Seeing this, Mrs. Eriksen walked into the kitchen, smiling.
Meanwhile, outside the study.
I hesitated for a while, then raised my hand to knock on the door.
After a moment, a low voice came from inside, “Mrs. Eriksen, you go and rest. I’m not hungry!”
“It’s me!” I said, almost biting my lip, feeling so anxious that I nearly sweated.
There was a short silence. After a while, the low voice spoke loudly, “Come in!”
I sighed with relief. Then, I pushed the door open. I glanced at the good-looking yet unapproachable man seated at the desk.
Holding the bowl of soup, I paused and said, “Mrs. Eriksen said you haven’t eaten anything. She made this fish soup. Would you like to take it? “
As I spoke, I walked up to him and put the bowl next to him. Then, my eyes fell on his back.
It was the same suit as before since it was black and there was nothing else except for the faint mark from the spade.
I was about to ask if he suffered any injuries but I stopped when I saw him staring at me blankly.
I was a little frustrated.
“Why are you back?” He frowned and the expression on his face was distant and remote.
I lowered my head. After all, I panicked in this matter and didn’t handle it well. I paused and said, “Ashton, I’m sorry but I can’t leave him alone. If you are still angry now, you may hit me or scold me.”
“Hah!” He laughed, coldly, “How likely is it for me to scold or hit you?”
Looking at him, I nodded very seriously, “Yes. If you are angry, you can hit me!”
“Hit you?” He laughed hysterically, “Scarlett, when did you learn to give a carrot after giving a smack? You have become more cunning over the years of working in Fuller Corporation.”
Uh-oh!
“Why don’t you take the soup first and fill your stomach? If you don’t take any food, it is harmful to your health!” Now, I can only be gentle with him. If I push him too hard, I’m afraid…
At this moment, there was an extremely gloomy expression on his face. It was almost comparable to the gathering of dark clouds before the coming of a storm.
“Will you explain what happened between you and John?”
I frowned as always when this matter was brought up as it would make me irritable. That was all in the past and I was not willing to recount everything in detail to anyone.
Seeing his distant expression, I couldn’t help but knit my eyebrows, saying softly, “John and I were both children adopted by Grandma. He was a few years older than I was and we grew up together. Later, something happened and he left us. He disappeared and didn’t show up until now.”
I did not want to go into the details as I was not willing to dig up too much pain from the past.
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you childhood sweethearts or love between siblings? Or is it both?”
I frowned and glared at him as I was getting annoyed. “He was my elder brother and that was all!”
“Ha!” He sneered. “This elder brother treats his younger sister in a very unusual way, hugging and embracing. If he is your elder brother, why didn’t you say so right from the beginning?”
“It was not necessary,” I said quite angrily, “It’s late. You’d better get some rest after taking the soup. I’m going to bed now.”
I didn’t want to quarrel with him as I didn’t think it was necessary. There were many instances where I chose to leave as I couldn’t control myself.
Inside my bedroom, I was unable to sleep immediately so I went out to the balcony and sat on the swing while staring blankly at the scenery outside the window.
Ashton came in and fixed his eyes on me for a moment. I knew he was suppressing his anger and he didn’t want to quarrel with me.
Seeing him enter the bathroom, I couldn’t help but sigh. Sometimes, pregnant women get angry easily and I had no control over it.
Ashton showered very quickly. When he came out, he only had a towel wrapped around his lower body and the translucent water drops rolled down the sexy texture of his chest and abdomen.
As he dried his hair with the towel, I noticed the bruise on his back where I had hit him with a shovel. I got up and went out of the bedroom to find the first aid kit in the living room.
When I returned to the bedroom, Ashton was already lying on the bed, reading. Seeing me holding the first aid kit in my hand, he raised his brows and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I’m going to apply ointment on your back.” I went to his side, took out some ointment for bruises, and told him, “Your back is blue and black, so let me rub some medicine on it.”
He glanced at the ointment and sat up with his back toward me.
I placed some of the ointment on the palm of my hand and rubbed it gently on his back. For fear of causing him pain, I didn’t use much force. This medicine had an extremely unpleasant smell.
After a moment, he turned his deep dark gaze toward me. “You can rub harder!”
Taken aback, I burst out, “Aren’t you afraid of pain?”
He lowered his eyebrows and his guard. “When you hit me, did you not think that I could feel the pain?”
At his words, my hand paused and I looked down, not knowing how to reply to him. In silence, I continued rubbing the ointment for him.
After some time, I kept the first aid kit and washed my hands.
I took a quick shower and went to bed. Recently, he had taken up the habit of sleeping nude and when I rolled over, I accidentally touched his nether regions.
I was startled for a moment and instinctively glanced at him. He didn’t respond but continued to read his book calmly.