Chapter 85 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

He raised his head to look at me, and I could see his eyes were unfocused. “Have you eaten?”

I nodded and sighed. It seemed like he had drunk more than usual, so I stood up to get him some water. However, he stopped me.

Pulling me to his leg, he narrowed his eyes. “Where are you going?”

“I’m getting some water for you.” Why does he look like a child when he acts like this?

He slowly nodded. “I’ll come with you.” With that said, he stood up. Unfortunately for him, his body refused to cooperate, and he sat back down when he lost his balance.

“It’s fine. Be good and sit here. I’ll get you some water. Stop making things difficult for yourself.” You’re already in such a state. Why are you insisting on coming with me?

After returning with some water for him, I saw his arms hanging by the side of his body, as if he had no bones. I could not help but sigh as I lifted the glass to his lips. “Open your mouth.”

Squinting at me, he mumbled, “Sienna.”

“Yes.” After he took a sip, I reached out, about to take his clothes off when he stopped me. “Don’t move.”

“Anthony, you should seriously get some sleep now.” A glance at the time told me it was already midnight.

He nodded, stood up, and announced, “Okay, I’ll be heading home first. It’s not safe for Sienna to be alone.”

Huh?

How much did he drink?

Pulling him back to the bed, I cupped his cheeks and told him, “Anthony, you’re already home. Look at me. I’m Sienna.”

He widened his eyes to look at me again. The usual coldness in his eyes was nowhere to be found at that moment. Instead, some tenderness was in his eyes. He reached up to touch my face and smiled. “You’ve come to pick me up. Let’s go home.”

It looks like he really drank a lot.

“Okay, let’s go home,” I relented as I helped him up. Just as I was about to take him around the house before coming back, he ended up dragging me down the stairs, stumbling the entire time.

Out of all the rooms in the house, he brought me to the main bedroom. I thought it had been completely remodeled, but it had not. The sandalwood bed was gone; it had been changed into a tatami.

The wedding photos we took back then covered the wall, and a small pastel cot was by the side of the bed.

The wardrobe remained, but the men had changed it to a walk-in closet instead. It was spacious. I liked it a lot.

I only saw what changed in the master bedroom when I entered then; I had only checked out the nursery earlier.

Anthony took me around the room before giving me a silly grin. “Do you like it?”

“I do.” He was an aloof man, so I was sure that the remodeled color palette was meant for me.

He had drunk a lot. After walking around the room, he fell asleep on the bed.

Monday soon arrived.

It was a working day – Anthony usually woke early. As I had nothing else to do, I came to the office with him.

Stacey had rested a few days by now. When I saw her again, she looked much better. It seemed like she had finally collected herself.

When she caught sight of me, she smiled. “Ms. Stanhope, I wish to talk to you.”

I nodded and led her into the office.

Stacey was someone I had known for two to three years, and in certain personality aspects, we were the same. After motioning her to take a seat, I said, “I’ve already sent in the audit for Featherstone Corporation. You’ll have to pay more attention to HiTech’s case. My stomach is growing larger, and I’m experiencing more pregnancy symptoms by the day. There might be things I might miss out on, so it’ll be best if you go through them too.”

With her hands on her knees overlapping each other, the woman turned towards me after a brief pause. “I am here to tender my formal resignation, Ms. Stanhope!”

I widened my eyes in surprise. “I didn’t think you’d give up on this job so easily, especially after how hard you’ve worked.”

Everyone makes mistakes, but you don’t have to leave because of it! Just fix it and move on!

I was starting to grow anxious when she kept quiet. “What’s your reason for leaving?”

“I might be getting married soon, and my husband wants me to stay home and look after the family.” Judging by her regretful tone of voice, I could tell that she was actually reluctant to resign.

“But you haven’t got kids, right? You can still work after getting married! Besides, you’ll probably find it difficult adjusting to life without work.”

Grandpa had also wanted me to stay at home back then… I know he meant well. He didn’t want me to overwork myself, but I couldn’t stand watching Anthony and Rylee being so close to each other every day!

Stacey nodded and flashed me a faint smile. “I’m sorry, but I’ve already made up my mind. Thank you for all your support and guidance during my time here, Ms. Stanhope.”

Having no reason to try and stop her any further, I nodded and said, “Very well, then. Email me your resignation letter and then hand over your work.”

She gave me a nod of acknowledgment and began walking out of my office. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and turned around all of a sudden. “Ms. Stanhope, things are not as simple as they seem with Featherstone Corporation’s audit and HiTech.”

I looked at her in confusion, but she had left before I could ask her what she meant by that.

My mind sure is a mess lately… I keep forgetting things, and I can’t even think straight at times… I know there’s something wrong with Featherstone Corporation’s audit and HiTech, but I can’t quite point out what it is. Oh well… Anthony won’t discuss work at home, so I guess I’ll have to set that issue aside for now…

At lunchtime, I got a call from Anthony telling me to go to his office and have lunch with him.

I wasn’t sure if he had done it on purpose, but I noticed quite a lot of changes when I arrived. For starters, the color theme in his office had been changed, and the plants originally placed by the door had been replaced with two pots of cupheas.

The previously empty lobby was now also decorated with all sorts of potted plants.

Joseph had finished packing and was about to head out for lunch when he saw me. “Mr. Featherstone is in his office. You may go straight in, Ms. Stanhope!” he said after a brief pause.

I nodded in response and glanced at the newly-added desk in the corner. “You guys have a new hire in the Secretarial Department?”

Joseph, being a man of few words, nodded and replied, “Yeah!”

I knew I wasn’t going to get any information out of him, so I didn’t bother asking any further. I headed straight into Anthony’s office.

The man was busy with his work when I entered, so he pointed towards the food on the table when he saw me. “Help yourself. I’ll be done in a bit.”

“Okay,” I muttered as I eyed the Devil’s Ivy on his desk and began chowing down.

He sat down next to me after he was done. “Is there anywhere, in particular, you would like to go?”

I shook my head. “Nope!”

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