“Open the door.”
There was banging on the door. But there was no response. Waylen was worried, mad, “Open the door! You know I have more than one way to open it!”
In the room, there was pitch darkness. Leilani sat next to the window and put her head against the cold frame. Staring at the distance, she didn’t know what she was looking at. She just felt she was stuffed.
She knew it was no use dwelling on what had happened.
She felt she walked at the cliff, and there was a bridge she could walk on. But it was cut off by Waylen. Maybe it didn’t belong to her after all.
But she was struggling why he didn’t give it to her earlier. He knew how much it meant for her!
Bang-
Some noises soon came from outside. Leilani looked around, hearing the bang, and the door was falling down.
He had the door knocked down!
How insane was he!
Leilani suddenly felt a thundering headache. She saw next to the window and put her head between her knees.
Waylen walked in.
“Leilani, I don’t know what you’re afraid of. But if you get ill, I’ll keep you company. I’ll get you the best of the best. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re safe. If you’re worried I don’t like the baby, I’ll try to like it. If you…”
Leilani shook her head. She raised her head and cried. Before she had a chance to answer, Olivia was at the door, “What happened? Where’s all the noise coming from? Oh my god, why is the door knocked down?”
Olivia opened the light and saw Leilani sitting by the window with tears. She pushed Waylen off, “Are you mean to Leilani? I’m warning you this is a presidential house and not your place. Where do you think you are? How dare you knock off the door here? Don’t you have any manners?”
Then she handed over tissues to Leilani, “Leilani, don’t be afraid. I won’t let anything happen to you here.”
Leilani rubbed her temple. She already had a headache, and her mother just made it worse. Olivia acted like she would die before anything should happen to Leilani. Leilani couldn’t really say anything more.
“Mom, I’m okay. Why don’t you leave me alone? And get someone to install a new door.”
“No. How can I leave while you’re like this?” Olivia glared at Waylen, “Didn’t you hear what Leilani said? Get out. I’ll stay with her.”
Waylen was gloomy. He just stood there and wouldn’t move.
Leilani took the tissues and pressed them on her eyes. They wet the tissues soon. She crumbled them into a ball and said, “Mom, I want to speak to him in private.”
Olivia looked at her with worry. Then she gave Waylen a dissatisfying look. She didn’t want to leave her alone with Waylen, but he wouldn’t leave. She could do nothing about it, “Give me a call if you need anything.”
Olivia was afraid Waylen would do something worse than breaking apart the door.
Watching Olivia go, Tinder also left with all the help. Leilani and Waylen were alone in the empty room.
Leilani leaned against the window and tilted her head at Waylen. Her eyes were red due to the crying.
“Waylen, I just want to know one thing. Why didn’t you give the drugs to me at first? Or did you plan to give them to Diana?”
Waylen’s hand, reaching out to her, frozen in the air, “Didn’t you see everything today? I didn’t give them to you first because…”
Leilani leaned against the cool glass. Behind her was the quiet night of the presidential house, sprinkled with star lights.
Leilani’s brunette hair was on her beautiful back and neck languishing. She tilted her head to look at Waylen.
Waylen stood beside her and reached out his hands to wipe her tears, “I didn’t give them to you first because I sent them to testing. How can I watch you be a guinea pig with some unknown drugs?”
Leilani slightly opened her rosy lips due to surprise. She didn’t expect to hear that.
But it was all over Waylen to test it. He did test the drugs Charles gave her too.
“And the result?”
“It contains multiple herbs. It is harmless to the human body except for the tiny lead.”
Waylen curled his fingers and moved down on Leilani’s tearful cheek.
“You stupid girl, if anything should happen to you, how would I live on my own? Your life is mine. No one would dare to take it without my consent.”
“Sometimes, it doesn’t necessarily work out.”
Waylen looked at her like she was a terminal patient.
“Leilani, it’s not like you at all. I don’t know what you’re afraid of. But whatever it is, I’ll keep your company in life or in death. You don’t have to doubt it.”
