Alice who had remained silent for a long time now spoke, “Mom, Louis is right, don’t be stubborn anymore. You can’t beat Kevin. As dad and Louis are willing to clean up the mess for you, you can go to France without any concern. But if things get to the point that nothing can retrieve, by that time, nobody can save you.”
“You shut up!”
Celeste didn’t like her daughter-in-law and what Alice had said was poking her sore spot. So she got furious at her, “Who do you think you are to tell me what I should do? Even I’m in the most reduced situation, I’m still your mother-in-law. Only I can give a lecture to you, not you. Stupid ass!”
“Mom, you shouldn’t talk with Alice like that!” Louis snapped at his mother.
“Go away, both of you. Even if I die, it’s none of your business! Go, go as far as you can!!”
Celeste was even angrier when seeing her son defended his wife, but not her. She just kept asking them to get out of there.
Louis ran out of his patience, roaring, “Fine, I’ll leave. If you won’t change your mind, then I’ll leave you alone. Take care of yourself! I’ll pretend that my mother has died when I was eight!”
He then held Alice’s hand, “Let’s go.”
Louis didn’t say a word along the way to their apartment. After pulling over, Alice unbuckled her safety belt and saw Louis tilted his head to the other side, only leaving the back of his head for her. She asked prudently, “You don’t want to get off?”
“You go in first, I want to be alone for a while.”
Alice could sense something abnormal from his voice. She tugged over him to look at hiS face but was stunned. She found her beloved man was in floods of tears.
At that moment, Alice’s heart was hit as if by something, feeling very distressed. She reached her arms out and held him tight, comforting him with her lips pursed, “Louis, don’t be sad, you’ve tried your best.”
She had seen the genteel Louise, angry Louise, but it was her first time to see tearful Louis. This time she didn’t feel cheerful after seeing the new side of him.
“Alice, am I a failure as a man? Why I feel I’m so incompetent…”
“No, you are not. You are the best man in the world. I don’t care about other’s opinions on you, in my heart, you are always the best.”
“Do you love me?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then, do you want to know whether I love you?”
Alice shocked. It seemed that Louis had never said “love” this sensitive word from the day they got married until now. And it was always her who told him how much she loved him. How did he feel about her? She didn’t know. She wanted to ask him many times but chose to avoid it as she feared that the answer might be disappointing.
“You can either choose to love me or love me not, but I can only choose to love you or love you more.”.
What implied in her determined answer was obvious. Even though he didn’t love her, nothing would change her love for him.
“I love you, Alice, do you hear me? I, Louis Hunter, only love Alice Lee from now on.”
Alice’s mind went blank suddenly. Happiness came at her when she least expected it. She was completely at lost. It felt like a dream for her, unrealistic, “Do…do you mean it?”
“Yes.”
“But why? Why you suddenly tell me you love me?”
Louis looked at her sadly with his forehead against hers, speaking in a sobbing, “My mom doesn’t even care about me, which makes me feel myself quite unpleasant. But you like me. So I gradually get to know that no women in the world would regard me as the best man in the world.”
…
Alice cried with joy. After Louis told her that he loved her, it was like a seed sprouting in her heart and soon would blossom into a flower of hope. She held his head to her chest and whispered to him, “Louis, I want to have a baby with you.”
“Ok…”
She clenched his hand. She just wanted to hold his hand. Maybe in her next life, she would be with someone else.
Before the day that Bella went to Vienna, she asked Alice out for coffee.
The two besties sat at a table beside the show window, staring at each other. The soft light sprinkled on their faces. And both saw the same expression on their face.
“Why you look so sad?”
“Why you look so sad, too?”
Pff.
They both burst into a bitter laugh at the same time.
“Because of your husband who has driven my mother-in-law to the dead end. And she is very stubborn. Louis suggested her to go to France, she refused. And now Louise was worried much about his mother. He is in a foul mood, then how can I get to feel happy?”
“If your mother-in-law was arrested eventually, would you hold grudge against me?”
Alice pouted, “What are you talking about? I have already said it, no matter what happens, I will be on your side. Even Louis ask me not to be friends with you, I won’t do it. Our friendship is not just for a day or two.”
“You are the best.”
Bella was so moving that tears were welling up in her eyes, “I was worrying that we would turn against each other due to your mother-in-law. Now I’m relieved after hearing you say so.”
“But, the current situation is very awkward indeed. Fortunately, my mother-in-law doesn’t treat me nicely. If she was nice to me as your mother-in-law is, I wouldn’t know what I should do right now.”
