“Babe…” Elijah couldn’t stand it anymore and walked towards Tim, “Grandpa, she’s joking with you!”
“I know right. This girl has a sharp tongue but she is very kind. Esther, do you want to say anything more vicious? Just say it!”
“No more! Seeing that you are so reasonable. Those vicious words I’ve been preparing for years will not have much deterrent effect even if I say them, so I will just keep them within myself!” Esther said with a wry smile, “Hahahaha…”
“Silly girl!” Tim took her hand and put it on the sofa, “Good girl, good girl!”
“Grandpa, you must live a good life!” Esther finally became serious. She looked at Tim with tears in her eyes. “In fact, at first I knew your good intentions. I also knew that you knew that Elijah was still alive, that’s why I was relieved and didn’t come to comfort you! The reason I don’t bring Iris here is that I am worried about her safety. I don’t want others to know Iris’s identity!”
“I understand. You’ve thought it through very well! Alas! You all are back and only Winnie is not here. She had only come back to see me at Christmas for the past four years. I don’t know what she’s busy doing the rest of the time. I asked her to go to Perry Group but she didn’t want to go and insisted to be some kind of sales agent on her own. I wonder how she is doing now!” Tim signed.
What Tim said was right. Where was Winnie? Esther knew that in these four years, Hudson had not been together with Winnie. Ethel told her that Hudson felt that he owed Winnie a lot.
She also hoped that Hudson and Winnie would get together eventually, but would they?
She hadn’t met Hudson for half a year. How was he?
In New York.
Winnie sat in a corner of the living room. She felt peaceful looking at the three large suitcases in front of her. She was about to leave New York and returned to her hometown finally.
It had been four years since she came here.
She had worked in New York as an entry-level employee at first. She had tried too many jobs, and she even worked as a dishwasher. Now, she was twenty-six years old and she was no longer childish and innocent like she was back then. She had become a beautiful and attractive white-collar in the city.
She stood up and looked around the tiny flat in which she had lived for three years, from the moment she joined GB company and became a sales employee. Now, she had improved her status from being a staff to becoming the Vice President of Sales for Asia, and one could guess that she experienced a lot of predicaments.
At the airport.
With a bag in her hand, Winnie held her ticket and wanted to have her ticket checked.
At the moment, a tall figure was in front of her.
She had been queueing subconsciously, but she didn’t expect the man to suddenly turn around and call out in a low voice, “Winnie?”
She was stunned when she suddenly heard the familiar voice. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Hudson. Why was he here? She felt depressed after seeing him. She felt extremely nervous.
But she immediately calmed down and nodded her head calmly, “Hello, Mr. Ball!”
…
The tone she used when she greeted him was like she was not close to him as if they were just friends who didn’t know each other very well.
“How are you?” Hudson spoke in a low tone. His eyes were gazing at her face.
“Not too bad. The plane will depart soon. Let’s go.” She tried to calm herself down, smiling calmly.
Hudson knew that it was really strange for them to stop their steps at the boarding gate and immediately had his ticket checked.
It seemed like she didn’t expect to bump into him.
For the past few years, they had bumped into each other every few months. Every time, he greeted her like this while she always smiled politely as if she was not close to him and didn’t talk with him. She never expected that she would bump into him on the plane back home.
They got on the plane.
It just so happened that she just sat next to him.
Hudson let her sit by the window and Winnie accepted his kindness.
In fact, she didn’t know that he had deliberately chosen to meet her on this day. He was the one who secretly arranged their seats so that they would sit next to each other.
Hudson had thought a lot during these four years. The time when he was together with Esther was the best ten years of his life. Therefore, he had always thought that he would not love another woman anytime. But after he was apart from Esther for four years, he found out that time could slowly make one forget the one he loved.
Time could also fade out the relationship between one and the one he loved.
Then it would make one loved aother person. Thinking of Winnie, he felt sad. Perhaps she was not the woman he loved the most, but she was the woman who hurt him the most.
In these four years, he had been feeling sad whenever he thought of her. Therefore, sometimes he didn’t even want to think about her as he was fear that he would be too grieved thinking of her. He also finally knew that there was always someone who would play a crucial role in one’s life. One would only cherish the person when he lost the person.
