“Who moved my pieces?” Wayne asked in surprise, looking at the chessboard.
“No one,” Matthew said innocently. Tammy, who was sitting next to him, thought to herself, You did it, Matthew! But I’m gonna keep it a secret for you because you’re my brother and I love you.
***
Later on, Anna drove to the hospital. It was Christmas Eve, but there was no holiday spirit inside the hospital. With a sigh, Anna walked straight to the ward she was familiar with. She then knocked on the door, and Johanna opened it quickly, saying, “Anna, come on in.”
Anna followed Johanna into the ward, where she set the gifts she’d brought on a table. She took off her gloves and scarf and said, “You look great! You’re doing well now, aren’t you?”
Johanna drew a chair beside the bed and poured Anna a glass of water. She sat back on the bed and patted the chair to invite Anna to take a seat. “The doctor said I should be able to leave the hospital in a couple of days,” she explained.
After Bill died, Johanna was desperate. As a result, Anna was worried about her. And she felt much more relieved seeing Joanna become noticeably better and more energetic than before.
“So, what are your future plans? Do you want to go back to the village?” Anna asked.
“I haven’t thought about it yet, and I don’t plan to return there. Back then, I donated all the money and snuck back to the village because I wanted to die too. If you hadn’t found me then, I would’ve been dead now. I thought you’d hate me for what Bill did,” Johanna said as she lowered her head.
“I hate Bill, but that has nothing to do with you. Besides, if you hadn’t given the police evidence, maybe I’d still be in jail. If you don’t want to go back to the village, you can work for my husband’s company or mine. You can live well in this city with your salary.”
Johanna shook her head and said, “I appreciate it, but I still want to leave Birmingham. I’d like to start over somewhere else.”
“Feel free to contact me if you need any help,” she said, clutching Johanna’s hand.
On her way home, Anna took Peter with her. As she got into the car, she checked her phone and discovered that she had received a photo from Isabella. In the photo, the Maldives’ water was blue as sapphire, and Isabella and Jasper were standing together. They appeared to be well-matched.
Anna called Jasper immediately. Over the phone, he sounded relaxed, which was unusual for him. And Anna couldn’t help but chuckle as she heard his words. “I’ve heard your incredible story at least a hundred times! I didn’t expect you to leave so soon. Did you cancel your adoptive relationship with Isabella?”
“I’ve already submitted the application, and it should be completed within a few days.” Jasper sipped an iced drink and nodded slightly toward the girl waving at him from the beach in the distance. He was wearing sunglasses, but he couldn’t conceal the fondness in his eyes.
“OK, I gotta go. I’ll call you later,” Anna said. Her phone had just hung up when it rang again. She checked her phone and saw that Ryan had called her several times. As a result, she rushed back home.
When she returned home, she saw her family sitting happily together at the table with many dishes.
“Mrs. Wright is back,” the maid announced.
Everyone looked up as Anna emerged from the yard. She entered the house, removed her heavy down coat, and proceeded to the table.
When Emily saw Anna, she moved to the side. Anna said, shaking her head, “Thank you, my dear. You can ask Ryan to get you whatever you want to eat.”
Emily smiled, rubbed her bulging belly, and looked at Ryan. Ryan immediately nodded and giggled. Seeing that, everyone burst out laughing.
“Come on, let me take a family picture of you,” Henry said, holding a camera in his hand.
Everyone stood up and took a seat next to Peter. Soon after, each Wright received this family photograph.
“How nice it would be if life could be this peaceful all the time,” Anna murmured as she snuggled into Wayne’s arms and fondled the flattened photo.
已过期
Three years passed quickly.
Anna had just returned home from work when she learned that Jasper and Isabella were getting married. It was the hospital’s busiest time, and Anna had to work until midnight almost every day.
When Anna returned home in the evening, she heard Wayne telling the maid to prepare her something to eat. Anna was both surprised and moved. As she was about to remove her coat, Wayne grabbed her hand tightly, saying, “Your hands are cold! Why didn’t you wear the gloves I bought you?”
“Isn’t the project research that Matthew devised supposed to last a month? “ Anna asked Wayne, who was standing beside her. ”What happened to Matthew? Did you just leave him there?”
“Yes.” With that, Wayne took Anna’s hand and sat on the couch with her. He appeared unconcerned as if he didn’t care about the project.
“Huh? Even if he is capable, he is only fifteen! He’s…” Anna attempted to reason with him, which was something she had wanted to do for a long time.
“Jasper is getting married,” Before Anna could continue her reasoning, Wayne interrupted her with the shocking news.
Hearing that, Anna was so shocked that she forgot what she was going to say. She froze for a moment before regaining her composure and asking, “What?!”
Wayne picked up two lovely invitations from the coffee table, saying, “I just got the invitations. They’re getting married this weekend.”
It wasn’t until saw Jasper’s handwriting on the invitations that she regained her composure and accepted the reality. She muttered, “Are they in such a rush to marry? Isabella hasn’t even finished college yet.”
Wayne laughed and rubbed Anna’s fingers gently. Her hands frequently hurt from holding scalpels while working, so he had become accustomed to massaging her fingers.
“If it weren’t for you, Jasper would have gotten married to Isabella two years ago.”
“Well, Isabella had just turned 18 back then. I don’t think she fully grasped what it meant to get married. And I don’t think she was capable of shouldering the responsibility at such a young age. And as her adoptive parent, I’m responsible for guiding her when necessary. What’s wrong with that?” Looking up at Wayne, Anna asked. Although she was retorting his words, her tone was not firm, as if she couldn’t defend herself either.
“There’s nothing wrong with it, honey. You have every right to feel worried about Isabella. But don’t worry. Jasper is a good person and he will handle everything properly. He must have given the matter careful thought before making his decision,” Wayne said gently as he held her close and stroked her hair.
“I’m not worried about Isabella. She’s still a young lady, you know. But Jasper is a very simple person.” Anna began to tell Wayne what she knew about Jasper, unaware he seemed upset and even became envious and hugged her even more tightly.
“Are you worried that Jasper will be unhappy when he marries?”
“Yeah, I…” Anna had not finished her sentence when she realized she had said something inappropriate. She raised her head to survey Wayne’s expression, blinked, and said, “What are you thinking about? I’m his friend! I’m just worried about his future.”
“Oh? Is that true?”
“Of course!”
Before she could finish her sentence, Anna’s phone rang. Her eyes lit up when she saw the caller ID because she knew she had found the perfect reason to leave here. She immediately stood up and said, “Peace is calling me! I’m going to answer the phone, honey.”
After that, she pressed the answer button. Peace greeted Anna with a loud laugh as soon as she picked up the phone.
“What’s the problem? You scared the hell out of me,” Anna quickly put the phone away from her ear and asked.
“Did you receive the invitation?”
“You mean Jasper’s invitation?” Anna asked, glancing at the invitation on the coffee table.
“Ah! You appear to have gotten it.” Peace continued to laugh.
“What’s so funny about that?” Anna asked, thinking, Gee! Peace, do you have to make such a big deal about it? Everyone knows Jasper and Isabella have been in a relationship for over three years and that things are going well. Even if they don’t marry right away, they will marry someday.
Peace suppressed her laughter, took a deep breath, and then asked calmly, “No, I’m not laughing at their marriage. I just thought the wedding might be interesting. In fact, I have wanted to ask you a question for quite some time.”
“What question?”
“How do you feel about attending the wedding of your ex-husband and your adoptive daughter?”
With an awkward expression, Anna looked at Wayne beside her and noticed that he had become even more upset. He still looked at her as calmly as he could, though.
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.