Winifred’s favorite flower was the rose, but she was allergic to them.
Speaking of roses, their language naturally represents love.
There are countless flowers in the world, and not only roses symbolize “I love you.”
Sunflower: In my eyes, there is no one else; everywhere I look, it’s you.
Bellflower: Eternal love.
Baby’s breath: I want to pluck the stars from the sky for you, but even they pale in comparison to you.
Woodbine: I have become your captive.
Tulip: My love for you isn’t long, but it lasts a lifetime; my thoughts of you aren’t brief, but they span an eternity.
…
Leland planted countless flowers symbolizing “love” in this estate, but his favorite was the camellia. In the year Winifred was away, he would sit under the camellia tree with her photo in hand, looking at it over and over again, thinking about bringing her back from the Midlands, wanting to keep her here forever so she could never escape.
In early September, when the camellias were in bloom, he greedily inhaled their fragrance. His slender fingers held a photo of Winifred in a blue mermaid dress, smiling brightly. His face twisted with fervent obsession. “Once I bring you back, you’ll never leave me again.”
…
Leland knew Winifred was allergic to rose pollen, but he still planted a patch of roses in the backyard around the fountain. As long as she didn’t touch them, just looking at them wouldn’t be a problem.
After all, when Winifred punished him before, she made him stand shirtless in the snow holding roses. She watched with great interest and had no issues.
The pond also had goldfish. The estate looked beautiful from every angle, making one long to live there and imagine how happy it would be.
But Winifred felt it was a cage. Clearly, Leland brought her here with no intention of letting her go.
Winifred was never one to sit and wait for doom. She had only one thought: to leave this place.
She thought of two ways to leave: make Leland despise her enough to drive her away or make him love her so deeply that he’d willingly give her freedom.
Both extreme methods depended on Leland’s attitude towards her. She couldn’t escape on her own. When she arrived by car earlier, she pretended to look at her phone but was actually observing outside. There were many people watching inside and out, with surveillance cameras at every corner. Sneaking out was impossible. Even if she managed to escape, she’d be caught soon after.
Winifred glanced at her watch and felt anxious. Her condition made her breathe rapidly when agitated; it felt like ants were gnawing at her back as cold sweat soaked through.
Leland noticed Winifred’s pale face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just my condition acting up. I’ll take some medicine once we’re inside.”
For three days, Leland had been by her side, preventing her from getting a good night’s sleep even with sleeping pills. She managed to sleep a bit on the plane due to motion sickness but hadn’t adjusted since arriving here by car. Her legs still felt weak. When Leland tried to carry her, she refused and pinched her thigh to maintain consciousness and avoid collapsing.
Leland knew about Winifred’s severe bipolar disorder. She seemed calm most of the time but became restless during episodes.
He had never seen an episode himself but knew she would self-harm.
When she self-harmed in the Midlands, he wasn’t there to stop her. Now that she was back, he’d ensure someone watched her constantly to prevent any self-harm opportunities.
Thinking about the scars on Winifred’s wrists made Leland uncomfortable. He began searching for doctors who could treat her condition.
“You’ll get better…”
Winifred responded coldly, “If you’d stay away from me and not appear before me again, I might actually get better.”
Leland chuckled. “I haven’t appeared before you for a year now; why hasn’t your condition improved?”
Winifred avoided looking at Leland and lowered her head. Her long hair fell loosely around her waist, swaying gently in the breeze and blocking her view.
“It was getting better until you showed up and made it worse.”
Leland’s eyes turned cold. “Your so-called improvement involves being with Garrison? Can he be your cure?”
“Can you not mention him?” Winifred’s mood worsened as frustration built up in her chest. She wanted Leland to feel as bad as she did and deliberately provoked him. “Yes, he can cure me because he makes me happy. Can you do that? In these three days with you, I haven’t eaten or slept well. At this rate, I’ll die young.”
She wasn’t afraid of angering Leland or making him mad enough to harm Garrison because she’d use self-harm as leverage against him. Leland still cared for her enough not to want to see her hurt.
Leland grew displeased as Winifred stormed off angrily. He grabbed a fistful of her long hair.
The pain from pulling at the roots made Winifred gasp as she tilted her head back due to Leland’s grip. She turned around to alleviate the pain but found herself facing Leland as he moved closer and pressed his lips against hers in a rough kiss.
“Leland…”
Before she could protest, his hot tongue invaded her mouth.
At twenty years old, experiencing desire for the first time made him eager for constant physical closeness with Winifred.
A kiss alone couldn’t satisfy him anymore. Winifred seized an opportunity and bit down on his tongue but missed as he dodged skillfully; instead, she bit his lower lip hard enough for blood to fill their mouths.
Tears welled up in Winifred’s eyes as she glared at Leland without any real threat behind it.
“Are you crazy?”
It was just an angry remark, but Leland responded seriously.
“Yes, I must be crazy to like someone like you-bad-tempered, always insulting me and treating me like nothing; aside from your looks, you’re worthless-vicious-hearted and selfish…”
Before he finished speaking, he saw tears streaming down Winifred’s face.
Leland wiped away her tears with his fingers. “You feel wronged after just a few words?”
His hand froze mid-action as he realized something about Winifred: when he wanted her to cry during painful moments without shedding a tear or when he didn’t want to see tears anymore-they’d fall uncontrollably now-tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks made his heart ache inexplicably.