The Devil's Good Girl-Chapter 230: This time, let me come to you.

"I’ll take you girls home," Anton offered as soon as they got out of the establishment. "It’s late, so it’s better if I drive you home."

Elise blinked at Anton, rubbing her chin as she pondered. Being Fil’s friend surely had a lot of upsides. Elise didn’t know if she saved the world in her previous life to be so lucky. This was Anton! His army of fans could only dream of being dropped off by him, but he was offering them as if it were nothing.

"Anton, can you please take Elise home?" Fil smiled subtly. "I will go home alone."

"But, Fil, if you’re going to go home alone, then I’ll go alone too!" Elise frowned. "Or we can ride the bus together."

"Your way and mine are different from here." Fil chuckled. "It’s okay if you don’t want him to drop you off, but I want to have some time alone."

Anton frowned, his eyes brimmed with concern. ’Of course. Even if she broke up with him months ago, it still won’t feel nice to know he’s been cheating on her with her best friend.’

"Are you sure?" he asked out of pure concern. "I don’t mind dropping her off if it’s okay with her, but... are you sure it’s okay to leave you alone?"

"Yes." She nodded with a reassuring smile. "Don’t worry about me, but I just want to take a walk."

Reluctance brimmed in his eyes before he cast Elise a look. Elise sported an awkward smile.

"I’ll go home alone too," said Elise. "But thank you."

"Are you girls sure?"

"Yes."

Anton couldn’t help but sigh helplessly. However, he wasn’t the type to force things on people. With what happened, he was simply concerned it wasn’t best to leave them alone. But Fil and Elise were grown adults; they were even more mature than him because if he were in their shoes, he wouldn’t be able to handle the situation just as much as they did with class.

With that being said, Anton still offered to hail a cab for them. He first got Elise one and then Fil.

"Fil," he called just as she opened the door, watching her look back at him. "I know this is shameless of me to ask, but are we... are we still friends?"

Fil pressed her lips into a thin line, recalling what plans she used to have for this guy. To be fair, her initial plans didn’t carry the same level of ruthlessness for Anton. She already knows Anton was simply doing his best to fit in, convincing himself that as long as he didn’t do anything to anyone, he wouldn’t be held accountable. Hence, Anton always watched everything on the sidelines, not knowing not doing anything was the same as doing the despicable deed his friends were doing.

Tonight was the first time Anton stepped in and Fil thought that was a good sign.

"Anton, right now, I don’t know the right thing to answer. I am disappointed that you kept this from me all along, but I’m not as mad as you think I am," she expressed solemnly. "Though I have to get this off my chest."

Her smile softened. "Anton, you had a friend. An annoying yet genuine one." She nodded at him encouragingly. "Kenzo is in the hospital right now for a low blood count. I can’t say for sure if he will appreciate a visit, but I think it’s worth the shot."

"He won’t forgive me." Anton sighed. "And I don’t want him to think I’m going to him just because I’m not friends with those guys anymore."

"He may or may not forgive you, but don’t you think it’s about time for you to talk to him?" she raised her brows. "If I can be forgiving enough to exempt you from my anger, Kenzo is ten times more considerate and kinder. You know him just as much as I do. He might be brutally honest, but he’s not the type to make a mockery of a person’s sincerity."

Fil pursed her lips and smiled. "I’m just giving this as a word of advice from a friend. Anyway, I got to go. The taxi driver is already glaring at us."

"Mhm. Take care, Fil."

"You too."

Anton took a step back, closing the door for Fil. But before she could go, he rushed to the front passenger row and bent down, handing a few bills to the driver to make sure she would get home safely. After ignoring Fil’s insistence not to pay for her fare, Anton quickly jogged away and waved. Fil couldn’t do anything as the driver drove away.

[He might be brutally honest, but he’s not the type to make a mockery of a person’s sincerity.]

His smile slowly faded, reminded of her parting remarks to him. Another shallow breath slipped past his lips, cocking his head back to look at the buildings and the sky.

"He is, indeed, not the type to make a mockery of a person’s sincerity," he whispered with a shallow sigh. "But he can be brutally and painfully honest."

Surprisingly, that didn’t sound just as scary as before.

******

Meanwhile, when Fil was close to her place, she asked the driver to drop her off two blocks from her apartment. Walking on her way home, she couldn’t help but smile and giggle at herself.

She caught Marianne and Vincent red-handed, and not in the way Marianne wanted to be caught. Along with confronting those two, Marcus was implicated in it. The thought of explaining themselves would surely cross their minds, but they wouldn’t do it so easily anymore.

They knew Fil, and what she said wasn’t a mere threat. In other words, those three toxic garbage would have no choice but to accept that she was no longer in their clutches. This brought a smile to her face, this bubbly feeling in her chest, and a little bit of giddiness.

Was this the feeling of freedom?

"I should tell Jack about it," she excitedly took out her phone, calling Jackson. Her lips stretched from ear to ear when the line instantly connected. "Hey there."

Jackson raised his brows. "I guess your plans for tonight went well?"

"They did." She giggled, keeping her pace as she was close to her apartment. "It went better than expected. Marcus and Vincent ended up throwing their fist at each other."

"I see." Jackson rocked his head. "I guess you didn’t have to kick them in the nuts."

"Hehe." Fil smacked her lips. "How are you?"

"Better now."

"Something good happened?"

"Not yet." His answer made her furrow her brows. "But something will in about... three minutes. Look here."

"Huh?" Fil furrowed her brows and looked around. Somehow, she caught a figure leaning against the railing in front of her apartment unit. Her eyes slowly went wide before her smile transformed to relief.

There, leaning against the railing, was Jackson. He was still wearing his coat, which meant he had just arrived.

"I’m home, my love." Despite the distance between them, his beautiful smile was enough to brighten up the surroundings. "Now, will you come up here or should I come down to you? Nevermind. Wait for me—"

"No. Stay there, Jack," Fil murmured, watching him push himself away from the railing and stop. Her eyes softened even more as she said with a smile. "This time, let me come to you."