171 Ch. 171 Why Did Anxia Protect Michele?
Raymond got to his feet and walked over to his wife, trembling as if Michele had just seen a ghost.
âMichele, are you okay? Be careful with your feet, donât step on broken glass.â
âRei, is that true? Is Xiao Xia protecting me?â
âItâs highly possible. Otherwise, she wouldnât push you away to disturb the bullet path.â
Micheleâs knees went limp when she heard her husbandâs answer. She would have fallen immediately if only her husband had not been ready to support her.
âShe needs rest. Rei, you should go back to your room. Leave the rest to me.â Stanley suggested seeing Michele was too shocked by the fact that Anxia was protecting her.
In the end, Raymond complied because he saw his wifeâs shocked and pale face. He carried Michele in a bridal style because he didnât want to let her walk on broken glass. Plus, Michele didnât have the strength to walk.
Once they got to their room, Raymond sat on the bed with his back against the headboard. He positioned his wife to sit on his lap and let Micheleâs head rest on his shoulder. Patiently and lovingly, Raymond stroked the top of her head affectionately.
Michele was too lost in her thoughts, to the point she didnât pay attention to her husbandâs outpouring of love. She couldnât understand why Anxia would protect her at all. A dozen years ago, the girl had the heart to kill her, even letting one of the pimps take her away to be sold. Michele had even bullied Anxia last night and threatened not to bother her.
.....
As a result, Anxia behaved and didnât bother her anymore. In fact, their relationship became more friendly unexpectedly since they walked hand in hand to the Thames.
However, Michele thought Anxia was nice to her for fear of her threats. She believed Anxia was only pretending to be nice because Anxia didnât want to offend her.
If so, Anxia should have let the shooter kill her. That way, no one would blame Anxia if Michele were to die. Someone else killed her, and Anxia needed not to fear her threats.
That was an opportunity for Anxia to get rid of Michele, but why ⦠Why did Anxia protect her instead?
âMichelle, what are you thinking?â
A gentle voice in her ear brought Michele back from her reverie. She felt the soft caress and warm embrace of the husband she loved. Michele shook her head when she felt Raymond place a light kiss on the top of her head. âI just donât understand. Why did she do that? I taunted her ... cornered her ... even threatened her ... If I were her,â a trained assassin ... added Michele in her heart. âI would let her die in that shooterâs hand. But she didnât. I donât understand.â
âMaybe⦠because she already considers you family. Thatâs why she protected you.â
âFamily? Can I believe it? I used to consider her like my own sister. I once treated her lovingly and doted on her like any older sister would do to her younger sister. But she betrayed usâshe betrayed me. She never thought of me as her family.â
âMichele, everyone can change. Havenât you ever thought about the possibility that the little sister who once lived with your family will return to be your sister? I could see her playing volleyball with you this afternoon, and she doesnât think of you as a stranger or her nemesis.â
Michele shifted away so she could look into her husbandâs face. âThis is the first time I hear you defend another girl.â
Raymond smiled at his wifeâs sullen expression. âFeeling better already?â
Michele nodded slowly, answering her husbandâs question. âBut⦠who wants to kill me? I thought everyone who was after me was already gone?â
âIâm afraid youâre only bait. Their real target is Anxia.â
âXiao Xia? Why? Havenât Richard and Xiao Xia lived peacefully for the past two years?â
âI donât know either, my love. We will only find out after Anxia wakes up and explains what happened. Itâs midnight; you should sleep.â
Michele complied, and the two decided to sleep peacefully, trying to forget the terrible incident. They were gathering energy so that tomorrow they could help as best they could to think of a defense plan if there was an unknown enemy out there who wanted to target Anxia.
Back in Anxiaâs roomâonly Richard and Harmonie accompanied Anxia, and they didnât sleep at all. Richard had tried to persuade his younger sister to rest, but Harmonie insisted on accompanying him to look after Anxia.
In addition, Anxiaâs condition worsened as she got a high fever and was covered in sweat. Harmonie helped Richard wipe Anxiaâs sweat and compressed a cold towel to cool down Anxiaâs heat.
Meisya also wanted to help look after her daughter-in-law, but because of her age, her body couldnât stand it, so Richard asked his mother to rest.
In the end, all that was left was Harmonie, who still insisted on accompanying him to keep Anxiaâs condition stable.
The doctor had told them that because of a gunshot wound that had not been treated for a long time, Anxia would be running a fever overnight. Richard and Moni took turns changing the small towels to soak them in cold water before placing them on Anxiaâs forehead.
âMoni, thank you.â
Moni shook her head sadly. âNo. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldnât have taken them down the Thames without you guys.â
âDonât blame yourself. We were also with you when it happened. Itâs not your fault.â
Even though Richard didnât blame her, not even the rest of his familyâHarmonie couldnât help but blame herself. If she didnât urge her sisters-in-law to leave their husbands behind, something terrible like this would never happen. Thatâs why Harmonie couldnât sleep. Even if she felt sleepy or tired, her eyelids refused to close before seeing Anxia wake up.
Richard understood what his sister was thinking. He didnât blame Harmonie because one couldnât avoid an unexpected disaster. Alas, he didnât know how to make his sister feel less guilty. If accompanying him in looking after Anxia could ease the burden on the girlâs mind, Richard had no reason to refuse her company.