“He should have the chance to live and enjoy this world and his life. I can’t… I can’t allow him to sacrifice himself because of me and Luke. I don’t want him to disappear. I don’t want…”
Her tears fell onto Stefan’s top and soaked through, reaching his shoulder.
Stefan hugged her quivering body. His mouth opened, but no words came out.
After a while, he smiled bitterly. “Perhaps you dreamt of him because you’ve been thinking about him lately. Have you been thinking of him?”
Gwen paused and shook her head. It had been a long time since Steven or Luke came into her mind. The last time she thought about Steven was when she arrived in Sea City. She called Sean up to ask about Denise’s situation.
“Then why would you dream of him?”
Stefan’s lips curved slightly, and his eyes looked sorrowful. “Is Steven very important to you?”
Gwen nodded. “Yes.”
Steven was very important to Luke, and therefore, Steven was important to her too.
“Okay.”
Stefan chuckled and rubbed Gwen’s head. “After we rescue your father, Kurt and I will help you to go find Steven back, alright?”
After a slight pause, Gwen said, “There’s no need for that. I… I don’t need to meet him.”
She only wanted to know if Steven was living well.
“Just give it some time.”
Stefan took a deep breath and let go of Gwen. “It’s late now. Kurt and I need to go work.”
Immediately after that, he stood up and walked toward the door.
“Wait!”
Gwen quickly got down off the bed when she saw Steven was leaving. “You haven’t told me if you found any useful information when you were in the gang yesterday. And my father…”
“The man who kidnapped your father is Tyson,”
Stefan interrupted Gwen before she could even finish. “Kurt and I have decided on a plan. We’ll intercept him this afternoon, and after gaining his trust, we’ll be able to find out where he’s keeping your father hostage.”
As he said this, he lifted his head to stare intently at Gwen. “Don’t worry. With me around, your father will be fine. I’ll do everything in my power to fulfill your wish, even if it means helping you protect the people you love…”
Stefan paused for a moment, then added, “Your wish is my command.”
With that, he turned to leave.
“Thank you.”
Gwen bit her lip as she stared at his retreating figure. “After we settle all this, I will hand over all the money under my name as a reward for all that you’ve done. I…I don’t know what else I can offer you besides this.”
A bitter smile crept onto Stefan’s face when he heard this. He turned to meet her gaze and replied, “There’s no need for that. Kurt and I didn’t decide to help you just to get some reward. What matters the most to us is seeing you happy.”
With that, he turned and strode away.
Gwen bit her lip as she stared at his retreating figure, and a sinking feeling appeared in her heart. A split second later, she closed her eyes, took out her phone, and sent Bethan a text message to tell her everything.
[Are you falling for this man?] At this moment, Bethan was cradling Shelly in her arms, trying to put her to sleep, while watching over Nellie at the same time.
[How can you fall for him when you don’t even know what he looks like? Why don’t you find a chance to remove his mask and see for yourself what he looks like before deciding to entrust your heart to him?] This was the only way Bethan could think of to help Gwen and Luke reunite.
The truth was, she could not help feeling exasperated every time she thought of this.
Just a couple of days ago, after a series of cajoling and pleading, she finally convinced Brettley to tell her the truth–that Stefan Joneson was in fact, Luke Jones in disguise.
However, since Brettley had not told Gwen of Stefan’s true identity in the first place and instead chose to lie to her about Stefan being a bodyguard who had suffered disfigurement in an accident…this unfortunately led to Gwen and Luke’s delayed reunion.
If Brettley told her the truth earlier, Gwen would not be in so much anguish, and Bethan would not need to find a way to persuade Gwen into removing Stefan’s mask and revealing his identity.
At the thought of this, Bethan could not help cursing Brettley and his ‘great idea’.
He did this to protect Gwen from the pain of having to decide between Luke and Steven, but the truth was, if Luke really wanted to protect her, he would not have chosen to return to Gwen’s side in this manner.
After all, Gwen would eventually find out the truth, and what was to say she would not be even more upset after discovering this?
Had either of them attempted to think of this from Gwen’s point of view?
At the thought of this, Bethan sighed and tried to convince Gwen again. [Listen to me. You have to find a chance to take off his mask. If he turns out to be your type, you can feel free to listen to your heart and go after him, but if not, you can stay away from him!]
Gwen did not know whether to laugh at this or not. A split second later, she sighed and replied, [Bethan, I…I think I might have developed feelings for him, but it’s strange; I can’t help feeling that he reminds me a lot of Luke.]
Bethan was absolutely overjoyed to hear this.
This was perfect! Gwen was supposed to be reminded of Luke because he was Luke!
With that, Bethan quickly followed up with a voice message, “Gwen, since you’re already feeling this way, why don’t you try and unveil his mask and see what he truly looks like? I’ll tell you this; you should be more courageous, and who knows if you might be pleasantly surprised by him?”
Gwen was even more amused by this. How could she possibly be even more surprised? The only way that could happen was if Stefan turned out to be Luke in disguise.
Besides…
Stefan admitted that he chose to conceal his face because of his disfigurement, and this was why she was reluctant to reveal his face. She was secretly worried that every ounce of her developing feelings toward him would dissipate after seeing his crude, grotesque face.
She did not want to lose him as a friend.
No. She could not let that happen; she still needed Stefan and Kurt’s help to save her father.
At the thought of this, Gwen paused and replied, [Okay. I’ll try to find a chance, but not so soon.]
She knew that if she turned Bethan down, Bethan would not rest until she changed her mind.
For some reason, she could not help feeling that Bethan had changed ever since she got out of prison.
[Well, if you like taking off other people’s masks so much, why don’t you get one for Brettley so you can do it yourself?]
Bethan pursed her lips when she saw this. [That sounds like a great idea. Perfect timing, too–I’m not in the mood to see his face these next few days.]
[What happened?]
Bethan stared at Gwen’s reply as she cradled Shelly in her arms, wanting nothing more than to tell her everything, but after some consideration, she decided against it.
Since she held Shelly in her arms, she could not explain any further to Gwen even if she wanted. Besides, Nellie was in the same room, and she did not want to reveal her conflict with Brettley to her daughter.
Seeing that Bethan did not reply, Gwen furrowed her brow in concern and dialed Bethan’s number.
The blaring ringtone woke little Shelly from her slumber, and she burst into tears.
With a sigh, Bethan reached out to grab her phone, but before she could do so, Nellie’s chubby little arms extended toward her.
Nellie had put down her little crayons and stood in front of Bethan with her arms outstretched. “I’ll help you take care of Shelly, Mommy.”
She grinned. “You and Aunt Gwen should catch up.”
Bethan paused. “There’s no need for that, Nellie.”
“It’s okay.”
Nellie’s eyes were little crescent moons as she beamed at her mother. “I can ask Nigel and Neil to help me if anything happens, so don’t worry. You and Aunt Gwen should take your time.”
Nellie could tell from Bethan’s hesitation that something unpleasant had happened between her and Brettley, and she was itching to talk about it to Gwen. Therefore, she decided to step in and help take Shelly off her hands.
After all, nothing mattered more than her mother.
Bethan sighed at this, then handed the crying infant over to Nellie. After instructing two more nannies to help Nellie, she went out of the room to pick up Gwen’s call.
“Did you and Brettley fight?”
Gwen asked as soon as the call was connected.
Bethan was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I guess you can put it that way.”
“What happened?”
“It’s a long story.”
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.