Chapter 579
Standing Before Love
When they got back to Bradfort City, it was already late, so Heather sent Leon back to his hotel first.
After he left, only Heather and Matthias were left in the car, so the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.
âIâll send you back,â Heather said to Matthias.
âGo straight to the Langston Residence. You donât have to send me.â Matthias refused Heatherâs offer, because he wanted to accompany her home. What kind of man would need a woman to send him back?
âOkay.â Heather scoffed. âWell, in that case, you can get out of the car now!â Matthias said himself that he didnât need her to send him back, which meant that they could go their separate ways now.
âI want to see you get home safely.â Matthias didnât have any intention of getting off whatsoever. It wasnât easy for them to be alone together, so he certainly wouldnât let go of this opportunity.
âNo, you donât have to.â Heather refused. He had refused her kindness, so why couldnât she do the same?
Matthias noticed the resolution on her face, which left him at a sudden loss for words. Heather wasnât going to start the carâthat decision was more than obvious.
âHeather, are you that reluctant to let me send you back?â Matthias fixed her with a gloomy look.
Whenever they were together, Heather wouldnât spare his feelings at all.
âThis is my car. Iâm afraid itâs not right for you to say that youâll send me back.â Heather picked this moment to be stubborn, so Matthias was simply speechless. He truly didnât know when she would finally be gentle with him.
Matthias wanted to say something else, but when he caught sight of Heatherâs expressionless face, he couldnât get the words out.
âIf I donât get out of the car, will you keep spending time with me?â The words that he let slip werenât exactly polite, but Heatherâs attitude made it impossible for him to continue being soft with her.
Heather swept an inexplicable glance over Matthias, not understanding how she managed to provoke him. Seeing how disgruntled he was, for a moment, Heather didnât know how to fight back.
For a while, neither of them were willing to budge. Then, Heather opened the car door. âI donât want to waste time with you here. Itâs late, and I want to go home earlier to rest.â
Faced with Heatherâs cold attitude, Matthias was done with being given the cold shoulder, so he gave her a cold smile.
âOkay. Iâll get out.â Matthias wanted to be harsh with her, but when he looked at Heatherâs face, his heart softened in an instant.
Watching as Heatherâs car whizzed off, Matthias felt mocked. He chuckled and shook his head as he thought about how he only had himself to blame for his current situation.
At that time, he understood that loving a person was just self-inflicted self-torment. Sometimes, he thought that Heather loved him a little, but sometimes he had to wake up and face the reality of her cruelty.
There were many times when Heather wanted to change her behavior, but everytime she spoke, her words would come out harsh. She was always critical of Matthias. Time and time again, Heather would ask herself why she couldnât be nicer to him.
When she arrived home, it was already 12.00AM. Lying on her soft bed, she closed her eyes and seemed to hear the bell striking midnight.
The bell rang continuously, causing her heart to be in turmoil. Not only did going out with Matthias not strengthen her feelings, it actually worsened their relationship.
Does loving someone mean making things difficult for them? Heather really wanted to know the answer to this, and she even wondered if there was something mentally wrong with her. She had written books related to psychology before, yet her own mental state wasnât sound.
At night, the air was cold. Heather didnât like being in air-conditioned rooms, so she wouldnât turn it on unless absolutely necessary. However, she didnât like those heating facilities either.
Fortunately, the indoor temperature of the Langston Residence was designed to be constant. As long as it didnât drop below zero outside, it wouldnât be too cold.
When Heather woke up in the morning and opened the window, she looked out and was surprised to see icicles.
She was completely oblivious to what happened the night before. In just one night, the temperature had dropped so low.
When she exhaled, her breath was foggy. At this moment, her face felt so cold that it hurt, so she quickly closed the window.
The weather changed overnight, proving that this yearâs winter was truly different. It had been a long time since she last experienced a winter like this.
There was slight joy in Heatherâs heart. After changing into thick pajamas, Heather left the room.
Looking at the living room from above, Heather didnât see Robert anywhere, so she decided to go to his room to look for him. Filled with excitement, she ran to his room.
Robertâs room door wasnât closed, so Heather rushed right in. The butler was handing Robert a bowl of medicine, and she even heard him coughing.
âGrandpa!â Heather greeted cheerfully.
When Robertâs gaze landed on Heather, he panicked a little and finished the medicine in one gulp.
The bowl in Robertâs hands caught Heatherâs attention. She went straight over and narrowed her eyes at him while asking, âGrandpa, whatâs wrong?â
Heather wanted to retrieve the medicine bowl from his hands, but Robert handed it directly to the butler, and their eyes met for a moment.
The butler hurriedly left with the bowl, and Heather couldnât stop him in time. She found this move to be strange, as it seemed like Robert was hiding something from her.
âGrandpa, what medicine were you drinking?â Heather continued asking.
