After lunch, Eileen needed to leave. Fia stood up reluctantly. “Let me walk you out, Eileen.”“Don’t you…” Eileen wanted to talk about her eyes but was worried that she might hurt her pride.Mrs. Whitley quickly said, “Madam, let me walk you as you send Ms. Reid off.”“Sure.”Mrs. Whitley helped Fia to the door. Eileen kept on turning her head back as she went. When she finally got into the van, she yelled, “Fia, be happy! We still have a lot of time! Nothing can stop us from being best friends even when I’m far away!”Fia muttered the words ‘best friends’ in her mind before nodding and yelling back, “Yes!”Eileen’s tears rolled down. She really found it hard to leave Fia behind.As the van started and left, the smile on Fia’s face slowly disappeared.“Madam, let me help you in.”Fia shook her head. “I’ll sit by the door a bit. Please continue with your work.”Mrs. Whitley helped her sit down on the stairs leading to the door. Seeing her sorrow, she asked, “Something botherin
Fia’s heart felt somewhat empty. Her hands crawled up and eventually caught his belt, and she pulled herself up.She stood on the step, yet she was still shorter than him.When Conrad looked at her eyes, his heart hurt again.He really missed her brilliant, spirited eyes looking at him.Even if she was angry and hated him, as long as those eyes could see him, he would keep them in his memories.“Conrad, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”“Say it.”Fia climbed up and when her hand reached his shoulders, she realized that she was almost around the same height as he was when she was on the steps. She smiled.“I want to use this chance to graduate from university. Can you help me get an exam pass from the university?”“That’s easy.” Conrad paused. “But your eyes need rest. Can you try for the exam after you’ve fully recovered?”“No, I don’t want to get sick from boredom.”She couldn’t draft new designs and she wasn’t sure when her eyes would recover. She had to do s
After lunch, Silas came over.Conrad had business he wanted to discuss with him, and so he wanted Mrs. Whitley to accompany Fia.Fia said, “I want to take a nap upstairs.”Conrad didn’t refuse her and carried her up to the bedroom.Once she was in bed, he removed her shoes and covered her in a blanket. He then adjusted the air conditioner to 82 degrees Fahrenheit.He massaged her shoulder and said, “Silas and I will probably need half an hour. I’ll accompany you after we’re done, okay?”“Alright,” Fia said as she closed her eyes.Silas was waiting for Conrad in his study. When he heard footsteps, he turned around and looked at Conrad.“Sir, there are a few documents that need your signature.”“Alright,” Conrad said as he sat in front of the desk and extended his hand. “Give them to me.”He spent around ten minutes reading the document once again before signing after verifying everything was done properly.He glanced at the door to the study and asked, “How’s the arrangement
Fia’s expression was one of surprise. Yes, she heard everything.She had been afraid that Conrad was only verbally agreeing and wouldn’t actually help her.“Madam, I wish that you and my boss can both let go of all the bad things that have been holding you back. Give yourselves a chance, and cherish each other.” Silas finished saying everything in one go.Fia’s hands curled into a ball. Those words stabbed right into her heart.She was hoping to be able to hear how fake Conrad was when she eavesdropped, but he wasn’t.“Madam, I have to go back to the company now. Let me help you get back to the second floor.”“It’s fine. Go back to work then. I’ll sit here for a while. I need to think things through.”Silas didn’t move and looked at Fia worryingly.As he had always been by Conrad’s side, he didn’t need Conrad to tell him to talk to the doctors to know what was going on with her sickness. “You should go down, madam.”“What, are you worried that I’ll kill myself?”Silas’s heart
Fia’s heart kept on thumping and she wanted to pull her hands out of his grasp. Conrad held them even tighter.“Fia, we’re husband and wife. We should be honest with each other.”“But how?” She frowned, and the sorrow clouded her sightless eyes. “I explained to you so many times but you never stood by my side. How can you tell me to be honest? I wouldn’t dare, would I?”Fia smiled bitterly and said, “Now that Esme is gone, maybe someone else will appear. If I were to be honest with you, and tell you why I’m unhappy, are you sure that you can still stand by my side and make me happy?”Conrad felt even guiltier when what happened in the past appeared in his mind.He held her hands tighter. “I can do it!”Fia bent over slightly until her forehead hit his.“I believe that you can’t, Conrad Maxwell. I can’t believe you like how I naively did in the past. I believed that you’re my husband, someone that I could depend on.”Conrad felt like his heart was being stabbed. Her words were l
“Are you sure that you want to stay together with me?” Her nail pressed into his throat lightly. “I’m not exceptional, I can’t speak well, and I have no family background that is equal to yours.”“The one I want is you!” Conrad said and once again he kissed Fia’s lips. He was gentle and careful.After two minutes, he let go of her as he gasped, suppressing the fire inside of him.He slowly said, “This has nothing to do with your family or your results. I simply want to live together with you. I won’t betray you, and you won’t betray me.”Fia forgot all the unhappiness she felt for a little while and said, “We shall be the ones that accompany each other for the longest in each other’s lives.”Conrad was stunned as her words reminded him of something.“Yes! You’ll be the one who will accompany me for the longest! Please don’t leave me, okay?”He caught her in his arms and then raised her high in the air.She couldn’t see, so when she was suddenly thrown upward she cried out in su
Conrad stared at Fia in confusion.During these days, he would always help her wear her clothes. While she would be embarrassed every time, she didn’t refuse.But after becoming closer, she refused.However, he realized she was suddenly more alive than in the past. She was not like a robot anymore.Fia didn’t hear his voice and asked, “Have you flipped the clothes?”“Fia, I’m your husband.” Conrad’s brain began to speculate the reason for her sudden refusal and realized why. “Doing things for you is a husband’s duty.”Fia was suddenly stunned as if a firework exploded in her heart.Conrad bent down and held Fia’s face in his hands.“Fia, you’re not garbage. Don’t think of yourself like that.”Fia felt like her most embarrassing moment had been shown to the public in that instant. She had nowhere to run but to pounce into his arms.Conrad’s heart was heavy. He suddenly realized that the girl before him had always been cautious.“Are you afraid of me?”Fia shook her head in h
He was worried that Fia would disappear from his world just like Esme.When he realized the possibility of that happening, his heart couldn’t stop beating anxiously. He never felt that, even when Esme left without a word.In her dreams, Fia was in her gray world again. She was surrounded by the baby’s cries.She couldn’t see anything, touch anything. She knelt on the icy water, her body slowly drowning down.“Mommy! Mommy! Ahhhh! Mommy...”The baby’s cries pierced through her heart.She could feel the pain extending to her limbs. She couldn’t fight back. All she could do was let her body drown. First, it was her chest, shoulder, chin, and mouth, and the water entered her mouth and nose.The suffocation was killing her. Just when she thought she would die from drowning, a worried voice called out to her, and she opened her eyes.“Fia...”“Fia, are you having a nightmare?”Conrad held her shoulders and looked at her, drenched in sweat. He looked at her curiously and asked, “Wha