When Dorothy woke up the next day, it was already ten thirty in the morning.
She felt the side of her bed out of habit, but she did not feel her daughter’s soft, familiar body next to hers. It was completely empty, only some residual warmth was left in place.
She did not see Credence as well, only an inkling of his smell remained to indicate that he had even been here.
After she shook her head to get rid of the drowsiness, Dorothy slowly recalled that she was in the hospital, and her precious daughter was lying in the ward next door. She wasn’t sure if Belle had eaten or not or how she was doing at that moment.
At the thought of her daughter, Dorothy was suddenly filled with strength. She propped her weak body up and tried to get up from the bed. Next to hunger, both her legs were trembling, and her arms felt too weak to hold her up as well. Moving any part of her body was excruciatingly painful. She could not adequately capture how horrible she was feeling into words.
Of course, it was all the after-effects of sleeping with Credence the night before. She even found it difficult to close her legs.
She was worried that Belle would be in a bad mood since she had not seen her first thing in the morning. Therefore, Dorothy stretched out to grab the phone on the bedside table. Just as she was about to reach it, the door suddenly opened. She fixed her eyes on the man at the door. It was Credence in a neat suit, his tie and cuffs were meticulously worn, and he was sporting that usual elegant and arrogant look.
However, he seemed to be less emotionally-unattached than he would have been in the past.
Dorothy stares at him for a long while before taking a deep breath and asked, “Credence, did you go see Belle? How is she today? Is she doing any better compared to yesterday?”
She subconsciously tried to get out of bed as she spoke. However, a certain part of her body hurt too much. She could not help but clench the edge of the bed. She exerted a lot of force and caused her knuckles to grow pale as she couldn’t help but let out a small hiss of pain.
“Belle just had her breakfast, she looks to be in good spirits. I’ve also arranged for a nurse to read her a story.”
Credence immediately noticed Dorothy’s movements and her pain. He took a few steps forward to get closer to her and consoled in a low voice, “Sorry for hurting you. I didn’t control my strength last night.”
Upon hearing this, Dorothy froze completely. Her face flushed red all of a sudden. She averted her gaze from him, only to land on Credence’s trousers, as well as the half-full trash can which was filled with used white tissues. She immediately recalled their passionate night and lowered her head even more as she felt her face flame even redder.
Last night, it seemed like Credence had taken an aphrodisiac. He kept going on as if he would never get tired.
In the end, she could not quite tell which was reality and which was a dream. She dazedly endured the entire process.
In their four years of marriage, he had never been as attentive as he was the night before. He had even considered her feelings and asked if she needed to change into a more comfortable position the entire time.
Halfway through it, she did not know why, but he began to chuckle in her ear. He teased and proclaimed that she was a woman made out of water, a lot of water.
At first, she didn’t understand what he meant. It was not until he laid a bunch of tissues under her hips that she had finally realized the amount of wetness she produced and that the tissues soaked up could put wet wipes to shame.
What they did last night was simply too intense. She felt as if her body was emptied. But this was also the first time she felt indescribable splendor.
At that moment, Dorothy’s face turned red as she felt both enraged and embarrassed. She yelled embarrassingly, “Credence, can you shut up?”
The man chuckled, bent down, and pressed his slender thumb on the two acupuncture points on her waist. Dorothy frowned at the slight pain from the force Credence was using. After that, the man licked his thin lips and explained softly, “I’ve asked a doctor. They said massaging these acupuncture points will be good for relieving the soreness you feel after intense activities like yesterday.”
Dorothy could not understand how he could ask the doctor about this. She was already a mess just thinking about it. She buried her head under the covers and pretended not to have heard it. However, she still allowed him to massage his waist with his thumb.
She wasn’t sure whether it was because of Credence’s massage, or if her body was the one slowly recovering. After a while, Dorothy did feel that the soreness and pain she felt from before had slowly been relieved. Even her legs had stopped trembling and were no longer powerless.
After that, she raised her head from under the covers and gently pushed Credence away. “Alright, that’s enough. I can handle it by myself now.”
How could he let her chase him away so easily after such a hard-won benefit. A low humph seemed to have sounded from the tip of his nose, “What? Do you plan to dump me after sleeping with me last night? What makes you so sure that you can get pregnant just from last night alone? The doctor specifically told us to try a few more times to be sure.”
“How many times do we have to do it?”
Dorothy trembled and stared at the man’s face with a very serious expression. She could not help but say, “Credence, if you were good, we would have succeeded on the first try. If you’re not, then I don’t think it matters how many more times we try because you won’t be able to hit the jackpot.”
“You think I’m not good enough?” The man seemed to be a little unhappy as he asked, “Then who was the one moaning and shaking violently in bed last night?”
“If you didn’t grind into me, would I tremble?”
Dorothy grew livid from listening to the man’s shameless words. She twitched the corner of her mouth and found an excuse to leave the scene. “I’m going to see Belle. Do as you please.”
She didn’t care if Credence heard her or not. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran out the door without looking back.
Right after she had walked through the door, she was met with Jonathan, who had a sinister smile on his face. “Mrs. Scott, is Credence inside?” He asked.
Dorothy stopped in her steps and corrected him seriously, “Mr. Stanton, please don’t call me that anymore. I am a free woman now, and I have nothing to do with Credence.”
“Not now, but there will be sooner or later,” Jonathan said. He had been hanging out with all kinds of beauties for a long while now. Just by glancing at Dorothy’s beautiful face, he could tell that something must have happened. He raised his eyebrows and smirked as he spoke, “Perhaps you and Credence have already done something. I will have to start calling you Mrs. Scott in the future anyway, I might as well practice now.”
Faced with the sharp-tongued Jonathan, Dorothy was stunned. After a long while, she came back to her senses and understood the double implications of his words. Her reddish face darkened as she muttered, “Sorry, I have something to attend to. I’ll chat with you the next time we get the chance.”
Without waiting for Jonathan’s reply, she had already hurriedly made her way towards Belle’s ward. Once she arrived at the entrance, she pushed the door open and went in. With a hand on her heart, she slowly made her way towards Belle’s side. She looked at her daughter’s pinkish face and decided that she looked quite lively. With a soothing smile on her face, she asked, “Belle, how are you feeling today?”
Belle laid on one side and was looking at some of the children’s artwork on the wall. When she heard Dorothy’s footsteps and her words, she quickly turned around and smiled, “Mommy! I think today may just be the happiest day of my life.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, Daddy bought me breakfast and fed me himself! Mommy, I don’t think Daddy is that bad of a person. If he treats you as well as he treats me, then I will consider forgiving him for not coming to see me these past six years.”
Dorothy laughed and gently scratched her nose and teased, “Your loyalty is so fickle! Did he win you over with just breakfast alone?”
“Of course not,” Belle replied.
“Mommy, to be honest, I’ve only decided to forgive him because I think he is the most handsome man I have ever seen,” Belle explained as she humphed proudly.
Her words almost made Dorothy laugh out loud. Just as she was about to tease Belle, her cell phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. She hesitated for a while before answering the call.
On the other side was an unfamiliar male voice, “Excuse me, is this Miss Dorothy? Something happened to Miss Germaine. She asked for me over at the bar and I’m simply just a man paid to accompany her for the time being. There is a very beautiful old woman pestering her. It looks like she wants to force her to do something. Furthermore, her mood seems very unstable. She has been drinking and alternating between crying and laughing all this time. I think she might be having a breakdown. You should come over quickly, Miss Fisher. I’ll send you the address right away.”