Ero Meter

99  No Love

Inside the big house, Jack sat on the sofa while staring at the TV soullessly. He looked at his phone again and again, wondering if he should call Sophie and talk to her, however, he restrained himself.

He also wanted to drink some alcohol, however, he couldn't as he had promised Nicole that he won't drink till her leg heals.

Nicole on the other hand sat beside him in silence, also staring at the TV in a daze. Cassie was in the kitchen preparing some food for herself.

"You should call her." Suddenly a voice came from beside Jack and he could tell that it was Nicole.

He turned his head around and looked her in the eyes for a few seconds, he wanted to call Sophie, and when he was about to nod another panel flashed in front of him.

[1. Call Sophie (-1 Heart for Sophie)

2. Don't call her. (Increase favorability for Sophie.)]

He gulped his saliva as guilt flashed across his face, sighing he choose the second option.

Although he can now control Sophie's heart and Ero Meter, he avoided using that feature as he could tell that the consequences of doing so can be bad.

He also noticed that his account was already credited with fifty million dollars, however, the money didn't make him a single bit happy.

"Sorry, I can't," Jack said to Nicole.

"To be honest, it was your fault, to begin with." Suddenly another voice came from behind and it was no other than Cassie, she came towards them with a plate in her hand.

Soon Cassie sat beside Jack and placed the plate filled with food on the table, folding her legs she moved her head towards Jack.

Jack stayed silent at their words, he knew that it was somewhat his fault and Cassie was right.

As he was wondering what to say, suddenly his phone buzzed and he looked at the screen, it was a call from Meadow.

His brows furrowed as he stood up from his seat. 'Had she told Meadow about us?' Jack thought and moved away from the living room to pick up the call.

Both Cassie and Nicole noticed the worried expression on his face.

"Whose call is it?" Cassie asked as she also stood up. She was worried for Jack, and in the past few days, there have been some strange incidents that had occurred to him.

Even Nicole looked at him with worry and curiosity. She wondered, whose call made Jack worried.

'Has he got a call from Sophie?' She thought.

"I will tell you guys later." He said and moved outside of the big mansion towards the garden area.

He doesn't want anyone disturbing him.

Cassie, who wanted to know what was happening could only stomp her leg on the floor and turned around to sit on the sofa.

"Don't worry he will tell us," Nicole said, seeing Cassie's expression.

"He must learn to share his problems with others, it's easier that way," Cassie complained and continued to eat her food, even though her appetite was already gone.

Nicole sighed and started watching TV.

After reaching the Garden Jack picked up the phone. "Hello."

"Jack, what happened to Sophie, she is not opening the door, she said she was going to meet you and now she is crying in her room," Meadow said, just as Jack picked up the call.

Jack could sense worry in her tone.

He then turned silent for a few seconds.

Before he could answer Meadow, suddenly he heard another voice on the phone.

"Mom! Why did you call him...!" After that, someone hung up the phone. Jack could tell that it was Sophie that came and hung up the phone.

....

On the other side, Sophie opened her door quickly when she realized that Meadow was talking to Jack.

Quickly pacing her footsteps she grabbed the phone from Meadow's hand and clicked the red button on the screen.

Meadow looked at Sophie with her brows furrowed. "What are you doing?" She asked as she took her phone back.

"Nothing, just don't call Jack," Sophie said with a serious expression on her face, she looked at Meadow in the eyes.

"Why? What happened? And why were you crying?" Nicole placed her hand on her face, she could see that Sophie's eyes were red, and from her pale face, she could tell that she was crying.

She was worried for her daughter, as Sophie was the only one left in her family and she loved her very much, she couldn't bear to see her sad.

"Nothing..." Sophie averted her gaze from Meadow, she didn't want her to worry for her, she was already under a lot of pressure because of her health condition.

"What happened between you two? You have to tell me, or I will ask him instead." Meadow said in a strict tone, she was still Sophie's mom.

