I had many enemies in this world, but none would follow me here to the family home.
After calming down my wild thoughts, I turned around slowly.
Anthony’s tall figure blocked my sight. His eyes were cold as though he didn’t recognize me. A suffocating hostility filled the room.
A shiver ran down my spine. He was looking at me like his nemesis.
In midst of panicking, I blurted out, “Why are you here?”
I regretted saying those words the moment they left my mouth. Anthony came to the family home the most, so it wasn’t odd for him to be here.
I, however, shouldn’t be here. Instead of staying in my room at the Stanhope residence, I was standing in front of him.
He lowered his gaze. His aloofness intensified by his silence. I finally realized he was looking at the picture frame in my hands.
I handed him the frame. Time froze for a few seconds. He took it and placed it aside without sparing a glance.
“You’re mounting an investigation on me.” He sounded indifferent, yet terrifying.
Deceiving to a genius like him was equivalent to self-deception, so I told the truth.
“Yes.” I didn’t think I was wrong. “Since you refused to tell me the truth, I can only look into it on my own. Was I wrong to do that?”
Anthony furrowed his brows as anger filled his eyes. “I’ve told you before. You only need to take care of yourself; I’ll handle the rest.”
“Yeah. I know you’re omnipotent. But I can’t sit by and watch you risk your life. Anthony, this is not your problem. It’s ours. Why do you always have to shoulder everything yourself?” I released all the pent-up frustration that I had been suppressing at him.
“We promised to be honest with each other. Why won’t you believe me? You teamed up with everyone to deceive me. You thought you had a flawless plan, but I’m no fool. I know you’re hurt. Am I a selfish woman in your heart? Do you think I would accept all your arrangements, knowing how painful it has been for you?”
I really couldn’t comprehend why was he behaving like this. Everything was finally getting better. Even the walls he had built around himself had crumbled.
A deafening silence enveloped the night. I could hear my voice echoing in the room.
Anthony was an unmovable mountain to me. The darkness from the endless abyss residing in his eyes was pushing me away. I couldn’t pick up his emotions at all. The man I loved was hiding himself from me behind an indestructible barrier.
This time, he did it. He locked me outside his formidable fortress successfully.
A few feet separated us, but it felt as if we were living in two different dimensions. And it was as if we were living in different worlds. For a long time, I thought my efforts had paid off, and I was beginning to understand him. In the end, he still pushed me away. We stared at each other in silence for a long time. Suddenly, Anthony had snapped out of his daze. He walked to the cabinet and took the picture frame.
“What will you do if you lose your faith one day?” His voice was laced with a tinge of sorrow.
His words came out of the blue and I didn’t know how to reply. After being dumbfounded for a few seconds, I tested the waters. “Is this related to your parents’ death?”
He ignored my question. “There will be a charity auction tomorrow at Subis Auction. The philanthropist who has a connection with Armond will show up. I’ve already booked your flight ticket.”
I was confused. “I’m not asking you about this. All I want to know is what is keeping you busy these days. Is there anything else besides business and revenge? Are you really okay? Can I believe the report for your checkup?”
Anthony was way too intelligent and detail. Since he followed me to J City, he would’ve everything planned out. Millie’s friend might be trustworthy, but K City was Anthony’s territory. Altering a medical report was a piece of cake to him.
All my life, I took every step with caution, like treading on ice. I dealt with Armond’s schemes and Ezra’s endless and deliberate attempts to make my life a living hell. Never in my wildest imagination did I expect the man I loved would keep secrets from me. I couldn’t even figure out when he was telling the truth or lying to me.
In the face of my confrontation, Anthony remained calm. A moment later, he whispered, “I’m just carrying out my fate.”
With his back against me, he drooped his head and stared at the photo in his hand.
He took in a deep breath and placed the frame back on the cabinet.
While watching his every move, it shocked me to see red gushing out from his palm. The blood was dripping onto the floor.
“Anthony!” I grabbed his hand and flipped it over. My heart sunk when I saw the deep cut on his palm.
Has he been holding the broken shards from the frame all this time?
He stared lifelessly at the red in his palm as if he didn’t feel the pain at all.
“Silas!” I shouted at the top of my lungs without a care about my image. “Silas, quick, get the medical kit here!”
It pained the people who cared for us more than the ones who were wounded.
After seeing Anthony in this state, I couldn’t bring myself to question him anymore and pushed my doubts aside.
I was expressionless when I bandaged his wound. Sitting face to face with him, I avoided eye contact with him.
I understood how agonizing it was to suppress emotions. Without an outlet to release the unbearable intensity one was experiencing, one would resort to self-harm to minimize the agony.
The pain Anthony was suffering was way worse than losing his parents.
Silas was scared out of his wits when he heard Anthony was injured. He waited outside the room with the maids and refused to leave.
The room was so silent that I could hear our breaths. I fell into a daze, staring at the bandage.
He was human, too. His ice-icy heart would warm up one day.
Perhaps his heart was cold before he met me in this room. However, he couldn’t bear to see me in tears after I showed him my pain.
He reached out and took me into his arms. I stayed in his warm embrace for the entire night and he didn’t let go.
To board the earliest flight back to K City, we woke up before dawn.
When we left the bedroom, I glanced back and saw the picture frame being placed upside down again.
After an hour, the plane landed. We split up at the airport and went back to make preparations.
The charity auction was a high-profile event, and even those slightly popular media in K City posted articles about this. It was said that only the wealthy and the elites of the world could take part.
I really didn’t know how Anthony got his hands on two invitations.
When I reached the Stanhope residence, I placed the flight ticket and invitation card on the coffee table in my bedroom. The flight was scheduled at seven in the evening, so I had the entire day to get ready.
Initially, I planned to spend the weekend with Summer. However, ever since she realized she was gifted in mathematics, she would shut herself in the study all day, and I felt bad to disturb.
Jackson and Lydia came in the afternoon. They planned to immigrate to M Country and wanted to meet Summer for the last time before their departure.
I led Jackson to the study and opened the door slowly. We tiptoed into the room to avoid disturbing Summer. Then, he halted in his tracks and stood a metre away from Summer and looked at the child.
After some time, she finally our presence in the room and turned around.
When she saw Jackson, her face lit up with a wide grin. Putting away her pen, she walked toward us slowly to greet him politely. “Mr. Jackson, you’re here.”
He smiled and ruffled her hair gently. “I’m here. Did I disturb you when you’re studying?”
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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