"Hey, President Grant, didn’t you say you were coming? I’m starving. How co I haven’t seen you yet?"
"Yes, in a mont." His voice sounded a bit formal.
Nora Ainsworth hung up. Just as she was about to call again, the door swung open, and Leon Lynch walked in carrying food.
Nora Ainsworth was stunned. "How did you know I was here? And that I hadn’t eaten?"
Leon Lynch smiled faintly. "I saw your previous location on your phone. I figured you probably hadn’t eaten yet, so I brought you dinner."
Nora Ainsworth’s eyes lit up as she looked at the bag in his hands. "Quick, give it to ! I’m starving."
He opened the containers and handed them to her. "You get injured and end up in the hospital, and you don’t even tell ."
"It’s nothing good, so it didn’t make a difference whether I told you or not. Besides, I just need to stay here for another twenty days or so, and I’ll be fine."
Leon Lynch took out a carton of steaming milk and handed it to her just as she was about to choke. "You must’ve been a starving ghost in your past life."
Nora Ainsworth took it, chugged a large gulp, and laughed. "Probably was."
Once she’d eaten and drunk her fill, Nora Ainsworth pointed outside. "Can you take out for a walk?"
Without a second thought, Leon Lynch lifted her into the wheelchair.
He then wheeled her downstairs.
"It’s so dull being stuck in the hospital."
Leon Lynch smiled faintly. "It really is dull. How about I keep you company every day from now on?"
Nora Ainsworth was about to say yes, but then she suddenly rembered that dangerous character, Quentin Grant.
She replied sheepishly, "You don’t have to. I have soone here to take care of , and you’re busy, too. By the way, was your press conference today a success?"
He stopped and sat on the bench across from her.
He handed her her phone.
"Let tell you again, Nora Ainsworth, and I’m being very serious. No matter when, no matter where, do not turn off your phone. If I call next ti and it’s off again, I’ll assu you’re missing and call the police. I an it."
His lean, handso face was etched with seriousness.
Nora Ainsworth nodded. "Alright. Just have to keep it on, right? No problem."
"I didn’t expect you to help today."
Nora Ainsworth looked a little embarrassed. "I’ve always been on the side of justice. It wasn’t just for you—I would’ve done the sa for anyone. To be honest, as soon as I saw the report, I knew sothing was very wrong with it."
"You could tell right away?" His eyes sparkled in the darkness.
Nora Ainsworth t his gaze. "It’s probably because I already knew what kind of person Sharon Ainsworth is. Compared to her, you’re much more reliable. So, from the very beginning, I believed you weren’t that kind of person."
Leon Lynch was silent for a long while. Suddenly, he stood up and pulled Nora Ainsworth’s head to his chest, holding her in an embrace.
"Thank you. I’m so touched."
Nora Ainsworth didn’t move. His scent filled her senses.
’If it weren’t for this whole series of events, I’d be married to him by now, wouldn’t I?’
’I would have beco Mrs. Lynch, going to work every day, maybe even having a cute child... Of course, if you took my mother-in-law out of the equation, it might have all been perfect.’
But her present reality seed a world away from the life she had just imagined.
A tall, slender figure stood at the hospital room window, tightly clutching a bag of food.
A mont later, the food was thrown into the trash can.
The figure turned and left.
When Nora Ainsworth returned to her hospital room, she found the food in the trash can.
Just then, a nurse ca in, and Nora quickly asked, "Has anyone been in this room?"
"A man wearing a hat and a mask ca in for a mont, then left."
Nora Ainsworth paused. ’That doesn’t seem like Quentin Grant’s style at all.’
’Could it have been soone else?’
She thought about it for a mont before lying down on the bed and drifting off to sleep.
When Leon Lynch returned to the Lynch residence, Quincy still hadn’t left.
Seeing him return, Quincy said ingratiatingly, "Cousin, how did I do this morning?"
Leon Lynch crossed one leg over the other and folded his hands. "Not bad. I’ll let the matter of you setting up Nora slide."
Quincy chuckled. "Cousin, I was in the wrong. Did you see Sharon Ainsworth today? She was so mad she nearly fainted. Trying to fra you so she could marry you... she’s really not the sharpest tool in the shed."
Mrs. Lynch asked tentatively, "Son, what you said at the end of the press conference... was it true?"
"Your son never lies."
Mrs. Lynch sighed in despair. "Are you trying to kill ? Bringing ho a daughter-in-law who’s completely incompatible with ... aren’t you just telling to drop dead?"
Leon Lynch lowered his gaze to the ring on his finger, twisting it with his other hand. "It’s not as serious as you think. Nora is a very kind person."
"Leon, there are so many won out there. Why her?"
Leon Lynch uncrossed his legs and stood up. "Love is a mysterious thing. It doesn’t need a reason. When you love soone, you’re willing to die for them."
He walked upstairs, step by step, leaving Quincy and Mrs. Lynch to stare at each other in bewildernt.
Only then was Mrs. Lynch truly aghast. Her son was in deep. His words were simply unimaginable to her—to love soone enough to die for them.
And a love without any reason, at that.
Leon Lynch opened a drawer. Inside lay a heart-shaped box.
A woman’s diamond ring lay nestled inside, one he had purchased recently.
He had bought it for their wedding day.
He was already wearing his. All that was missing was hers.
He took the ring out, pressed a light kiss to it, and then placed it back inside.
Also in the drawer lay a picture fra, holding a photo he had taken long ago.
In it, she was sitting on the swing at the Ainsworth family ho. Under the sun, her long hair billowed in the wind, obscuring her face, but you could still clearly see the smile in her eyes.
He stared at the photo, standing there for a long ti without realizing it, his eyes fixed on the face in the fra.
’It’s like we’re on opposite sides of an ocean. I’m here, and she’s over there. I can only watch her from afar, trying so hard but never able to reach her heart.’
’But... who was it that said cherishing every day you get to see her is the ultimate expression of love?’
’He loved her. He didn’t even know what day it was that he suddenly, madly fell for her. He loved her so much that he’d lie awake at night, restless, just hoping that on a whim she might call or send him a ssage. He loved her, and all he hoped for was to be by her side through thick and thin, to grow old together.’
’And so, he decided. No matter how far apart their hearts were, he would get closer to her, bit by bit. He would move into her heart and put down roots, letting them sprout until he was so ingrained that if she ever tried to pull him out, the pain would be unbearable.’
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