Patrick didn’t expect Jane to wake up. When he saw her turn around, he was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained his composure.
After all, Jane was his wife. What was he doing with a guilty conscience?
With that thought in mind, Patrick felt more at ease than before. He even lifted the corner of the blanket and got into bed, holding onto Jane’s shoulder and letting her rest on his arm.
“I just haven’t had a chance to be this close to you in a long time. I wanted to hug you, Jane…”
“Hmm?” Jane raised her head slightly and looked at Patrick with confusion, waiting for him to continue.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Patrick looked at Jane tenderly as he held her tighter. “I’m just thinking that this time we’ll have a grand engagement ceremony for you. Everything I owe you from before and what rightfully belongs to you will all be given back.”
Jane was also a woman who would naturally feel sweet hearing such words from her loved one.
She lowered her head slightly and smiled sweetly as she tentatively wrapped her arms around Patrick’s waist. “You know… I don’t really care about those things. As long as I have you by my side during the engagement ceremony it will be enough.”
After experiencing so much together with Patrick already, they no longer cared about superficial appearances. As long as they had each other by their sides, it would suffice.
…
“By the way, I’m going to Paris tomorrow to participate in a fashion design competition. It will probably take about five or six days, excluding travel time. Please wait for me patiently,” Jane said to Patrick as they sat in the car after bidding farewell to Mike at the old mansion.
Patrick tightly held Jane’s hand, adjusted the car to a comfortable speed, and turned his head to look at her, saying, “I’ll go with you.”
Jane shook her head, “Isn’t work busy lately? Just focus on your job well; wait patiently for me when I come back. Don’t worry about anything happening.”
“But…” Although there wasn’t much work pressure on him currently, he concerned how she’d fare alone abroad instead, which plagued him more so than anything else, “Don’t forget that flying makes you scared because of your fear of heights. What if something happens then? It’s better if I accompany and take care of any issues.”
Patrick’s eyes were sincere while staring intently into hers; however, she remained motionless whilst gazing upon him smilingly. Discovering that having Patrick’s presence beside herself was one of life’s greatest blessings she could ever ask for!
Jane couldn’t help herself and leaned in towards Patrick as he parked the car on the side of the road. She placed a kiss on his lips and took hold of his wrist, whispering softly, “You’re so good to me.”
That kiss was like a switch that ignited a fire within Patrick’s heart. He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled Jane closer until they were inches apart. After staring at her for just a few seconds, he kissed her again with dominance and passion as if he wanted to exhaust all of his energy into it.
Jane quickly succumbed to this kiss, wrapping her arms around Patrick’s neck and responding tenderly. However, this time Patrick’s kiss was intense yet controlled; after half a minute or so, he let go of Jane and said affectionately, “I just want you to know that I’ll always be by your side whenever I can be there for you.”
“I know,” Jane smiled back at him without any objections about going to Paris together.
The next morning at ten o’clock sharp, Patrick had arranged for their private jet to be ready on the tarmac after passing through security checks with Jane.
“Is everything going to be okay this time?” asked Jane nervously because she still had some fear from their last flight incident despite claiming not being afraid of heights.
“Don’t worry; I’m here with you,” reassured Patrick in a soft voice.
It would take six or seven hours from Guavo to Paris by plane; everything went smoothly initially until two hours later when the aircraft suddenly jolted violently causing even more turbulence than before.
Jane clung onto her dress tightly enough that even the tip of her thumb turned red due to exertion while feeling scared about what might happen next.
Patrick noticed something wrong with Jane immediately; almost instinctively, he hugged her tightly while calling over an air hostess asking, “What happened?”
“We encountered an air current during our flight earlier but it has passed now. Mr. Pansy and Miss North, you don’t have anything else they need worry about,” replied the stewardess calmly.
Patrick nodded once before patting gently on Jane’s shoulder telling her silently not worry anymore while running his hand up-and-down along her back reassuringly.
Jane’s face was still pale, and she clearly hadn’t recovered from the turbulence just now. That jolt had successfully reminded her of the scene when she crashed before. That time, too, there was an air current, and it was even more violent than this time.
She felt scared.
Thinking of this, she instinctively grabbed Patrick’s sleeve and took a long time to say, “Really… are we okay?”
“It’s okay,” Patrick said gently to Jane.
He knew what Jane was afraid of and what she cared about. But as long as he was by Jane’s side, he would never let her suffer any harm no matter how hard he tried.
“Just now the flight attendant said that we just encountered a little air current. Everything is fine now. We’ll be in Paris soon. Relax… be good.”
Under Patrick’s constant reassurance, Jane’s vigilance and nervousness finally slowly subsided. She left Patrick’s embrace and turned her face away uneasily.
Patrick knew that Jane felt embarrassed so he didn’t say much either.
Later on during the flight, everything went smoothly until six hours later when they finally arrived in Paris together.
As soon as they got out of the airport, there were people specially sent to pick up Patrick and Jane who helped them put their luggage into the trunk of their car. When Patrick held onto Jane’s hand, it still felt cold to him though…
“I had a villa here in Paris before which has already been cleaned for us. While you go participate in your competition, we can stay here.”
“Okay,” nodded Jane.
After arriving at the villa, both looked around inside where they saw its beautiful decor with simple European style furnishings which wasn’t black-and-white or gray but rather had some cute dolls placed on a long sofa in living room. Obviously it meant for entertainment purposes.
“This house is so beautiful,” exclaimed Jane walking inside while curiously looking around touching things here-and-there; meanwhile Patrick watched with amusement at her every move.
Jane paused for a moment then turned back towards him smiling, “I really like this house; its decoration is very pretty.”
“If you like it, we can come stay here every year.”