TB

CHAPTER 125

“Maybe it’ll hate you as much as it likes you.”

“It’s better to be hated than to be nothing at all.”

Grace’s retort seemed to work, as the man didn’t probe any deeper. Just when he returned his gaze to his book, an unpleasant movement started again in her belly.

“It just moved now. Feel it.”

She pulled his hand to where she felt the baby’s movement.

“Hmm… fascinating.”

“Can you feel it?”

“No.”

“Then, what’s fascinating…?”

“I thought you were depressed all day because of the baby.”

Grace paused for a moment. She had tried to act normal all day. The perceptive man had seen through her mood and even the reason for it.

“How did you know?”

She chose to admit it right away. Denying words he already knew would be foolish.

“Because I’ve spent this year analyzing the woman called you.”

She tried to take his somewhat chilling words as a joke, laughing it off. Her effort seemed to work as he leaned in to kiss her. Grace not only reciprocated the kiss but also playfully used her tongue, trying to deceive him.

Then, she nuzzled her cheek against his neck, whining like a spoiled lover.

“I just… feel overwhelmed now that I can feel the baby. It’s daunting, not knowing how to raise it.”

She mixed honest feelings with a fabricated reason, quickly shifting the focus back to him before he could delve deeper.

“Aren’t you overwhelmed?”

He shook his head without hesitation.

“No need to worry.”

Receiving a long, gentle kiss on her cheek, Grace remembered a conversation from a couple of months ago.

“I’m someone who takes responsibility for my actions, unlike you, who carelessly commits and runs away.”

The day he first brought up the same topic, he had been harsh. Though now, his tenderness felt almost dreamlike, as if he were the boy from Abbington Beach.

You’re doing well.

Lifting her head, Grace offered him a spoonful of parfait. He accepted it without hesitation, then peppered kisses on her exposed shoulder above the water.

His left hand, which had been outside the tub, gently stroked from her shoulder down to her elbow, resting on the edge of the tub. After drying his wet hand on a towel laid neatly on the tray, he resumed turning the pages of the book.

“Uung…”

Grace twisted her body, looking up at Winston. He remained focused on his book, no matter how troubled she looked.

This man, while noble above the water, yet so vulgar beneath it.

The thick, cloud-like foam churned heavily. It was because he had entwined his legs with hers, forcing her legs apart. His right hand, which had been decorously stroking her belly, grew more indecent as it moved lower.

Recently, he had begun to cautiously release his repressed desires little by little. And Leon Winston changed not just outside the bed but inside it as well. Under his gentle touch, Grace felt an intoxicating sensation, as if her whole body was melting away.