Chapter 29 Selfishness (2)
"So it was her?" Mrs. Edward leaned on the railing, staring at the direction Irene pointed, her tone unconsciously filled with confusion.
"Yes, her voice is low and a little smoky, very distinctive. I am very sure it is her."
Mrs. Edward murmured, "No wonder she persuaded me to hand over the factory to Edward. It turns out she was waiting for me here."
She tightly grasped the handrail of the railing, and with trembling fingertips, she took out a box of exquisite ladies' cigarettes from her handbag. Even in such a situation, Mrs. Edward still asked politely:
"Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?"
Irene smiled and said, "Of course I don't mind, please help yourself."
At the same time, she noticed that after Mrs. Edward took out the cigarette, Leo unconsciously moved closer to her. She felt a slight pulling on the corner of her clothes. It was Leo who was holding her.
Is it because of fear of cigarettes? Irene couldn't help but think of the bullying news she had seen before. Is she afraid of cigarettes because she had been burned by cigarette butts?
Her heart felt sour and bitter, and the heartache mixed with guilt urged her to reach out and comfort Leo.
Irene did so, tilting her head slightly and patting Leo's arm comfortingly.
The woman's palms were warm, and her eyes were full of tenderness when she looked at him. Leo accepted Irene's love without knowing why, and even went a step further and held Irene's hand on his forearm.
So soft, so small, Leo rolled his Adam's apple twice, his fangs itching slightly, and he recalled the scene of holding Irene's fingertips in his mouth - the delicate skin texture, the pink and flexible fingertips against the root of his tongue.
As soon as he thought of this scene, a warm current rushed to three inches below his navel, and his male instinct urged him to get closer to Irene.
After realizing this thought, Leo suddenly took half a step back. He took two deep breaths and his eyelashes drooped slightly.
Can't scare Irene, he thought.
Leo knows how he is perceived by Irene. She always thinks he is a blank slate.
——He has no understanding of love and is unworldly. He lives like a wild animal in the mountains, relying on his intuition accumulated over the years.
This was the first time he was exposed in front of Irene, but it was this beast-like him who won Irene's favor by chance.
Leo didn't understand why Irene liked him like this, but he liked being stared at by Irene, whether it was admiration or fear, as long as he was in Irene's eyes.
But how could a person who grew up being abused and stumbled through life be as innocent as she thought?
The bodies of truly innocent people have probably turned to ashes.
Leo could dodge the horsewhip and the golden scepter that was thrown at his head.
But he couldn't ignore Irene's disappointed look. Leo's heart broke just thinking about Irene looking at him like that.
He just had a clean appearance, Leo knew it very well, so this dirty and ugly desire must not be exposed in front of Irene.
No matter how Irene likes him, he will pretend to be the way she likes him all his life.
As long as he remained clean, Irene would only have eyes for him, Leo was sure of that.
Of course, Irene didn't know Leo's little trick, so she asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Is the wound on your head hurting again?"
As soon as these words came out, Leo blinked, and some crystal tears appeared in his eyes.
He bit his lower lip and shook his head firmly. The bloody wound on his forehead looked like a crack on white porcelain, which made the damage to this exquisite porcelain even more shocking.
Irene felt even more distressed. She felt so guilty that she almost shed tears. She didn't realize that the severity of Leo's previous injuries was thousands of times greater than it was now, but he didn't shed a single tear at that time.
Mrs. Edward, who was still immersed in her memories, looked at the two people with intertwined eyes in front of her, and suddenly didn't want to recall those bad past events.
She understood and gave a mischievous smile. How painful could a wound on a finger be? He just wanted to make the girl feel sorry for him.
Now these little boys...
Tsk, what a sinister person.
Mrs. Edward smiled and shook her head, but she was the kind of person who would do good things for bad people. The lady asked considerately, "I have medicine in my room. Do you want to take care of it? If you don't take care of it, I'm afraid the wound will scab over in a while."
'The wound will scab over in a while'
…
Irene was embarrassed and her face turned red. She tried to explain, "The head is different from other parts of the body, such as concussion. I am not worried about the wound on the outside, but mainly worried about what might happen inside."
She emphasized, "Many wounds may not look serious on the surface, but there are actually serious problems inside. These are the most difficult to predict, so we need to observe closely."
A very successful excuse - Irene successfully convinced herself.
See, even Leo nodded in agreement, so her point must be correct.
Although it seemed that no matter what she said, Leo would just nod seriously, no matter how outrageous her opinions were.
Irene touched her nose angrily and looked around, except at Mrs. Edward's expression.
Mrs. Edward suppressed her smile and nodded. Her originally not-so-good mood had noticeably lightened up after this episode, which could be heard from her voice.
She smiled and said, "Let's go to my room and take care of this small wound that may get worse."
