Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 380: Always with Me
He must have known that I was dying to know what he was talking about, yet he toyed with me mercilessly.
"When you suddenly fainted that day, you caught me off guard. I had no idea what to do as I held you in my arms, and it took me a little too long to realize that you were just pretending," Bradon began describing an incident from our past before his eyes met mine as if inquiring if I recalled what he was talking about.
The day that I pretended to faint...to help him...
"That was also you?" I asked, my eyes widening in surprise.
That day, when it was raining and Anthony was pressured into horse riding to show off his skills, I could tell it was dangerous. The worst part was that he was being forced against his will, risking his own safety for the sake of entertaining his father’s guests.
"That’s right. Thanks to your quick thinking and amazing acting abilities, I managed to get out of that sticky situation. That horse was definitely going to be big trouble," Bradon said before he leaned in.
I was too stunned by his words and too busy recalling the events of that day to react to his close proximity. The next thing I knew, Bradon had already pressed his lips tenderly against my cheek. The kiss was brief but filled me with such a warm and fuzzy feeling. It was as if he was kissing me to thank me for what I did for him on that day.
"The horse belonged to Anthony and was very loyal to its owner to the point where it never let anyone else ride it. Obviously, the head of the Vulkan family couldn’t care less about something like that," Bradon went on to explain.
"That’s crazy..." I mumbled.
Bradon only nodded his head to confirm what I had in mind. The situation back then was much worse than I thought it was. At first, I just wanted to help him out because it seemed like he wasn’t having a great day or a great time. Riding in the rain when the ground was so slippery was also dangerous and I didn’t like that he was being used by his father to entertain the guests against his will. Of course, I had no idea the horse would also be completely uncooperative, making it even more dangerous for him.
"I had no idea. I guess I did the right thing after all," I said before letting out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for saving me. So now you don’t have to worry about the past anymore; we can just say that we’re even," Bradon said warmly.
Before I could think of the words to say to him, Bradon pulled me into his warm embrace and wrapped his arms securely around my back to hold me close.
"I guess our lives have been lined with traps here and there even back then..." Bradon said solemnly before he slowly let go of me. He held me by the shoulders at arm’s length so he could stare into my face.
"Traps?" I asked blankly.
"It wasn’t an accident or a coincidence that the heirloom suddenly broke the way it did. Someone must have tampered with it beforehand so that it was destined to break," Bradon revealed.
"Is that so? No wonder it broke like that. I was so certain that I didn’t break it," I said as I recalled the events of that day. I remembered how confused and shocked I was when the heirloom suddenly broke. I also noted that it was unusual for them to serve tea using the family heirloom, but I thought perhaps they wanted to genuinely celebrate Anthony’s engagement. Apparently, I was too naive, and that wasn’t the case at all.
The more we continued talking, the more it was revealed that the many fond memories I thought I shared with Anthony were actually memories I created with Bradon without knowing it. It would be an overstatement to say that I was certain which incident involved Bradon, but I began to develop a sense to separate Bradon from Anthony in the past. Frankly speaking, the sweet and intimate memories that were impactful for me were all pretty much shared with Bradon as if fate had arranged for us to be together and support each other in ways we couldn’t truly comprehend. Perhaps it was true when people said that fate moves in its own unpredictable way to guide us through life.
"I’m sorry," I apologized in a mumble.
"What are you apologizing for so suddenly?" Bradon asked in a tone so warm that it made my heart skip a beat in my chest. His hand felt just as warm as his words when it cupped the side of my face and urged me to look into his eyes. I could sense his genuine concern and care for me when our eyes met.
"You were also the one who gave me those dahlia flowers on my birthday long ago as well, weren’t you?" I asked, although I could already guess the answer.
Since moving in with him, whenever something happened between us that reminded me of the past, I always thought it was Brandon fooling around with me by abusing the information he got from his brother. However, after learning that wasn’t the case, there was only one explanation that came to my mind. All of the things he had done for me were repeats of what he had done for me when we were younger. All the while, Brandon was trying his best to do all the things that would bring me joy, and I had made the mistake of misunderstanding him and holding it against him as if he had ill intentions.
"Do you really feel sorry?" he asked softly. The truth was that I felt so sorry for all the times that I misunderstood and mistreated him, and not just about the dahlia flowers.
In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to ruin the flowers that he gave me and still took care of them very well. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
–To be continued...