In these four years, Esther had become a person who could not be forgotten by Hudson. He took a long time to settle down and figure out what he wanted to do. When he was sure that he was not looking for him to be responsible to her, he knew that it was time for him to meet her.
Winnie did not speak anything since she boarded the plane. She kept looking out of the window. When the flight attendant told the passengers to fasten their seat belts as the plane was going to take off. Before she did so, Hudson next to her turned around and pulled up the seat belt on her side and helped her to fasten the seat belt.
She could smell the nice scent of his body suddenly as he went closer towards her. She held her breath in fear and did not dare to look at him. She did not dare to show her emotions either and just thank her.
He smiled warmly as if he wanted to tell her many things, but she averted her eyes and looked out of the window.
As the plane took off, she clutched the handle of the seat on one side with her small hand. She was a little nervous as she would feel a sense of discomfort when she experienced a moment of weightlessness. Hudson reached out to her without her noticing and held her hand that was resting on the handle.
She was stunned and tried to pull her hand back, but he didn’t look at her and just say, “It’s okay. It will be stable soon!”
She still struggled as if she didn’t want to let him hold her hand.
She tried to draw back her hand but he held her hand quickly, not even giving her the chance to escape from him. His entire big hand which was warm covered her small hand and wrapped it in his palm. He could feel that her hand was no longer as soft as it had been four years ago. There were layers of calluses after four years. He felt sad again as he was the one who caused her to suffer so much.
He then turned his face to look at her, saying as the plane took off, “Winnie, come back to me!”
She became very nervous on the spot but did not do anything. Then the plane took off to the sky. When they were silent for a few minutes, their eyes met, and she saw the seriousness he displayed in his eyes. She also felt that she was sad. Had she finally made him feel sad?
But what she wanted was not he feeling sad. She only wanted him to love her truly. If he wasn’t loving her truly, she preferred that he did not love her.
She had lived well without him for four years. She didn’t want to feel the heartbreaking pain again, “I’m sorry, Mr. Ball!”
She was rejecting him, wasn’t she?
Hudson was stunned and his heart throbbed for a moment.
She also took the opportunity to draw back her hand and placed it on her lap. She placed her two small hands together and turned her head back to the window.
He became silent also.
Then for the next few hours, they did not speak.
Hudson closed his eyes as if he was a bit tired.
Winnie heard the steady breathing sound beside her turning into a soft snore.
Winnie turned her head and looked at him. Was he asleep? It was only when he was asleep that she dared to look at him with impunity. He hadn’t asked her to come back to him in the four years. In fact, in four years they had met only a few times. Every time she ran away from him panicked and they did not say anything to each other.
Now, she sized his closed eyes up. He was very handsome, just like her brother. He looked calm and she could notice the faint sorrow by looking at his eyebrows. She thought that he felt sorrowful because of Esther.
She thought that he only loved Esther. However, all of this had nothing to do with her anymore. She had no intention to love anyone else in her life, nor did she want to marry anyone. She didn’t want to love as she really couldn’t afford to be hurt anymore.
His eyes were tightly closed. There were long and thick eyelashes beneath his eyelids. It was a sin that a man’s eyelashes were longer than a woman’s!
She gazed at his face in fascination. She kept looking at his eyebrows, his long and thin eyes, his straight nose, and his lean jaw. Listening to what he said today, she felt complicated and she didn’t even know what she was thinking.
But she was no longer twenty-two years old. She was mature now. She had become the Vice President for Asia in GB company. She really could not be naive anymore. She felt grateful as passing through the setbacks made her mature.
She could not afford to love anymore.
His breathing remained steady, and he fell asleep soundly. She gently waved at the flight attendant. A beautiful woman immediately came over there and Winnie whispered, “Please get him a blanket.”
In no time, the blanket was brought to her. Esther covered the blanket on Hudson and tucked him in the blanket carefully. He looked like he hadn’t slept for a long time. His eyes were puffy and there was a faint green color. Winnie was stunned for a moment and gave a sigh of relief.
