Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 290: Eternal Love

For a moment I was too stunned that I didn’t know what to say or how to react. It was just so unexpected for him to give me something like this.

“Is this for me?” I asked although he had just told me that he had something to give me.

I still found it so hard to believe that this was actually happening. Nothing like this has ever happened before in all the years that I have celebrated my birthday along with my sister.

“Yes, if you don’t mind taking it, then I would like you to have it,” he replied as his beautiful blue eyes kept on staring directly at my face.

I felt heat rushing to my cheeks and realized that I was blushing intensely. That was when I felt so thankful for the lack of proper lighting in the garden, otherwise he must have seen my flustered reaction so clearly. Even though I tried my best to tell myself that it was nothing but a pot of flowers and that there was no hidden secret meaning behind him offering it to me, I couldn’t stop the way that my heart skipped dangerously in my chest.

I kept on staring at his face as if I couldn’t get enough of looking at him as my heart continued to race in my chest. After a moment, I realized that Anthony was still standing there while awkwardly holding the pot of dahlia flowers in his hands as he waited for me to take it from him.

“T-Thank you so much for this...” I managed to thank him while stuttering in the process as my mind still struggled to comprehend what was going on.

I reached out my hands and carefully took the pot of flowers from him as if it were the most precious thing in the world that I have ever handled. Anthony smiled at me again as if I wasn’t flustered enough the way that I was. I thanked him repeatedly as I stared down at the blooming dahlia flowers in the pot as an excuse to tear my eyes away from his attractive face.

“Happy birthday, Dahlia,” Anthony wished me a happy birthday again.

“Thank you...but didn’t you just...” I said before trailing off.

Didn’t he give me my birthday present just earlier on?

I was glad that I caught myself before letting those words slip from between my lips because it might have made it sound like I didn’t appreciate the present that he had just given me.

“What were you about to say?” He inquired with a slightly curious look on his face.

“Oh, no. It’s nothing. I wasn’t about to say anything,” I replied while stuttering a little.

“I don’t think it’s hard to take care of them, but if you find it too much of a bother you can just ask one of your maids or gardeners to place it in the garden and they can help you take care of them,” Anthony suggested before he smiled at me again.

I wanted to tell him that his smile was making me feel so nervous that I wished that he would stop smiling at me for a little while so that I could gather myself.

“I’ll take very good care of it. Please don’t worry and thank you for giving this to me,” I replied as I felt my heart flutter in my chest.

Although I had always wanted a chance to speak to Anthony alone like this, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling nervous and very on edge at the same time. I found myself smiling a little to myself as I looked down at the blooming dahlia flowers. Once again I was reminded of how kind and caring Anthony is. While everyone was busy celebrating my sister’s birthday and paying attention to her, he was here alone with me offering me my birthday present in private.

“Did you know that the various colors of the Dahlia flowers have different meanings?” Anthony suddenly asked.

“Well, since I am named after the Dahlia flower, I had done some research before when I was younger about what the flower symbolizes. I don’t remember the meaning for all the colors, but I do know the general meaning,” I replied before my lips curved up into a smile. In fact, it was impossible for me to stop smiling from the way that I was feeling so giddy inside.

“The Dahlia flower stands for beauty, kindness, dignity, and most of all inner strength,” Anthony said slowly and clearly as if he wanted me to cherish and absorb in every single word and every single meaning behind the flower.

I have read about and heard about the meanings behind the dahlia flower many times before so I wasn’t surprised at the words that he had mentioned; however, those words had never resonated so much with me as they did at that moment. Although he hadn’t said it out loud, it felt like he was telling me to remain strong. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of my situation, while I also thought that it would be for the better if he was ignorant of it, but the way he stressed on the word inner strength and pointing it out that it was the most important made me feel like he was telling me to stay strong in the face of all obstacles. Even though it made no sense, his words gave me courage. Perhaps that was why I suddenly felt so bold and I could no longer hold back the words that were tempting to slip past my lips.

“Do you happen to know the other meaning of the Dahlia flower?” I asked in return.

“I don’t think so...” Anthony replied and I could sense his interest. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“The Dahlia flower also stands for eternal love,” I told him with a smile.

Of all the meanings associated with the Dahlia flower, I found that one to be the most ironic. Since I wasn’t quite sure whether or not my parents loved me, I didn’t think that they named me after the flower because they would love me eternally. In fact, I would settle for just a fleeting moment where I felt that they truly loved me. However, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps I was given that name so that I could love someone else eternally.

–To be continued...