Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 113

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Was it really him?
“I’m sorry. It ended so abruptly,” Winter whispered, lying on the bed. Her sad eyes lingered on Kalix, who was pressing a heating pad against her stomach.

“Why are you sorry? It’s natural for a woman to bleed every month. I’m just glad I could take care of you,” he dismissed her worry in the most heartwarming way.

Winter sighed, her gaze drifting absently to the ceiling. “I just feel like nature slapped me in the face when my period came. I was running high on hormones,” she complained, shooting Kalix a stern look that made him chuckle.

“We can continue later,” he reassured her. “But first, tell me—are your cramps bad? Do they feel unbearable?”

Kalix knew almost everything about Winter, yet this was one part of her life he was clueless about—her period cramps.

“Not after we did it for the first time, but before that? Yes, they were terrible. Ah, now I wonder… why are they hurting again?” She muttered in confusion, momentarily forgetting her previous frustration.

Kalix continued tending to her, occasionally asking her random questions.

Then, after a moment of silence, he asked, “Why did you decline Felix’s proposal? Wasn’t he a good man in your eyes?”

Just saying the name left a bitter taste in his mouth, yet he was eager to hear Winter’s response. She suddenly looked thoughtful, making his expression darken.

“What’s taking you so long to answer?” His jaw clenched. “Did you reject him just to save his ass from getting beaten by me?”

“I wish,” she snapped. “But isn’t the reason clear enough when I said I was ready to give us a chance?”

Kalix’s expression remained still, but soon, the corner of his lips quirked up, and a smile graced his face once again.

“Now I remember,” he said in a playful tone that made her roll her eyes.

Once Winter started to feel better, she asked him to stop, and he quickly lay down next to her.

She hesitated as she looked at Kalix, but soon, she extended her hand and snuggled into his warmth, resting her head on his chest.

A pleasant smile curled on Kalix’s lips as he wrapped an arm around her, his fingers gently stroking her back.

“Today, I met Dorothy,” she said. His movements halted as they shared a knowing look.

“What for? Was she there to threaten you?” he asked.

She simply nodded, like a child confessing a bully’s wrongdoing to their mother.

“But don’t worry, I threatened her instead,” she smirked.

Kalix never doubted Winter’s ability to handle her so-called family. She knew exactly how to deal with them. Yet, as someone who had loved her for years, he couldn’t help but want to be there for her, to shield her from every hurdle she faced.

Back when he had been keeping tabs on her family, he had never seen them make a move against her. Maybe because she had moved to another country. But now that she was back—and with her return came their downfall—he realized he couldn’t take them lightly. Not after what Agnes had tried to do to her.

“Will she stop there?” he asked, resuming the gentle strokes along her back. His eyes were entirely fixated on her, waiting for an answer.

“For now, she will—because she knows she can’t stand against you.”

Winter took a deep breath and wrapped her arm around his torso. “Nor can she expose you, so it’s a win-win for now,” she added, closing her eyes.

Kalix pressed a kiss to her temple, a smile making its way onto his face.

“Then we must continue to enjoy the show while it lasts.”

His words made her smile, and she hummed in agreement.

However, he doubted Eric would back down—the man simply couldn’t keep his hands off Winter.

After Agnes was publicly exposed, the attention gradually shifted to Eric, who was equally responsible for everything that had happened to Winter. Now, desperate to uncover who was behind it all, he had begun digging deeper into matters.

Hopefully, Sean had managed to block his access to the truth, but Kalix doubted that would be enough to stop Eric.

“Only if he doesn’t cross the line… then maybe I can spare him,” Kalix muttered, his eyes taking in the sight of the sleeping beauty in his arms before slowly closing his own.

***

The next morning, Gina woke up with dark circles under her eyes. She needed a strong coffee. However, the second she stepped out of her room, the eerie silence inside the house unsettled her.

By now, Lily should have been in the kitchen preparing something for them—it was her turn to cook. But as Gina stepped into the empty space, she frowned.

“Where the hell did my lady don disappear to?” Gina muttered, quickly reaching for her phone. She dialed Lily’s number, but it went straight to voicemail, leaving her even more confused.

