My Boss Is Secretly A Softie - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Rescued
In a room full of white, with floating curtains, a beautiful bouquet of lilies beside the large white bed placed at the edge of the room, and a wide-open window through which a large amount of air filtered in, blowing apart the curtains and besieging the white-dressed lady within.

Her light olive complexion, black lashes, eyebrows, and pinkish lips were all that stood out in her cloth of white.

She sneezed.

Looking out of the window the next instant, she chuckled lightly. Maybe opening it wasn’t exactly a great idea. Now she was vulnerable to the pollen that sifted in.

However, how could anyone resist the temptation of observing the garden of beautiful flowers right outside, along with the cool air that came with it?

[Kachek!]

The door opened, and she stared unblinkingly as a person approached. Blonde hair and sharp gray eyes. It was her lover.

His face was calm, but his eyes were a roaring ocean splashing wildly within the curtains of its fury.

As soon as he stood right before her bed, his expression changed. His brows softened along with his eyes, a loud sniff escaped him, and his fair hands were placed over his face.

Elara watched as the male wept silently. Deep down, she wanted to rip out his hands and observe him do so. She gripped her bedsheets tight—she mustn’t.

No words were shared between them, but their conversation was a cesspool of unspoken feelings that were transmitted to each other through the silence.

“Sorry, I—” Terrence finally spoke, sniffing lightly, cleaning his eyes roughly with the corners of his hands. “I was overwhelmed.”

He let down his hands with his head hung low and was about to resume when Elara’s hand gripped his.

She interlocked their fingers, leaving him agape with shock, and pulling his palm to her mouth—thus dragging him forward—she kissed it.

Her closed lashes parted, and she smiled at the shyness of the male.

“I—”

“An angel shouldn’t cry,” she muttered, “but I guess it’s fine if it’s before me and me alone.”

He flushed harder, but she wasn’t done. She pulled him even closer, coming face to face with him. Dark, adoring eyes clashed with a pair of light, flustered ones, and there was quietness.

“Angel… You look like an angel.”

Terrence’s eyes widened. “Ha—”

He was shushed by a pair of cool lips on his, but before he could respond, a powerful shove threw him backward.

He was dazzled, but the lady’s smile was even more resplendent.

“No. I haven’t,” she replied with a faint smile.

Her eyes trained on him held a quality they never did before—judging. He felt uncomfortable under their patronizing gaze.

“Am I your first lover?”

Her voice came along with the moving of her eyes away from him.

He was unwilling but replied still, “No…”

“What happened to the others?”

He gulped silently, reluctant yet obedient.

“They… after my first, left with various excuses of another…” He paused, hoping to end it there, but it continued.

“Terrence,” Elara’s voice fell, unfeeling but with an undeniable acerbicness to it, “what happened to them?”

His expression tightened, but he replied anyway. “My father and sister—”

“What did you do?” She finally faced him with a warmless smile.

Terrence’s eyes briefly met hers, and a sudden sense of crisis befell him. “I….”

“Nothing.”

Her eyes were biting and accusatory, holding a coldness he had never seen shown to him before.

“Ela—”

“I hate something,” she sighed, “and that very thing I hate is what you’ve been doing.”

“Elara, I can explain…”

“You couldn’t care less, Terrence. You never once did, or else your sister wouldn’t go so far with me.”

Their eyes met, and he was subjected to listening without complaint.

“I… became a terrible person because of an incident where I was bullied fiercely, and despite getting my vengeance on those bullies, I spiraled into what I became during my HS days. It was a memory so vague it was completely buried, but if there was one thing that remained, it was my absolute hate for indifference towards others’ suffering. At least not your close ones.”

She clenched the bedsheets firmly. “Because that day, even more than the beatings, what hurt me most was the indifference of everyone to it. I… that’s why that day when you were crying, I couldn’t ignore you. I… just couldn’t.”

She chuckled. “Sure, liking you at first glance was one of the major reasons. That day, I should have left but couldn’t. You were just so… similar. Similar to me that day. Too similar.”

She stared up at Terrence, who was too dumbfounded to speak, with a bitter smile.

“How could you ignore your lovers, Terrence? You may not love them, but this is basic decency, don’t you think?”

He started, but she cut him off.

“I… hate this…” She covered her face while nodding.

“You caused this… How could you let it go on for so long?”

Why do I care…?

“Did you ever think of your lovers or merely wrote them off as terrible?”

Why can’t I let it go?

“Why… why… will I also be the same?”

