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How could he still want to hold her close and love her like he used to, even though he knew she had betrayed him?
Kellen looked at the hand that Damien had hurt around Lena’s shoulders as if she were one of his most prized belongings.
So, it seemed like she had worked her magic here, too. She had gotten herself another f**k-buddy.
Kellen turned away, horrified, and fought the impulse to laugh. His amused eyes quickly rested on the other lady standing next to Lena, who had her hand halfway under the neckline of her dress and was giving him a tired expression. What was wrong with these people?
Kellen remarked in a serious voice, “I’ll send a team of my staff to all your stores across the city as you get the first batch of the order.” He was looking straight at Damien and completely ignored Lena next to him.
He left that awful place in a rage, not even bothering to say goodbye. He didn’t care what his new client thought of him for that. What mattered more was getting away from that horrible woman, even though he still loved her, and it made him sick to his stomach.
It was a bad idea for him to do the fieldwork for his new projects himself. He had just wanted to bury himself in more work to get away from Lena’s thoughts that had been taking over every inch of his mind since he met her at that horrible lake. How funny that he ended up meeting her again while doing so.
He got into his car quickly. Before the car left, his eyes hopelessly drifted back to the store’s front glass doors. He hated himself for wanting to see her again, but he was glad it didn’t happen.
******
The pain was so bad that it didn’t stand out anymore; it was just a part of her life. The difference was that she had been trying to move on from it until Kellen came back to what was her present. Then, she was suddenly soaking in all that she could from the pain that had always been there but had been carefully locked away.
Her armor protected her, but it also burned her hands.
She had tried to forget how much he hated her in the past, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about it. This negativity kept her strong, active, and smiling.
But her stomach always hurt, her brain throbbed, and her heart grieved. She knew she had turned into a self-absorbing black hole, pulling her own soul into her gloom. She knew she couldn’t get out of this process.
But thank God she was still given mercies and little breaks that kept her sane. One of them was Gwen’s Home.
“Aw…  You are such a sweetie! “Yes, you are,” Lena cooed at the five-month-old child who was new to the group.
The boy’s eyes became bigger with happy surprise as he suckled on the bottle, taking little gulps of milk while watching Lena with all his concentration.
“You’ve finished the whole bottle, you hungry charmer.” She grinned as she took the empty bottle out of the boy’s lips and set it on the table.
Mother Gwen smiled at Lena, who was sitting across the table. The other sisters and the servants were busy in the big kitchen.
Gwen remarked, “We’ve decided to vote on what to call him.”
Lena held the kid up to her chest and patted him on the back. She smiled and said, “That would be a relief, mother.” The kids and the sisters would never stop fighting if they didn’t do this.
Gwen smiled and moved her spectacles to the tip of her nose. “Of course.”
After a short pause, Gwen continued, “You’re a natural, Lena. You would make a great mother one day.”
Lena froze, and her palm slowed down for a minute on the cooing baby’s back. She took a brief breath and kept it in her lungs for strength. “You know it would never be,” she said, her nose pressed against the boy’s small shoulder, which was covered in cotton. “I’m not capable of being a mother.” That blessing was taken away from me a long time ago.
“Lena,” Gwen murmured, but her grin didn’t fade. “You don’t have to be pregnant to be a mother.”
Lena’s eyes, which had been unfocused, were now focused on Gwen, who was staring back and forth between her and the baby. The baby burped loudly and then threw up all over Gwen’s hair and shoulder. The sisters who witnessed it laughed from different sections of the kitchen.
Lena stayed there, though, until Gwen, who was now smiling widely, jumped up and moved around the table to assist in cleaning up the vomit. Lena then came to her senses. She grabbed the tissues that one of her sisters gave her and started wiping up the boy’s face, who then tried to devour the tissue.
“Mom,” Lena said. “Can I?” Is it possible? “
Adoption. It appeared like a beacon in her dark existence.
“Yes, it is very much so. But it means going through a lot of steps and following certain important rules to make it happen. Mother gave her a look of encouragement.
Lena’s eyes filled with tears, but she wasn’t sure if she should dare to dream yet.
“Dave,” Lena said with pride and delight.
Damien and Lola grinned as they drank tea from their elegant mugs.
Damien said, “This voting was a good idea.”
“Got the kid a cute name,” Lola clapped her hands with joy. “I can’t wait to meet him.” Oh, just the sound of his name makes me think he’s going to be a big wooer when he grows up. He’ll save the ultimate damsel in distress, get married, and have lovely kids of his own.
Damien rolled his eyes. “And you drank too much Chinese tea.”
“That’s not true!” Lola smelled the tea with disbelief. “You idiot, there’s herbs in it, not alcohol.”
Damien rolled his eyes again, and Lena shook her head with a smile.
Damien and Lola took Lena to a traditional Chinese restaurant since they were tired of seeing her stuck at home and at work. These days, she didn’t want to go anyplace but Gwen’s Home.
Damien moved a little forward to stare at Lena across the table. “I’m very thrilled for you, Lena, that you chose to adopt…  Hey, Dave. I hope they finish all the paperwork quickly so you can finally bring your kid home.
Lena smiled and couldn’t help but feel hopeful. The tea she drank was calming, and the smell wasn’t as strong as coffee, which made her want to sleep.
She leaned back in the chair and watched Damien and Lola argue over something.
It had been a week since she last saw Kellen in the boutique, which was their second meeting. After that day, his staff only came by to drop off the clothes and accessories he had ordered and stayed to look over the customer reviews and sales statistics with the boutique staff. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Kellen was avoiding going to the boutiques again; he didn’t want to see her again.