Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39 Rebecca’s cry was heard by the maids and the butlers. Though she felt quite the pain for a second, once he put her on the bed and her foot neatly rested, she didn’t feel the pain anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Benjamin apologized for the tenth time. “I was...” he couldn’t say the reason as he was staring at her face and forgot about the surroundings.

“I don’t think you did it on purpose,” Rebecca said, “so it’s alright.”

Benjamin was left speechless. Was she always so understanding? No, something definitely changed in her. He couldn’t pinpoint it but could feel it. “Uh, I couldn’t make it to the job in the morning,” he said, “so I asked for a night shift.”

“Oh, so you won’t be here tonight.”

“Yeah.” He sounded disappointed.

She felt a little bit sour. She currently wasn’t wearing the wedding ring. “Okay. I give you permission.”

Whether she was being humorous or not, Benjamin faintly smiled and said, “Thank you, my love.” He leaned forward and gently adjusted a few strands of hair falling down the front of her face, almost tickling her cheek and ear with the tip of his finger. “My first and last love.”

The last few words increased the sound of her heartbeat, and he could hear it. Normally, she wouldn’t have let him be so close to her for so many long seconds, but she felt a bit powerless against his charm tonight and kept staring at him almost like a mesmerized doll. Benjamin could feel the baby romance rising in the air, and if not for his wife’s wounded situation, he might have taken a chance to peck a kiss on her cheek, but for now, it still felt like a far away dream: being able to kiss her when she was awake. He was still too afraid to pull off such a stunt.

Nevertheless, he waved his hand and said, ‘See you later,’ like any good husband would before leaving the room.

Rebecca’s head was full of conflicting thoughts, but positive ones slightly dominated the negative ones. She took out her wedding ring from under her mattress and kept staring at it.” He wore his ring all this while, even though I and my family members didn’t really support him. He didn’t ask me for money even though he could easily have after my mom forced him by taking part of his salary away. He’s really a tough guy, yet...” she remembered how he shed tears in the garden after Elizabeth had hit him repeatedly with a stick. “I made him cry.” Her jaw began to harden. “I married him to keep him by my side, and I know that if someone disrespects my husband, they are disrespecting me as well, but if I fight for him, I’ll be fighting my own family.”

Despite everything Benjamin had done for her, a big question still bothered her. Was he really worth fighting her whole family for?

“I still can’t decide,” she hardly breathed in the past minute or so. “Maybe I should spend some time with him to get to know him better. That might help me decide whether he’s worth fighting for or not.”

Meanwhile, Benjamin walked out through the back door of the villa, wondering what he should do with the free time he got.

“Should I just go back and spend some quality time with my wife?”

A familiar old couple were playing with the dogs on the lawn, tossing them food and bone shaped toys. Seeing Benjamin, they called out for him.”Get over here, Mr. Maid.” The only two people who unhesitatingly called Benjamin in such a humiliating manner were none other than Elizabeth’s parents.

“What do you need me here for, Mr. & Mrs. Conway.”

“One of the puppies just defecated on the grass,” the bald old man with an eagle tattoo on his head said. He was Nolan Conway.

“Scoop it up and take it out of our sight.”

“Sure,” Benjamin picked up the puppy and walked away, leaving the elderly couple speechless. “Get back here, you rascal,” the old woman, Dorothy Conway yelled. Her voice was loud enough to startle the dogs, but Benjamin acted like he couldn’t hear her.

He went into the distance and kept poking the puppy’s belly with his finger, and the puppy began to playfully bite on his finger.

Dorothy ground her senile teeth in frustration. “This brat has grown balls in the weeks we’ve been out. Do something, darling.”

“I’m older than you, so what do you want me to do?” Nolan replied. “Let’s just wait until Elizabeth returns. Then, we can make this punk eat dog poop.” “We can’t wait that long. Let’s call Devon. He’ll help us.”

“Devon’s too old,” Nolan suggested. “Let’s go with Oliver. He’s in his prime and can squeeze a duck to death with bare hands.”

“Fine. Oliver or whoever, just don’t fail!”

Nolan and Dorothy were over eighty years old, and Elizabeth was their only child. She was born in the fifteenth year of their marriage, so they raised her like a princess, giving her everything she asked for. And one day, she asked for Shawn, and they managed to set things up in a way love blossomed between Shawn and Elizabeth. After Elizabeth married into the much richer Sterling family, she had her way because she was the eldest daughter-in-law, but things changed ever since the son-in-law entered the family. His entrance made Jacob realize that the partners of his eldest son and daughter did not have jobs worth mentioning in public. Jacob could at least go around saying that his daughter-in-law was a housewife, but he couldn’t possibly say that his son-in-law As a result, Jacob had been treating Elizabeth harshly ever since Benjamin entered the Sterling villa, and the Conway family hated Benjamin for it. They wanted him gone from the villa, so they could act freely like in the past.

However, for now, Benjamin was only gone from their sight. Meanwhile, Rebecca was still fiddling with the wedding ring. “I’m so bored.” She tossed the ring up into the air and caught it a few times. “Should I get a TV installed in this room? It’s been a while since I’ve watched television, so I’m not sure.”

Just then, Benjamin entered the room with hands on his back. “B-Benjamin!” Rebecca quickly hid the wedding ring under the pillow. “I thought you had gone out!”

“I wanted to, but then I thought ‘when was the last time I spent an afternoon with my wife,’ and here I am,” he sat on his bed. “I’m stuck here in bed, so I’m not sure if I can give you good company,” she said. Benjamin brought his hands to the front and revealed a cute little brown puppy, surprising her. He put it on her bed, and the puppy began to sniff Rebecca’s clothes and licking her hand while wagging its little tail at a good speed. As the puppy was going down to her foot, he came over in a hurry.

“No, no there!” he picked up the puppy and put it in her lap. The puppy sat up and kept staring at Rebecca for a little while before barking a couple of times. Benjamin was smiling, but then his expression changed after realizing that his wife’s expression was growing stiffer. “R-Rebecca, is everything alright?” Rebecca lifted her hand, and her skin reddened where the puppy had licked not long ago. She looked at Benjamin like she was seeing a ghost. It was at that moment Benjamin realized that she was allergic to dogs and also that he messed up big time when he saw the little puppy climbing her in an attempt to lick her face. “NOOOO!”

he cried out.