“Are you caring for me?” he whispers, a slight smile on his face.
“No,” she says, dropping his hands.
“I’ve recently realized, I’m quite protective of you.”
Waylen’s gaze is intense and hot, and Leilani can feel herself blushing. He grabs her hand and leans down to kiss her again.
Leilani turns aside swiftly, “Don’t bother. I know what you’re really doing no matter how good pretend to be.”
“What am I doing?”
“Don’t act innocent—you know just as well as I do,” she snaps.
She reminds herself of the ring he gave to Leonie.
“I can’t let myself forget,” she thinks, “He’s just playing games with me to distract me from the fact that he gave her a 200 million dollar ring. He might pretend to have feelings, but it’s all an act—designed to distract me from the divorce. I have to stay strong.”
Leilani fumes as she gets into the car. Robert helps Waylen in, and then the car speeds off into the night. David Walter is waiting for them in the main room when they arrive at the Bamford house.
David takes Waylen’s temperature and makes a grim expression, “You have a high fever—I’ll give you some vitamin tablets.”
“Why don’t you prescribe proper medication?” Leilani asks.
David looks sadly at Waylen, “Waylen is allergic to a lot of medications.”
“Since when are you allergic to medicine?” Leilani asks Waylen, “I thought you were only allergic to mustard.”
“Ahh,” Waylen says, “I guess you don’t know me as well as you think.”
Leilani can’t decide if she wants to roll her eyes or scream. She knows that she was forced to study every single fact about Waylen in an effort to appeal to his family before their marriage. Now that her memory is gone, she can’t remember even the most basic information about his likes and dislikes.
“Maybe I should think of it as a blessing,” she thinks, “Once I start my new life, the less I remember about Waylen the better.”
Robert hands Leilani various bottles of vitamins, “I’m afraid you’ll need to take care of Mr. Bamford for the next few days.”
“Wait a moment, I haven’t got my phone yet,” Leilani objects, “Waylen said I could have my phone today.”
“Waylen isn’t feeling well and I think you should concentrate on nurturing him back to health first,” Robert responds, “Once he feels better, he can give your phone back.”
Leilani reaches out to touch Waylen’s forehead. His skin burns against her fingertips—any doubts she had about David’s diagnosis vanish instantly. Waylen suddenly opens his eyes and stares at her hungrily.
“Are you hitting on me?” he whispers hoarsely.
Leilani quickly pulls her hand away.
“That’s your fever talking,” she says, “I think we should take you to the hospital.”
“I got this damn flu because of you, you know,” Waylen snarls.
“It’s your own fault,” Leilani says, “You knew I was sick but you refused to stay away from me.”
“How can I stay away from you when you’re always seducing me?”
“Did you hear what you just said?” Leilani scoffs as if she’s just heard a ridiculous joke, “It’s time to take your vitamins.”
Robert nods his agreement and a servant prepares a tray with the tablets and a glass of water.
“You’ll need to help Mr. Bamford take his vitamins,” Robert tells Leilani.
“He can take them himself,” Leilani says, “He’s not a toddler, is he?”
“Mrs. Bamford, you’re his wife and you should take care of him,” Robert scolds.
“That means nothing,” Leilani says, “Most husbands and wives are like birds in a forest. They fly off in opposite directions as soon as disaster strikes.”
“Only you would abandon me when something bad happens,” Waylen complains.
“Leilani is gaining more and more power,” Waylen thinks bitterly, “She used to be a caged bird but now she’s like an eagle keen on freedom. I wish I could break her wings and keep her from flying away.”
“I think Mr. Bamford will heal faster if you take care of him,” Robert said through gritted teeth.
He tries to pass the tray to Leilani, but she refuses to take it. Robert gives her a meaningful look and makes a gesture as if he’s using a phone. Leilani realizes that he’s suggesting that Waylen may give her her phone if she cares for him.
She quickly rearranges her expression into one of the concerns, “I’ve never taken care of someone before. Aren’t you afraid I’ll make things worse?”
Robert replies, “There’s no need to worry. The servants will tell you how to do it.”
“Why don’t they just do it then?” Leilani asks.
“Mr. Bamford is very selective about the people he allows close to him,” Robert says lightly.
Robert can feel Waylen glaring at him, and he avoids his boss’ gaze. Leilani reluctantly takes the tray, and Robert feels as if a weight has lifted from his shoulders. He’d rather not be the one to care for Waylen and suffer his silent, feverish anger.
Waylen lies on his back on the sofa, watching Leilani through narrowed eyes. He holds his chest with both hands and casually stretches out his legs. Despite his illness, he looks handsome and intriguing. Leilani feels chills run down her spine as he looks at her and she puts the tray down heavily. She shakes a few tablets onto her palm and approaches Waylen.
Instead of taking the tablets from her, Waylen opens his mouth. Leilani frowns at his shamelessness and carelessly tosses all of the tablets into his mouth at once. Waylen coughs violently as they get caught in his throat.
“Are you trying to murder your own husband?” he hisses.
He reaches a glass of water, but Leilani pushes it roughly toward his face. The boiling water splashes out of the cup and burns his lips and tongue.
“So you don’t want your phone back?” he snarls.
Leilani frowns at his threat. Then she gets up to bring him cold water to soothe his tongue. She hands him the glass and tries to sit on a chair near the couch, but Waylen pulls her down and held her against his side. She can’t help but wonder if he’s as ill as he claims.
Angered by his possessive move, she tries to jerk away from him. Robert enters the room with a procession of bodyguards—each man carries a pile of leather-bound ledgers. They place the books on the table, covering the entire surface. Waylen nods his dismissal, and Robert and the bodyguards step aside.
Leilani gets up, “I’ll leave you alone to work.”
She assumes that Waylen is going to work—the books look like business ledgers and she’s sure that Waylen is the type of man who refuses to take a sick day. But Waylen pulls her arm, forcing her back down onto the sofa.
“I’m not working.”
“Then what are you doing?” Leilani asks.
She looks at the neatly bound books and realizes they’re photo albums.
“I want you to know me,” Waylen says.
He holds out his band and Robert hands him one of the books from the stack. There’s a picture of a smiling baby on the cover. Waylen opens the album, revealing that it’s filled with his baby photos.
His small body is wrinkled, and his eyes are closed in many of the photos. He looks like a grumpy old man with little chubby arms.
“It was a natural birth,” he says, “I weighed 8.6 pounds and measured 58 cm.”
“Why do you want me to know this?” Leilani asks.
“I want you to know everything about me,” he says with great intensity, “Who I am. My past. Everything.”
“The past is the past. Why bother with it?” Leilani asks.
“So you want to know me now?” Waylen asks, turning the album page and gazing up at her.
“Not exactly.”
Leilani avoids his gaze. Instead, she looks at the new picture and laughs out loud. Baby Waylen is trying to lift his head, but it’s too heavy for him. After several similar photos, he gives up. The next series of photos show him using his chubby hands to lift his body. Little by little he raises his read, trying so hard that his little forehead wrinkles with the effort.
“Even as a baby, he was persistent,” Leilani thinks.
“You were so cute then,” Leilani says, “Much cuter than you are now.”
“You think so?” Waylen asks, “Maybe we should make one of our own.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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