Chapter 214 If I Hadn't Found Out, We'd Have Been Like That Forever
Grace stared at Henry, her eyes blank.
After a beat, her voice a bit raspy, she said, "Henry, we didn't hook up."
"We did!" Henry rolled his wheelchair over to her, his tone all calm and gentle. "Even if we didn't go all the way, you could still get knocked up."
Henry handed her the bottle of pills.
Grace took it with shaky hands. She looked down at the familiar bottle, the familiar text, and got lost in her thoughts.
After what felt like forever, she looked back at Henry.
Her voice was soft but firm as she said, "Henry, I'm not that little girl you could push around anymore! Even if we did sleep together, I get to choose whether to take the pills or not! What right do you have to force me? Because you're my ex-husband, or just some guy I had a fling with?"
She tossed the bottle into the trash. "Henry, even if there's a kid, I don't need you to step up."
Henry looked at her quietly, thinking she had really changed.
Compared to her naive past, she had transformed into a strong woman. Words once stifled now flowed freely, daring to whisper provocative thoughts and engage in new experiences.This kind of change, guys actually dug it.
After a while, Henry wheeled himself over to the big window.
He spoke softly, "Grace, the plants in the villa look all fresh after the rain, but I'm stuck in the bedroom or the study like a piece of dead wood. Every time I go out, I need a driver and a healthcare worker. I even have to use the disabled access."
These words were inevitably sad.
Henry paused, then continued, "Yeah, we have a lot of history! I admit I still have feelings for you, but we're divorced! Grace, look at me now. I'm a man, I have my pride. I'd rather find someone less beautiful, less amazing than try to fix this mess with you. Maybe she just wants my money, but so what? Isn't love and marriage about mutual needs?"
Henry turned back to look at Grace quietly.
He said, "I'm not desperate for you! I don't regret the surgery because I'm Taylor's dad, but as for you, that's it!"
Grace listened quietly.
She leaned on the fancy pillow, her illness adding a touch of fragile beauty. She asked him softly, "Henry, are you serious? Even if I come back, you don't want this relationship anymore?"
"Yes!" Henry answered firmly without a trace of hesitation. He said he'd sleep in the guest room to let her rest well.
With that, he left. His retreat was hasty and flustered.
The Henry of the past was never like this!
Grace definitely wanted to stay, but right now she had to leave because she was Henry's ex-wife. She could hook up with Henry, but she couldn't sleep in this marital bed, otherwise, her situation would be even more unbearable, and she'd have no way to get into his heart.
She got up and walked to the dressing room to change clothes.
She turned on the light, the crystal light was bright.
Everything was as it was.
Grace opened the closet. All her clothes were there, all the jewelry she had worn was there, neatly arranged, as if the mistress of the villa was still there.
Opening Henry's side, everything was placed as it was when she left, a pair of cufflinks placed in the center. Showing signs of wear, Henry couldn't bring himself to discard them and had placed them there with care.
Grace picked them up and looked at them quietly for a while. Suddenly, the defense in her heart broke.
How could Henry say he wasn't desperate for her?!
How could he say he wanted to find some ordinary woman to spend his life with, yet endure two years of solitude, frail and ready to live like this forever?
He wanted her to move on, but he himself lived like a decaying piece of wood in their old home.
Even so, he still claimed he was indifferent to her.
Grace was suddenly hit by a wave of emotions. All her memories, the good and the bad, came flooding back.
She remembered his coldness and her naivety during their honeymoon. She'd stand in the corner every day, helping Henry match his clothes and accessories. She was so happy to be his wife.
Time had passed, and that feeling surged back now.
Grace tried hard not to cry.
With tears in her eyes and a red nose, she dared not think any more. She quickly picked an outfit, changed, and went downstairs.
Henry wasn't in the guest room; he was in the study, smoking, feeling restless.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, followed by the servant's lowered voice. "Mr. Montague, Mrs. Montague said she wants to leave! She's not fully recovered yet, do you want to check on her?"
Henry turned his wheelchair, his eyes darker than the night.
Downstairs, Celeste was also trying to persuade Grace, "You're still sick, at least wait until morning."
Grace tightened her clothes and said softly, "Celeste, you know me best. I can't stay. If I leave now, I'll still be me tomorrow. But if I stay, my identity will be compromised. I'll become just a woman who had a fling with Henry."
Celeste guessed they didn't talk well and was at a loss.
Henry took the elevator downstairs. When the elevator door opened, the servant pushed him to Grace. Henry's voice was slightly hoarse. "You're still sick, why are you leaving?"
Grace didn't speak.
Celeste and the servant tactfully retreated, leaving the space for them.
The room was quiet.
Henry looked at Grace with a barely noticeable tenderness. He called her Grace.
He said softly, "Stay one more night before you go!"
"It's not appropriate." Grace walked around him, her voice also low. "I've already called my driver."
Grace insisted on leaving, and Henry instinctively grabbed her. He looked up at her under the light but didn't speak.
Grace's eyes were red. "Didn't you say you wanted me to be with Owen? Didn't you say I wasn't that important? Then why should I stay? To become just a chapter in your love history? Henry, let go!"
Henry looked at her red eyes.
He guessed she had cried, and at that moment, he felt extremely sad, his tenderness for her reaching its peak, as if returning to the past, to the time he loved her most.
Knowing he shouldn't, Henry still pulled Grace into his arms.
Henry couldn't hug her, so he held the back of her head with one hand. Suppressing his emotions and love for her, he pleaded softly, "Grace, be good, okay? You used to listen to me."
Grace lay on Henry's shoulder, her cheek rubbing against his well-made shirt. She recognized it as one she had bought, and she felt an overwhelming sadness again. Her voice was choked but brave.
Grace said, "You didn't love me before, and you didn't allow me to love you! Now you clearly love me, but you still don't allow me to love you! Henry, our relationship, whether we are together or not, has always been up to you! Remember that year? You said the agreement was just a joke, you had a new lover, so I left for Vesper City. If I hadn't found out, we'd have been like that forever."
Henry smiled bitterly. "What else can we be?"