It may have been a coincidence, but the woman turned around to look at Niamh as well with an intrigued smile on her face.
“I have no interest in looking at any other woman who isn’t you, Nia,” Kendrick replied curtly.
Niamh felt like she had been fed a spoonful of honey, but her heart seemed to grow inexplicably unsettled.
Although, the unsettled feeling quickly vanished under the man’s sweet and gentle words.
The hotel Kendrick booked was grand and had a large swimming pool of its own.
Thinking back to how she had jumped into the river without a second thought to retrieve the reagent, Niamh decided that she would learn to swim no matter what.
At least that way, she would be able to save herself if a similar occasion ever occurred.
Under Kendrick’s kind guidance, Niamh managed to learn the basic foundations of swimming that afternoon.
Dusk began to fall and the sunset rays tinted the clouds with bright and blooming colors.
A server brought over red wine and an exquisite dinner.
Donned in a cool and seductive swimsuit, Niamh stood partially submerged in water as she looked up to watch the sunset.
Kendrick stood next to Niamh with the loose bathrobe lazily worn over his shoulders. Submerged in the pool, the two watched the sun set.
A warm midsummer breeze blew lightly across the night sky and Niamh leaned coquettishly against Kendrick.
“I want to live carefreely with you forever, Kendrick.”
“We can, Nia, as long as that’s what you wish.” Kendrick leaned down to place a peck on Niamh’s cheek and went to pour the wine into two glasses. He then handed one of them to Niamh.
Niamh took the glass and moved to clink their glasses together, only for the man to intertwine their arms together to toast.
A sweet smile that showed off her dimples graced Niamh’s features before she downed the wine cooperatively.
Niamh placed the glass down after drinking and suddenly realized that Kendrick was staring at her.
Niamh’s face was flushed, be it either due to the setting sun or the wine she drank. It was still cold moments ago, yet now she felt like she was burning up.
“Why are you staring at me?” Niamh averted her pretty eyes away from Kendrick’s gaze in embarrassment.
“You still have some red wine here.” Kendrick parted his lips softly as a slender finger fell on Niamh’s lips.
He approached her, and the sound of the sloshing water around them tugged at Niamh’s heartstrings, causing ripples that broke the calmness of Niamh’s heart.
Kendrick leaned down and engulfed Niamh with his unique, cooling scent.
“I love you, Nia.”
As much as Kendrick’s confession was expected, it was still surprisingly sweet when it got to her ears.
Niamh pursed her lips and smiled, meeting the man’s deepening gaze.
“Me too. I’ve wanted to be with you forever since the day I met you. To the end of the world, wherever you go, I’ll come with you.”
Hearing this, Kendrick’s eyes were soft as the look in them grew more tender. “I’m sorry you had to wait so long for this day, Nia.”
“If the wait leads me to you, then it’ll be worth it.”
With Niamh’s words, Kendrick placed an unrestrained kiss on her lips, pouring in all the emotions he had suppressed in his heart.
“Nia, how about we have another baby?”
“Can you even afford to raise so many kids, Mr. Waldburg?”
“What do you say?” the man asked with a low chuckle but then made a serious promise. “I don’t want you to suffer anymore, Nia. I’m very content with Jack, Lillian, and Pudding. Though most importantly, I have you.”
The man said tenderly, and Niamh’s reply fell into a small murmur in the end.
The evening breeze caused the candlelights on the table to flicker, and the two tender shadows were reflected on the wall. Their love would continue to prosper…
Glendale.
As usual, Karen brought soup to the hospital and took care of Eloise. As soon as she entered the ward, she saw Sean struggling to stay awake due to his exhaustion.
She walked to the bed and urged Sean to go home. “You haven’t had a good rest for so many nights now, Sean. Go back and sleep. I’ll take care of Eloise.”
Sean did feel a little tired, but he did not have it in him to leave Ellie alone.
Eloise was not clear-headed now and she had no idea who anyone was but him. He was afraid that Eloise would feel scared if he left.
