Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed novel Chapter 769

The sun hadn't risen in the west today, and the earth was still spinning on its usual axis.

Cliff glanced over to the other side of the couch and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

There was Murray, downing drink after drink, avoiding cards, sports, and keeping a wide berth from the women in the room.

The others couldn't help but click their tongues in pity.

"Our Murray's gone all monk-like on us. It's breaking my heart watching him like this!"

"Ah, quit the melodrama! He's not moping; he's a prisoner of love, a true romantic!"

"If you ask me, all women are the same. Got enough cash, you can buy anything you want. Why bother with all this heartache?"

Cliff, sensing the conversation was heading south, intervened, "Alright, that's enough. Save your breath. You don't wanna catch a cold, do ya?"

Some of them were even tempted to utter the name "Roseanne."

Cliff felt a shiver run down his spine.

That was Murray's no-go zone. Mention it, and he'd go ballistic. It'd be a real mess to deal with.

York, losing hand after hand at the card table, threw down his cards in frustration. "This is no fun. Is this guy cheating? I've been sitting here forever, haven't won once!"

Cliff shot back, "Your luck's bad, and your brain ain't helping either. What's that got to do with me?"

"Whoa! Cliff's got some bite today, huh?"

Cliff shrugged, "I'll take that as a compliment."

York snorted, tossed his cards aside, "I'm done."

With York gone, no one else dared to take his place, and the table fell apart.

Without the cards, Cliff didn't care much for drinking. The party downstairs was just heating up, but even dancing felt off. So, he slouched into the corner of the couch, pulled out his phone, and started scrolling through social media.

As he scrolled, he stumbled upon Corley's latest post.

"Reunion? With who?" Cliff muttered to himself.

He tapped the photo, ready to drool over all the delicious food, when he suddenly noticed a familiar half-face peeking from the top right corner of the picture.

Murray's expression darkened even more.

Cliff blinked rapidly, trying to signal York to zip it, but York, oblivious, just kept piling on, "Wow, Corley's fast, huh? When did he manage to win her over? Not a peep about it! Look at the comments, everyone's saying he's the quiet type who gets things done. Impressive..."

Murray grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

Cliff called after him, "Murray, come on, stick around a bit longer, yeah?"

Murray simply replied, "Nah."

York watched him leave, unfazed by the tension, "Every time someone mentions Roseanne, he pulls this disappearing act!"

Cliff sighed, "I've blinked so hard my eyes are sore, and you just don't get it, do you? I told you to drop it, but you kept pushing! Now look, you've gone and driven him off!"

"I got it, I got it. Just playing dumb."

"..."

"Heh, just wanted to rile him up. What's the point of going out if you're just gonna drink alone, right?"