Before Irene could answer, Isaac promptly said, "No. She's busy—he can talk to me if he wants.""Master Jefferson says he wants to meet her regardless," Moneypenny insisted. Isaac had more to say, but Irene stopped him. "I'll go."She wondered what the old man had to say, too.Isaac regarded her in silence for heartbeats and nodded. "Go."Irene hence followed Moneypenny into Henry's ward, where the old man was leaning against the headboard, looking withered and weary. His eyes were lifeless and yellow, and undoubtedly sickly."You're here. It's been a while. How have you been?" he asked amicably."Good." Irene replied politely."I'm sure you're smart enough to tell why I asked for you, right?" Henry quickly cut to the chase. Irene, however, decided to play dumb. "Forgive my ignorance, but I don't."Henry held her gaze for a while. "It seems that after spending so much time with him, Isaac's glib nature has rubbed off on you. You used to be tamer."Sighing, he said. "I wa
Isaac remained unaffected—even as calm as a pond.His angular fingers curled up, hooking Irene's hair, and twirled repeatedly. "What do you think we should name our youngest?"Irene turned to look at him, not sure what he was thinking just then and unable to even guess it.He grinned. "What's that look for? Well, I do look good."Irene did not continue about Henry just then, since it appeared that Isaac really did not want to talk about him. Making a straight face, she said, "No, you don't. In fact, you're hideous."Isaac pulled her into his arms right then, holding her chin in place to make her look at him. "Speak from your conscience.""I am," Irene replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.Isaac leaned closer then. "Fine. Tell me, what makes me ugly?"She held Isaac's gaze just then, her pupils darting everywhere and glinting luminously. Everything from his chiseled face, to his dark eyes and sharp nose, all made him attractive."Your face, your eyes…" She tried to
Erin was playing hide-and-seek with Tommy, and she inadvertently bumped into Isaac.The sight of his scowl left her heart skipping up to her throat. "I-I'm sorry. That was an accident."Irene quickly put a hand on his arm and smiled. "I brought her here as a guest."Isaac wheeled on her just then, confused by why she did it. Irene simply told Erin to keep playing with Tommy while she dragged Isaac further into their room."Why the long face?"Isaac simply planted himself on bed and glanced at her sideways. "What, am I supposed to be smiling?"Irene sat beside him, wrapping an arm around his, and cajoled, "Calm down. I know you dislike outsiders, but I had considerations when I brought her here. Just think about it: she's with James now, and they might get married later—the man is your right-hand man, while she's raised by your mom. There is a connection."Putting her head on his shoulder, she added, "I don't want you to go without a family."Isaac simply looked at her. "You'r
Irene did not even turn around as she arranged the books in the box. "Some are important, especially the notes. Those might still be useful for me."Then, pointing at the stuff she sorted out, she said, "I have to keep these. Can I keep it in your room?"Isaac watched as Irene put that diary among the stack, whereas Irene did not see the terrible look on his face just then, even as she continued without knowing, "I'll take your silence for a yes—don't worry, though, I won't take up much space. Maybe four tiles, since I'm dumping the rest."Isaac said nothing and turned to leave.After Irene sorted the books she wanted, she found some of Sheryl's belongings and took them to her too. Once they bathed Tommy and changed diapers for the baby, Sheryl reminded her, "It's time you named junior." "I'll get Isaac to actually think of something. I don't want it to be half-baked like we did with Tommy," Irene said."Tommy is a nice name, though?" Sheryl said."Yeah." Irene grinned.Afte
Irene asked, "Did I upset you, Isaac?"She was certainly mystified. What was he getting upset about out of the blue?Meanwhile, Isaac had returned to bed and pulled his blanket over himself.Irene raised a brow when she saw that after she was done washing up.Did he get up on the wrong side of the bed, or develop some sort of mental disorder?"Aren't you going to have breakfast?"Isaac pulled the blanket over himself, ignoring her!His childlike behavior amused her, but she said, "I have to go—I'm meeting someone today, and I'm leaving soon after breakfast."Isaac sat up right then, glaring straight at her. "Who are you meeting?""A plastic surgeon for my scars," Irene replied."Fine. Go," Isaac said, clearly heaving a sigh in relief before lying down again.He did not sleep last night at all, and certainly needed the sleep now.Irene walked up to the bed and pulled his blanket over his shoulders. "Sweet dreams."As she turned and headed downstairs, however, Isaac suddenly
At the same time, Isaac continued, "You will only ever lose to me, Ian Jefferson! Don't think pretending to be insane will get you past me."Pausing, he then added with dripping contempt, "Do you know why you've lost? Because you're a fucking idiot!"Ian's eyes welled with test then, his crazed laughter turning shriller in turn from obvious restraint. Isaac simply leaned forward and kept trampling over his dignity. "Look at you, can't even protect your own woman and have her suffer with you. Could you even call yourself a man? Even tramps can beat you now.""Hehe, you want a bite too?" Ian held the rope at Isaac's face, true to the fashion of a nutcase.Isaac narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you're crazy."Ian guffawed. "You're crazy. You're crazy.""This isn't going to work in the long run," James told Isaac quietly then. "We need a better place to keep him."Isaac inhaled deeply then, and thought that Ian really had a high tolerance that he would not flip out even after all
Before Irene could respond, the doctor said, "Hold on, wasn't your name supposed to be Irene?"Irene stared at him for heartbeats, unable to place him."You know me?"Seeing that she had no recollection of him, the doctor deliberately made a wounded look. "I guess you're too important to remember me now," he joked, and introduced himself, "The name's Seth. Seth Hedge."Irene realized with a start—he was an old neighbor, though his appearance had certainly changed."Didn't your family move abroad?""I returned this year. My family is still abroad, though." Seth replied. "When Jeff introduced a patient and told me to offer special privileges, I didn't think that it would be you."Irene did not expect such a coincidence either. "I did work with Jeff at Mead Clinic."Seth was left in disbelief. "You made it into Mead at your age? That's impressive! Even Jeff had to ask his girlfriend to pull strings to get in.""It was a coincidence," Irene said humbly.Seth smiled then and jok
Zachary was actually perplexed. "How did you find out?""That's not the point. Tell me, were you really planning to do that?!" Irene asked urgently.Zachary turned silent instead of answering, more or less aware that he should not have done that.In fact, he only dared to bring Lulu home to his family because she was amnesiac and would not get hostile against him and his mother. "I'm taking her there because I can protect her. My mom understands her mistake too, and we just have to be nice and make amends for the past. I'm definitely marrying her anyway, and we would be living together—""Would Lulu have accepted you if she still had her memories, or be willing to share the same room as your mother? You're bullying her and using her amnesia to cancel out the past!" Irene certainly would not accept Zachary's decision—even if he really wanted to make up with Lulu or marry her, they were definitely staying separately.Even Irene herself was not about to forget or forgive so easil