Chapter 96 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

I had my lunch late in the afternoon, and John had forced me to eat a larger portion than I usually did. Hence, I did not have an appetite for food at that moment. However, looking at Mrs. Eriksen’s smile, I realized I could not possibly reject her.

Thus, I answered, “Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Eriksen.”

Reaching out to take the bowl from her, Mrs. Eriksen hastily said, “Don’t! I’ll do it. It’s too hot, and I’m afraid you might scald yourself.”

After putting the bowl onto the table and wiping her hands, she inquired, “Did you have a fight with Mr. Anthony?”

It was normal for her to have heard our loud argument from downstairs.

Therefore, I nodded and sat down by the side of the table. “Yes.”

She sighed, seemingly exasperated. “You young people are always so short-tempered. Why can’t you discuss everything calmly instead? Did you have to get into an argument?”

I smiled but said nothing to that. I knew best what happened between the two of us, not Mrs. Eriksen.

“Letty.” She sat down beside me and held my hand. “You’ve been with the Featherstones for almost three years. I’ve practically raised Mr. Anthony myself. He’s a short-tempered and quiet man, so he’ll keep many things in his heart.”

She then sighed, “After you came to the Featherstones, Mr. Featherstone thought Mr. Anthony will open up and become kinder if you two spent time together. However, the two of you kept arguing day and night. Since you’re both married, why don’t you try to make life easier?”

I knew Mrs. Eriksen said that with good intentions, so I patted her hand and consoled, “Mrs. Erikson, the scariest thing someone can do is to try to change a person. I won’t try to change Anthony, and I can’t, anyway. This is my fate. I’ll try my best to refrain from arguing with him from now on. Don’t worry.”

With reddened eyes, she shook her head gently. “You’re young, and you have to remember to cherish the days of you two being together. Otherwise, when you grow old and look back at your memories, you’ll realize that you let the person go too easily—that you’ve let go of your love halfway down the road. When you’re in your twilight years, you’ll realize your life is full of regrets. It’s normal to have regrets, but if those are all you have, you’ll feel awful about your hasty decision.”

I nodded, not knowing what to tell her. Now that I thought about it, the wall between Anthony and I did not seem towering.

It was a small wall, built up by many insignificant matters. Yet, when all these trivial matters piled up together, it was impossible for me not to explode in anger. I couldn’t list out everything that troubled me clearly, for the grievances in my heart had long merged into one.

“Thank you, Mrs. Eriksen.” I knew she wanted us to live a better life than this.

However, she seemed to sense that I did not plan to heed her words, so she sighed, “You’re just too stubborn.”

A laugh escaped me, and I nodded. “You’re right.”

Feeling helpless, she paused for a second before continuing, “Letty, don’t think that you don’t have a place in Mr. Anthony’s heart. Last night, he asked where you were multiple times after he came home. You changed your phone number, so he thought you left for good. He was so anxious that he did everything he could to find out where you were. When he found out you were at Q City, he nearly rushed to look for you. You know he just came out of the hospital, and he hasn’t fully recovered yet; he’s supposed to be resting. Dr. Crest was afraid that something might happen to him if he went to look for you, so he stopped him. That was why he left early this morning to pick you up.”

A few beats later, she sighed again. “I can see that Mr. Anthony cares for you a lot and you clearly care for him, too. Why can’t you both just stay by each other’s side peacefully?”

“Mrs. Erikson, were you in the middle of cooking?” I interrupted.

Immediately, she stopped and took a whiff of the air. Then, she jumped to her feet. “Oh no! I was making stew for Mr. Anthony!”

At that, she rushed downstairs.

Staring at the untouched soup, I found myself lost in my thoughts. I was born without getting much love and attention in my life, and the “so-called” love that I met was pretty much the same.

In fact, I had never experienced much familial love not to mention romantic love. Hence, I didn’t know much about love, nor have I learned how to love someone.

Grandma adopted me, and she showed me what love and care were in those short years. I regarded her and her care as the figure of love.

On the contrary, John’s extreme behavior, inflexibility, and apathy meant stubbornness to me.

Whereas Macy’s protection and support meant friendship to me.

As for Anthony, in the two years of our married life, he rarely treated me well. I dared not consider those rare moments as romantic love.

It had not been my intention to misinterpret it as love.

I liked Anthony, and that was why I could endure his cold treatment to me in silence. However, that did not mean I could pretend to be a fool who saw his cheap love as true love.

The sky was getting darker, and I was exhausted. Yet, I could not fall asleep despite lying on the bed for quite some time. I had gotten used to sleeping with Macy.

Right now, to lie on the bed all by myself, I felt as if there was a gap in my heart. Outside the window, the wind was howling. Soon, the heavy rain came.

Sleepless, I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already one in the morning. Too frustrated to lie still anymore, I headed to the balcony instead.

As I was soaked by the rain the last time I was on the balcony, Anthony had made some modifications to the balcony. Now, raindrops could not reach me, only the cold breeze.

Still frustrated, I went down the stairs to the garden instead.

Mrs. Eriksen had planted many plants in the garden. Now that it was raining heavily, the plants were tilting to the side by the force of the raindrops. The sight of them mirrored my mood.

I could not help but think of how much the plants and I had in common. With that thought, I walked into the garden and let the rain shower on me.

My summer pajamas were thin, and in several seconds, I was soaked from head to toe. The rain was not cold, but it felt good to be in it. I had been sheltering the sorrow in me, and I crouched down to let the tears fall quietly.

No one could keep living without ever venting their emotions, so the rain was my chance to express my agony freely.

When Mrs. Eriksen found me, I was in the middle of crying. She anxiously came to me with an umbrella, trying to drag me back to the house. However, she was not as young as me; if I did not want to leave, there was no way she could move me from my spot.

Out of options, she threw the umbrella aside and ran to the living room. When she came back out, she had a raincoat in her hands. As she put it on me, she consoled, “Letty, you can’t do this to yourself. Even if you don’t think about yourself, think about the baby in you. What shall I do if something happens to you?”

To me, her words were lost in the howling wind. All I wanted to do was to crouch down and cry, hoping that I could cry out all the grievance and misery in me.

Although the rain in midsummer was not cold, I was still a pregnant woman. Even if I were in the best of health, my body would not be able to take it after being in the rain for an hour.

At that moment, the world spun around me.

Just then, I heard Mrs. Eriksen’s delighted voice. “Mr. Anthony, you’re back!”

I turned instinctively and saw Anthony in a black suit by the doorway. Then, he walked toward me with a furious look in his eyes.

After he lifted me up into his arms, he entered the house.

My eyes were sore from the prolonged crying, and I could see that he had a gloomy expression on his face. Then, I shut my eyes as I don’t want to see him anymore.

Since Anthony was back, Mrs. Eriksen no longer intervened in our matters.

After closing the bedroom door, Anthony pulled off my clothes and carried me into the bathroom.

As he said nothing, I kept my lips sealed as well. The bathroom was dead silent.

Time ticked by, and my freezing body finally gained some warmth. Even my sore eyes felt better by now.

I opened them slowly, the sight of Anthony’s stony look and piercing gaze greeted me. After a while, he uttered, “Is it fun tormenting yourself?”

At that, I furrowed my brows. Feeling uneasy being in a tub, lying stark naked for him to see, so I tried to get up and leave the bathroom.

However, he quickly pressed me back into the tub. “Stay still.”

My frown deepened, and I shot him a surly look. “I want to sleep.”

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