how they had made amends, Zed replied, "Your forgiveness and trust is all that matters to me."

Finally deciding to voice a nagging doubt, Jean said, "Didn't you leave in great anger? What made you figure all it out?"

"I..." Zed smiled faintly and answered, "I was stopped by grandpa just as I got to the living room."

"Grandpa..." Jean was mildly surprised. This made her recall something as she grew silent.

'So, was grandpa waiting for Zed because he knew I would quarrel with him?'

Putting two and two together, Jean wondered what this really meant.