Leah Sterling drifted in and out of a nightmare.
Several times, she struggled to wake up, only to be soothed back to sleep by a comfortably cool sensation.
When she finally opened her eyes again, she had no idea what time it was or how long she had slept.
She stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment as her consciousness slowly returned.
Glancing to the side, she saw an IV bottle hanging from the coat rack next to the bed.
Only a little bit of fluid remained inside.
Leah didn’t have to wonder who had taken care of her while she was sick, because hanging on that same coat rack wasn’t just the IV bottle, but also an expensive haute couture jacket.
Adrian Hawthorne’s jacket.
What Leah couldn’t figure out was why she was in Adrian’s room.
In her dizzy and confused state, she had somehow stumbled into his room.
As her senses fully returned, she tried to move her fingers and felt her hand enveloped in something warm.
A second later, the warm sensation vanished.
“You’re awake?” Adrian’s voice rang out.
Leah blinked, suddenly realizing that the warmth on her hand just now…
had been his hand.
Her usually quiet heart gave a faint, barely noticeable flutter.
As she sat up, Adrian grabbed a pillow and tucked it behind her back for support.
The man’s long, slender fingers held out a glass of water to her.
Only then did Leah realize her throat felt like it was on fire.
She drained the large glass of water, finally feeling a bit better.
“Thank you.” As soon as she spoke, her voice was so hoarse she could barely stand it.
“I…
I went into the wrong room.”
“It’s a good thing you went into the wrong room, otherwise I wouldn’t have found you so quickly,” Adrian said.
“Your fever hit a hundred and four degrees.
You were burning up.”
Leah froze, not expecting it to have been that serious.
But thinking about it, she was lucky he had found her in time.
“Thank you,” she repeated.
Adrian didn’t reply.
He picked up an infrared thermometer from the nightstand and pointed it at her forehead.
The screen finally lit up green.
He set the thermometer down and looked at Leah.
“The doctor said it wasn’t a cold or the flu.
It was a stress response.”
His deep eyes locked onto her.
“Were you scared?”
Leah gently pressed her lips together and remained silent, just blinking quietly.
Adrian didn’t push for an answer.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t be afraid.
I’m not dead, am I?”
Perhaps it was because he had been the one taking care of her while she was sick.
The warm water, pills, and thermometer on the nightstand, along with the small basin on the chair by the bed and the little towel draped over its edge, all proved that he had looked after her.
Or perhaps it was because she was still fragile from the fever, her psychological defenses weakened.
After pressing her lips together for a moment, Leah spoke softly.
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had any reason to come to Lantheon, and you wouldn’t have suddenly decided to do an impromptu factory inspection.”
Her voice was incredibly raspy, unable to hide the guilt in her tone.
She paused.
“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Otherwise, she would never have been able to forgive herself.
Hearing this, Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Weren’t you clamoring for a divorce?
Why do you care so much about me?”
Leah glanced at him, her eyes seeming to ask, “What are you talking about?” She said quietly, “Even if I want a divorce, I never wished for you to have an accident.
I just wanted our relationship to end peacefully—to bloom and fade naturally.
Then we could go our separate ways.
That’s all.”
Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to say these things so calmly.
And even if she did, this man wouldn’t necessarily listen.
But right now, probably because she was sick, both of their tempers and attitudes seemed much more mellow.
Adrian frowned upon hearing words like ‘divorce,’ ‘bloom and fade naturally,’ and ‘go our separate ways.’ But seeing her pale, weak face, he couldn’t bring himself to scold her.
His tone actually grew calmer.
“Bloom and fade naturally?” Adrian repeated the phrase before asking, “Leah, did we ever even bloom to begin with?”
From the very beginning, this marriage had been forced upon them.
Rationally, Adrian knew that Leah was just as much a victim as he was.
In a beginning so forced…
had they ever bloomed?
Leah looked down at her hand resting on the quilt.
Her fingers were slender, the knuckles prominent, and a needle was pierced into the pale blue veins on the back of her hand.
She stared at the needle for a few seconds without speaking, lost in thought.
Had they ever bloomed?
Adrian’s question echoed through her mind.
They had, Leah answered silently in her heart.
Even though their relationship was now on a countdown, Leah knew that in her heart, she had once bloomed fiercely for him.
But there was no point in bringing that up now.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she murmured.
Before Adrian could say anything else, Robert Rhodes walked in with a doctor, who removed the IV needle from Leah’s hand.
“Mrs.
Hawthorne, you should eat something first,” Robert said.
Leah didn’t have much of an appetite, and with both Adrian and Robert watching her, she felt even more uncomfortable.
She forced herself to eat a little before looking up at Adrian.
“You came to Lantheon to look for me, right?
Do you need something?”
Adrian looked at her pale face and didn’t say a word.
Robert chimed in from the side.
“Mrs.
Hawthorne, it’s because Mr.
Hawthorne was invited to a charity auction in Marinus tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Leah understood.
Adrian had mentioned before that he needed her to accompany him to certain events to present the image of a happily married couple in order to salvage his public reputation.
And here it was.
Leah nodded.
“You could have just told me about this kind of thing, and I would have met you in Marinus.
There was no need to make a special trip here.” Especially since it almost got him killed.
Hearing this, Adrian frowned imperceptibly.
Before Robert could speak, Adrian said coolly, “It wasn’t a special trip.
I just happened to be coming over to inspect the factory.”
Robert couldn’t help but shoot his boss a sideways glance.
He wondered how that could not be considered a special trip.
If it wasn’t a special trip, why on earth would they be staying in some tiny hotel in this small town?
But while even Robert found the excuse completely unconvincing, Leah took it at face value.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief.
“That’s good, then.”
Seeing her actually believe him, Adrian’s frown deepened, a hint of disbelief flashing in his eyes.
It wasn’t that Leah was gullible.
Over the past five years, she had simply grown accustomed to—and learned—not to flatter herself when it came to her relationship with Adrian.
“I should be mostly recovered by tomorrow.
I won’t delay the banquet,” Leah said.
Adrian had taken care of her while she was sick.
Feeling grateful, Leah naturally didn’t want to hold up his plans.
She didn’t know why, but it suddenly seemed like the man no longer wanted to talk to her.
Adrian looked at Robert.
“Have you looked into the matter?” A cold, mirthless smile touched the corners of his lips.
“How did a perfectly good blade just happen to come loose?
Don’t tell me the Grim Reaper is suddenly out to get me.”