Alice sighed, “Oh, right, you have to be careful during this time, my mother-in-law is very extreme right now. I’m afraid that she would hurt you.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll leave here soon.”
“Leave here? Where are you going?”
Alice was astonished.
“To Vienna. It was Kevin’s decision. I have to comply.”
“Why does he want you to go to Vienna?”
“Probably he was thinking the same as you did, worrying about that your mother-in-law would hurt me. I only have four months away from giving birth. It takes me a lot for that day to come, I don’t want anything to go wrong at that critical moment.”
“Yeah, it would be nice for you to stay abroad for a while, so that you don’t have to worry about her every day.”
Alice was Bella’s one and only best friend. Alice knew that Bella led a tough life for two years. And she knew that the children in Bella’s belly were precious to her. So when she heard that she was going abroad, she was first shocked and then became supportive.
Alice’s phone rang up, she answered, “Hello…I’m at the outside…Now? Ok, I’ll be right back…”
She hung up the phone, “It’s Louis, he said my father-in-law asked us to come over and talk about something important. What should I do? I’ve gotta go.”
“It’s ok. You can go.”
“What about you? Are you leaving now?”
“I’m waiting for Kevin to pick me up. He went to meet a client and will pass by here later.”
“Oh, ok.” Alice was a bit reluctant to leave, “Oh, right, when do you leave for Vienna?”
“Tomorrow.”
“So soon? Then tomorrow I’ll see you off at the airport.”
“No, you don’t have to. I won’t stay there long, just for few months.”
“Few moths are a long time.”
“You really don’t have to. And by the way, don’t you feel awkward about meeting Kevin at this time?”
“Alright then, call me when you are there. Take care of yourself. I’ll miss you.”
She hugged Bella and waved hands to say goodbye as she walked out of the café.
Before long she left, Bella received Kevin’s call, “Bella, are you still at Left Bank Coffee?”
“Yeah, when are you coming over?”
“I can’t go there right now. There was something wrong with the collaborative project. I’m still negotiating with them. I’ll call Alvin and ask him to pick you up.”
“Don’t’ bother him. He just got married, let him spend more time with his wife. I’ll take a cab home.”
“No, you’re pregnant, I’ll be worried. Ok, I’ll ask our family driver to pick you up.”
“I’ll call him, you go handle your business first.”
“Ok, call me when you are at home.”
“I will.”
Bella called her driver but he happened to take her mother-in-law to a festival fair. So she didn’t ask him to come over. She then walked out of the café with her handbag. Standing in the middle of the road, she reached out her hand to hail a taxi.
It was quiet in the winter’s night. Few pedestrians were walking on the street. It was hard for her to hail a taxi at this time. When she was about to walk ahead a little bit, a van suddenly stopped in front of her.
Before she realized what was going on there, she was dragged in once the door opened.
“What? Who are you guys?!”
She queried in panic. Long before, she had a similar experience. So her instinct told her that she was kidnapped.
“Someone wants to see you, you’ll know later.”
Bella was trying to pull herself together, “Who wants to see me?”
“I said, you’ll know later. Why you get so many questions? Just shut up!”
The more she was worried that something might happen, the more likely it would happen. She was going abroad tomorrow but got kidnapped the night before. What could more pathetic than this?
“Gentlemen, listen. I can give you as much money as you want. But please don’t hurt me. I’m pregnant with two babies in my belly, they’re innocent…”
“Cut the nonsense. We just take you there. Save your pleading words for our boss.”
“Who is your boss?”
Obviously, the men were very impatient, “Do you want me to repeat it the third time? If you don’t want your mouth to be covered, then shut up now!”
Bella didn’t dare to irritate the kidnappers. She knew the consequence very well. Looking askance at her handbag in the hand of a kidnapper, she attempted to negotiate with them, “Could you give me my handbag?”
“Hmm, give it to you to let you call for help? We are not idiots!”
“I won’t’ make any calls. I believe you won’t hurt me. If I guess right, your boss is Celeste, right?”
The two men looked at each other but didn’t speak. The car kept driving forward.
“How much does Celeste pay for you? I’ll ask my husband to pay you the triple. Actually, it’s not worth doing this. She is doomed. You are helping the wicked perpetuate the wicked deeds, you are helping her break the law, do you know that? It’s still not too late to stop it. You are at such a tender age, don’t make the mistake that you might regret for the rest of your life…”