No, stop yourself, Ela…

“Forgotten? And invisible…?”

Her heartbeat dropped sharply, and her hands fell to the bed.

She faced him with a sarcastic smile. “When you no longer fancy me… will I cease to exist before your eyes as well?”

Terrence was pale and quivering, unable to reply. Reaching out with shaky hands toward Elara, they were slapped away.

Her eyes were cold as ice, and her expression—blank.

“Angel, what can I do? I seem to despise you now.”

[Rumble~]

This… He felt everything crumble before his eyes, his figure swaying. His vision was filled with a kaleidoscope of colors, and his breathing became labored.

He fell to his knees, grabbing onto Elara’s hand as hot tears fell down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” The words fell continuously with his tears, but his lady remained cold.

“I wonder,” Elara worded soundlessly with a light smile, “if this is enough to teach him a lesson.”

***

Mr. Merlin has confirmed that his boss, Mr. Terrence, will in no way pardon his sister (whom he refuses to acknowledge as one after cutting off all ties), despite the pleas of his father, whom he has also cut all ties with.

Mrs. Astridge and her son, her only legally recognized child (due to past clashes with her daughter, who seems to despise her), have clarified that despite their deep sadness, they believe their sister should be held accountable for her crimes.

At this juncture, it would seem that Miss Ariel Astridge might serve at least a minimum of 10 years if…

Mr. Merlin has also stated that Mr. Terrence, despite everything, has no grudges against his ex-father but would rather have nothing else to do with him, even in business.

This begs the question: Is Mr. Astridge deserving of what he’s—

The TV was turned off, and Elara switched to her phone to learn more. After all, these days, social media does more than the news.

She spent all noon browsing through her phone until the nurse came to attend to her, stripping her of her long-sleeve, floor-length gown to something lighter.

“You’ll be good to go in no time, miss,” the kind nurse consoled. “In less than a week, you’ll be ready to go.”

She smiled cheerfully. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” the nurse replied with the same energy. Something about this young lady’s happiness was too infectious.

“Also,” she added while packing up her medical items, “Doctor Geraldine sends her greetings.”

Elara pondered and immediately remembered. “The older female doctor that took care of me after my accident?”

“Yes! You’re very sharp, miss. Either way, try to finish your fruits—he made sure to gift you the very best.”

She waved at the smiling nurse shyly. “I will… I will.”

The nurse nodded one last time before leaving with a smile and a thought in mind. Oh, how sweet would life be if all her patients were like this one! She’d age less and be jolly all day long.

Elara placed down her phone and took the peeled apples. There were three varieties of fruit, including apples, bananas, and pineapple, and the nurse had said there were more, but they were kept aside, for now, to avoid stirring up her stomach, which was still quite fragile from all the assault.

The public opinion had mostly been consistent, with some cheering on the Astridges for bringing Ariel to justice for her crime and a very special few bashing Terrence for his ‘cruelty.’

“I was surprised when I went there, though…” she muttered while crunching on an apple slice.

She was very confused when most discussions were about who had been kidnapped rather than the whole Astridge family thing, but then she understood.

Terrence had always been infamous for his indifference in relationships, so much so that half of his fans, despite their obsessions and delusions, couldn’t even buy into the thought of being the ‘chosen’ one and just defaulted to one-night-stand wishes.

Not because they were so rational but because, despite his perfection, he scored a negative in affection. In their words, boyfriend material but not husband material.

Even her family had asked her if she had been charmed by him to ignore all the suitors who came her way to stick to a passionless man, and her mum had asked her a million times to reconsider. It was that bad.

And then suddenly, he had someone he liked so much he’d throw his own sister in jail for her and gladly bring the public into his family matters—despite not clarifying the nature of the relationship, everyone defaulted into believing that it was a lover.

The not-so-subtle acts of his subordinates avoiding the question instead of clarifying weren’t helping either, and now everyone was curious about who exactly it was and barely cared about the Astridge family drama.

Well, Elara couldn’t care less— she was confident she could escape public eyes if she wanted.

She sighed, lying in bed with wide-open eyes. Was she too much…?

She shook her head harshly. No. Her angel needed to understand the severity of his past actions. It shouldn’t matter to her, but it did… because of her trauma.

It was selfish, but she needed this resolved, or it’d bug her and give her anxiety throughout their relationship.

‘Maybe I should get therapy for all this past baggage I once tried to suppress.’

She blinked twice and then sat right up. She seemed to have forgotten something.

Oh!

“Damn, the fruits.”