Calculating the time, he knew Aoife for over 280 days, and found a way to bring her closer to him exactly 180 days ago.
Last summer, he went to a restaurant for dinner and happened to see Aoife in a staff uniform. Without makeup, her face was clean, her skin slightly yellow, and she appeared undernourished. Yet, even so, her delicate features could not be obscured.
Perhaps it was because she resembled Elisa a bit, Finn immediately noticed her.
The restaurant staff uniform paired with a skirt and stockings, her slender legs attracting many unsavory glances.
At first, Finn just glanced at her a few times, not giving much thought to her, until the noise behind him caught his attention.
Broken plates, splattered oil, and torn stockings on her body, Aoife squatted down to clean up the spilled blood.
A man stood above her, shamelessly insulting her, demanding money in exchange for his company.
Aoife did not dare to lift her head, trembling visibly, even cutting her hand while picking up the broken plates.
The man’s lustful gaze exposed his true intentions, to bully the vulnerable, wanting to possess the beautiful woman before him. He had been leering at Aoife, and perhaps even caused the torn stockings himself.
If Aoife had gone with him, it would have likely been the end for her.
Aoife remained silent, repeating the words “I’m sorry” over and over again.
Too timid, Finn had never seen someone so timid before.
Initially, Finn wanted to ignore the situation, but when he saw her tear-filled eyes, he hesitated.
There was so much in those eyes-sorrow, resentment, and a will to survive…
Ultimately going against his instincts, Finn intervened.
At that time, Aoife was even more timid than she is now, softly thanking him, “Th-thank you.”
At that moment, Finn only said, “Your eyes are as red as a rabbit’s.”
With trembling eyelashes and red eyes, Aoife inadvertently etched herself into his memory, unforgettable.
Upon returning, an intrigued Finn had his men investigate everything about Aoife-her name, age, birth, every detail from childhood to adulthood.
A sudden desire arose in his heart to keep her close to him.
Why?
At that time, Finn rationalized to himself: Because she resembled Elisa, he would make her a substitute for Elisa.
If Hamish were to see a woman resembling Elisa standing by his side, it would surely displease him, wouldn’t it?
Finn disliked coercion, so it took nearly a hundred days for Aoife to willingly come to his side.
Initially, he treated this waste of space well, like raising a rabbit, taking her to places she had never been, trying new foods, traveling, watching movies…
Finn then still had some conscience and patience.
Aoife was easier to please than Finn had imagined. Despite his self-proclaimed lack of morality, she followed him without hesitation.
No one had ever treated her so well in her life. At that time, Aoife thought she had found cleanliness in Finn and gradually transitioned from an innocent crush to deep love.
But to be loved by someone is to be fearless, and as time wore on, patience waned, and his bad temper turned towards the woman who loved him deeply.
…
“You understand, just don’t be like Hamish, clinging to a dead person, looking half-dead. Meet with the Dankworth family, settle things quickly. Maybe before I die, I can hold my great-grandchild.” Old Burns squinted.
Finn snapped out of his reverie,
He wouldn’t be unaware that Old Burns was offering him a chance at heirship. If his dealings with the Dankworth family were successful and had a child as security, the Burns Group’s control would likely fall to him.
Why only eighty percent? Because there was still Hamish.
Despite Old Burns’s sarcastic remarks about his elder grandson, he secretly yearned for him, but Hamish was unappreciative.
Finn: “I will make the most of this opportunity.”
Old Burns nodded, leveraged his cane to rise, and Finn offered a supportive hand.
“People get tired as they age, I need to rest upstairs. You should rest too,” Old Burns gently pushed him away, calling out, “Old Howe.”
Uncle Atonal entered, familiarly escorting him to the elevator.
Only when the elevator doors closed did Finn retract his gaze, devoid of any smile.
From the moment he returned to the Burns family, his life had been predetermined. He accepted this fate, even if it meant marrying for control of the Burns Group, what did it matter?
He, by nature, didn’t believe in so-called love and sincerity.
Those proclamations of eternal love and devotion were mere lip service; wasn’t it Hamish’s professed love for Elisa that led her slowly to her demise?
Love, simply put, stemmed from neurotransmitters in the brain like dopamine-the product of their continuous secretion.
Yet, the body couldn’t endure such cocaine-like stimulation forever; such stimuli usually only lasted a short while.
In essence, love was merely a bodily instinct for pleasure, but this interest could not be sustained indefinitely.
So, forsaking easily attainable wealth and power for fleeting happiness would be foolish.
He… would never descend into someone like Hamish.
A woman would either be a plaything at his disposal or a bargaining chip.
He knew what he wanted, what he would do in the future, yet for some reason, a moment of emptiness filled his heart.
Stepping onto the balcony and gazing at the stars above, he suddenly remembered that waste of space, Aoife.
Was she asleep by now?
Unintentionally, he picked up his phone. It was already eleven o’clock. He swiftly sent a message.
“I’ll be back for breakfast at six tomorrow morning.” After sending the brief message, he set down his phone, not needing to check for a reply, knowing Aoife would have everything arranged.
Aoife’s biological clock was precise; sleeping before eleven and waking at four was a habit she acquired from her rural upbringing.
With household chores left incomplete, she lit candles at night to read since there were no streetlights in the village.
Rising at four, she fed the animals, cooked breakfast, and walked to school, an hour and a half away.
This routine became her norm, rising at four o’clock, Aoife checked her phone for the time but opened a message from Finn instead.
It was a short message, only thirteen words long, yet she read it over several times, memorizing it before carefully crafting a reply.
-“Alright, Mr. Snearl, I’ll wait for you to return for breakfast.”
Even in a humble state, the simplicity of sending a text message involved considering the receiver’s feelings-short, yet not too short to show indifference, and also not too long to avoid annoyance.
After sending the message, Aoife got up and dressed, gingerly avoiding the wounds on her back that still pained her.
Burns caused by cigarette burns resulted in blisters that Finn had punctured directly with fire, leaving ashes embedded in the wounds. Though she had cleaned them with iodine, the risk of infection remained high.
The thin T-shirt irritating the wounds on her back, Aoife gritted her teeth, went downstairs, and started preparing breakfast.
Finn valued breakfast the most-eating heartily and varied. As he put it, the day’s mood depended on breakfast; eating well in the morning improved one’s spirits throughout the day.
Aoife dutifully heeded his words.
With two hours left until six o’clock, Aoife began making steamed buns with various fillings, soup dumplings, spring rolls, steamed beef jerky, spare ribs, shrimp dumplings, and cooked a pot of piping hot meat congee. Breakfast was served.