Chapter 21
He teased her, “Seems like your stomach already answered for you.”
Over the past few days of spending time. together, Ivana had grown quite familiar with Winston. Maybe it was because he had saved her twice, but being around Winston made Ivana feel particularly at
ease.
If Ernest was like an eye–catching roller coaster in an amusement park, then Winston was like an old sofa at home, unremarkable but exceedingly
comfortable, allowing one to relax without
a care.
“Miss Millian,” he said.
She answered, “Just call me Ivana.”
Winston started, “Alright, Ivana, there’s something important I believe you need to know.”
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Ivana, flipping through her French textbook, turned to see the solemn seriousness in Winston’s expression. Her Jheart skipped a beat. She vaguely sensed that Winston might have feelings for her, hough he seemed intent on downplaying
bar
- t.
The shadow left by Ernest made Ivana
ing hesitant to allow herself to love someone
תון
art with her whole heart again. Yet, deep
ark.
ngh
nside, there was a faint spark of anticipation.
Winston shifted back a little, keeping a
istance that ensured Ivana felt
comfortable and said, “The first thing and of what I think is most important, is that I
vant to pursue you, Ivana. You have every ight to refuse me, but I hope you’ll eriously consider it.”
vana’s face flushed bright red. Rarely had var he been confessed to by boys.
n the past, she had always been the one hasing after Ernest. The current situation.
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was entirely unfamiliar territory for her. Ivana took a tactical sip of water, avoiding direct eye contact with Winston.
“The second thing, I share a blood relationship with Ernest. He’s my younger half–brother.” Winston’s words hit Ivana. like a bolt of lightning, erasing her shyness as she stared at him.
“My mother was Axel Gilmore’s lawful wife. My father, Axel, originally just an ordinary. company employee, met my mother, a small–town waitress. Life wasn’t luxurious,
but it was stable.”
He continued, “When I was six, their arguments began to escalate. They thought I didn’t understand, but I knew. My father had an affair, with a powerful, well- connected socialite woman. He wanted to divorce my mom. My mother, refusing to bow, told him, ‘Even if we divorce, I won’t let you live comfortably. She then moved us into the Seaview Apartment.”
Ivana paused in surprise at the mention of
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Seaview Apartment. Winston gently patted her head and smiled, “That’s right, the same neighborhood as yours.”
“People from his side came by often, some threatened us, others offered bribes. There was yelling, fighting and broken things. I tried persuading my mother to leave, but she refused. She said, ‘Why should your father live happily while we live in the shadows like gutter rats? I’m his legal wife, that woman is the mistress! I’m the rightful
mother to his eldest son.”
“I didn’t understand her stubbornness back.
then, but deep down, I knew they wouldn’t let us be.”
He kept talking, “One month after Ernest’s mother visited personally, our apartment caught fire. I remember it vividly, the flames began with a blanket on the windowsill. A child had tossed a cigarette butt in and the blanket quickly went ablaze. The northern wind made it spread faster. My mother rushed to the bathroom,
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pulling me with her, to try to fetch water, but not a drop came from the tap.”
“The fire consumed everything faster than we imagined. When my mother tried to lead us out, the living room was already an inferno. There was only a small bucket of water in the bathroom, just the drops my mom had saved up from the leaking faucet.” Winston fell silent.
In that moment, Ivana saw her own pain. reflected on his face, the kind of deep sorrow etched into one’s very soul, the kind that time couldn’t dull, leaving nothing but the searing memory of helplessness and enduring heartache.
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