“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you to love me…” No matter how long it takes, as long as she stays by his side without go anywhere else, being found or recognized.
Five years had passed. Although Winifred’s face was disfigured, it was still recognizable. If he could recognize her, so could Leland Burns.
But would Leland still like Winifred after seeing her like this?
He hoped Leland wouldn’t like the current Winifred. However, he had to admit that Leland wasn’t superficial. As an enemy and a rival, he knew what kind of person Leland was.
He loathed Leland but had to acknowledge his strengths and virtues.
The image of Leland smashing the grave flashed in his mind. If Leland knew he had found Winifred, he would definitely come to take her away. His actions and expressions conveyed that he wouldn’t easily let go of Winifred.
Neither would he.
Garrison tightened his grip on Winifred’s hand, causing her to softly exclaim in pain. He quickly released her hand and apologized.
The immediate priority was to cure Winifred’s illness. While the missing bone couldn’t be restored, her personality could be gradually rebuilt.
If five years could transform the proud and confident Winifred into her current state, then he could use another five years to change her back. If five years weren’t enough, he would use ten or twenty years… He had all the time in the world to help Winifred regain her pride and confidence.
There was no need to recover those lost memories, whether from the past five years or before that.
Subconsciously, Garrison didn’t want Winifred to remember Leland at all. Whether good or bad memories, he wanted to erase Leland from her mind completely, as if he never existed in her life.
Garrison claimed that Winifred was his fiancee, which was a lie. He had deceived her.
But thinking back, Winifred did like him. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have kept Leland as a substitute by her side. If she didn’t like him, she wouldn’t have begged him to take her away back then… If Leland hadn’t taken her away suddenly, they might have already been in love, engaged, married with children by now.
There were two main reasons why Garrison lied about Winifred being his fiancee. One was to bind them together tightly so that she would trust him and undergo proper treatment. The other was out of selfishness; he liked Winifred and wanted to keep her close under the guise of being “engaged.”
Being engaged could bring them closer than being just boyfriend and girlfriend.
Garrison didn’t feel there was anything wrong with what he did. It was for both Winifred’s good and his own benefit. Since she had lost her memory, it was an opportunity for a new life and a new way of living.
There was no need to recall those forgotten things.
This is how Garrison convinced himself.
The fact that he found Winifred must never be exposed. He thought about it; he could hide her for a while but not forever.
He couldn’t keep Winifred locked up in one place forever without letting her see the outside world. She needed to experience the world outside; being confined wouldn’t help her condition.
How to go out with her became a challenge.
Fortunately, Bankshire was not Leland’s domain, so he could “hide” Winifred for a while longer.
Garrison was turning 27 this year.
At this age, parents usually start pushing for marriage.
But he couldn’t marry someone he didn’t love.
Now that he had established his career and taken over the management of the Reeves family business, holding power meant his parents wouldn’t interfere much with his marriage choices. However, they still occasionally expressed their concerns.
Garrison once thought about introducing Winifred to his parents and announcing their plans to get married.
Back then, he had nothing.
He thought he could protect Winifred forever and stay in love with her. But unexpectedly, his mother sold her off to Leland for money.
Now that he had enough money, there would be no chance for anyone to sell the one he loved again.
Garrison looked at the scar on Winifred’s face and considered getting plastic surgery for her.
Since he planned to remove the scar anyway, why not do a complete makeover?
Turning Winifred into “another person” entirely would allow them to go out openly-whether for dates or meeting Leland-or even bringing her before his parents to announce their engagement… Everything would become much easier and more convenient.
However, plastic surgery required time. At least he needed to get Winifred healthy first and prepare her mentally for the surgery.
Once she recovered from the surgery, he’d take her to meet his parents and publicly announce that the Reeves family would have a new mistress soon.
Everything had to be done step by step; however, Garrison wanted these things expedited because delaying them increased risks.
…
Winifred listened carefully to Garrison’s words. Although he didn’t explicitly describe what she used to be like, she could guess it was very different from now-at least without this scar on her face and with healthy hands and feet.
The wound on her right big toe had healed long ago but hadn’t been properly treated at the time. Whenever it got cold, it hurt and caused a limp when walking.
In late autumn, Bankshire experienced continuous drizzle with damp air everywhere.
Winifred’s body clearly didn’t adapt well to this climate; the pain in her bones worsened significantly.
Bankshire had moderate temperatures year-round-not too cold nor too hot-but it was indeed humid. Especially these past few days when clothes left on the balcony felt damp even after two days of drying.
Winifred’s body felt perpetually cold like those damp clothes; pain seemed to seep from every bone crevice despite any medication used for relief.
Only warm compresses provided some relief at night when she often woke up from pain. She seemed accustomed to enduring it-curling up tightly with hands covering her damaged toe-forming herself into a ball.
During such moments while sleeping beside her, Garrison would notice immediately, turning over quickly to hold onto Winifred’s foot gently yet firmly against him. Despite sweltering summer heat, the air conditioner was off, and a hot water bottle was in his arms.
Winifred always got cold and was not good with cold. Luckily, Garrison usually had a warm body temperature and could bring warmth to her. After they held each other for some while, his forehead was oozing sweat, which dampened his bangs. But he seemed to feel nothing and raised no complaints.
He hugged her foot in his arms without putting it down, even when it had gotten warm.
“How are you feeling now? Still uncomfortable?”