Chapter 61: Heart in Chaos
At 2 AM, James came home carrying a large insulated food container.
He strode upstairs, opened the bedroom door, tidied up the bay window, then turned to wake Mia. "Mia, get up and eat something before going back to sleep."
Mia, who had just fallen into a deep sleep, was woken up. She groggily opened her eyes.
She saw James, who had just been in her dream, now standing right in front of her.
For a moment, she couldn't tell if this was a dream or reality.
Until James picked her up, blanket and all, and sat her on the bay window, letting her lean back comfortably.
He grabbed the insulated container from the side, opened it, and pulled out over a dozen items one by one, arranging them all on her personal little table.
James was a neat freak who couldn't stand people eating in the bedroom.
But she loved eating in the bedroom.
In the end, he gave in!
This little table was the trophy of her victory!
In their four years together, there were so many little details in their daily life that she had taken them for granted and forgotten about them!
Mia stared blankly at the food on the table.
She was a foodie.
She had eaten all of these before!
They were from the shops on her personal ranking list.
Spanning almost half of Imperial City.
But these—
Weren't these what she had told James about in her dream?
How could they appear right in front of her?
"What do you want to eat first?"
James's gentle voice sounded in her ear. Mia's gaze fell on his fingertips, pale from the cold, then slowly moved upward.
The coat he was wearing was more than half wet.
There were still unmelted snowflakes on his shoulders.
She remembered that the fried chicken on the table was at least twenty miles from Luxe Haven, and there would be a long queue.
On such a cold day, she had mumbled something half-asleep, but he took it seriously.
In the middle of the night, he drove around almost half of Imperial City to buy her all this food.
"Louis said the most important thing for pregnant women is to be happy and in a good mood. Eat whatever you want, don't feel guilty about it. It's fine to indulge once in a while."
Mia's eyes grew hot, her throat felt blocked.
She quickly lowered her head and reached for the fried chicken.
James understood her too well.
One movement from her, and he knew.
He grabbed the fried chicken before she could, opened it for her. "Eat it while it's hot, be careful not to choke."
He also opened her favorite milk tea and placed it within her reach.
"Okay."
Mia responded softly, stuffing the bun into her mouth to muffle the sob that was about to escape.
After swallowing the fried chicken, before taking a second bite, she stammered, "You should go take a shower first."
"Okay."
A hint of a smile appeared in James's eyes.
This subtle show of concern was still concern.
After a few more reminders, he turned and went downstairs to shower.
...
After a quick hot shower, James changed into his pajamas and headed to the master bedroom.
He pushed open the door. The overhead light in the bedroom was already off.
Only the night light in the corner remained, casting a soft glow.
Not bright enough to illuminate, but enough to see shapes.
Standing at the bedroom door, he looked inside.
Mia, who had been sitting at the bay window eating her late-night snack, was now back in bed, curled up in a ball with her back to the door.
Her eyes were tightly closed.
The bedroom was very quiet. Her breathing was very light, so quiet she seemed to be asleep.
James stood at the bedroom door for a moment before stepping inside.
As his footsteps approached, Mia, who was "sleeping," was clearly tightening her grip on the corner of the blanket pressed against her chest.
After what happened during the day, she had spent the entire afternoon adjusting her emotions.
Forcing herself not to think about it, not to soften, not to forgive.
But just now, James had struck the softest spot in her heart once again.
Catching her completely off guard.
Leaving her defenseless.
She had no time to buffer at all.
Her heart was completely in chaos!
She told herself that as long as she could get through this month, once the baby was stable and she found a job, she would divorce James immediately.
She wouldn't want James, wouldn't give him another chance to hurt her.
But—
He was really so good to her, genuinely good to her.
So good that she once again felt a reluctance she shouldn't feel.
As he said, in these four years, he had never changed.
Behind Mia's closed eyes was painful struggle.
As his footsteps approached, her heart raced with panic.
Really panicked.
She knew too well how vulnerable her heart was at this moment.
If at this moment he took one more step closer, held her, coaxed her, she might pathetically forgive him.
But if she forgave him just like that, she would look down on herself.
The footsteps grew closer and closer, and Mia's fingers gripped tighter and tighter.
...
James walked to the bedside, stopped, and looked down at Mia, who was obviously pretending to sleep.
Her thick, fan-like eyelashes were trembling restlessly.
The hand gripping the corner of the blanket was using so much force she was about to tear off that piece of satin.
She was nervous.
He sighed inwardly.
During this cold war with him, Mia had been working hard to manage her emotions.
She always put on a cold face when facing him, avoiding his gaze, not letting him see through her.
But at this moment, with her emotions in turmoil, all her feelings were written on her face again.
She didn't want him to stay!
Mia had clearly softened.
He couldn't rush things.
James bent down and reached out.
As soon as he reached out, Mia's whole body tensed up.
Instantly becoming like a fully drawn bow.
His warm, slightly damp palm landed on top of her head, and as before, he gently rubbed it, speaking soothingly.
"Don't overthink. It's late, go to sleep early."
He didn't say much more.
His palm lingered on top of her head for a few seconds, then withdrew.
He carefully straightened the blanket she had messed up while diving under the covers to pretend to sleep.
After tucking her in, he stood up.
He quickly gathered the food from the bay window and took it out.
He turned on the air purification system, and in less than a minute, the smell of food in the bedroom was gone, leaving only the woody incense scent that Mia loved.
James's scent.
"Good night."
After doing all this, James softly said good night, left the bedroom, and gently closed the door.
A soft click.
So soft it was barely audible.
Yet it struck heavily on Mia's heart.
While feeling relieved, her heart became even more chaotic.
...
The next day, Mia slept until she woke up naturally.
Well-rested, she lazily stretched.
She thought that having gone to bed so late last night, her alarm wouldn't be able to wake her this morning.
Unexpectedly, she woke up before the alarm went off.
Not bad!
Mia praised herself inwardly!
She had been adjusting her schedule recently, preparing to wake up early for work in the future.
Every day she forced herself to sleep early and used an alarm to wake herself up after seven.
Unexpectedly, today she woke up without the alarm!
Mia got out of bed in a good mood.
She pressed the button to open the curtains and walked to the vanity to get her phone.
She opened it.
9:52.
Seeing the time, Mia froze!
She was stunned for a moment.
She swiped to open the alarm and saw that it had been turned off.
Just as she thought.
Obviously, when James left last night, he had turned off her alarm for her.
Mia sighed inwardly.
She looked up and saw through the now-open curtains that everything outside was white.
The ornamental trees were bent over from the weight of the heavy snow.
If it hadn't snowed all night long, there was no way it could have accumulated to this depth.
Last night when she saw the unmelted snowflakes on his shoulders, she thought it was just light snow.
But clearly...
He had gone out to buy food in heavy snow.