Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 136: What Do You See?

Anne didn’t let her gaze meet Andrew’s for too long, she quickly shifted her gaze to another direction as Razia greeted Andrew and quietly excused herself from the room.

Silence overtook the space, Anne nervously twiddled her fingers, thinking rapidly of something to say to break the silence when the man beat her to it.

"Why are you standing around? Sit." He said and proceeded further into the room with lithe grace sitting himself on the large soft pink couch in the room.

Hesitating for only a beat, Anne moved as well, somehow aiming to sit at a far away distance from him so she chose the bed instead. Sitting uncomfortably at its edge.

Minutes stretched by without anything being said between them until a knock on the door broke through once again.

Andrew answered the door with a calm voice and butler Jones along with two maids wheeled a food trolley with several trays on it.

"It’s here, master." Butler Jones said in his usual tone dripping with professionalism.

Andrew nodded indifferently, which the butler seemed to take as an indication to leave. Bowing slightly and sending Anne a warm smile, the butler quietly left the room along with the maids.

"Come here."

Anne felt her stomach sink when his deep voice reached her.

"Huh?"

He met her clueless gaze steadily and Anne stood up slowly walking over to the couch and hesitantly taking her seat with some distance between them.

He stood up and strolled towards the trolley while rolling up his sleeves, Anne watched him take off the lids on the plates on the tray, making a delicious aroma fill the air.

Anne suddenly felt her stomach tighten in a light pang of hunger, but that was weird, she’d eaten dinner just a few hours ago.

His actions were swift as he plated several dishes, executing it like someone who was well versed in the field, for some reason he reminded her of a skilled chef she knew he wasn’t.

Not too long after, the enticing plate was placed on a table in front of her.

This was for her?

Earlier, she had been served dinner alone so she had naturally assumed he must have also eaten or would eat afterwards. She didn’t expect them to have meals together anyway because they weren’t a real couple, so now that he served her more food she was stunned before recovering and quickly saying,

"But...I already had dinner a while ago."

"The doctor said you’re eating for two now, you’ll get hungrier more often and crave food more often. If you want something you can ask me for it, or have the maid get it for you. During the course of this marriage you’re Mrs Sterling, you’re entitled to anything and everything you want, is that understood?"

Anne felt her mouth fall open slightly as she watched the man in a daze.

He was being extra nice to her.

If she wants something she could go ask him for it? If anyone told her a few months ago that she would be sitting with the arrogant Andrew Sterling, and get to hear him talk to her like this she absolutely wouldn’t believe it. Not to mention he’d personally plated food for her.

Back then, as the masked person he had been quite nice to her.

Maybe this part of him was the part no one ever saw when looking at Andrew Sterling, because she knew he wouldn’t show such kindness to the world.

’...the world is cruel and heartless and it’ll tear you apart if you don’t learn to stand up for yourself.’

These were the words he’d once said to her.

He didn’t trust others, he didn’t give people a chance, there was something broken inside of him that could only be seen if someone looked deep inside of him, but he never let anyone close enough to see it. She had only ever gotten close enough to feel there was a missing part of him, but no matter how much she looked she never saw what part of him ached.

So it made it hard to believe a man like him could be nice to anyone, yet the fact that he’d actually said something nice to her made a small smile rise on her lips.

Without saying anything further, Anne picked up the plate of food, no longer holding back her appetite she ate to her heart’s content.

What he said was actually right, she was hungrier more often lately, and craved so many different meals that she knew she couldn’t finish all at once even if she had them.

She didn’t know that the man was watching her from the corner of his eye even if he pretended to have his attention focused on something on the screen of his phone.

The other night he’d seen the delight that lit up her eyes as she ate when he’d brought her to the manor as the masked person, so he knew feeding her would improve her mood.

He didn’t know what happiness was because he hadn’t felt it on his own before, but with her every smile that would light up her eyes, every trace of delight made him experience even for a split second what it was like, so happiness was something he could only feel if she felt it too.

When she was finished eating he casually began to stroll out of the room.

"Come." He said plainly and heard her soft footsteps as she trailed behind him.

His lips unconsciously raised a little, she was like his shadow, she instantly followed with every turn he made along the hallways in the manor.

The house was large enough that just a light stroll to another side would feel like an exhausting long walk. Andrew deliberately took the long way to reach where he was intending to take her because Shawn had also mentioned to him that it was healthy for her to get as much movement as she could. So he made her walk with him deliberately.

But why did it feel so strange?

Andrew had always walked the halls of his manor and it had always felt desolate and empty, but now someone was walking with him in complete silence, yet it seemed the walls of the manor no longer oozed that desolation, something seemed to have come alive in this place that had always been a house for him but never a home.

He brought her to the drawing room, an exquisite space with a lounge area on the left, floor length windows overtaking an entire wall, and an elegant looking piano placed on the right.

The windows were so large, and on this specific floor, it showed a lovely view of the sky.

This night, the skies were clear and stars dotted the sky like beautiful sprinkles of fairy dust.

Anne couldn’t hide her awe and she slowly walked towards the view her head tilted as she stared mesmerized at the stars glimmering in the sky.

Starless and cloudy skies always used to bring Anne anxiety. Ever since she was little, looking up at the stars always used to clear her mind, whenever something bothered her, a view of the clear night sky always eased her worries, eased her pain and made her feel peace.

So a view of a night like this, made every fiber of her ease up.

The stars were twinkling and the more she looked at them, the more she couldn’t peel her eyes away.

He stood behind with his arms calmly crossed behind him.

It seemed he was right. She would like it here.

Ever since that night she drunkenly bit him because of stars in the sky, and several times he’d see her watching the stars from his bedroom whenever she came to the manor, he guessed she could be a stargazer.

There were some people in the world who found joy in doing the most mundane things he’d consider absolutely meaningless, just like staring up at the stars and feeling something from it, but in her eyes he saw the deep meaning something as little as this seemed to have to her.

"Do you ever look at the stars and feel like you have everything you need?" She had finished asking that question before realizing who she was talking to.

He was standing next to her now in front of the grand windows.

"People see different things when they look at the sky. Some say they see images of people long dead and gone, others say they see opportunities and wishes. I see something too whenever I look at the sky..." His voice was unusually soft as he spoke.

Anne gazed up at his profile in shock. She didn’t think she’d ever see a day she would talk to this man about basic things like stars in the sky.

"What do you see?" She enquired softly.

He lowered his gaze to give her a sideways glance, "I see massive balls of gas, held together by their own gravity giving off light only due to nuclear reactions in their core. Seeing dead people and wishes is evident of people who have nothing better to do than to spin up lies to create delusions in their minds."

Anne’s face fell.

Right, of course that was something he would say. This unfeeling beast, could he really not feel anything at all.

"Why did you bring me here?" Anne asked. He’d ruined her enjoyment of stargazing with his facts.

"Because this is our wedding night." He spoke the words so nonchalantly but they made Anne’s heart thud.

Wedding night?

She subconsciously hugged her arms to herself.

What about the wedding night? Was he thinking about consummation?