He sneered again as pain crept upon his face. “You don’t understand!”
But I did. For someone who had darkness and loneliness in their heart, they wouldn’t hold on to the sunlight even if the sun came. He couldn’t let me go not because of love, but because he felt that I would be the same as Grandma. We would never chase him away no matter how despicable he was. The house in R Province would forever be his home.
He had no sense of belonging, and that was why he was lonely.
Sensing a cold gaze, I could not help but turn around to see Ashton staring at the two of us by the doorway.
I took my hand back and kept a distance away from John. It had been an instinctive move; I knew it was meaningless for me to do that, for John might not even care about it.
However, it was already a habit I could not get rid of.
Looking at John, I muttered, “Go back. I’ve buried Grandma at Hillcrest Cemetery. If you miss her, go visit her there.”
After finishing his words, I noticed that all emotions were gone from his face except for a tinge of loneliness.
“John, things that had gone by can only stay in the past. We can’t turn back the time. We can only move forward. If we keep turning back to look at our memories, we’ll only feel sorrowful, and we’ll never be able to do anything else.”
After Grandma passed on, I never returned to the house at R Province. I knew from then on, I was all by myself in this world.
I was a leaf with no roots. No matter how much I struggled, at the end of the day, someone would pick me up from the ground and throw me into the bin.
At that, I spared no glance at John and entered the villa.
I had not been back for half a month, but nothing had changed. The only difference was that there were fresh flowers in the house, and they made the house a little livelier.
Mrs. Eriksen looked much wearier than the last time I saw her. When she noticed me, she quickly glimpsed at Ashton behind me before smiling. “The two of you left for such a long time. Half a month! I was beginning to think that this isn’t a home anymore.”
After a pause, she sighed, “I’m glad the two of you are back now.”
It was hot in the afternoon, and the heat made me restless. I barely had any words to say to anyone, to begin with, and now, I was even starting to feel tired. After a brief chat, I retreated to the bedroom.
Ashton followed me, but I said nothing to him. All I did was climb onto the bed and shut my eyes, prepared to sleep.
I thought Ashton would say something or even lose his temper, but he never said a single word the entire time. The room sounded abnormally silent.
After a moment, I felt the side of the bed sink in. In the next second, I was pulled into his arms.
Soon, the sound of even breathing traveled into my ears, and I fell asleep to that sound.
It was just an afternoon nap, so I woke about an hour later. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by Ashton’s handsome features.
I lay still, quietly watching him.
How long have I now looked at him like this?
All of a sudden, his eyes flew open, and we locked eyes as I froze.
“You’re awake?” he asked. As he just woke, his voice was still hoarse. He lifted his hand to tuck the stray strands of my hair behind my ears before he continued to stare at me.
After a while, I started feeling uncomfortable by his silent staring, so I cleared my throat. Supporting myself up with my elbow and about to leave the bed when he held me down. He raised a brow and queried, “Where are you going?”
“I’m getting out of the bed.” I moved again, but he held my body down again.
Furrowing, I huffed, “Ashton, let go of me!”
However, he heeded none of my words. He pressed me onto the bed and his hand slid to my stomach. I was five months pregnant now, and I was starting to feel the motions of the baby in me.
Sensing the movement of the baby in the stomach, a bright smile grew on his face. He exclaimed, “The baby’s moving!”
He was like a child, and I could not help but chuckle, “Yes. I want to get out of the bed.”
Visibly brightening up, he sat up and helped me to a sitting position while leaning onto the headboard. Gesturing for me not to move, he then placed his ear on my stomach.
After a few seconds, he grinned and looked at me. “Do you feel uncomfortable when the baby moves?”
My jaw dropped. Do men really have a brain?
“If you’re really curious, you can read up some books about pregnancy. Maybe you can learn something from it, and your knowledge might be put to use in the future.” Then, I moved to leave the bed again.
Right then, he hugged me from behind. “Lie down for a little longer.”
I pried his arms off and frowned when I noticed the new marks on his arms. They looked like scratch wounds. The scabs had fallen off, and the wound of the injuries was still red.
Noticing my stiffened body, his eyes followed my gaze to his arms. Immediately, he retracted them and casually asked, “What do you want to eat later?”
I remained quiet.
Seemingly worried that I would overthink, he sat beside me and held my hand. Gently, he squeezed and caressed it, but he was still silent.
“Are these from protecting Rebecca?” Perhaps it was a question too straightforward, but I could not think of another way to ask it.
He tensed up for a moment. When I sensed it, I took my hand back and sighed, “I’m going to take a shower.”
Maybe no answer was the best answer; it was better than hearing him tell me that all his injuries and scars had something to do with Rebecca.
I would rather be a fool who knew nothing.
