When she awoke again, she had been placed in a white tent. As she vaguely remembered something and abruptly pulled up the blanket, she yanked off her IV and ran outside.
But just as she lifted the tent flap, she saw Christopher Warren helping care for the patients.
Her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
Hearing the noise, Christopher Warren turned and saw her looking back at him with a post-disaster survivor’s gaze.
In her eyes were reproach, frustration, and tears.
He set aside the handkerchief, left the side of the patient he was attending to, and squatted down in front of her, looking at her: "Don’t be afraid, I’m alright."
She bit her lips tightly, tears disobediently streaming down.
No matter how much Christopher Warren comforted her, it was of no use.
In the end, he could only hold her in his arms, letting her cry.
Christopher Warren originally came for official business, but having arrived in the disaster-stricken area, it was hard to leave her alone and go away.
Mobile phones and other communication devices couldn’t be used, so he simply turned off his phone, staying with her to assist in the disaster relief effort.
By the sixth day, a portion of the personnel began to withdraw.
Both of them were on that list as well.
He took her away from the disaster area by car to the neighboring province.
Although there were tremors here, they did not affect the normal lives of the people.
Christopher Warren had booked a presidential suite, and upon entering, he immediately told her to take a shower.
There was no way to bathe in the disaster zone, and the weather had been muggy in the past few days, turning everyone into mud figures.
While she bathed, he didn’t idly wait, directly taking a taxi to a nearby store and bought two sets of clothes to bring back.
Lottie emerged from the bath wrapped in a towel and felt somewhat uncomfortable.
However, after scanning the room, she couldn’t find Christopher Warren anywhere.
She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he probably went to check into his own room.
It had been awkward when he stated earlier that they needed only one room.
Christopher Warren was a man of thorough propriety, he must have been eager just to arrange for her to rest earlier.
She returned to the bathroom to blow-dry her hair.
The clothes she wore were too dirty to put on again, so she called room service to ask them to help her buy a new outfit.
But just after she finished the call, sounds of a door opening came from outside.
Her hands clutched the garment in front of her chest tightly, and then, the door opened, and Christopher Warren entered, carrying two shopping bags.
He involuntarily swallowed when he saw Lottie with her hair loose, wrapped in a white towel.
"I went to buy two sets of clothes to change into."
Lottie bit her lip: "Oh," she put down the phone, "I was just about to ask the staff to buy some clothes for me."
"Go ahead and change," he said.
Lottie nodded and stood up to take the bags. But instead of letting go, Christopher Warren held onto her hand, gazing at her with an ambiguous look.
Lottie bit her lip anxiously: "Brother."
Christopher Warren closed his eyes for a moment before he finally let go of her hand.
After Lottie changed into her clothes, Christopher Warren also went to take a simple shower.
He changed into clean clothes, and at that time, she was sitting on the sofa near the window, drinking water, gazing into the distance.
Christopher Warren approached and embraced her from behind, asking softly, "What are you looking at?"
Lottie tensely put down her cup and was about to stand up but realized he wrapped his arms around her even tighter.
"Are you afraid of me? You didn’t use to be ."
"Don’t call me brother, the whole world knows that I am not your biological brother."
Lottie bit her lip: "But the whole world also knows that you are married."
"So what? Do I have to go against my desires and live that way forever?
Lottie, the person I’ve loved from the start is you, the one I want to marry is you."
Lottie sniffed: "I know, but brother, since you are already married, I hope you can be more rational.
I heard something happened recently in your wife’s family, she must really need you now, so..."
"Don’t talk to me about that, when you needed me the most, why wasn’t I by your side?
Isn’t it because her family wanted the alliance through marriage? I only want to live the life I desire, and will not change my mind for anyone.
Lottie, come back with me to Anchester.
Mom misses you, and her health is deteriorating day by day; since knowing the truth, she and dad have been in a cold war for a year.
Just come back with me, and I will work hard; I won’t let the Warren Family suffer any loss.
As long as you’re by my side, I can weather any storm.