He hesitated when he suddenly heard Eloise speak, “Go home. Rest.”
Although it had taken some effort for Eloise to speak, those three words were still clearly pronounced.
Karen and Sean were elated now that Eloise could speak a few more words. Sean felt a large weight lifting from his shoulders. “Then, I shall go back to rest, Ellie. I’ll come back later.”
Eloise looked at Sean and nodded gently.
After Sean left, Karen then picked up the bowl of soup and sat by the bed to feed Eloise.
“You’re getting better day by day, Eloise. I’m sure you’ll be able to get out of bed by the time Eveline comes back from vacation.” Karen blew on the steaming soup and then brought it to Eloise’s mouth, her actions all done with familiarity now. “It’s hot.”
Eloise blinked and looked at Karen as if there was something she wanted to say. However, she only frowned and listened to Karen instead because that was all she could do.
“I was truly ridiculous at the beginning, wasn’t I? I don’t know where the sense of superiority came from but I looked down on Eveline even when my heart longed for the Waldburg and Montgomery family to be wedded. When it turned out that Eveline is the Montgomeries’ precious daughter, oh how the whiplash I gave myself had hurt.”
Karen scoffed self-deprecatingly, her eyes no longer holding that haughty and contemptuous color.
“To be honest, Eveline really is a rare and great child. I blame myself for being deceived by that Nevaeh Delgado. Otherwise, Eveline wouldn’t have had to suffer so many grievances.”
The words seemed to have resonated with Eloise for Karen saw regret and annoyance tinting the other woman’s eyes.
Elosie hated Nevaeh as well, perhaps even more than Karen herself.
Karen was also surprised. ‘Does Eloise remember who Nevaeh Delgado is?’
While they were deep in thought, two middle-aged women donned in gold and silver suddenly appeared by the door.
“Oh, I heard that Mrs. Montgomery is still alive. I thought they were joking, but I didn’t expect it to be true.”
“So the claim that Mrs. Montgomery is paralyzed and stupid is true, then?”
The two women completed each other’s sentences with such ominous words as they rolled their eyes at Eloise, their faces filled with arrogance.
“How dare your adopted daughter accuse my son of being unworthy when he tried to pursue her back then, Mrs. Montgomery? Your daughter played my son and look where that got her? She’s dead now!”
The woman crossed her arms and smirked in schadenfreude.
“Mrs. Montgomery, you took a heinous and vile woman as your own daughter and in return caused your darling daughter to go through so many sufferings. Wouldn’t you call this retribution?”
“Exactly! It’s probably because of how unlucky the daughter she gave birth to was that she almost tore the Waldburg family apart, or so I heard. When the Montgomery family recognized her, their house got burned down. Her mom gets left paralyzed and becomes stupid. What a misfortune! Haha…”
“You’re right! Haha…”
The two women started sneering incessantly.
Seeing this, Karen immediately grabbed an apple from the fruit plate and threw it at them forcefully.
The two women stopped laughing abruptly and dodged in fright. In the end, both their foreheads collided and it was followed by painful screams. The two immediately yelled, “Is this how housewives of rich families act? How can you start hitting people?”
Karen sneered unhurriedly and said, “I don’t think I hit a person, though.”
“…”
“Eloise’s adopted daughter died a long time ago. How could you use a deceased person for the sake of your own entertainment? And you dare to call yourself a person? Do people say such things?”
“…” The two women flushed at the words but they could not say anything to refute.
Karen walked straight up to them and chided with unrestrained anger, “I’m already going easy on you by just throwing an apple considering how you’re gloating in the face of someone else’s misfortune. Leave, before I call the police to have you two arrested!”
“You… Fine!” The woman curled her lips and turned around indignantly, but she had walked too quickly and ended up twisting her ankle. Her heavy body was sent falling to the ground with a thud.
“Ow!”
The other woman who followed tripped as well and their screams filled the air.
Karen could not help but smirk contemptuously at the scene.
“Now this is what I call retribution. In the same lifetime as well!”
“…”
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.