Abigail helped Zachary up. “Are you alright?”
Zachary wobbled a little as he got to his feet. “I’m fine.’
“I’ll get the first aid kit. Your face…”
Zachary caught her wrist. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Abigail held his gaze for a moment before sitting down.
“How did you know that Lulu’s dead?’ Ricky asked.
Abigail was eager to find out as well, and they both stared fixedly at Zachary. “Maybe there’s a mistake? Or you were being lied to?” Abigail held on to hope. Zachary wiped the blood oozing from the corner of his lips and growled, ’ My source is… very accurate.’
‘Who is it?” Ricky was clenching his fist, ready for another fight already.
Zachary, however, learned his lesson-fighting fire with fire never worked. Watching Ricky, he told him, “I’ll get you answers. I just need some time.’ Seeing that Zachary had a plan, Abigail spoke before Ricky could. “We’ll give you time, but it had better be worth it.”
‘Yeah,” Zacahry replied with staunch determination.
With that, Abigail got to her feed. “I’m tired. You two should go do what you should be doing.”
She returned to her room, leaning on the door as she closed it behind her, her eyes welling with tears right then.
Bzzt-
Her phone was suddenly ringing and she took it out to see that it was a call from Diarmuid.
She quickly wiped her face and composed herself before answering,” Hello?”
Despite Abigail’s best efforts in hiding her feelings, Diarmuid immediately heard the tears in her voice.
“Are you crying?” he asked quietly.
Abigail did her best to keep her voice in check while denying it. “No, I’m fine.”
There was silence on the other end. “Alright, you totally weren’t crying.”
Abigail hung her head right then, staring at her toes as she said, “I missed you.’
Learning what had happened to Lulu had left her feeling as if she was punched in the gut.
She did her best to keep herself in check, but with Diarmuid, she suddenly wanted a shoulder to lean on, and to feel vulnerable.
There was a long silence from the other end. “You should go to bed.”
Abigail asked, “Weren’t you supposed to come home once you’re done over there?”
“Something came up.”
Abigail felt despondent.
“I see,” she murmured, lowering her head as teardrops trickled over her eyelashes. “You called to tell me that you’re not returning soon, right?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
Heaving a long sigh, she mustered her spirit and said, “I’m fine. Just do what you have to, but tell me as soon as you have something.”
“Yeah.”
Abigail’s fingers clenched over her phone. “I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else.”
“Yeah.”
She put away her phone and stared blankly at nothing for a long while.
Late at night, while Abigail was sound asleep, the door opened as Diarmuid’s towering frame entered.
His jacket was slung over his hand, while his collar was loose, baring his muscular chest. There was stubble on his chin and fatigue showed in his eyes-a far cry from his former exuberant self.
If anything, he was gloomy.
Still, he did not wake anyone up as he tiptoed into the house, gently opening the door to their bedroom, illuminating by silver moonlight. He stood by the door, watching Abigail curling into herself on her bed and sound asleep.
He left the room without waking her, then washed off his travel weariness before putting on fresh clothes and returning to the bedroom.
Abigail was unable to fall asleep until it was very late, so she was now sound asleep, unable to sense that someone was in the room.
Walking up to the bed, Diarmuid quietly lay down beside her and wrapped his arms around her.
Although there was an emergency, he became worried when he heard Abigail’s tearful voice over the phone and returned ahead of schedule.
Abigail felt the warmth and snuggled against him.
Diarmuid gave her a peck on the forehead, patting her gently on the back, afraid of waking her up.
As Abigail woke up in a daze the next morning, she rubbed her eyes when she saw someone in front of her, before her vision cleared up.
“Diarmuid…?” Her raspy morning voice sounded quite surprised. “Y-You’re home?”
As she spoke, she reached out to touch his face as if to test if it was a dream.
His cheek was warm, and felt real to the touch.
It was no dream.
“What are you doing here? I thought you’re busy and won’t come back so soon…” she murmured.
Diarmuid tightened his embrace over her. “I’ve missed you.”
Abigail’s heart turned to mush just then and she leaned meekly in his arms, greedily reveling in his searing embrace.
After a while, he finally asked, “Why were you crying?”
Abigail had lost control after learning what happened to Lulu and her heart clenched with phantom pain at Diarmuid’s question.
“S-Something bad happened to Lulu,” she murmured softly.
Diarmuid’s brow furrowed.
He did not know Lulu all that well, but the string of tragedies lately threatened to overwhelm Abigail.
Having no idea how to comfort her, he simply kept holding on to her to offer her warmth.
At the same time, Abigail worked hard to calm herself, lifting her cheek slightly. “Is this going to set you back?”
“Nope,” Diarmuid replied, his fingers darting over her cheek as he brushed her hair behind her ear. “I’m staying here with you. You can sleep in.”
Abigail closed her eyes, and perhaps feeling secure with him around, actually fell asleep soon enough.
It was nine when she woke up again, but Diarmuid was still there.
As Abigail got out of bed, Diarmuid left the room first to check on Tommy.
Everyone else apart from Abigail and Diarmuid already had their breakfast, so they went to the dining table together.
‘l will have to drop by the office later,” Diarmuid said.
Abigail nodded-there definitely would be work waiting to be done since he just returned. I am…”
She wanted to ask Diarmuid about the photo in his notebook.
“What is it?”
As Diarmuid stared at her for a moment, Abigail shook her head. “No, it’s nothing.”
She should be trusting in Diarmuid-he would eventually tell her if there was anything she needed to know.
“Stay home and get some proper rest,” he told her before he left for work.
It just so happened that Abigail was feeling spirited for the day.
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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