Lahat ng Kabanata ng Leaving You Bereft: Kabanata 981 - Kabanata 990

In the hallway, Benedict, Jareth, and Tessa stood frozen, staring at one another.After a long moment, Tessa's lips trembled as she said, "Benedict, it's not what you think.""Then?" Benedict stepped forward slowly. He walked straight up to Jareth, took the necklace that had been raised high, still smeared with dirt after being buried at Jareth's "grave". Was she trying to bury the past and start over?A distant, almost dazed smile touched his face. "When I first saw that necklace around your neck, I was thrilled and immediately found a reason to pursue you, thinking you've been missing me all these years."The thought of you liking me that much made me over the moon. But then I became self-conscious. Facing someone as pure as you, I felt unworthy. I thought I didn't deserve you at all."So, when I saw you going on blind dates, I begged my grandfather to come from Hortosia overnight. I even did business I didn't want to do, all because of an agreement with him… because I wanted to

Benedict drank himself into a stupor. When he finally woke up, it was already past noon the next day.The light was blinding when he opened his eyes. He lifted a hand to shield them and realized he'd fallen asleep on the living room couch. The heater hadn't been turned on, and the whole place was freezing cold.A chill ran through him. He jumped up and rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window.Outside, everything was covered in snow.There was no one downstairs.He pressed a hand to his forehead and slowly walked back to the couch.Everywhere he looked, he saw traces of Tessa. Signs of her life were scattered all around him. Back when things were good, they'd practically lived together, and her belongings filled the apartment.He leaned back, closed his eyes, and swallowed hard.…That afternoon, he spent two hours packing her things. Then he sent everything off through express delivery to the villa where she lived.To: Tessa HallWhen the courier took the boxes away, Benedict

It was early the next morning when Tessa woke up. Her right pinky throbbed faintly, but the dull ache in her lower abdomen was worse, impossible to ignore.She stared up at the ceiling, knowing exactly what had happened. The baby was gone.Hot tears streamed down her face, but she didn't bother wiping them away. The child was gone, and she had reasons to cry. At first, the tears fell in silence. Then came the sobs. And finally, the kind of heart-wrenching cries that tore through the air.What she'd lost wasn't just a baby. She'd lost a lover, too.It was over. She and Benedict were truly finished.…Eleanor held her tightly in her arms. She rocked Tessa gently, patting her back as she buried her tear-streaked face against her shoulder, crying so hard she could barely breathe. "Mom… Mom…"It hurts so much. I waited so long. I waited for him to come back every day."…Eleanor's tears fell freely. "I know, sweetheart. I know."The whole family was there. Dexter, Sawyer, Maisie,

The Frey family didn't have a good New Year.Benedict was discharged from the hospital in a hurry and found the best doctors he could to treat Jareth. From Brindley to Hortosia, and then overseas, he searched almost the whole world. Because if Jareth kept repressing everything like this, he might actually lose his mind.He felt a complicated mix of love and frustration for Jareth.…On the fifteenth day of the New Year, Benedict sat neatly at the bedside in the hospital's VIP ward.He held a warm bowl of soup, looking at Jareth lying thin as a ghost on the bed. "Sit up and eat something. I'll take you out for some sun later. Do you plan on haunting this room forever?"Jareth shook his head. "I don't have an appetite."Benedict gave a cold laugh. "You turned the whole house upside down, and now you want to starve yourself to death and call it done? What about Vivian and the kids?"Vivian, Darren, and Tabitha?Something flickered in Jareth's eyes. But he still pushed the porcela

Benedict's eyes turned cold. There had been too many misunderstandings between them, but Tessa no longer cared.That night, he'd told her not to cling to him, and she'd listened.So now that he'd moved on and found a new girlfriend so quickly, why was he suddenly acting all gentle and caring again? It made her sick.She wanted nothing more to do with him, determined not to let herself be hurt again.While Benedict stood frozen, she quickened her pace and went upstairs to the second floor.In the hallway stood Dorian, Sapphire, Rowan, and Vivian. Darren and Tabitha had been kept in the dark, shielded from the situation to protect their young minds.When they saw Tessa, guilt filled the Frey family's faces, but they forced themselves to stay composed.Sapphire choked up as she said, "Tessa, Jareth and Benedict owe you too much."Tessa gave a faint, distant smile. "There's nothing to apologize for. Sapphire, I'm doing fine now."…Sapphire wanted to say more, but her words falte