Chapter 218 - 217
Her emotions were running high, straining her weak body. The moment she finished speaking, she couldn’t help but start coughing, the force of it making her chest ache.
Joanna Kennedy frowned. "I’ll go get a doctor..."
"Don’t!" Her words were cut off.
Meeting Serena Sutton’s reddened eyes, Joanna sighed, retracting her surplus of sympathy. "I thought after all this, you’d have a clearer understanding of Charles Jennings. But it seems you still think everything is my fault."
"And isn’t it?" Serena said stubbornly. "You dare say it wasn’t because of you?!"
Joanna didn’t respond. She was slowly realizing that there was no point in trying to explain things to someone like Serena.
It’s hard for people to accept deception and failure. Only by finding an excuse for their own defeat, by blaming it on someone else, can they make themselves feel less pathetic.
Joanna suddenly felt she didn’t want to stay any longer, but Serena had no intention of letting her go so easily. In a hoarse voice, she said, "Joanna Kennedy, didn’t you say you wanted to give it back to me? Then give Simon Lockwood back to me."
Serena’s tone was matter-of-fact, completely oblivious to how outrageous and absurd her demand was.
Joanna, who had started to turn away, paused. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were clear and detached. Her voice was flat. "Simon Lockwood isn’t yours, nor is he mine. I have no way of giving him back to you."
"Don’t give me that crap," Serena seethed, gritting her teeth. "I know. I know everything. I even know about your and Charles Jennings’s true identities!"
During those few days she was trapped in the room by Charles, she hadn’t been completely unconscious. She had figured everything out.
It wasn’t some nonsensical dream. This world was supposed to be hers and Simon’s. Both Joanna Kennedy and Charles Jennings were just stepping stones on their path through life—unimportant, insignificant stepping stones.
"I’m the female lead, and Simon is the male lead. Of course he’s mine," Serena raised her voice, a smug, disdainful look creeping onto her pale face as she spoke.
To someone so lost in their own world, looking down on others from the high horse of their personal logic, Joanna suddenly found Serena a little pathetic.
The air was silent for a moment. Just as the disdain on Serena’s face deepened, Joanna finally spoke, her words leaving Serena stunned.
Joanna’s voice was very calm. "Simon Lockwood is his own person, free and independent. And so are you."
"He has never belonged to you, and you don’t belong to him. Everyone belongs only to themselves."
"Serena Sutton, do you truly love Simon Lockwood?"
...
The door to the room clicked softly shut. Serena stared blankly ahead, Joanna’s question echoing in her mind.
’Do I... Do I really love Simon Lockwood?’
No one had ever asked her that before, and she had never considered it herself.
It was like a marathon. Only after reaching the finish line did she suddenly realize she’d been running in the wrong direction. The prize wasn’t hers, because the direction she’d been striving in was wrong from the very start...
Once outside the hospital room, Joanna could no longer hold herself up. She leaned against the wall, nearly collapsing, but was caught by a pair of strong, warm hands that wrapped securely around her.
The man’s voice was tight with some suppressed emotion, making him sound harsh. "Joanna Kennedy, who told you to run around? Do you have any awareness of your own physical condition?!"
Simon Lockwood was furious. He had only gone back to take a shower and change his clothes. The moment he heard Joanna was awake, he had rushed over without even drying his hair, only to be told she had come here.
The girl’s face was pale, and her slender arms, too weak to support her against the wall, were trembling slightly. If he hadn’t arrived when he did, would she have fallen?
The mere thought of that possibility made Simon so angry he wanted to throw Joanna over his shoulder, carry her back, and tie her up—to keep her under his watch forever.
"Why are you... so mean..." Joanna flinched at his cold expression. She was already feeling down because of what Serena had said, and now she felt even more aggrieved.
"I didn’t see you when I woke up!" Joanna accused, her eyes turning red. "And you have the nerve to lecture me!"
’What kind of good boyfriend doesn’t stay by his girlfriend’s side day and night?’ Simon, on the other hand, had the audacity to show up now and scold her!
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She pushed hard against the man’s chest, but after a few shoves, she failed to move him. Instead, the arms around her waist tightened. The familiar, clean scent enveloped her, and Joanna burst into tears. "You even took a shower! And changed your clothes! What, were you celebrating?"
Simon Lockwood: "..."
Stunned by the accusation, Simon’s face changed. His anger forgotten, he said stiffly, "That’s not it, I didn’t..."
"Didn’t what?!" Joanna was fired up now. She tugged at his damp, short hair and glared up at him. "Didn’t take a shower or didn’t change your clothes?!"
He had done both. Simon opened his mouth, but ultimately didn’t argue. It wasn’t in his nature to boast about how he had watched over her for three days and three nights.
Nor could he explain the real reason he had showered and changed. He lowered his gaze and let the girl pull at his hair.
Having just woken up, Joanna’s energy was nearly depleted. After muttering a few more complaints and seeing that the man wasn’t going to lecture her anymore, she silently breathed a sigh of relief. She burrowed into his embrace and ordered, "Carry me back."
Simon obediently scooped her up by the legs and into his arms. The feather-light weight made him frown, and he subconsciously gave her a little heft.
The familiar motion almost gave Joanna a stress-induced flashback. Before her eyes could widen in a glare, she heard the man’s low voice. ’She’s gotten thinner...’
Joanna Kennedy: "..."
Joanna relaxed and wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling her face into his neck in an attitude of complete trust. "I haven’t lost any weight at all. It’s just your imagination. Schrödinger’s thinness..."
"You have. I could tell when I hefted you," Simon said with absolute seriousness.
Joanna rolled her eyes. ’He could tell when he hefted me,’ how impressive. She murmured幽幽出声, "Oh, aren’t you impressive. You’re a real ’Heft-case’."
Simon Lockwood: "..."
But even with all her wisecracks, Joanna couldn’t escape the interrogation.
Sitting on her hospital bed, she sipped the ultra-restorative soup Simon had cooked for her and explained once again, "I’m really not injured. He didn’t have anyone hit me, he just kept me tied up."
Simon’s expression didn’t improve in the slightest; it was still dangerously dark. "Did he... did he do anything to you?"
When he had lifted her just now, her body had gone rigid. It was only for a split second, but he hadn’t missed it.
’Joanna is so beautiful, so alluring. Did Charles Jennings hurt her? Did he do something awful to her?’
Simon knew he was being narrow-minded. The fact that Joanna was safe and physically unharmed was the greatest blessing. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He just couldn’t.
He knew with certainty that he was the only one she had ever done those things with. Holding hands, hugging, kissing—Joanna had only ever been with him.