“Nicole! How did you get here?”
“It’s not safe here, Dad. Let’s talk inside.”
After returning to his bedroom, Stephen deliberately dimmed the light before asking his daughter to sit on an inconspicuous spot. He then sat on his bed, and the two started whispering to each other.
“How are you doing, Dad?”
“I’m fine. I may be imprisoned here, but Levant treats me decently. Probably because he still remembers that I was the one who raised him.”
Nicole turned her attention to Stephen’s fingers when she suddenly recalled something.
“Dad… Your fingers…”
“What about them?”
Stephen lifted his hands to show them to his daughter, who was surprised to see that they were perfectly fine.
Nicole realized that it was not really Stephen’s finger that Levant used to threaten her before.
She was relieved to discover that Levant was not as cold-blooded as she thought.
“It’s great to see that you’re doing well, Dad. Don’t worry, you’ll be out of here in two days.”
Instead of feeling relieved, Stephen was distressed to hear that.
“Nicole, are you really marrying Levant?”
Nicole nodded in response.
“You’re really giving up on Evan?”
Nicole thought if she just hated Evan enough, she would be able to let him go, but her nightmares and worries showed her otherwise. She accepted the fact that the man was someone she could never forget nor get close to. All she could do was keep him in her heart.
Noticing his daughter’s silence, Stephen continued earnestly, “I hope you can think about this carefully. I have all I need here, and the environment’s pretty good too. It makes for a pretty decent retirement home.”
“What happened between your Mom and me cannot be undone, and it’ll always be my regret. That’s why I don’t want you to go through the same thing because of me. Otherwise, I won’t be happy even if I return to the estate, and I’d rather stay here. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you, Nicole?”
Nicole could feel a heartache creeping in, she understood that it would be a regret to not be able to with someone she loved. I admit that I love Evan, but as much as I love him, I still have my principles, and I can’t just forget about all the heartbreaks I went through. I do love Evan, but I hate him at the same time!
The love-hate relationship was killing her, and she did not want to be trapped in the masochistic struggle. Nicole wanted to get as far away from Evan as possible, so getting married to Levant seemed like a good idea.
Besides, Stephen was imprisoned because of her, so there was no way she could just leave him here.
“Levant loves me, Dad. I’m sure I’ll be happy if we get married,” assured Nicole with a shaky voice and a bitter smile.
With a grim look on his face, Stephen let out a long sigh.
Outside the window, Evan felt as if his heart had been stabbed with a knife.
Nicole was everything to him, and he was not about to let her marry someone else. I won’t let it happen!
After a moment of silence, Nicole suddenly mentioned the man. “Dad, I know you said that Levant didn’t give you a hard time, but did he do anything to Evan?”
“Evan came here on his own. Levant has no idea that he’s here. It’s too dangerous for him to be here, Nicole. You must find a way to get him out.”
“He came on his own?”
Why would he risk his life to come here?
“Where is he?”
At that, Stephen turned to look out the window before standing up. “I’ll go take care of the lights while you talk to Evan. This will make it harder for people to spot us.”
After Stephen left the room, Evan climbed back inside through the window.
Nicole gasped a little when she heard the movement.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
“And why shouldn’t I?” asked Evan in his deep, mellow voice.
