âYou canât escape from me, Letty.â
She closed her eyes and lifted her hands to embrace him back, with her hands resting on his back.
Elgin shuddered all over, then hugged her even tighter. She was responding to him, and he was over
the moon
about it.
Butâ¦
âElgin, do you know,â Letitia whispered in his ear, âthe one thing I want to do is to bolt from you, the
farther the
better.â
His heart instantly ached dully, and even breathing seemed to tear him apart.
âWhy did you have to find me? I finally got away with Hawleyâs help, and here you are, showing up so
soon⦠You donât need your hand anymore? Do you want to become disabled? Elgin, how could a
disabled man ever be good enough for me? Iâd look down on you.
Donât think that just because you risked your life to save me and wrecked an arm for me, Iâll be
eternally grateful and fall madly in love with you⦠Wrong, youâve hurt me way more than youâve ever
done good for me!â
Every word from Letitia was like a sharp blade, stabbing Elgin mercilessly.
His breathing became rapid as he suppressed a surge of anger.
âLetty, stop itâ¦â
âNo, Iâm going to speak my mind.â Letitia continued, âWhen Shela took me hostage, you knelt for me
and traded yourself for me, even wrecked your arm. Honestly, I was touched, but thatâs all it was. Elgin,
I donât love you. Why canât you face that reality?
That night at the hotel, if I had known it was you, I would have been disgusted, I would have chosen to
get rid of the baby myself. I donât want⦠I donât want to have your children.â
The taste of blood surged in Elginâs throat, a bitter reminder of Letitiaâs effortless cruelty. Each of her
words, a vicious torture, echoed loud and clear in his mind.
Elgin had a major fallout with Hawley to find Letitia, busted out of the hospital, hopped on a private jet
overnight, and hadnât slept for nearly 24 hours just to see her.
He came and wanted to take her back, but her words were the ones that cut him the deepest!
âElgin, let me go,â Letitia looked at him, âokay?â
He flatly refused, âNo way.â
Letitia smirked, âI knew itâ¦â
Elgin grabbed her hand, pressing it tightly against his chest.
His heart was pounding heavily.
âIf I let you go, Letty, then whoâs going to let me off the hook?â Elgin asked, âYou expect me to suffer the
loneliness and live without you?â
âEven if you drag me back to AquaCity, youâll only have my body. Elgin, Iâll still run.â Letitia said firmly.
âI wonât give you the chance.â
Letitia looked up at him, âI might not run and even stay in AquaCity. As long as we never see each
other again, divorce, and have nothing to do with each other, why should ! flee?â
The word âdivorce scorched Elgin painfully,
âYou hate me that much? Not even a shred of love?â he gripped her shoulders, demanding, âAfter all
Iâve done for you, and Iâve tried everything to make it up to you and given you promises, you still wonât
accept it?â
Letitia nodded, âYeah, I canât accept it. I still hate you.â
Elgin stared at her intently. His gaze was too oppressive, and Letitia couldnât bear to lock eyes with him
for long.
Suddenly, Elgin asked, âDid grandpa tell you something else?â
Letitia was taken aback, âNo, not at all.â
âDonât hide it from me,â Elgin said, âHe told you to be heartless to me and not to give me a sliver of a
chance, thatâs why you said all that, right?â
âElgin, you are deluding yourself.â
He stepped closer, shutting the door behind him, pinning Letitia against the wall, âI donât believe it, I
donât believe your heart is made of stone. Iâve come all this way to get you and you donât feel a thingâ¦â
His voice trailed off, getting softer.
Letitia tugged at the corner of her mouth, âSo, even if I ran to the ends of the earth, youâd still find me?â
âYes.â
âThatâs not love.â Letitia said, âElgin, youâre just being selfish, possessive!â
âCall it whatever you want, Letty.â
Elgin never bought into that whole love is letting go and blessing. He loved her, so he had to have her!
Letitia bit her lip, pushing against him, âWell, since youâve found me, and I canât escape, do what you
will.â
She put some muscle into it, making sure she could push him away, then walked off without looking
back.
After a couple of steps, Letitia didnât hear any movement from behind.
Weird, what was Elgin up to?
He didnât chase after her, nor did he speak. Why was it so eerily quiet?
Thinking it over, Letitia couldnât help but glance back.
There was Elgin, leaning against the wall. With his good right hand covering the wound on his left, he
furrowed his brow, his face a grimace of pain.
Blood was seeping through the white bandage.
âElgin!â Letitia exclaimed, rushing back to his side.
She must have accidentally hit his wound when she pushed him away! Letitia felt more and more guilty.
Elginâs hand needed proper care; otherwise, it could be ruined!
He had come all the way here, which was already tough on his injury, and there she was, clumsily
pushing himâ¦
âHow are you?â Letitia asked anxiously, âShould I call a doctor?â
Elginâs lips were slightly pale, âItâs nothing.â
âHow can it be nothing? Itâs bleeding again! Letitia protested, âIt was me, I pushed you, Iâm soâ¦â
She was to remorseful that she started to stutter.
Dummy, Elgin said, âDonât blame yourself. I wasnât carefulâ
Letiho helped him sit, âYou should sit for a while, Iâll go call a doctor⦠Ah!
Before she could finish, Elgin pulled her into his arms, sitting her on his lap.
âElgin, youâ¦â
âDonât go,â he said, âI wonât let you out of my sight.â
âBut your wound needs medical attention.â
âItâs fine.â
Letitia was worried, âHow can it be fine? Donât you care about your arm at all? Do you want to be
disabled?!â
Seeing her so anxious, Elgin smiled.
âLook, Letty, you say you hate my guts, but here you are, fretting over me.â
Letitia was taken aback and quickly blurted out, âI-I just donât want you to totally wreck your hand!
Otherwise,
Iâd be the villain here!â
Elgin just smiled, looking at her with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
Sure, the wound hurt, but he could endure it while maintaining his cool composure.
But no, he chose to show his pain to make Letitia feel sorry for him.
Elgin thought to himself, no matter how cold-hearted her words were just now, at this moment, she was
worried about him.