They finally reached their destination, though neither of them expected a crowd today. The place was so jam-packed that they had to step down from the bike and finish the rest of the journey on foot. Hoyt could not stop repeating every once in a while, “Please follow me, Miss McKinnon. Don’t get lost in the crowd!”He kept reminding her enough that Deirdre could not stop teasing him. “Heehee. I’m an adult, you know. Not a kid?”Hoyt turned and caught her gentle smile, and his cheeks burned… again. “I… I didn’t mean— I meant, you’re not familiar with this place, and your eyes aren’t very good, so if you get lost, you won’t know where to find me!”“It’s going to be fine. If I get lost, I’ll just stand where I am. I know you’ll locate me again until you find me.”“T-True.” God, Hoyt felt like he was walking on air. He sped up his pace a little and led Deirdre to a shop. Parking his bike in its front, he said, “Here you go. Check around and see if there’s anything you like. Just pi
The woman was doing a crappy job of hiding her lack of confidence. “We’re not, like, speaking anymore!”“But you didn’t say the two of you are divorced, did you? Why wouldn’t you answer the question?”The woman’s indignance turned into rage. “Who the f*ck are you? Why are you getting in between our business?”“No, Miss McKinnon’s completely right.” Hoyt suddenly spoke up. Frigidness had shadowed his face. “Selma, are you and Mr. Sach split?”Selma could not answer him. As her silence grew, Hoyt’s cold suspicion turned into a scowl undergirded by quiet disappointment. “Now, what? You just want to have it both ways, don’t you? Make me your side-chick, or whatever the h*ll you call it?”“I’m not trying to make you a side-anything!”“Then explain why you’re asking us to start over when you’re not completely split from Mr. Sach!”“I just want to be with you, okay?” Selma cried in frustration. Her eyes were red. “Yes, we aren’t divorced, so what? We were supposed to be together! The t
Hoyt’s face was still tense by the time he walked out of the shop. Concerned, Deirdre asked, “You alright?”He wiped some light sweat off his face and said bashfully, “I’m so sorry, Miss McKinnon. The point was to buy you some clothes, but I ended up dragging you into our drama and made you watch all that… embarrassing stinker.”“Nonsense,” Deirdre replied reassuringly and gave him a small smile. “There was nothing embarrassing about it. It’s what relationships are like, dramatic and complicated.”Just like her own. No one would have known the lengths she had gone through for a man—to be willingly used as an impostor for two years, be incarcerated, disfigured, blinded, and lose the child she so wanted to bring to the world.Her relationship story was the biggest stinker of them all.“A word of advice, Mr. Leigh,” she said. “Sometimes, blaming yourself for everything that has happened only prevents you from moving on when you should.”Hoyt blushed and nodded. “R-Right. You’re righ
“Deirdre.”Hoyt mustered his courage and interjected, “Didn’t you hear what the lady said? She wants you gone, mister!”A patina of steel seemed to form in Kyran’s eyes. He typed, “This is between Deirdre and me. Please don’t meddle in our affairs.”He managed to put up the exterior of courtesy, but the glare he wore betrayed an unyielding, domineering aura hellbent on making sure nobody could look him in the eyes.It was a lot for Hoyt—a country bumpkin with zero brush with the rich and powerful—to take. Any little confidence he had was imploding fast, yet he was stubbornly nailed to the floor between Deirdre and Kyran.“A-A-All I know is that M-Miss McKinnon d-d-doesn’t want to t-talk to you.”“Ten minutes is all I need, so please step aside,” typed Kyran. He was furious. “Move or be moved.”Deirdre acutely sensed escalation and finally spoke up. “What do you want, Kyran?”“First, he should step out.”Deirdre was familiar with the depth of his brutality and knew better than
Declan chuckled self-deprecatingly. “It was more than just ‘not talking.’ We give each other stink eyes when we see each other, too. So, why would I care about someone who hates my guts? Why would I eagerly visit him? Why would I even tell you we knew each other as if it was something I should be proud of?”Deirdre shook her head. She was not going to let herself be duped anymore.Kyran extended his hand toward her, and she slapped it away. “How about the fact that there isn’t a guy called Kyran Reed in Room 1106? What about that?”Kyran stared at the hand she rejected, his expression darkening. He typed on his phone, and the mechanical voice said, “Because I’m trying to keep a low profile.”“What?” She was perplexed.Declan gave a mirthless laugh. “It’s because of me. My brother’s an irritatingly exacting man. He makes sure I can never, ever surpass him in anything, so any cooperation or work I have with Kyran is done in secret.“My brother doesn’t even know Kyran has returned f
Kyran looked at her gently. He pulled something that he had been holding dear for a long while from his pocket and handed it to Deirdre. Even though they were crumpled and unrecognizable, Deirdre knew the moment she held them in her hand that they were their air tickets to Germia, the tickets to her freedom.Tears began to stream down her cheek, and Kyran gently wiped them off her face. He typed on the phone, “I’ve been waiting for you to return so that I can fulfill my promise. Deirdre, I'm glad I found you, and I’m glad that you're still alive.” Deirdre could sense his relief through the mechanical voice and words. However, before she could say anything, Kyran faltered and limped forward.“Kyran!” She was shocked and hastily went forward to support him, but Kyran had become so much heavier that she could barely hold him. Deirdre squatted down and placed her hand on his forehead. When she realized that he had a fever, she exclaimed, her voice shaking, “What happened? Why is he h
Declan said, “I’m sorry. Something unexpected happened.” “He didn’t eat on time either, right?” The doctor sighed. “The report shows that his digestive system is in disarray. We’ve already tended to the inflamed wound, and he’s receiving IV drip treatment right now. You just need to ensure he won’t get out of his bed and go everywhere anymore. Or else, with his current immunity level, he might be unable to handle it.”“Okay, we’ll take good care of him.”After the doctor went back inside, Declan pulled his cigarette out of his pocket, but he resisted the urge to take it as he realized he was in the hospital now.He leaned on the wall, feeling the coldness from the hard surface seeping into him. “Kyran had been eating cold lunch boxes for the past few days.” Deirdre’s pupils constricted.“It was because he would put down his lunch and go to look for you whenever he received any news regarding your whereabouts. By the time he returned, his lunch boxes had turned cold. But he was
Declan pushed the door, and the light in his eyes dimmed as he saw their interaction.No matter how calm he was right now, he did not have any mood for a joke right now. He handed a phone to Deirdre and said, “Miss McKinnon, I believe this is yours.”Deirdre was stunned. She did not expect that she could still get her phone back.“Where did you…”“We found it lying in a bush in the courtyard. It had shut down due to insufficient battery, but many phone calls came in after we recharged it.”Deirdre’s heart skipped a beat. She was certain that most calls came from Madame Russell and Tobey. After all, she rarely did not answer their calls for so many days or did not give them any calls.She took over her phone and pressed her lips tightly. “Thank you very much, Mr. King.”Declan offered her a wide grin and said, “Don’t mention it. I’ll leave Kyran in your care then, Miss McKinnon. I’m going back to the hotel to get some rest. I’ll come back again when he wakes up.” “Okay.”After