Sam almost gave her the answer straight away. He had to stop himself right before it happened and change it to something less direct. “It’s… someone very important to you.”“Someone important… to me?”His answer threw her mind into disarray. She knew Sam would never lie to her over something so trivial, but if that were the case, then who could this person be?A figure took form in her mind, and she immediately rejected it. It could not be her. She was dead.Her mother was dead.“Who?”“I can’t tell you, Miss McKinnon.” Sam intoned helplessly. “All I’m allowed to say is that I did not lie when I said Mr. Brighthall had not been spending his time with Charlene at all. Instead, he had been using all this time to redeem himself in your eyes.“When he was attacked by a gunman yesterday, all he cared about was calling you to tell you he’s fine. But his phone was switched off, and maybe that was why he raced to this place from the hospital as quickly as he could.”Deirdre remembere
“Henry Walker?” Deirdre's face turned ashen. She still remembered how gleeful that man was in his audacity. Of course he would begrudge Tobey for beating him up that badly! Just the thought that Henry would strike when Tobey was down made Deirdre’s chest hurt.“What did he do to him?”Brendan saw how pale she had become and realized that the agony on his shoulders could not compare to the flame burning in his chest at all. “Not much. He abducted Tobey, that’s all.”“Abducted!?” Deirdre’s voice went an octave higher. “W-What happened to Tobey after that? Is he okay!?”Brendan tried his best to shove his displeasure back into his chest. “Deirdre, are you worried about another man in my presence?” He tightened his arms around her and nibbled on the tip of her nose. “You’re bearing my child there, don’t forget that. Especially when your mind seems to be quite occupied with someone else.”Deirdre stiffened. What was this? Jealousy?If he were Kyran, Deirdre would have immediately beli
Deirdre thought of Kyran. Those moments used to be so sweet…And now she felt an equal amount of dejection. She nodded as she pushed back against the tide of emotions. “If you don’t mind, fine.”Deirdre fell asleep shortly after that. Imagine her surprise when she found herself still cuddling with him—she had used Brendan’s arm as her pillow since last night, and she had not changed her position at all. Reeling from her shock, she quickly sat up. Brendan massaged his numbing arm. “Oh, you’re up?”“Aren’t you supposed to go to work?” she blabbered. Her pregnancy had made her lethargic as of late. By this point, it was already 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. On the other hand, Brendan was an early riser—he would wake up at 6:00 a.m. and go to work at 7:00 a.m. sharp. So why was he still here?“I’m injured.” Brendan’s eyes were transfixed on Deirdre. They would not leave her. “As such, I’m staying at home to recuperate. I’ll only go back there once I'm healed up.”Deirdre thought he made s
”Liar!” snarled Deirdre, scowling. She could not believe herself. Falling for another one of Brendan’s lies again!?She turned away from him and ignored him.Brendan locked his fingers into the spaces between hers and pressed his chest against her back. “Don’t be mad.” He breathed in her ears, his warm breath ticklish. “You’re hungry, aren’t you? I should make you some pasta.”“You?” Deirdre scoffed. With injuries like that, he could set the whole kitchen on fire from something as innocuous as making pasta. “I'd rather do it myself. Leave me be.”Brendan’s eyes trembled. A smile shadowed his lips. “Are you telling me you’re going to make a portion for me?”“How did you even come to that? I’m making pasta for myself. I ask you to leave because you’re getting in my way!” She shoved him aside and took some leafy vegetables from a clean, clear bag. Deirdre had spent quite some time in the kitchen shortly after she was married, so she knew its layouts and where everything was by ro
”You’re wrong. You can help me.” Brendan’s lips began to loom close. His face seemed to be zooming in on her eyes. She still could not make out much of his features, but she could feel his breath washing over her.She instinctively froze. “How was I supposed to help?”“Kiss me to relieve me of my pain.”Deirdre’s expression darkened. “This cr*p again?” she snapped and ignored him altogether, rising to her feet as though she was going.Brendan reached out and caught her in the wrist, and the pain of something being torn open flared on his arm.He took a shaky breath, and his fingers quivered. Still, he refused to let go.“Brendan? Are you okay?”He fixed his eyes on her alarmed expression and reacted with a helpless grimace. “I know you hate my guts, Deirdre, but my injury came from rescuing your friend. Can’t you at least be a little nicer to me while I’m recovering?”Deirdre found herself having no counterargument. She would freely admit to loathing Brendan with every fiber of
A sharp sting spread out from his heart to the rest of his innards. It hurt so much even his injury on the right arm paled in comparison. “Alright. If you won’t, then I won’t ask for it either.”He assented instead of demanding his request be met. Deirdre’s eyelashes trembled. She was surprised to see him showing no anger. She was surprised he managed to calm himself and not make it an issue.-On the top floor of a hotel in Neve, a man knocked on the door of the luxury suite before reporting to a man standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. “Sir? Brendan Brighthall has left the hospital.”The man played with the wineglass between his fingers and watched the light reflecting off its rim. He set the glass down. “Oh? Did he notice it?”“No.” Disdain animated the underling. “We successfully ambushed him, meaning he was not sharp enough to notice things like that. I doubt he knew we bribed the operating doctor into introducing medicines that could make his injuries wors
“That’s not necessary.” Brendan took a deep breath and frowned. “It’s too troublesome. Besides, I’ve gotten a lot better after changing the bandages. I guess the wound opened when I moved around just now.”“But—”“Don’t worry about me,” Brendan said firmly, cutting her short. “Mrs. Engel, you’re free to go now.”Mrs. Engel had no other choice but to go ahead and clean up the mess.Deirdre was standing frozen stiff on the spot. She seemed rather lost. Just when she turned around, Brendan held her hand. “You have anything to ask me?” Brendan asked as he watched Deirdre fixedly. He could see that she had something to say to him. He brought her closer to him and continued. “If there’s anything you want to tell me, just say it out loud. Don’t keep it inside your heart. It’s not good for your health. You can ask me whatever you want.”The man's fingers were cold, and Deirdre did not know to put her feelings into words now. Perhaps she felt sorry for him since he had gotten injured b
“Then why would his wound hurt at night?”Brendan looked at Deirdre in surprise. He could not hold himself back and held her hand with their fingers interlaced.Dr. Lang sighed. “This is normal when inflammation happens. But as long as Mr. Brighthall takes medicine accordingly and avoids some food, his wound will heal eventually.”“Alright, then,” said Deirdre. After Dr. Lang left, Brendan grabbed Deirdre carefully in his arms. There was a hint of joy in his pair of eyes as he said, “Are you worried about me, Deirdre?”Before waiting for Deirdre to say anything, he continued. “I’m really happy about it.”She was worried about his wound. This was something he did not dare to imagine before today.Deirdre gave him the cold shoulder and pushed his arm again.“Please, don’t get it wrong. You made too much noise last night. I don’t want to get disturbed by you anymore.”After that, she turned around and went into the kitchen.Mrs. Engel was doing her chores inside the kitchen whe