“I’ll take you to meet my parents and talk about us. You wanted to go out, right? I’ll take you abroad for a while. If you can adapt to life overseas, then I’ll feel reassured letting you go out on your own.”
Winifred felt a bit confused. She sensed that Garrison was pressuring her, but she couldn’t find any evidence.
Could she really adapt to life abroad where she didn’t know the language and didn’t know anyone.
But Garrison had mentioned that she had spent some time abroad long ago. She even had a house there where she had lived for a long time. Maybe going back to familiar places would help her remember something.
“Really? If I can adapt, you’ll stop controlling me?”
“I keep my word,” Garrison emphasized, “and besides, I’m not controlling you. I’m just worried about your safety and can’t let you go out alone.”
“Alright, alright, I understand.” Winifred quickly agreed, showing her willingness to go abroad with Garrison.
Garrison had mentioned his parents before, and she knew about the Reeves family situation.
Currently, Garrison was in charge of the Reeves family. His parents couldn’t control him, so he wouldn’t consider arranged marriages. He could be with anyone he wanted and told her not to worry about his parents’ opinions.
On the surface, these words seemed fine, but thinking deeper, it was clear that Garrison wasn’t close to his parents. Although Winifred found it strange, she didn’t ask further.
Winifred agreed to go abroad with Garrison and started packing at home. The maid offered to help, but she refused, feeling that only she knew what she needed to bring.
She pulled out a travel bag and began stuffing clothes into it. After checking the weather online, she found that it would be cooler abroad in June and July than where they were now. She packed a few jackets, an umbrella since it often rained there, toiletries, shoes, and even the doll she slept with.
When Garrison came home after a day’s work and entered the bedroom, he saw three large bags plus a suitcase. Anyone who didn’t know better might think Winifred was moving out.
He couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at her who was sitting on the bed and pondering if she’d forgotten anything.
A shadow fell over her head as Winifred snapped back to reality and noticed Garrison had returned.
“You’re back early today?”
“There wasn’t much going on today.” Garrison glanced at the suitcase on the floor and teased her, “If I’d come back any later, you might have packed up the entire house.”
Winifred scratched her head awkwardly. “It’s my first time traveling far away. I don’t know what I’ll need there, so I packed as much as possible just in case.” Besides, she was used to her things; buying new ones would cost a lot of money.
Garrison asked, “If you were flying alone, how would you carry all this?”
Her hand was half-disabled; she couldn’t exert much strength. With long-term hospitalization and poor nutrition, her thin arms and legs struggled even with a suitcase. Moving these large bags was impossible without extra hands.
Winifred lowered her head in embarrassment but then looked up confidently. “Isn’t that why you’re here? You’re my boyfriend; it’s only natural for you to help me with my luggage.”
“I can’t carry all this.”
Winifred mumbled softly, “You have your men too. They can each carry one bag; it’ll be quick. Besides, it’s not just my stuff; there’s yours too.”
“Which bag is mine?”
Winifred pointed to the largest one. “That one has most of your things.”
Garrison walked over and unzipped it. The overstuffed bag burst open as soon as he pulled the zipper.
“Hey! Don’t…” Winifred tried to stop him but was too late. The bag was so full that it took great effort for her and the maid to zip it up. Naturally, when unzipped, everything spilled out.
Winifred wasn’t good at packing; nothing was organized. Good shirts were rolled up together; once taken out, they’d be wrinkled beyond use.
Garrison looked down at the razor that had rolled to his feet.
He laughed at Winifred. “Is this how you pack?”
Winifred quickly stuffed the fallen razor and clothes back into the bag while explaining to Garrison, “I don’t know how to pack well. Mrs. Rugger offered to help me pack, but only I know what I need. So I just grabbed some bags and put everything in them, like this razor you use every day and these clothes you often wear. I also packed your shoes and medicine…”
As she picked up each item, she explained its importance. Garrison grabbed her hand as she tried to zip up the bag again. “There are malls, supermarkets, hospitals abroad… We can’t bring all this stuff; we can buy whatever we need there.”
“But buying new things costs money…”
If Leland were here hearing Winifred say this, he’d probably laugh out loud. Who would have thought that someone who never cared about money would one day worry about wasting it?
Garrison pulled the squatting Winifred up. “I work hard so we can live well without lacking anything you want or need. If you think everything is too expensive and don’t buy anything, then what’s all my hard work for? Spend money freely; that’s what motivates me to earn more.”
Winifred felt warm inside; Garrison really knew how to say the right things-it all sounded like sweet love words from him.
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you.”
“So let’s unpack these bags one by one; we don’t need to bring anything. We’ll just go abroad. Whatever we need can be reached at our home abroad.”
“Okay.” Winifred obediently agreed.
The “home” Garrison mentioned was where she’d lived before-a house she’d supposedly bought herself. After moving back home from abroad, that house remained hers. Garrison hired cleaners monthly to maintain it well.
Together they unpacked the travel bags. It was hard to put all the things back, so they called the maids for help.
Garrison had booked first-class tickets for an 8 AM flight the next morning, meaning they should arrive at least an hour early.
Due to medication, Winifred had been sleepy lately and had to sleep ten hours daily. She usually woke up at 8 AM but today got woken up by Garrison at 6 AM instead.
She grumbled unhappily but eventually forced herself awake despite still feeling groggy as breakfast awaited-a sandwich with milk prepared by their maid.