Harry Hall watched as Helen Melendy’s brow gradually tightened, and he laughed softly.
He tapped her forehead gently with the phone in his hand, "If Adam finds out, you’re dead."
His tone carried a hint of schadenfreude, along with a subtle, nearly imperceptible indulgence.
Helen Melendy pouted, rubbing the forehead that didn’t actually hurt, and said offhandedly:
"You just don’t tell him, then it will be fine."
Harry Hall was taken aback by her matter-of-fact response, and suddenly remembered how she used to act spoiled with him when they were together. She was the same way then.
Back then, he was used to being silent and reticent, but for some reason he particularly liked her brash and fearless manner, how she could always stand up to him with confidence at any time.
Thinking of the past, Harry Hall’s eyes quietly dimmed.
Helen Melendy didn’t notice the sudden change in Harry Hall’s emotions and continued:
"Moreover, now that Adam Jones is injured, when he most needs his wife’s care, you should be the one to proactively tell Elly. There’s no need for me to pass the message."
Harry Hall silently watched her without speaking. Helen Melendy thought he disagreed with her opinion, so she continued:
"Adam Jones might say he doesn’t want Elly to know, but deep down he really hopes she would care about him. You men are just like us women, all creatures that say one thing but mean another."
After she finished, she felt there was something off about the last half of her sentence.
When Harry Hall heard her words, his eyebrows raised slightly, "Is that so?"
"So, you keep saying you have no feelings for me, but deep down you’re still in love with me?"
Helen Melendy choked on his words, especially his phrase "but deep down you’re still in love with me," which nearly made her choke on her own saliva.
Under Harry Hall’s deep and sharp gaze, Helen Melendy felt somewhat guilty, and her eyes began to flicker and drift.
She denied immediately.
"How is it different?"
Harry Hall’s tone became somewhat pressing.
"I... Let’s go back to talking about Adam Jones and Elly’s situation. Why bring us into this?"
"What’s the difference between them and us? Are you not a woman, or am I not a man?"
Helen Melendy, feeling guilty under Harry Hall’s sharp gaze, naturally found herself instinctively and firmly countering:
"Of course you’re not a man!"
As the words left her mouth, she realized they sounded awkward. She opened her mouth to add something but then saw Harry Hall’s deep eyes narrow with a hint of danger.
His piercing gaze swept over her body, and he snorted coldly, "Are you sure?"
The slightly raised tone carried a hint of hidden flirtation, which Helen Melendy detected.
Looking up silently at him, in those deep, ocean-like black pupils, Helen Melendy saw the deep affection she had not seen for so long, and her heart skipped a beat.
She hurriedly looked away, deliberately avoiding the topic, and turned her gaze elsewhere, saying:
"In... In any case, Adam Jones definitely hopes Elly would feel sorry for him. If he really doesn’t want Elly to know, then don’t tell him it was me who said so."
After speaking, she bypassed him and quickly walked towards the villa, but Harry Hall caught her wrist.
Holding her slender wrist, which felt as though it could be crushed with the slightest force, he thought of how she had borne the pain of losing a child alone and how she had been sick and hospitalized by herself, with no one by her side...