She only managed to glimpse the lead black car in the distance before Winston Wyatt drew her attention back.
“Teacher, my head hurts so much.
It’s awful.” Winston Wyatt’s dark brows were knitted together, sweat continuously beading on his forehead.
His expression was a mixture of vulnerability and pain.
“Don’t worry, just breathe.” Aurora Rivers knew Winston would be weak and need to rest after an episode.
She brushed his hair back, slicking it away to completely expose his forehead.
When she placed her palm against it, she found it was burning hot.
She placed both hands on his temples and began to massage them.
Winston’s expression instantly relaxed, a look of pure contentment washing over him.
Aurora Rivers: “Is that a little better?”
Winston Wyatt, with his handsome, untamed face and long, dark lashes lowered, obediently hummed in agreement.
As he gazed at the person he had thought about day and night for twenty years, a fierce possessiveness surfaced in his eyes.
‘The thought that he was the only one to receive this kind of treatment made him want to laugh with secret delight.’
‘Especially with Damian Sinclair so close by, yet completely oblivious.’
Winston shot a provocative, triumphant, yet wary glance toward Damian Sinclair in the distance.
Damian Sinclair, who had rolled down his window to watch, found it amusing to see Winston acting like a wicked dragon jealously guarding its treasure—showing it off, yet terrified of others coveting it.
‘Winston Wyatt must be so crazy he’s lost his mind.
He’s hostile toward everyone.
Does he really think I would fight him over a little substitute?’
‘Still, for a substitute, she certainly has some skill to be able to calm down a berserk Winston Wyatt in such a short time.’
Secretary Cheney was also marveling inwardly.
Winston was so docile around Aurora Rivers, just like a child.
He had seen how harsh Winston’s attitude toward Isla Chambers was—it was the pure possessiveness of a superior over private property.
At the same time, Secretary Cheney found it a bit strange.
Why would Winston Wyatt call Aurora Rivers “Teacher”?
He thought about reporting this peculiar detail to Damian Sinclair, but then reconsidered.
‘It’s just a title, after all.
What’s in a name?’
‘It’s probably just some sort of quirky pet name between them.’
Damian Sinclair’s gaze fell on Aurora Rivers’s back, and his eyes suddenly froze, a tremor running through him.
‘That silhouette…
it looks just like my stepmom…’
“Mr.
Sinclair?” Seeing Damian completely captivated, Secretary Cheney called out cautiously.
‘Is there another problem?’
Secretary Cheney’s voice snapped Damian Sinclair back to reality.
He averted his gaze, rolled up the car window, and stopped watching Winston Wyatt and Aurora Rivers.
In the enclosed space, exhaustion suddenly washed over him.
‘How could a little substitute possibly look like my stepmom?
No one could.
There’s only one of her in this world.’
‘The only reason I thought I saw a resemblance is that I’m sick with longing.’
Suddenly, a wave of discomfort churned in his stomach.
It quickly escalated into a twisting pain that shot through his entire body.
Damian Sinclair hunched over, his body trembling.
He squeezed his eyes shut as his pale, slender hands dug fiercely into the leather seat beneath him, the veins on them bulging grotesquely.
When Secretary Cheney saw Damian’s deathly pale face and his uncontrollable gasps for air, he immediately realized Damian’s stomach condition was acting up.
Alarm bells screamed in Secretary Cheney’s mind as he quickly poured a cup of hot water.
They kept hot water in the car precisely because Damian Sinclair’s stomach episodes were not infrequent.
“Mr.
Sinclair, are you alright?
Here, drink some hot water first.” Then, Secretary Cheney turned to the driver and ordered, “Quickly, drive!
Back to Silverwater Bay.”
Damian Sinclair took the water, his fingers clenching the cup.
He still couldn’t stop trembling as he drank, and water trickled from the corner of his mouth, down his chin, over his arduously bobbing Adam’s apple, and seeped into his shirt.
The hot water had minimal effect, but it was more useful than medication.
The stomach medication he was currently prescribed no longer had any effect on Damian; his body had even started to reject it.
As far as Secretary Cheney knew, Damian had suffered from this stomach ailment since he was a child.
In truth, the physical ailment itself wasn’t as severe as it seemed.
With careful management, it could be fully healed.
The incurable part was the psychological aspect of it; Damian was in a constant state of stress from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Secretary Cheney didn’t know exactly what Damian had experienced as a child to cause such a condition.
“Mr.
Sinclair, I’ll contact Miss Forrest to make you some soothing oatmeal.”
Serena Forrest’s oatmeal did have some effect on Damian.
When an episode hit, Damian couldn’t keep anything down; he would vomit up anything he ate.
The only exception was Serena Forrest’s oatmeal, of which he could manage a few bites.
「…」
After Winston Wyatt’s condition had mostly stabilized, Aurora Rivers went to look for Victoria Sutton, only to find she and Kian Blackwood had already vanished without a trace.
So, the matter of asking about Silas Blackwood had to be postponed for now.
Given the circumstances, it wasn’t a good idea to continue shopping, and besides, they had already bought most of what they needed.
In the car, Aurora handed a skewer of candied strawberries to Winston.
“Eating something sweet might help when you’re not feeling well.”
Winston accepted it preciously, his eyes reddening without him realizing it.
He opened his mouth and bit into a whole large strawberry, his cheeks puffing out.
“Sweet.
So sweet.
And delicious.”
Before he had even finished chewing the first one, Winston eagerly took a bite of the second, then the third.
Stuffing his mouth full did nothing to block the dense, surging ache in his heart.
The night before he lost Aurora Rivers twenty years ago, she had said the same thing and given him candy.
‘This time is different,’ he thought.
‘I’ll protect her.
I won’t lose her again.’
One could say that Aurora’s appearance was the only sweetness in Winston Wyatt’s life.
Winston had a deep-set, defiant face that looked grim and unapproachable.
Who would have thought he could act so cute in private?
Aurora couldn’t help but poke his puffed-out cheek with her finger, laughing.
“Eat slowly, no one’s going to steal it from you.
There’s plenty more.” She sighed inwardly again.
‘He really is just a child.’
“But you can’t eat too much at once, either.” She had bought one of every flavor; it was impossible to finish them all in one go.
Winston’s reply was muffled, but he still nodded obediently.
Hearing her tell him not to eat too much at once, he immediately recalled the little boy and his mother he’d seen earlier.
His mother had also told him not to eat too much, or he’d get a stomachache and indigestion.
Now his Teacher was saying the same thing to him.
Not only was Winston’s mouth filled with sweetness, but his heart was too.
He was tasting happiness.
‘But…
no one’s going to steal it from me?’
Thinking of the other five people, Winston narrowed his eyes and took an even bigger bite.
With his sharp canine teeth showing, he looked both possessive of his food and domineering.
「…」
Isla Chambers knew Winston Wyatt had gone shopping with Aurora Rivers, and she knew he would definitely buy things for her.
But when a group of bodyguards, all of them laden with shopping bags, filled her vision, she was still stunned.
‘They bought so much!
It’s like they cleared out an entire store!’
And among all those things, not a single one was for her.