Lily never ignored her calls. If she wasn’t answering, then she was either dead busy with something urgent, or… something was wrong. After a moment of hesitation, Gina decided to let it go and headed to the kitchen to make coffee herself.

Seated at the dining table, she stared ahead absentmindedly, her fingers wrapped around the cup. The steam from the coffee gradually faded, signaling that it had gone cold, yet her eyes didn’t waver.

Her mind kept circling back to the figure she had seen at the restaurant last night. No matter how many times she replayed the scene in her head, she couldn’t confirm anything—the person had vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Was it really him? Or am I just imagining things?” she murmured for what felt like the hundredth time. But no matter how much she questioned it, no answer came to clear her doubts.

Suddenly, her gaze dropped to the coffee.

“Shit,” she cursed under her breath. “Now I have to reheat it.”

With a frustrated growl, she picked up the cup and headed back to the kitchen. Just as she placed it in the microwave, her phone buzzed.

Her brows furrowed as she saw the caller ID, and without delay, she answered.

“I’ve texted you the location. Be there in twenty.”

“…”

Gina stared at the now-black screen, her lips parted as if to protest, but the chance never came.

Lily was a hurricane. She swept in, stirred up chaos, and left just as quickly, leaving Gina to scramble in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, inside Roger’s office, Lily sat in silence. However, a certain someone couldn’t avert his eyes off her.

“Aren’t you going to talk?” Roger asked, his gaze fixed on her. He could see the irritation flickering in her expression, but that wasn’t what unsettled him. It was the way she refused to speak to him like she used to.

Back in their college days, they had shared a good rapport. Lily had never been the quiet type—if anything, she had been the one who never stopped talking. But the woman sitting across from him now was different. Polished. Reserved. Professional. A stranger.

“We’ve already discussed everything,” she said, her voice cool and detached. “You chose Gina as the lead actress for your new music album, and as her manager, I will assist her accordingly.”

Roger blinked, taken aback by the crisp, businesslike tone—so unlike the Lily he remembered.

“Is that really all you have to say?” he asked, a hint of hurt lacing his voice.

Lily met his gaze, unfazed. She didn’t understand his insistence on drawing out this conversation.

If it weren’t for professional reasons, she wouldn’t have agreed to work with him at all. But she wasn’t selfish. She would never let Gina suffer the same fate she had endured in their previous company.

Gina was capable and hardworking, someone who had risen from the bottom. And no matter what personal history lay between Lily and Roger, she refused to let it stand in the way of Gina’s success.

“I don’t talk personal, Mr. Roger. I’m here for work.”

Roger’s expression hardened. Her words cut through him like a blade, sharp and unforgiving.

The blank look in her eyes suffocated him, pressing against his chest like an invisible weight. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to argue.

‘What went wrong, Lily?’ he wondered. ‘How did our friendship turn so sour that you now look at me like I’m a stranger?’

***

Staring blankly at the computer screen, Winter found her thoughts drifting back to the previous night to the way Kalix had barely slept.

He hadn’t kept his insomnia from her, shielding her from the restless nights he endured. But seeing him struggle to get even a wink of sleep had unsettled her more than she cared to admit.

She recalled the sleeping pills James said Kalix relied on, yet even with them, rest remained elusive. The sight of him, tense and exhausted, lingered in her mind, making it impossible to focus on work.

Is there any way I can help him? She wondered, her gaze drifting toward his office.

Even with the lack of sleep, Kalix remained as composed as ever—strong, confident, and utterly focused. He carried himself with such ease that no one would ever suspect he hadn’t slept well.

But Winter knew better. She had seen the exhaustion in his eyes, the fleeting moments where his mask slipped. And it bothered her more than she was willing to admit.

“Ahem-hm.”

Someone cleared their throat, snapping Winter out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Diana standing before her, arms crossed.

“Hurry up. We have to leave.”

Winter frowned in confusion, but before she could ask where they were going, Diana was already striding toward the elevator.

Barely having time to process, Winter grabbed her bag and hurried after her, stepping inside just as the doors slid shut.