After saying that, she winked at Irene mischievously.
The lady deliberately emphasized the word "small", and now even the tips of Irene's ears turned red.
Leo followed Irene half a step behind. Only when he was behind Irene did he have the chance to stare at Irene unscrupulously, watching her slender, white neck swaying in front of him under her long, shiny black hair.
She was pretty, as pretty as the young lambs he had hunted.
Leo looked at Irene like a possessed man, and the image of his former prey emerged in his mind - its big, bright eyes were sparkling with crystal tears before it died, and its eyes were full of pleading as it looked at him.
It was begging him to let it go.
But he raised his gun.
Lambs are innocent and simple, but their soft white fur tempts people to hunt them, tempting people to pollute their pure and flawless bodies with blood and gunpowder.
Irene is not a lamb. She is hundreds of times more fragile and beautiful than a lamb.
Want to dirty her.
His fangs began to itch again, and Leo used the tip of his tongue to touch his slightly dry palate. His beast-like appetite and possessiveness surged in his body, and he wanted to bite the soft flesh on the side of Irene's neck hard.
I wanted to bite her without hesitation, but I was afraid of hurting her, and even more afraid of seeing her frightened and disappointed eyes.
Leo closed his eyes tightly, trying to suppress the crazy thoughts in his mind.
He told himself to be a good little dog that Irene likes.
Don't scare Irene.
The boy clenched his back teeth.
*
Irene was chatting with Mrs. Edward unconsciously, not knowing what the person behind her had just gone through.
She looked at Mrs. Edward with sparkling eyes, and her admiration flowed out without reservation.
Mrs. Edward, no, it’s the soon-to-be-widowed Ms. Irene, whose experience is legendary.
In the first three years, she was imprisoned many times for participating in the call for women to use contraception to avoid excessive childbearing and damaging their bodies. She injured her body in prison. After she was released from prison, in order to break free from her father's control, she took the initiative to marry Edward, who was penniless at the time.
Ms. Irene sighed, "If he hadn't expressed deep sympathy for his mother who died in childbirth, I wouldn't have married him."
Irene nodded in agreement. Edward was a typical hypocrite.
After getting married, Ms. Irene retired behind the scenes ostensibly to take care of her health, but in fact it was because her father took the initiative to give control of the family business to Edward - out of the so-called "only men can manage a good business, women can only sew clothes and do housework" idea.
Ms. Irene's tone revealed a hint of sarcasm unconsciously, "I wonder if he realized that it was Edward who poisoned him before he died?"
"That's the heir he personally chose."
"But no matter what, I have been temporarily freed from patriarchy and husband's power," Ms. Irene said coldly, "Edward will not survive tonight. After he dies, I will find another husband who I can control and become the actual controller of my family's business."
She paused, "And then resume the work I left unfinished when I was younger."
"Men are unreliable. I have to hold power in my own hands. I almost died once before I understood this truth." Ms. Irene said self-deprecatingly, "I actually had hope in others."
"Everyone needs someone to rely on," Irene comforted her, "The road to pursuing dreams is difficult, especially for an ideal as difficult as yours, so it's not your fault that you long for companionship."
She glanced at Leo, who was hanging his head and wondering what he was thinking, and her voice suddenly became much softer.
"I just want to escape from home, and I've found someone to accompany me."
Ms. Irene asked softly, "So you two have a common goal? To open your own tailor shop?"
She asked very seriously, like a kind elder inquiring about the future plans of the younger generation, ready to provide them with effective help.
But Irene was stumped.
After her hasty escape, she was forced to face the serious question for the first time - what was Leo's original destination and what kind of pursuit did Leo want.
Also, what right did she have to set Leo's goal of becoming her model on her own? What right did she have to impose her own ideals on Leo?
Everyone has something they are looking for. What about Leo? What does he want?
Anyway, it won't be a tailor shop. A bitter smile appeared on Irene's face, and she replied softly:
"No, this is my ideal. I want to have my own design, a unique design."
Ms. Irene heard the depression in her tone. She thought Leo had no intention of opening a store with Irene, so she changed the subject sensitively.
"Speaking of which, is Leo's inability to speak congenital? Or is it acquired? If it is acquired, maybe I can do something about it. There is a very famous doctor in New Orleans. We are old friends. She is very good at treating vocal cord diseases."
Leo, who was following behind them, suddenly heard his name, but he had been immersed in his own thoughts and did not hear clearly what they said.
The boy looked at Irene with confusion.
Irene repeated the question, "Were you born unable to speak? If so, blink once. If not, blink twice."
Leo blinked twice gently.
Erin's breathing hitched, and an inexplicable feeling of frustration rose in her chest.
She closed her eyes helplessly. What was going on? Why did she feel a little disappointed after hearing that Leo might regain the ability to speak?
What is this?
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