However, he opened his eyes suddenly. Before she even had time to react, he reached out his hands and brought her body towards him.
“Ah…” Winnie was pulled towards him so fast that she actually crashed against her chest. Why was he not asleep?
Why was he pulling her towards him so fast? She was so scared and embarrassed that she tried to move away from him.
Then he suddenly stretched his hand to the back and held her body and pressed her against him. He kissed her small mouth immediately afterward.
Instantly, Winnie’s mind went blank.
Hudson kissed her…
After they had not met each other for more than four years, he had kissed her when he didn’t drink any beer and have a sober mind.
She could feel his soft lips with a faint fresh taste invading her teeth, and the taste spread across her mouth.
His fragrant scent filled her nose and suddenly she felt that he was everything to her.
She could feel his lips, his kiss, his chest, his strong hands, and his body which entangled with hers.
She was blank while Hudson’s tongue invaded deeper and she had to breathe harder.
She tried hard to draw in a breath. No! She realized she was doing something wrong. How could she be so addicted to his kiss? She immediately pushed him away. However, he hugged her more tightly and domineeringly, kissing her.
They were on a plane. Even if they were the only two in the row, he couldn’t be so reckless, not to mention the fact that she had nothing to do with him anymore!
She struggled, but it made Hudson let out a strange moan and even bit her lips.
She closed her eyes blankly. She felt aggrieved suddenly and wanted to cry. The tears flowed down her cheeks and Hudson was stunned when he felt the cool sensation of her tears. After a long time, his hand let go of her. She looked at him in a daze and cried again. She sat back in her seat and looked out of the window. She looked at the clouds silently while shedding her tears.
“I’m sorry!” He said.
She closed her eyes. The tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt hurt not being treated by him rudely like this, but she hated herself for giving in so early and letting him have the chance to kiss her. She hated herself for hoping to stay together with him for a lifetime and not be separated from him anymore. She wondered that hadn’t she realized the truth after being hurt by him so many times. She wondered why she wanted to be a bitch.
She never spoke again.
After she cried for a long time, he took a tissue and wiped her tears away. However, the more he wiped her tears away, the more tears she had.
“Winnie, do you still love me?” He looked at her and asked again in a deep voice.
She chuckled and more tears rolled down her cheeks.
“You still love me, right?”
She forced herself to smile. If she knew that she would love him again despite so many conflicts and torments when she was a couple with him, she would not force herself to let go of him and also not force him to let go of her.
However, she would not dream about him loving her anymore, “Mr. Ball, I’m tired and don’t want to talk. If Mr. Ball is lonely, you can find another woman to accompany you. Sorry, I’m not the kind of woman you like!”
“What kind of woman do I like?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
She was stunned and said as if she was angry, “Maybe Esther. I’m not the one!”
He turned serious and he knew that she had misunderstood something. He kissed her as if he really wanted to treat her as everything in his life, not just to flirt with her.
She sneered, “Mr. Ball, we don’t have a relationship anymore. Why do you still trying to flirt with me?”
“We’re not divorced yet!” He finally said. He hadn’t completed the divorce proceedings back then as she had forced him to sign it.
She was stunned and surprised.
“I tore up the signed divorce agreement after you left the hospital!” He spoke calmly.
She was dumbfounded and tears welled up in her eyes. Her whole body seemed to be frozen.
“So, you are still my wife!” He stared at her who was still crying. Seeing her little face, he felt very sad.
“Come back to me, okay?” His voice was gentle like he was coaxing her.
She closed her eyes. She felt depressed and tears rolled down her cheeks again, “Then I will sign another one!”
“You don’t want to be with me?” Hudson knew he had indeed done many things wrong. However, at this time, everything had changed! After the time had changed, who could still love truly like what they did before? Who could still love especially after being hurt badly? Being hurt was not the most important thing either. The important thing was that if that the man did not love the woman, then the woman also did not need to keep loving him.
“Yes, I don’t want to be together with you!” Winnie said firmly. Hudson was stunned as he thought that she would choose to be together with him again.
“It’s been four years. Can’t we start over again?”