"No..." Sophie blurted out subconsciously as her heart started beating at a rapid pace, she was thinking of a lie to tell Meadow, however, she couldn't come up with anything on the spot.

Meadow saw him getting afraid and narrowed her eyes.

"Did he say something rude to you? Is he asking for the money back?" Meadow said as anger started moving through her body.

The only correlation Meadow could make with Jack was the money he gave for the treatment, although she was grateful for it, she would never tolerate if he was harassing Sophie for money.

"No, It's not about the money," Sophie muttered as she looked at the ground in shame.

"Tell me what happened right now! And I only want the truth!" Meadow said with an angry tone.

She was fuming at the thought of her daughter getting harassed.

"We just fought," Sophie said as she couldn't come up with anything good.

"You two fought? Why?" Meadow raised her brows.

"It's just some personal stuff." Sophie looked at Meadow with shameful eyes.

"Personal stuff?" Meadow looked at Sophie with her eyes narrowed.

'Are they in a relationship?' Suddenly a thought moved through Meadow's mind and everything started to connect.

Like how she happily ran down to meet Jack and how she came back crying, 'They must have argued over something.'

Meadow knew that arguments happen between partners.

After contemplating some more she placed her hand over her head. "You should have told me before, are you in love with him?" She asked Sophie suddenly.

"No!" Suddenly Sophie's face turned extremely red as she moved her body and got inside her room again while closing the door with a bang.

"Don't call him again!" She said from inside.

Meadow noticed her expression and let out a chuckle.

"So they are in a relationship and she didn't tell me, she has become so secretive, she used to share everything with me." Meadow let out a sign.

She was relieved that the matter was not as big as she thought.

Sophie on the other hand jumped on her bed, her heart was beating at a rapid pace a she remembered the words her mom has said.

"I don't love him anymore..." She whispered under her breath. As tears started to fall from her eyes again.

"He is not calling me..." She looked at her phone once and when saw no message or call from Jack, she signed and moved her head under a pillow to sleep.

Soon enough she fell asleep.

....

Jack, Nicole, and Cassie also fell asleep, First one was Cassie, and after that, Nicole also slept in her room.

Jack stayed on the sofa till midnight staring at the TV with different thoughts moving through his mind.

Soon enough he also fell asleep on the sofa with the TV remote in his hand.

Early in the morning, Nicole woke up and by now her leg was already healed so she can walk on her own.

She moved down the stairs after checking Jack's room.

"He slept on the sofa..." She looked at him laying on the sofa with the TV still going on and a remote in his hand.

She looked at his haggard expression and a pang of pain moved through her heart, for some reason she can't see him sad.

"Why..." She sighed and moved towards him, kneeling she removed his shoes and then placed his legs laterally on the sofa.

Shutting the TV off she placed the remote on the table and then she brought a blanket, laying on his chest she placed the blanket on her body in a way that Jack was also covered by it.

"You are stupid." She rested her head on his chest, while her legs entangled with his. She could feel the calm heartbeats that made her soon fall asleep.

After she was in deep sleep, It was Cassie who woke up from her bed, she also came down to the living area after checking Jack's room.

"She beat me to it..." Cassie sighed and moved toward the kitchen to prepare some coffee for herself.

"Should I wake him up? It's almost time for college." She looked out of the window in a daze while the coffee was brewing and suddenly her heart skipped a beat.

"What the fuck..." She looked outside the window of their garden, where a dead body was laid with blood everywhere.

It wasn't the dead body of a human, but the animal that attacked them previously.

It was the body of a Coyote.

Cassie ran out of the kitchen with coffee still brewing and ran up to the garden.

"It's the same one!" Somehow she could tell that it was the same Coyote from the other night, the one that attacked Nicole and injured her.

"Who did this?!" She looked around in surprise and could see that blood was still dripping out of the animal, which mean that it hasn't been long since it's dead.

However even after looking around for a few seconds, she can't find anyone, there weren't even footsteps or blood drops in the vicinity.