LOGINBefore Richie was discharged from the hospital, the main house at Blackwood Manor had already been prepared with a children’s room. It had a play area, a rest area, and an early-learning area.At that moment, Chris was sitting on the couch in a white T-shirt and black lounge pants, holding Richie in his arms.Richie leaned against him while drinking from his bottle.Every now and then, the back of his little head rubbed against Chris’s chest through the fabric of his shirt. To Richie, Chris’s firm chest was just the right amount of comfortable.Chris gently pressed a hand to his head.“Drink your milk properly.”Richie held the bottle with both hands and took two hard gulps.When he heard a knock at the door, he perked up and lifted his head toward the entrance.The moment he saw Gavin, he smiled and spat out the nipple.Gavin walked over, crouched in front of him, and raised a hand to stroke Richie’s head.“Good boy.”He had been back for a while. He had showered, changed h
Richie only half understood. He grabbed Chris’s fingers with both hands.His hands were so small that just two of Chris’s fingers filled his grip. He brought them toward his mouth, about to bite down, but Chris gently pulled his hand away.When Richie couldn’t bite him, he lifted his little head and looked up at Chris with his round, pitiful eyes.Chris wrapped his hand around Richie’s soft little fingers.“Daddy hasn’t washed his hands. They’re dirty.”Dominic sounded like an overbearing nanny as he pointed at Richie’s mouth.“He tried to bite me earlier today too. I had the doctor take a look. He’s teething and trying to use your fingers as a chew toy.”As he spoke, Dominic picked up the teether someone had bought earlier and Mr. White had already sterilized, then stuffed it back into Richie’s hand.“Chew on this.”Most children started teething before their first birthday. But because of Richie’s health, his development had been slower than usual. He was already fifteen mon
Only after the sound of the helicopter blades had completely faded did Chris finally turn and walk toward the center of the island.The island wasn’t especially large. Chris owned other islands that were bigger and served more practical purposes, but this one was the most beautiful of them all.At the center of the island stood a villa almost as grand as the main house at Blackwood Manor. Flowers, grass, and tall, lush trees surrounded it. Behind the villa was a shooting range.The shooting range had been Winter’s idea.That year, they had stayed here for a month. Winter had cuddled up to him and coaxed him into teaching her how to shoot.Chris had never actually said yes. But that very night, he had Gavin arrange for a team to come to the island, take measurements, and plan out the shooting range.Later, Winter remembered that he was the one who had driven her parents to their deaths, and their relationship fell apart completely.It wasn’t until this spring that she finally use
Chris looked down at the woman in his arms.For a long while, he didn’t move. His eyes were lowered, and there wasn’t the slightest change in his expression.He sat on the couch with one hand against the side of Winter’s face, while his other hand held hers tightly in his palm.Then he felt something warm and wet against the web of his hand.Drop after drop, it kept falling.Soon, the shirt over his chest was damp too.“Why are you crying?”He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them gently.“Are you worried about Richie, or…”The woman in his arms didn’t answer.A softness gathered in Chris’s eyes, gentle as a spring breeze. He lowered his voice.“Okay.”He carefully wiped Winter’s tears away. The sea breeze swept past, scattering his voice into the wind.“I promise.”Then he picked up the bottle on the table and tipped it back, drinking hard.Her answer had been that she wanted to go somewhere without him.And he was satisfied with it.Gavin drove the speedboa
“Shut up!”Winter’s brows pulled tight, and the words came out almost the instant he finished speaking.Her emotions surged too sharply, making her already-red eyes look even redder. She turned toward the dark stretch of ocean in the distance, and a tear rolled down her face.“I did wonder once if Roy was you. But the thought only lasted a second before I dismissed it. Do you know why?”She forced down the hurt in her voice, but the corner of her mouth still trembled. Those memories were too painful. She couldn’t keep herself under control.Chris saw all of it.It felt as if someone had carved a piece out of his heart. Her tears seemed to fall straight into that hollow place, burning so badly his vision went dark for a moment.His hand shot out and gripped the edge of the table.Regret sank into his bottomless dark eyes.Why else could it be?“Because I hurt you too much,” Chris said hoarsely. “Too much for you to believe I could ever be the one protecting you.”Roy had save
Winter’s eyes were still red. She frowned slightly, still unable to believe that the divorce papers had belonged to her parents.She pushed lightly against Chris and stepped out of his arms.“I’ll look into it myself someday.”Chris instinctively took a step forward, but she stepped back and looked at him quietly.He had already done enough.If he kept digging into the Scott family’s affairs, the weight of that guilt on his shoulders would only grow heavier.Winter didn’t spell it out.Some things only needed to be said halfway.Saying too much would only create deeper entanglement and more pain.She let out a long breath and rubbed her face with both hands. If this had been before, hearing that the divorce papers belonged to her parents would have destroyed her far more than it did now.But too much had happened in the past six months.She had changed too.After pulling herself together, she sat back down on the couch, picked up an open bottle from the table, and tipped it