Holding in his coughs, Robert completely ignored Heatherâs questions and proceeded to change the topic to Matthias. âHeather, how have you been getting along with Matthias recently?â
âGrandpa, donât change the subject. You have to answer my question first,â Heather said solemnly.
Robert was too good at deflecting, but she wasnât going to let him get away with it.
âHeather, why didnât you knock before you entered my room?â Robert turned serious as well. He didnât want to talk about this, so he could only change the topic to her.
âGrandpa, weâll talk about these insignificant things later. You need to answer my question first,â
Heather pressed on with extreme patience, as she intended to pester Robert till he gave her an answer.
âHeather, letâs not talk about this for the time being,â Robert stated outright. He noticed the disappointment in Heatherâs eyes, and he didnât want things to be like this either, but he really couldnât tell her about it.
âGrandpa, you know Iâll definitely find out what I want to know.â Heather hoped that Robert would personally tell her, rather than for her to find out through her investigation.
Robert heard the threat in her tone and was slightly angered. Her words made him uncomfortable, although he knew that she only said it because she cared about him.
âHeather, when did you start being so rude?â Robert asked a little irritably.
âIâm sorry, Grandpa, but I just donât want you to hide things from me. I know you have quite a few minor health problems, but the medical industry is so developed that there arenât any insurmountable problems. I donât want to see you experimenting with those home remedies anymore. We should trust the doctor, shouldnât we?â Heather understood that Robert was secretly trying some home remedies.
She had always wanted to find out what exactly was wrong with his health, but so far, there was no progress.
Originally, she thought this incident wouldnât happen again. But, now that she had unexpectedly seen it, she couldnât hold back from speaking her mind.
âShut up. I have my own judgments. You should just be concerned with your own business.â Robert had no patience to listen to Heather anymore, and his anger was evident.
âGrandpaââ
Before Heather finished speaking, she was interrupted by Robert. âStop investigating my affairs, and stop doing things that will disappoint me. Youâve always been my pride, so I donât want to argue with you.â
Looking at how stubborn Robert was being, Heather seemed to see herself. It turned out that she completely inherited her stubbornness from Robert.
âIâm sorry, Grandpa. I just wanted to help out. Iâm really scared.â Heather confessed her feelings, as she was truly afraid that she would lose him one day.
âDonât think so much. Iâm tired. You should go out now!â Robert turned away, not wanting to look at her.
He was afraid that his heart would soften.
When Heather walked out of Robertâs room, she was a little upset. She figured he mustâve been diagnosed with an incurable disease. Otherwise, there was no need to hide it from her.
The only person with knowledge of this matter must be the butler, but he completely obeyed her grandfatherâs orders, so there was no way she could get any information out of him.
On her way out, she bumped into the butler. Upon seeing how worried Heather was, he found it a little hard to bear.
However, he couldnât possibly go against Robertâs orders. Not to mention, everything would turn messy if Heather found out about it.
Heather didnât want to stay stuck at home, but wanted to go out for a walk instead. Thinking of Myra, she hurried back to her room.
Because Heather didnât like to carry her phone with her when she was at home, it was always left in her room. Yesterday, she forgot to check her phone, so she didnât know if Myra had responded to her.
After opening the door of her room, Heather walked straight toward her bedside before turning on her phone, which was on the bedside table.
This time, Leon didnât disturb her, and there were no missed calls or text messages from Matthias. Her phone was completely silent, as if the entire world had abandoned her.
Heather then opened her Messenger. Usually, she would have unread messages from Matthias, but today, there werenât any.
If Matthias didnât text her today, it meant that she mustâve really hurt him last night.
She only had unread messages on Messenger from Myra. Last night, the latter had even sent Heather a video, but unfortunately, her phone was turned off then. She came back too late at night, and also she forgot to charge it in the car.
If it werenât because she needed to check the time last night, Heather wouldâve completely forgotten that her phone had run out of battery. It was only because of that that she went to her bedroom to charge it.
By the time the phone turned on, Heather was already asleep, so she didnât notice the messages on Messenger.
Myraâs message was simple. All she asked was if Heather had time to come out and meet with her.
Myraâs stomach was getting bigger each day, so Tony didnât allow her to go out to work anymore. She had to stay home all day, which was why she wanted to go out for a walk.
Before this, Myra had asked her friend, Estelle, out as well, but she had gone overseas for a shoot, and it was unknown how long it would take before she would return to Bradfort City.
Meanwhile, because Myra was not in the office for the time being, Tilly had more work to handle. She was so busy with work every day that she didnât even have time to spend with her boyfriend, much less hang out with Myra.
At present, the only person Myra could ask out was Heather, because her company had yet to open, so she currently had a relative amount of spare time.
Seeing that Myra wanted to meet up as well, Heather immediately dialed her number. However, after the call was connected, she didnât hear Myraâs voice, and no one responded for a long time.
Occasionally, she would hear the faint sound of electric current from the phone, but not Myraâs voice, which made Heather suspicious.