Chapter 77 - Exposed
Mrs. Candice had no idea what Frank was up to—and Frank couldn't exactly explain himself.
He couldn't very well come out and say: Your son dropped out of school, steals cars for fun now, uses a fake identity to date my daughter, and is stringing her along emotionally.
If that truth came out, never mind Fiona's reaction—Mrs. Candice and Jimmy's entire family would explode.
Besides, things had already gotten complicated.
Frank and Mrs. Candice weren't just a one-night stand anymore. This was clearly heading into long-term territory.
Frank had never liked Jimmy and didn't want him near Fiona. And yet now, here he was—sleeping with Jimmy's mom, stealing another man's wife, putting horns on Jimmy's father.
More importantly, Mrs. Candice wasn't like Sheila. With Sheila, Frank could claim it was "the other Frank's" mess—he was just an innocent scapegoat. But this? This was all on Frank. 100% him. And it had that classic "Frank" touch.
As the two lay tangled in bed, enjoying the afterglow, the front door suddenly opened downstairs.
"Mom, I'm home! Did we have company?" Jimmy's voice called out.
"Oh no—Jimmy's back!" Mrs. Candice gasped.
Frank was even more panicked than she was. He bolted upright like he'd been shocked.
He threw on his clothes in a flash. Mrs. Candice made it simpler—she didn't bother with anything else and just pulled on her robe, which she often wore around the house anyway.
"The pipes broke again. I had someone come fix them," Mrs. Candice called out as she stepped into the hallway to buy Frank some time.
She kicked the clothes on the stairwell with her foot, shoving them under the table or a cabinet out of sight.
"The pipes again?" Jimmy said, lugging in some groceries from the supermarket. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Yeah, looks like some animal got in or something," Mrs. Candice said casually, biting into an apple.
"Mom, you—" Jimmy turned around to face her—and paused.
His mother's face was flushed, radiant, glowing like a flower freshly watered.
"What is it?" she asked, touching her cheek.
"Did you switch skincare products or something? You look… amazing," Jimmy said. He didn't overthink it—he was her son, not her husband. If his dad had been there, he might've caught on.
"Oh, yeah, I tried something new," Mrs. Candice said, touching her face again with a sheepish expression. She quickly changed the topic. "Why are you home so early?"
"Dad's still the same. He'll probably be discharged in a couple weeks," Jimmy said casually.
After a quick visit to see his dad and brother, Jimmy eagerly went looking for Fiona—but she wasn't home. She was off at work.
Lately, Jimmy had been staying at his own home and avoiding Frank's place, afraid his cover might be blown. He'd even stopped calling Fiona as often, so he had no idea where she was working.
Fiona was doing odd jobs to make ends meet. No fixed location—she went wherever the work was.
Unable to find her, Jimmy had a drink at the Alibi Bar, then picked up some fruit from the store before heading home.
"Mrs. Lishman, the plumbing upstairs has been repaired," a voice announced just as Jimmy and his mom were talking.
"Oh, okay. You can go now. I'll call you again if anything else comes up," Mrs. Candice said pointedly.
"Huh?" Jimmy frowned. That voice sounded… familiar.
He instinctively turned around—and the moment he saw the "repairman's" face, his pupils shrank and his smile froze.
"Jimmy. Good to see you," Frank said calmly.
"Fr—" Jimmy blurted, but immediately stopped himself.
He was Jimmy now—not Steve. He wasn't supposed to recognize Frank in disguise.
But Jimmy saw through it instantly. He knew Frank too well.
"I'll be heading off then, Mrs. Lishman," Frank said smoothly. His eyes only lingered briefly on Jimmy before returning to Mrs. Candice. He gave a slight nod and turned to leave.
Just as Jimmy was pretending not to know Frank, Frank was pretending not to know Jimmy.
"Mm," Mrs. Candice nodded, subtly urging Frank to leave quickly.
She didn't want her son finding out about her and Frank either—this was hardly something to be proud of.
All three people in the house had their own secrets.
Jimmy was so stunned by Frank's sudden appearance that his mind was racing. Why is Frank here? How does he know where I live?
In his shock, he didn't even notice how disheveled Frank looked: shirt buttoned wrong, pants zipper still open, and—if one looked closely—he was wearing one sock and had one bare foot.
Just moments ago, Frank had been in bed with Mrs. Candice. He barely had time to get dressed. If his shoes hadn't been conveniently left by the door—something Jimmy could've noticed—Frank might've seriously considered jumping out the window.
In fact, when Frank first heard Jimmy's voice downstairs, he had instinctively leapt out of bed and gone straight for the window. That was a reflex left behind by "the old Frank."
The old Frank had plenty of experience getting caught "sleeping" in other people's homes. If he hadn't jumped out of a hundred windows, he'd done it at least eighty times.
This time, though, the second-floor balcony was too high. There was no landing or emergency stairs. Jumping would've been risky—and Frank managed to suppress the instinct just in time.
If he'd gone out the window, he would've totally exposed Mrs. Candice. There'd be no explaining away a random pair of shoes in the house.
"Mom, I just remembered something. I'm heading out for a bit," Jimmy said, uneasy after Frank left. He glanced at his phone and pretended he'd just gotten a message.
"Oh, okay." Mrs. Candice nodded.
She was relieved—she needed him out so she could clean up the mess and finally get dressed. After all, she was wearing absolutely nothing under her robe.
As soon as Jimmy left, she hurried to tidy up the room.
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