Chapter 328 Chapter 328: Can You Say It Once More
“He separated us by taking advantage of the misunderstanding between us, my manic depression, and the sudden appearance of Gretchen in my life. And after that, he came to you when you were in the most helpless time and helped you get out of the troubles. In this case, you would obviously become more and more dependent on him...”
When Estelle heard this, her heart jolted. And she was more furious than shocked.
“Cristofer, you’ve gone to great lengths to convey that Mr. Mysterious orchestrated these events.”
“I never explicitly stated that it was him, but…” Cristofer paused, his demeanor downcast as he swallowed hard. “If it weren’t him, how can you explain his extensive knowledge about you?”
“It can’t possibly be him,” Estelle retorted with a sharp edge. “Cristofer, don’t you dare slander Mr. Mysterious.”
“I’m not slandering him. My statements are grounded in reasonable speculation.”
With fury flashing in her eyes, Estelle growled, “He’s dead! He’s been gone for three years! Being dead, he can’t defend himself, but that doesn’t grant you the right to defame him!”
“I didn’t...”
“That’s it!” Estelle exclaimed, raising her hand to stop any further words from him.
“I’m not interested in arguing with you right now. If you merely came to share this, you can leave.”
Cristofer gazed at her, his eyes reflecting his helplessness as he stated, “I won’t press the issue further. Please don’t be upset.”
“You...” Estelle found herself at a loss for words. She turned away, weariness evident in her expression, and cast her gaze out the window while emitting a sigh.
Cristofer was taken aback by her reaction. He had anticipated that Estelle would assertively reject his presence, yet she hadn’t.
With a touch of mockery, he mused inwardly, ‘What’s wrong with you, Cristofer? Are you somehow drawn to pain? You should feel content that Estelle didn’t drive you away.’
“Star, can I stay a little longer?” he inquired.
Estelle, facing away from him, gazed up at the starry sky and responded, “Do as you please.”
Upon hearing this, Cristofer grinned. “It appears that you’re in high spirits today.”
“What gives you that impression?”
“You didn’t drive me away.”
Following a brief pause, Estelle remarked, “Your voice... seems somewhat changed today.”
“Well, I smoked quite a bit today, so my voice is a little hoarse. Can you smell the smoke? Is it strong?”
“No,” Estelle replied. Pausing briefly, she inquired, “Does your voice always get this hoarse whenever you smoke?”
Cristofer shook his head and explained, “Actually, I’ve cut down on smoking and hardly smoked over the past three years. I never really noticed a change in my voice after smoking. But today... something happened that upset me, so I ended up smoking a lot.”
Estelle nodded without saying anything.
Appearing to grasp something, he inquired, “So, it’s because of my hoarse voice that you didn’t ask me to leave?”
Estelle stayed quiet.
“Star, you’re concerned about me, aren’t you?” he ventured.
“No,” Estelle denied without hesitation. “Mr. Hans, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t drive you away merely because I didn’t want to argue with you. The children are sleeping. I don’t want to wake them up.”
Upon hearing this, Cristofer paused in astonishment, then uttered with a wry smile, “I understand.”
“If it weren’t for the children, I wouldn’t have allowed you to come in. Mr. Hans, we’ve been divorced for three years. I don’t want my presence in Hadale to negatively impact your relationship with Miss Wilson, causing me to feel guilty.”
Cristofer clarified, “I’ve actually ended things with her. You needn’t feel guilty. She had hidden motives for wanting to marry me. Although our wedding was called off, she still achieved her goals using me. I don’t owe her anything. Our breakup wasn’t influenced by you.”
“Since you knew she had an ulterior motive, why did you still decide to marry her?”
“I...” Cristofer began, intending to clarify things to her. However, upon reflection, he held back, realizing that Estelle might not believe him if he explained that he had only considered marrying Miss Wilson to fulfill the gem supplier’s unreasonable and implausible condition. After all, the stipulation itself was excessively demanding and inconceivable.
Estelle didn’t pursue the topic further, not particularly curious about Cristofer's private matters. After a brief pause, she turns around to face him.
He stood tall, radiating handsomeness, his shoulders broad and his gaze piercing. His voice bore a husky quality when he spoke.
In the moonlight, his profile was visible to her.
Truthfully, she hadn’t initially intended to allow him inside.
But as she gazed upon his face, resembling that of Mr. Mysterious, she found herself unable to bring herself to send him away.
Mr. Mysterious had been dead for three years, and she could hardly remember the last sentence she said to him.
What were the last words I said to you, Mr.Mysterious? Did I say, “Slow down,” or “Are you okay?” or “I finally married you”? she wondered.
The car accident that day was too tragic.
It was about half past four in the morning, and the day hadn’t broken yet. The rain was coming down in sheets, and she couldn’t clearly see Mr. Mysterious’ expression.
She didn’t know whether his face was filled with pain or regret.
Estelle thought that maybe it was because she suffered from selective amnesia that she forgot the bloody scene that day.
Now, all she could remember about the car accident was that Geoffrey hit Mr. Mysterious’ temple with his stick and that Nelson asked her to write the letter and forced her to leave.
“Star? Star?”
While Estelle was lost in thought, Cristofer's voice brought her mind back to the present.
“What?” she asked.
“Don’t look at me like this, or I will misunderstand that you still have feelings for me.”
“I’m sorry,” Estelle averted her gaze swiftly, feeling embarrassed.
“You never owe me an apology,” Cristofer replied with a slight smile.
Upon hearing this, Estelle raised her head abruptly, staring at him in astonishment.
Observing her reaction, Cristofer appeared perplexed and inquired, “What’s wrong?”
“Could you... Could you repeat what you just said?” Estelle requested, her gaze focused on him.
Cristofer paused briefly, then complied with her request.
“You never owe me an apology,” he repeated.
“Can you say it once more?”
“You never owe me an apology,” Cristofer reiterated. Concern etched his features as he added, “Star, are you alright? You don’t seem to be feeling well.”
When he reached out to touch her face, Estelle shook her head and pushed his hand away, saying, “I’m fine.”