"I want to sleep with Mommy, Daddy, you go sleep next door. I’m worried that I’m dreaming, and when I wake up, Mommy will be gone. I want to keep watching so that she won’t disappear."
Marcus said, holding Eleanor Hollis tighter.
Hugo Quinn’s hand stiffened. The child said so, and if he insisted further, it would make him seem heartless.
But he was definitely not going to sleep next door.
So the three of them ended up lying on the same bed, Eleanor Hollis in the middle, with Marcus on one side and Hugo on the other, each holding one of her hands.
Eleanor was a bit speechless, but she obediently stayed still.
Her stomach suddenly growled; she was a bit hungry.
Hugo wrapped an arm around her waist, "The kitchen will bring something to eat soon, just hold on a bit."
Eleanor didn’t say anything, just nodded slightly, feeling the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
In just ten minutes, Marcus was breathing steadily, falling asleep, but still holding onto her tightly.
Eleanor felt sorry for him. The past few days must have been tough for him. She always said she treated Marcus as her own son, yet when she left, she didn’t think about what would happen to him, given how he finally started to come out of his shell.
How was her behavior different from Rachel Lynch’s back then?
Eleanor closed her eyes and was about to poke Marcus’s cheek when she noticed Hugo had already gotten out of bed, naturally carrying Marcus over.
"I’ll take him to sleep over there; it’s too cramped with three of us."
The master bed was big enough that even if five people lay together, it wouldn’t be crowded. Hugo obviously wanted to take the chance while Marcus was asleep to move him away.
Eleanor saw through it but said nothing.
When Hugo returned, the kitchen had already brought up the dinner, and since it was quite late, it wasn’t suitable to eat anything too greasy, so the dinner was rather light.
"Have something to eat."
Hugo placed a small table on the bed, setting three dishes and a soup on it.
Eleanor wasn’t sick, so she could have gotten up to eat, but seeing Hugo being so considerate, she didn’t refuse.
Eating quietly, her stomach felt a bit better.
Hugo, however, didn’t eat a bite, just watched her from the side.
Eleanor felt a tingling sensation on her scalp under his gaze and slowly spoke.
Hugo’s eyes lit up, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
"Eleanor, you’re finally willing to talk to me. I thought you wouldn’t want to deal with me for the rest of your life."
Eleanor’s heart trembled. It was then she noticed how much thinner he had become, the red blood vessels in his eyes, likely not having had a good night’s sleep for some time.
Her departure only pained those who cared and delighted those who didn’t.
She slowly put down her chopsticks, not sure what else to say beyond that.
Hugo had someone come up to take the bowls away, then took a wet wipe from the side to clean her hands.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Thinking about what you went through that day makes me feel bad. It was the Quinton Family that wronged you, Eleanor. I’m no longer part of the Quinton Family."
Even though she’d heard before, hearing him say it out loud, Eleanor still felt a warmth spreading through her body.
For her, he had lost so much already.
She wanted to say, give up, Hugo, let’s not be together anymore; it only causes us both pain.
But she had already said such things before, asked him to let go, yet he never did. When he really did let go, it hurt him more than anything, like he was close to dying.
They looked at each other, neither saying a word.
Hugo took a shower and came out to find her still staring blankly on the balcony, where there were several bottles of strong liquor and the floor littered with cigarette butts.
Since Eleanor left, he had slept on the balcony every night, unwilling to disturb the scent of her in the room.
He never thought she would someday return and stand vividly before him.
So, seeing the things on the balcony, he nervously went over, threw the bottles into the trash can, and squatted down to clean up the cigarette butts.
Watching him cautiously squatting on the ground, Eleanor’s eyes suddenly reddened.
Hugo should have been a high and mighty man, always the one others had to bow to, but in that moment, she saw him as so average and ordinary,
He had fallen from his pedestal for her, no longer the unreachable CEO of Grandeur.
Hugo was picking up the cigarette butts, but felt someone holding his waist tightly. Eleanor rested her head against his back, saying nothing.
Hugo called out, tossing the cigarette butt in his hand into the trash.
Eleanor apologized again, hugging him tighter.
Hugo turned around and embraced her.
"I said, I don’t blame you. This wasn’t your fault."
They ended up lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, doing nothing, as if just having each other was enough.
Early the next morning, Marcus was pounding loudly on the door, his hand red from knocking.
Hugo turned over impatiently, realizing what it was as he reached for the side and touched a warm body, a sense of relief washed over him.
"Daddy! Daddy, you’re a bad person! I was clearly sleeping with Mommy last night!"
Hugo got up and pulled the door open.
Marcus stood at the door feeling wronged, his face puffed out like a steamed bun.
Eleanor was already awake, getting out of bed and rubbing her eyes.
Marcus rushed over, but before he could reach her, Hugo grabbed him by the back of his collar unceremoniously.
"If you rush over like that, she’ll fall back. Don’t be so reckless."
Marcus could not break free, so he hung his head and stared at Eleanor dejectedly.
Eleanor found it amusing, gave Hugo a sidelong glance, took his hand away, and hugged Marcus.
"Marcus, you still have to go to class. Hurry and get washed up."
Marcus’s face fell, and he nuzzled into her embrace.
"Mommy, it’s so good that you’re back. I knew you wouldn’t die."
Eleanor’s lips curved into a smile, and she patted his head.
After breakfast, Marcus reluctantly went off to his class.
As soon as Eleanor’s return became known, Samantha Sullivan and Gloria Galloway rushed over eagerly.
Seeing her safe and sound, they thought they were dreaming.
"Do you know how terrifying the body they pulled from the river was?"
Samantha poked Eleanor’s shoulder, and thinking of the body still gave her the creeps.
"Eleanor, you really scared us to death. Your mom even picked out a cemetery plot for you, though we don’t even know whose ashes got buried."
Gloria mentioned it, feeling a bit exasperated, as Eleanor’s mother didn’t seem easy to get along with. The most update n0vels are published on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