Chapter 62 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

The more I thought of it, the urge to abort my child increased.

I knew that this was because of my poor mental state, but I could not help but keep thinking about it.

During the weekends, the bluebell trees along the main streets of J City bloomed. The lavender flowers lining the streets imbued this initially mundane city with a sense of vitality.

A few days later, I was discharged from the hospital. Anthony drove very slowly as if he was deliberately allowing me to admire the beautiful scenery along the streets.

I turned my head and stared at the scenery that whizzed by, but my gaze became unfocused.

“Anthony, I’ve lost my true self for too long.” Ever since I first met Anthony, I was no longer myself.

Instead, I was selfish, stubborn, and cold. Why did I turn out like this?

Frowning, a solemn look appeared on his handsome face. “Your stomach is getting bigger. Just leave the HiTech case aside for a while. Let’s take some time off and travel.”

I knew that he wanted me to destress, but I did not feel like going anywhere.

Shaking my head, I stroked my stomach. “The Featherstone Corporation’s audit is probably ending soon. I won’t be giving birth anytime soon anyway, so let’s settle the HiTech case first.”

He fell silent for a while before nodding. “Okay. If there’s anything wrong, come look for me.”

I remained silent after that. Glancing at the couples hugging each other on the streets, I recalled the past twenty years of my life. I did not seem to have dated someone properly.

I had never experienced the blissful feeling of love, nor how to love someone or be loved.

A quarter of my life had passed, yet I seemed to be constantly clueless.

At that thought, I could not help but cast my gaze downward and let out a self-mocking chuckle. Was my life destined to remain so bitter forever?

“What are you laughing about?” When Anthony noticed my action, he suddenly asked solemnly.

I shook my head and replied nonchalantly, “I suddenly thought of something amusing.”

“What?” Although he wanted to know, I was in no mood to answer.

Silence filled the car again.

After a short while, we arrived at the villa. When I stepped out of the car, Mrs. Eriksen rushed over and asked, “Are you feeling better? I made some oatmeal for you. Would you like to have some?”

Smiling faintly, I shook my head. “Mrs. Eriksen, you just brought me chicken soup this morning. I’m too full for anything else.”

She smiled and relented. “Okay, then. You can eat when you’re hungry later. Mr. Anthony had a swing built in the courtyard and planted a lot of flowers. Would you like to take a look?”

I knew that she wanted me to relax and get into a better mood. Hence, I squeezed her arm and smiled. “I’m fine, Mrs. Eriksen. I’ll go back to my bedroom to rest. You should take a break too.”

After entering my bedroom, I took out all the clothes in my closet and tossed them onto the bed. Then, I folded them and placed them into a suitcase.

When Anthony came in and saw what I was doing, a frosty look crept into his eyes. “Why are you packing up?”

With my head lowered, I continued folding my clothes and said, “I’m going to stay in Glenwood Apartments for a while.”

He grabbed my hand and stared at me, his fury evident. “Sienna, what are you doing?”

My heart ached. In the past, I would have heartbreakingly thrown the question back at him. I did not do anything, but why was I the one hurt in the end?

That day, I merely gazed at him calmly. “Anthony, I’m not trying to do anything. I just don’t want that night to happen again.”

After a short pause, I flung his hand away and continued packing my clothes. “We must not commit the same mistake over and over again. Both of us know very well that arguing won’t solve the problem. I know that you don’t love me too. I’ll try to forget the past.”

“What do you mean forget the past?” He scoffed, “Sienna, what do you want to forget? Me?”

Not knowing why he was so agitated, I sighed and said, “Stop being so hung up on it. I’ll give birth to and raise my baby well. I won’t intervene between you and Rylee.”

“Sienna!” He grabbed my hands again. His expression was cold, emanating a hostile aura. “How many times do I have to tell you that there’s nothing between Rylee and me? Are you leaving so urgently because you’ve already thought of a backup plan?”

I frowned, not wanting to argue with him. “Anthony, do you think that you didn’t do anything wrong at all?”

His face fell. “Do you want me to admit that I’m wrong?”

