Chapter 25 Chapter 25: I Miss Her So Much
Gretchen remained silent, not daring to respond.
After a while, Estelle hung up the phone directly, regardless of Gretchen’s reaction.
“You are braver than I thought,” The man said with a joking tone.
The two of them were close to each other, and Estelle felt as if he was holding her in his arms and whispering in her ear. Feeling uneasy, she moved slightly to avoid any possible physical contact with him.
“Sir, I don’t know why you want to help me. But I have to make it clear to you that I can’t do anything immoral with you,” She clearly reminded him.
Her words seemed to arouse the man’s interest in her. “Why? Because you have two children?” He sounded amused by her words.
“Yes,” Estelle answered. “I do need money. But I’m a mother. I don’t want my children to think that their mother is a person who will do anything for money.”
The man chuckled and said in a lazy voice, “You may rest assured. I’m not a shallow person who only cares about carnal love.”
“Then...” Estelle asked cautiously, “What exactly do you need me to do?”
Sensing her uneasiness and resistance, the man gently withdrew his arms from the backrest of the sofa and moved aside to keep a distance from her.
Then he said, “Miss Hudson, I want to help you because you look like an old friend of mine. I feel guilty about what I have done to her, but I don’t have a chance to compensate for it.”
Estelle understood what he meant, nodded, and asked, “So you want me to be a substitute for her, right?”
“Well, you can interpret it this way.”
Estelle lowered her head with a bitter smile and said, “No problem. If you can help me save my mother and get my daughter back, I can do it.”
“Are you sure? You don’t need to think twice about it?” The man asked.
Estelle shrugged and said, “I no longer have the right to hesitate or regret it. I need money. The sooner I can get money, the better.”
The man didn’t say anything more, and his mouth tightened into a thin line.
The room was so dark that Estelle still couldn’t see his face even though she had been in for a long time and her eyes had already adapted to the darkness.
“Let’s go to bed.” The man said after a long silence. Then he stood up, held Estelle’s wrist gently, and led her to the bedroom.
When Estelle heard his words, her body tensed up, and she said in a trembling voice, “Sir, I just said that I...”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you,” The man interrupted her and said in a voice much gentler than before.
When they came to the bedroom, he put his hands on Estelle’s shoulders and motioned to her to sit down at the edge of the bed. Then he slowly squatted in front of her.
“Sir...”
Before Estelle could say anything, the man helped Estelle remove her shoes very gently.
“Recently, I have been suffering from insomnia, and I can’t fall asleep every night,” He stated.
“... Is it because you miss your old friend too much?” Estelle queried.
“Yes,” The man nodded and said. “I miss her so much. Every time I think of her, I feel sad and painful, as if my heart is being cut by a knife slowly. I have tried all kinds of sleeping pills that can be obtained in the market, but they are all ineffective.”
Estelle’s heart softened when she heard this. “Your old friend left you?”
“Yes.”
“For what?” Estelle curiously asked.
The man gave a slightly sad smile. Under the bright moonlight, he cast a long shadow on the floor.
Somehow, he looked pitiful and lonely. Then he said, “Because she doesn’t love me.”
Estelle was stunned when hearing such an unexpected answer.
Just now, according to the man’s words, she had guessed a lot about the man and the girl who looked similar to her. She had thought that the girl might have passed away, or perhaps they were separated from each other because of some reason. But she never thought that the story between them would be like this.
“Sir, does she know you care so much about her?” Estelle asked.
“Maybe,” The man answered, seeming to be uncertain about it. “But whether she knows about it or not doesn’t matter anymore.”
After helping Estelle take off her shoes, he carried her in his arms, gently put her on one side of the bed, and then lay down beside her.
“Good night,” The man said gently.
“Good night,” Estelle said nervously.
It was the first time that she had spent a night in a strange place with a strange man lying next to her. She couldn’t fall asleep at first and kept her eyes open for the first half of the night.
But since she was so tired these days, she gradually became sleepy.
In drowsiness, she felt that the man kissed her gently on her forehead, and then she heard the man’s affectionate whispers.
But when she tried to figure out what he was saying, she couldn’t hear him clearly and soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Estelle was awakened by a sharp pain.
The effects of the painkiller that she had taken yesterday could only last twelve hours, and now it had completely lost its effect.
Enduring the dull pain in the incision at her chest, Estelle turned over and sat up, only to find that there was no one beside her.
At this time, her phone rang, and she received a message.
Thank you. Last night was the only night I had slept well in the past few years.
Estelle wanted to call him back, but on second thought, she didn’t do that.
The man is so mysterious. He doesn’t want to expose his identity because of some scruples, so he chooses to contact me via text message.
Since I need his help, I’d better not disturb him or do anything to make him unhappy.
Thinking about this, Estelle also contacted him via message and texted him.
Sir, what would you like me to call you?
The man replied to the message quickly.
Just call me sir.
Yes, sir. May I know when I can see my daughter?
Don’t worry. She is well taken care of now. Miss Hudson, you can’t take care of your mother and daughter at the same time in your current condition. So take good care of your mother first.
But I want to see my daughter. She was just born. She needs me!
This time, the man did not reply to her immediately.
Estelle waited for a long time restlessly and finally got a reply.
If you want to see your daughter, come to the hotel at nine o’clock every night. There is a bank card on the table. And there are five hundred thousand dollars on the account. You can use it first. The password is your daughter’s birthday. If it is not enough, feel free to tell me.
Estelle looked at the table and saw the bank card. Then she picked up the card and couldn’t help but feel depressed.