Chapter 316: An Unconcealable Secret
Wren Sutton took a deep breath, giving Adrian Lancaster one last look.
"It’s getting late. Everyone should get some rest."
Adrian Lancaster stared at her blankly. He opened his mouth, a bitter taste rising in his throat. A thousand words ultimately turned into one: "Okay."
Wren Sutton said nothing more. She turned, left, and gently closed the door behind her.
Silence returned to the bedroom, leaving only the sound of Adrian Lancaster’s heavy breathing and the occasional whisper of wind outside the window.
He turned on his side, staring at the closed door. The mask still hung from his ear, and the fatigue and aches that had briefly subsided came flooding back like a tide.
Adrian Lancaster reached for the cup and took a sip of water. The warm liquid slid down his throat, but it couldn’t warm his neglected heart.
’The children...’
He closed his eyes, and the cherubic faces of Owen and Nina appeared in his mind—their delicate features, their temperaments one quiet, one lively. They were so much like him, and so much like Wren Sutton.
It was these two little lives that had pulled him back from the brink of abandonment, giving him a legitimate reason to stay by Wren Sutton’s side.
’But is the title of "father" all I want?’
’No.’
’Besides the two children, I want Wren Sutton.’
’I want to see that light for me shine in her eyes again. I want her to be willing to open her heart to me in the dead of night. I want her to rely on me and like me without reservation, just like she used to.’
’But it seems she doesn’t want me.’
’Her care for me is more out of a sense of responsibility, born from her love for the children. The only thing missing is any affection for me, her husband.’
Adrian Lancaster closed his eyes in anguish, his heart twisting in pain.
The reason Wren Sutton was unwilling to give him her heart was because the past had hurt her too deeply. Her trust and love had been shattered too completely.
That question from before—"If it weren’t for Owen and Nina, would you even bother with me?"—was Adrian Lancaster’s deepest fear, buried in the bottom of his heart.
It was a cruel hypothetical, but also an unavoidable truth.
Without these two children as a bond, there would be nothing between him and Wren Sutton. She probably would have left him long ago.
Adrian Lancaster raised a hand and pressed it hard against his chest, right over his heart.
There, his heart was still beating strongly. Every throb was a reminder that he loved Wren Sutton, and that he had to do everything in his power to save their relationship.
...
「In the master bedroom.」
Wren Sutton pushed the door open and walked in. She didn’t turn on the lights immediately. Her body went slack as she leaned against the door, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
It was as if she was shedding a facade of forced composure, or perhaps venting the bitterness churning in her heart.
The master bedroom was perfectly still. Moonlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a cold, silvery glow that stretched her lonely shadow long across the floor.
The night breeze slipped silently through a crack in the window, lifting a stray strand of hair at her temple and brushing it against her cool cheek, but it couldn’t blow away the turmoil in her heart.
Wren Sutton raised a hand, her fingertips pressing against her chest, right over her heart.
Beneath her palm, her heart was beating a little faster than usual, completely betraying her calm and composed exterior. Each beat was a silent testament to the secrets she couldn’t hide.
Replaying over and over in her mind, impossible to dismiss, was Adrian Lancaster’s question from earlier—a question laced with apprehension and humility.
"If it weren’t for Owen and Nina, would you even bother with me?"
The words weren’t heavy, but they were like a small pebble dropped unexpectedly into the depths of Wren Sutton’s heart, sending out ripples that wouldn’t subside.
Wren Sutton closed her eyes, her long lashes casting a faint shadow on her eyelids.
She asked herself: when Adrian Lancaster was sick with a cold and fever, her tirelessly caring for him, taking his temperature, and reminding him to drink water—was it really just because he was Owen and Nina’s father? Was it really just out of a sense of responsibility for the children?
The image of Adrian Lancaster’s haggard appearance when he was sick surfaced in her mind again.
He wore a thick surgical mask, revealing only his eyes. He had gazed at her so cautiously, his eyes hiding an irresolvable guilt, the vulnerability that came with his illness, and a sliver of humble hope, terrified of her rejection and estrangement...
In that moment, the hard shell she had built around her heart seemed to have cracked.
Wren Sutton hated this weak-willed part of herself.
The pain was still so vivid, and Adrian Lancaster’s past betrayal and cruelty had given her countless sleepless nights, leaving her heart utterly shattered.
She had told herself countless times not to let her heart be moved by Adrian Lancaster again, not to let him throw her emotions into disarray.
But seeing him so vulnerable, hearing his cautious question, all her defenses and all her resolve would waver in an instant.
She hated this spineless concern she had for him, and hated even more that after all this time, she still hadn’t been able to let go completely.
Reason told Wren Sutton that she couldn’t forgive Adrian Lancaster so easily, that the scars of the past couldn’t just be forgotten. But her emotions were slipping out of her control.
That love, buried deep in her heart and intentionally suppressed by her, had seemingly never truly faded.
It was just hidden in the deepest corner of her heart, concealed behind his identity as the father of her two children—something she refused to admit, and didn’t dare to admit.
...
「The next morning.」
Morning light spilled through the sheer curtains and onto the floor.
Adrian Lancaster pushed himself into a sitting position. His complexion and spirits were better than they had been the day before.
He raised a hand to his own forehead. It still felt a little warm; he hadn’t fully recovered.
After resting for a moment, Adrian Lancaster threw back the covers, got out of bed, and went to wash up and change his clothes.
’Even if I’m sick, I have to make myself look clean and handsome. Looking sloppy and unkempt will only make me less likable.’
He was standing in front of the full-length mirror adjusting his collar when he heard the babbling of Owen and Nina from the hallway, along with the footsteps of Wren Sutton and a maid.
Adrian Lancaster subconsciously wanted to pull open the door and go out. He had just taken a step when reason pulled him back.
’I’m not fully recovered yet, I’m still carrying the virus. If I rush out like this and infect the children, my crime would be immense.’
’Wren Sutton would definitely hate me to death then.’
Adrian Lancaster returned to the full-length mirror, dejected.
Through the door, he could hear Wren Sutton’s gentle voice coaxing the children, and he heard their soft, childish replies.
His heart felt both happy and content, yet also a bittersweet sorrow from being unable to get closer.
After a while, a maid delivered breakfast to Adrian Lancaster’s room right on time.
Adrian Lancaster sat on the sofa, eating alone with a taut expression. He didn’t have much of an appetite and ate very little.
He slowly sipped his congee, his gaze flickering to the door from time to time, hoping to see Wren Sutton’s figure, even if it was just for a fleeting glance or a quiet word of concern. However, she never appeared.
After breakfast, Adrian Lancaster went back to bed and leaned against the headboard, bored. He had no interest in doing anything.
He was still waiting for Wren Sutton.
After an unknown amount of time, there was finally a knock at the door.
Adrian Lancaster looked toward the door with hopeful eyes, expecting to see Wren Sutton.
But instead of the woman he loved, it was a maid who came in to remind him to take his medicine and measure his temperature.
"Young Master, it’s time for your medicine." The maid placed the pills and a glass of water on the bedside table.
"After you take them, please measure your temperature. The Young Madam specifically instructed it."
That last sentence instantly brightened Adrian Lancaster’s mood. Without another word, he took the medicine.
"Is my wife in the living room playing with the children right now?"
The maid answered respectfully, not daring to hide anything, "The Young Madam drove out with the little young master and the little young miss."