Leilani was shocked by his serious look. It was like he would follow her steps if she was gone one day.
Leilani felt this extreme pain in her heart, thinking if he found out why the drugs meant so much to her one day, he would find it harder to accept than she was.
Leilani was relieved, and the thing she kept struggling with had an answer. Maybe he couldn’t forget to get what didn’t belong to her.
Or maybe it wasn’t necessarily a dead-end…
So she reached out to Waylen, “I’m tired. Hold me to the bed.”
Waylen picked Leilani up easily. The door was busted. He held her up to the next room. Then he wiped her face with a towel and pulled the quilt to lie with her.
Waylen lay on his side, his hand supporting his head, kept looking at her belly.
Every time Waylen looked like this, Leilani felt he was about to do something.
As it turned out, he got to the bottom of her dress with his warm hand and moved up along his thigh.
Leilani slightly shook. The feeling was deja-vu. His touch made her itchy, and it went all the way up from her feet until he stopped at her belly.
“You…”
Leilani was about to ask what he had in mind. Waylen leaned over and kissed her. His lip touched hers. Waylen bit hers and whispered.
“Do you mind if I say something to it?”
Em, he did say he would try to like the baby.
Leilani gave him an encouraging smile, “Go ahead.”
Waylen then pulled the quilt away and sat down solemnly.
“You look like you’re in the middle of a meeting.”
Leilani held back the laughter. Waylen looked like he was ready to seal hundreds of millions of dollars.
“He’d better listen.”
It was the same order tone. It was like the only tone he knew to others.
Leilani held Waylen’s hand and reminded him, “Waylen, be nice to him as you promised!”
Waylen held back here’s to assure her. Then he cleared his throat, “Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way…”
Leilani burst out laughing.
“Hahaha…” Leilani bent over to laugh. She could sense Waylen’s hurt look behind her back. But she couldn’t control herself. She was shaking because she kept laughing. Her belly was suddenly kicked.
She hurried to sit back and faced Waylen, “I like it.”
She held his hands to put on her belly.
The baby kicked her belly again. Leilani held Waylen’s hands so tightly again, “He likes it too.”
Waylen held Leilani in his arms so she could lean on his chest, “Am I not a good singer? Why are you laughing?”
Leilani shakes her head as she laughs, “You’re so cute, you know?”
Waylen had a good voice. But it sounded different to hear a child’s song from him.
He probably only learned it once or twice. He didn’t even stay on the tune. No wonder he was reluctant to sing to the baby.
“I don’t know that.”
“It’s okay. The baby likes it…”
“Do you?”
Waylen’s voice was hot and low. He whispered in her ears and her earlobes got hot. Leilani insisted, “Does it matter that I like?”
“A lot. You laughed,” Waylen said seriously, “you’re having a good laugh. The doctor said the anxiety could get eased through doing something you enjoy.”
Leilani didn’t know what to say, “Waylen, you’re the one with anxiety.”
Why did she become the one with anxiety?
“If you and the baby like my singing, I’ll learn morn songs?”
Leilani didn’t know what to say.
She leaned in his arms and fell to sleep, hearing his story. Although Waylen didn’t admit, Leilani thought he would make a terrific father.
The next morning, Leilani turned aside in a daze. She wanted to get in Waylen’s arms as a habit. But she felt nothing…
Leilani opened her eyes. Waylen’s side was empty. He was already up.
The maid heard the footsteps. She knew Leilani was up and hurried to come in, “Miss Peters, your phone kept ringing earlier. Mr. Bamford asked me to mute it so you could get more sleep.”
Then she handed the phone over to Leilani.
“Where’s he?”
Leilani asked. She looked down, and it was Gabby’s number.
“Mr. Bamford is in the kitchen. He said he would cook you breakfast…”
Leilani dialed back, hearing the noises downstairs. She heard her mother complaining at first. The toast was too dry, and the salad had too much dressing. Or the milk was too sweet.
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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