I was at a loss for words. As he refused to let me pack my clothes, I stood up and walked out of the bedroom without bringing anything along.

Suddenly, he hugged me from behind and slammed the door shut. With a solemn expression, he warned, “I won’t stop you from staying wherever you want. However, you can only do that after you give birth to your child. Before that, you must stay here.”

“Hah!” I felt an urge to burst into laughter. “Anthony, are you concerned about my child or your reputation? If you truly care about your child, why would I have several near-miscarriage experiences because of you? Aren’t you being ridiculous here!”

Looking at his conflicted expression, my smile widened. “What are you planning to do by forcing me to stay here? Do you want me to look at this painfully familiar house every day? Do you want me to be depressed, thinking about how you’re going to ruin me?”

A grim look crept into his eyes as if my words had managed to hurt him. He moved closer to me and asked coldly, “Am I such a despicable man to you?”

I scoffed, “Are you not?”

Anthony’s expression became extremely unpleasant. “Sienna, so this is the extent of your love.”

I no longer wanted to speak. It did not matter how much I loved him anymore. Gazing at him calmly, I replied, “I will make my love disappear slowly. Don’t worry, I won’t cause any trouble to you.”

“Hah!” spat Anthony as he left the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

After a few close encounters with death, I was able to keep my calm better. While I packed my clothes, Mrs. Eriksen rushed in. She grabbed my hand and persuaded, “Letty, you mustn’t leave! Although Mr. Anthony has a bad temper, you can see his sincerity. Youngsters like you must not make rash decisions. Otherwise, you might regret it in the future.”

Looking at Mrs. Eriksen, who was adamant about blocking my path, I felt a bit exasperated. “Mrs. Eriksen, I just don’t want to stay here. I’m not going somewhere far away.”

She shook her head and grasped my arm firmly. Seeing how resolved I was, she suddenly burst into tears.

I held onto my forehead, feeling helpless of what to do.

After some persuasion, I had no choice but to relent and stay behind. However, instead of staying in the master bedroom, I moved to a room on the top floor which was beside a rooftop garden.

By then, I was already three months pregnant and my stomach was starting to protrude. As I could not roam around much, I spent my days traveling between the office and the villa.

Luckily, there was not a lot of work to be done at HiTech. I just needed to go to the office to check the market reports and statistics every day.

I heard that Anthony had gone on a business trip, but I did not pay much attention to that. Although we stayed in the same house, our feelings for each other were not mutual. It did not matter to me where he went.

On a Friday evening, Macy called me and asked me out to shop. As my child would be born after a few months, I needed to buy some baby products.

Hence, I agreed. At that moment, Stacey placed a stack of documents on my desk and said, “Ms. Stanhope, the audit for Featherstone Corporation is almost completed. We can finish it after a few days. This is the report for Harrison Credit’s audit, which you can take a look at it. I’ll get the one for AC Credit tomorrow.”

Glancing at the pile of documents on the desk, I nodded. As I had previously asked her to pay attention to OrbitTech, I asked, “Let me see the market report for HiTech. The feedback for the products seems quite good. Are there any updates regarding OrbitTech?”

She replied, “Yes. OrbitTech and HiTech have released a product in the AI education category at the same time. As their target consumer group is students, their publicity efforts are mainly concentrated in schools. The product is quite good, but the price and cost are quite high. Hence, only a selected group of people can afford it.”

I nodded. “Okay. Continue keeping an eye on them. If necessary, you can arrange for a meeting between the president of OrbitTech and myself.”

As OrbitTech was focused on technology research and development, its marketing and management efforts were not exceptional. If Featherstone Corporation could acquire a technology powerhouse like OrbitTech, it could have a breakthrough for its future developments in the technology field.

Stacey nodded. “Understood. However, the manager of OrbitTech’s marketing department seems to be in close contact with a technology company in A City.”

“I see.” As a technology company, it probably wanted to find investors to expand its business. Not concerned about it, I raised my head and looked at Stacey. “Are you dating?”

She was stunned for a while before smiling shyly. “Yeah, we’re going to get married soon.” As she spoke, she subconsciously touched the wedding ring on her finger.

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