The words of the psychologist echoed in her mind.
“You must face your past, confront your fears, and resolve them, cut them off. Only then can you be well.”
Winifred was facing her “fear” at this moment, looking into Leland’s eyes.
His gaze seemed to tell her that she was his prey.
“I don’t like it,” Winifred answered Leland’s question.
She didn’t like this dress. Her liking for the cheongsam in the morning plummeted to zero, even negative.
“But I really like it, Miss. I have always wanted to see you in a cheongsam, but never had the chance. Now that you are wearing my favorite dress, you are even more beautiful than I imagined.”
The warmth in his palm was constantly transmitting to Winifred’s body. Even though she was wearing clothes, the cheongsam was considered conservative, now she felt as if she had been stripped naked in front of Leland.
Winifred felt humiliated. She raised her hand and slapped Leland’s face.
When she was in a bad mood before, she would often slap Leland. He would always let her vent, never dodging. This time was no different, he took Winifred’s slap directly.
Winifred’s strength was obviously not as good as before. The slap on the face didn’t hurt at all. Leland’s face didn’t even flinch, his gaze still deep and hot, staring at Winifred’s angry face.
Leland was much taller than her. When she slapped him, she had to raise her hand completely. She almost used all her strength. However, the slaps seemed ineffective to Leland, who was excited. It was Winifred whose arm was sore and palm hurt.
Winifred gritted her teeth and wanted to slap him again, but as soon as she lifted her hand, Leland grabbed her wrist firmly and pressed it against the door handle.
“Once is enough. If you hit me again, your hand will hurt.”
“You…”
Before she could say anything, Leland suddenly lowered his head and kissed her lips, deeper and more urgent, as if he wanted to devour her whole.
Winifred was deprived of oxygen by him. At first, she struggled with her upper body twisted, but later, her legs went numb and she couldn’t stand steadily. Her body helplessly slid down the door, and Leland grabbed her wrists, restraining her against the door panel, making her uncomfortable.
As if sensing her discomfort, Leland controlled Winifred’s wrists with one hand, and the other hand circled her slim waist, his knees gently parted her legs to support her body.
While kissing Winifred, Leland kept his eyes on her. The sharp gaze gradually softened with his actions, as if there were only the two of them in the whole world, and Winifred was all he could see.
How could there be someone in this world who could constantly tug at his heart, make him think day and night, make him unable to forget?
He held the person in his arms tightly, tighter and tighter, as if a vine was entwined around a tree, trying to absorb her essence, to live depending on her, and wanting her breath to blend into his bones and blood.
Winifred, with red eyes, stared angrily at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. The nightmare from a year ago was replaying, but this time she was fully awake, feeling Leland’s shameless violation of her, as he pried open her lips, so agile… Winifred felt nothing but shame and anger, wanting to bite him.
However, each time she was avoided by Leland. Suddenly, Leland let go of her hand, his right hand pinched her chin, preventing her from closing her mouth as he continued invading.
With her hands freed, Winifred clenched her fists and pounded Leland’s hard chest, hitting, punching, scratching… She tried all possible ways, but she couldn’t push away Leland.
She really hated Leland and the thought of killing him grew deeper.
Winifred knew that crying was useless, the most powerless thing to do. But now, besides crying, she had no other choice. Tears continuously flowed from her eyes, like beads off a broken string, her face cold and transparent, looking pitiful.
She tasted the salty bitterness in her mouth. Leland paused for a moment, but didn’t let go. He gently wiped away the tears at the corners of her mouth and chin, then reached for the hair clip at the back of her head, letting her black hair fall loose.
Finally, Leland let go of her. He held Winifred, who was as soft as dough, tighter in his arms, lighter than a year ago, feeling a lump in his heart.
“Let me go,” Winifred shivered, her lips kissed red.
Leland laid her on the soft bed, pressing down on her as the bed sank a bit.
Touching her sensitive ear, Leland said, “No, I don’t want to let go for the rest of my life.”
Indeed, candles were lit in the bedroom. The red candlelight flickered faintly, with no other source of light, flickering like in an ancient bridal chamber.
Winifred avoided his gaze and saw her photos hanging on the wall. All were photos of her time in Midlands over the past year, from when she was skeletal at 70 pounds, to when she was pale in the hospital, walking alone in the snow on the street, and lying in bed with an IV drip… Winifred had no memory of these photos, all of them were secretly taken by Leland.
During her year in Midlands, Leland had been spying on her, knowing where she was, what she was doing, eating, and medical treatments.
“Leland, I loathe you.” Winifred had never despised anyone so much, she couldn’t see through Leland, this man frightened her.
“But I really like you, Miss,” Leland leaned over, his lips almost brushing her earlobe, his voice husky, “You can hate me as you please, anyway, you have never liked me. You just see me as a dog, a substitute. In the eight years I was by your side, I was even worse than a dog, but even so, I still love you. Miss, your father died shortly after you left, you became an orphan like me, but it’s okay… You have me, we can be together for a lifetime, closer than relatives.”
“You’re dreaming!”
She was truly stubborn, Winifred hadn’t changed at all. that unyielding pride that seemed to be ingrained in her bones and even her soul, couldn’t be extinguished in just one short year.
But Leland loved her like this.
“Before, you made me love you, and I did. But you didn’t want me. After all these twists and turns, you came back to me in the end. I have to thank you. You taught me that if you want something, you have to fight for it, even if you have to destroy it rather than not having it.” Leland’s hand, sliding down from Winifred’s ear to her neck, then unfastened the buttons on the cheongsam. He found it too slow, so he tore it off directly.
A perfectly fine dress, worth a million, torn apart by him, leaving Winifred dressed in tatters.
Once, Winifred taught him how to love her. Now, the tables had turned, and he wanted Winifred to learn, to be unable to live without him, to remember him at first sight.