Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 55: A Dream

The night was cold and crispy, the air whooping sharply outside.

The bright moonlight streaming in illuminated a girl’s beautiful face.

Andrew watched the sleeping woman, questions swirling tumultuously in his dark eyes.

What had she just said?

He’d heard every word loud and clear, but he couldn’t understand the meaning behind them.

She said he was right to judge her, she said she was willing to be the kind of girl who sold her virtue for someone...

A brother...

What was it she said about a brother?

Did that mean everything she did, from signing the surrogacy contract to trying hard to keep her job, was it all to save someone she cared about?

Something inside him shivered at that thought and his gaze on the girl’s face became profound. He stared deeply as if the face of the person before him could answer the questions growing in his mind.

Her words brought mixed thoughts to his mind, a suspicion he didn’t want to dwell on till he could fully confirm it.

Her breathing was deep, trembling slightly as she inhaled, indicating someone who’d been deeply wronged and had cried about it before falling asleep.

He suddenly seemed to see something while staring at her face.

A young boy standing in the rain—the image came with the memory of a feeling he’d long since buried away, but he’d heard that feeling in every sob she let out a while ago.

His hand moved of its own accord, stopping over her face as his thumb gently wiped away the dried tear drop.

Without realizing it, an expression of deep pain appeared on his ever-rigid face. This was because in his chest, his heart was tightening, and it brought a sharp ache—an ache that made the chronic headache that plagued him pale in comparison.

All his life he’d held a grudge against a certain type of woman. The type of woman who was unfeeling, the type of woman who discarded her own heart to pursue what money could buy, all for materialism. Whenever he sensed that type of character in someone, he would automatically dislike them, the same thing had happened with this woman sleeping next to him.

Her signing the contract had made him place her in the same category but...

Could he be wrong?

Could it be that she’s completely different from who he thought she was?

Somehow, his eyes decided to stay glued to the girl, because somehow the ache in his chest slowly calmed down as he watched peace return to her face as she slept deeper and deeper.

Watching her sleep made him feel a strange sense of relaxation. The resting state she was in seemed very infectious, that all questions faded away from his mind.

As the minutes ticked by, something he’d not felt in a long time began to lull him away like a drug. A strong feeling of sleepiness.

The drowsy sensation was so intense it made him completely forget the fact that he was supposed to be awake, waiting until the electrical team finished their inspections. It made him forget to pull his walls back up.

As the sleepiness overwhelmingly began to pull him away, his rigid expression softened significantly, his eyes not moving away from the girl’s face, a strange sense of peace flooding into him. His hand slowly moved instinctively, covering the girl’s small hand which was resting on the couch. His eyes closed immediately after his hand had gripped her own.

Neither realized when the time slipped by. Neither realized when the lights came back on, illuminating the whole office.

The electrical team, done with their jobs, restored the signal and lights back to the building and left.

Andrew knew this was a dream. That was because inside the dream he watched a tiny figure jump around the grass.

No, more accurately, this tiny figure was a little human. A little human who didn’t seem more than the age of three.

He was even more certain it was a dream, because he laughed heartily as he watched this little human skip on its tiny little legs.

This little human seemed to make his ever-dormant heart brighten up with a strange sense of joy.

This was undoubtedly not something that would happen in his life, because he had long forgotten what it felt like to laugh. He had long since forgotten...

He woke up in that instant, feeling a heavy weight lifted off him. Exhaustion seemed to fade away as if carried away by the breeze. That was when the realization hit him.

He’d fallen asleep, again?

He instantly sat up, looking to his left where the woman’s figure had curled up further. His hand was holding on tightly to something. Looking down, he found himself holding onto her hand like a life source. He instantly snatched his hand away.

This was the second time this was happening. He’d fallen asleep without taking any drugs or lighting sleep-inducing incense.

He’d fallen asleep the last time, and this woman had been there next to him. Here again, he’d fallen asleep on this uncomfortable couch that couldn’t be compared to his classily expensive bed on which he’d never been able to sleep.

Was it really because of her?

He’d done everything to deny it the last time, and this time was a clear proof.

She really had something to do with why he was falling asleep. But what had she done?

A certified doctor like Shawn hadn’t been able to do anything, so what could be the reason that this girl managed to get him to sleep?

He suddenly realized the lights had come on again. The electrical team were already done with their job. Looking down at his watch, he found out it was currently three A.M. He’d only managed to get a few hours of sleep, yet he felt thoroughly refreshed. For someone who’d been sleep-deprived for a long time, even an hour of sleep was heaven for him.

Anne’s phone, which was kept near her, suddenly lit up with a small sound of an incoming message.

Andrew glanced briefly at her sleeping face before snatching the phone and nimbly unlocking it.

Who in this day doesn’t protect their phone with a password? 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

How careless could she be?

He took the phone not to look into her privacy but to make a call to someone. However, since he’d unlocked the phone, he happened to see a throng of messages that had fluttered in when the signal returned.

[Are you asleep?]

He saw the first message that had been sent at precisely ten P.M. from a number that hadn’t been saved.

A strange curiosity led him to continue looking.

[I just wanted to tell you that I really had fun on our last date. If you’re going to be free... can we go out again tomorrow? I’ll pick you up.]

Date?

She’d been on a date with someone?

Andrew’s face seemed to lose the faint harmlessness it had when he’d first woken up from sleep. His expression was suddenly shrouded with coldness.

This message from someone whose number she hadn’t even saved—clearly, she hadn’t enjoyed the date.

Though his contract hadn’t stipulated anything about her love life, she was going to have a child for him. She was, by the contract, his until their deal expired.

Without hesitation, he went on to delete every single one of the messages that had come in from the person, then dropped the phone with a trace of annoyance in his eyes. He ought to make Butler Jones include another term in the contract.

No romantic relationships with another man while the contract was ongoing.

Due to the sudden feeling of annoyance, Andrew failed to realize that if this were someone else, his reaction to finding out she could possibly be dating someone would have been complete indifference. But he didn’t feel that way at all—which was a very rare occurrence. Naturally, he wouldn’t give a fuck about some woman’s romantic involvement with others, even if she were his contracted.

He stared at her face once again, stiffening as something seemed to keep his gaze glued onto her, irresistibly so he couldn’t look away. All the annoyance, like melting ice, began to fade away.

No one had such an effect on him, but surprisingly she did.

His breathing slowly eased once more, and that sense of peace came over him again. Only then did he feel the unfamiliar drowsiness begin to creep into him again.

Was this really it?

Did he feel peace just by having her next to him? Was that why he’d been able to fall asleep?

He pushed himself off the couch knowing that he couldn’t fall asleep again. Picking up her phone, he made a call to a number.

"Hello." A strangely deep voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I need you to come to the company right now. You’ll find me in the seventh office on the fourth floor..." As he was about to hang up, he slightly turned and caught sight of the figure sleeping curled up and added, "Bring a blanket along with you. Make sure it’s comfortable."

"Yes, boss!"