A thin, wry smile crept upon Westonâs face. His eyes glinted with cynicism.
âYouâre buttering me up to make me feel bad so I wonât hurt Roger, arenât you?â
âI know exactly what youâre doing,â he added, pinching Stellaâs nose. âDonât even think of pulling those tricks on me.â
Judging from his tone, Stella could tell that he wouldnât do anything to Roger, so she sighed in relief.
âBut you said it yourself, didnât you? Heâs going abroad soon. I donât have much time left to be with him.
Plus, you know heâs always sick, so itâs only natural that I worry about him.â
She then looked up at Weston and added, âIf you have just one family member left in this world, youâd be as anxious as I amâ¦â
At that moment, although they were snuggling each other in bed, Weston suddenly felt as if there was a vast distance between them.
He raised her chin and looked deep into her soul. âIf heâs the only family you have left, then what am I?â
He touched her chest with his finger.
âWhat am I to you⦠here?â
Stella hesitated, then smiled.
âWhat do you think you are?â she replied, throwing the ball back into his court.
Westonâs eyes turned turbulent. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
The smell of alcohol wafted into her nose. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to accept this intimacy.
Theyâd just gotten home and even fought just now, so she didnât have the time to take the pill, which meant his touches right now repulsed her. This resentment towards him was rooted at the bottom of her heart, not something that she could set aside so easily.
Weston could feel her body stiffen up too. He suddenly stopped and asked her, âWhy are you so tense? Are you still in shock from what happened?â
âNoâ¦â she shook her head, her face pale. âI just donât feel well, thatâs all⦠Can we do it tomorrow instead?â
âI wasnât thinking about that at all,â Weston replied, playing with the strand of hair that fell on her cheek.
âBut now that you mention it, Iâm starting to get the urgeâ¦â
Stella noticed that twinkle in his eyes which made her pause.
âThen give me a minute,â she begged. âIâll go wash up a little.â
âBut you just came out of the bath!â he quickly interjected.
Stella was about to get up, but Weston pinned her back down on the bed.
âYou just made me angry, you know. Arenât you planning on doing something to make up for it?â
His keen eyes peered down at her like an excited child.
Stella took a deep breath to ignore the repulsion surging up from inside her. She closed her eyes and slowly explained, âI wasnât that thorough just now. I think I need to clean myself up a bit moreâ¦â
By then, even her voice was trembling.
Weston sensed that something was wrong, so he held up her chin and demanded, âOpen your eyes.
Look at me.â
Stella reluctantly opened her eyes, only to see Weston gawking hawkishly at her as if she was his prey.
Suddenly a deep sense of powerlessness engulfed her-a mix of the defenselessness she felt in the nightmare, the despair when she fell off the rooftop, and the sight of her own child turning into a puddle of bloodâ¦
Her entire being completely rejected this man for who he was.
He had kissed her, hugged her, done things much more intimate than that with her for so many times now, yet all these things from the past still swirled in her mind, and there was no way for her to stop them.
Weston got up and took a good look at her. That look on her face told all the truth he needed to know-
she rejected him.
His face turned glum Stella closed her eyes. After a long time, what she feared would happen didnât happen.
She opened her eyes again. When she saw Weston looking crestfallen, she knew that her expressions just now had frustrated him.
She got up in a hurry and grabbed his arm, explaining , âPlease donât think too much about it. Iâm really just too tired, I wasnâtâ¦â
She dreaded Weston finding out that she had been taking those pills. She dreaded him discovering that she could only have sex with him with the help of a drugâ¦