Chapter 19
“If that day comes, I might as well just die!” Britney exclaimed. “Anyway, you should know what to do, Damien. If Autumn continues to be uncooperative, you might as well switch her out for another wife.
“You’re the perfect older brother in my eyes. No woman is good enough for you. If I had to pick one, though, I would choose Emilia.”
Britney continued, “Things would be so much better if Autumn weren’t in the picture from the start. Grandpa likes her now, so it would be troublesome if you wanted to change wives.
“If you asked me, you should have confirmed your relationship with Emilia before she went abroad to further her studies. Who would have thought that the two of you were just friends! If you weren’t, even if Autumn saved Grandpa 100 times, she would still have no chance to get married to you.
“Damien, you really are way out of Autumn’s league!”
Autumn had freshened up a long time ago. She lay on the bed and closed her eyes, but sleep had continued to elude her.
The door installed between the study and the room did an average job of keeping the sounds out. Britney’s complaints were dripping with displeasure, so her voice was also rather loud. Autumn had heard everything that Britney was ranting about.
Autumn didn’t take her words to heart.
Except, Damien replied, “I know.”
“Since you also think that Autumn is a bad match for you, I hope that I’ll have a new sister–in–law soon, Damien.”
“Alright. Drive carefully on the way home. Be safe,” he reminded her.
“Okay,” Britney replied before taking her leave.
Autumn hid herself in the blanket and pressed the fabric to her damp eyes. She didn’t know how long had passed before she felt the spot next to her dip down. She wasn’t able to sleep well, so she had been jolted back to wakefulness by the movement.
She opened her eyes slightly and saw that Damien had lain down but hadn’t gone to sleep yet. He was sending messages to someone on his phone. When the person sent him a voice note, he brought his phone up to his ear to listen to it.
Since their surroundings were so quiet, she could hear the voice being broadcast from the receiver. Autumn was absolutely certain that it was Emilia’s voice. Pretending to still be asleep, she turned on her side to face the edge of the bed. When she looked at the time, she realized it was already two in the morning.
Autumn quietly closed her eyes. She must have stayed too long out in the cold when she was waiting for Damien’s car earlier in the evening, so her brain felt swollen and heavy. She hoped sleep would come to her soon.
However, a few moments later, Autumn felt a chill wash over her body. Her blanket had been yanked off by Damien.
“Get up,” he ordered.
Bewildered, Autumn sat up. Damien was already putting on his coat. His movements were swift, so she assumed something urgent must have come up.” What happened?” she asked.
“Something came up. We need to go,” he said, but he didn’t explain further. “If I leave and you stay, Grandpa will have lots of questions tomorrow morning. If we leave together, it’ll be easier for me to explain to him.”
Autumn felt a little dizzy and realized that she might have caught a cold. Not wanting to stress her body in the middle of the night, she said, “I can explain to Grandpa.”
Her suggestion wasn’t unfeasible, but Damien knew that Dawson was still here too. If he left, Autumn and Dawson would be the only ones left to accompany Hank during breakfast tomorrow morning. Even though he didn’t care about Autumn, he was subconsciously repulsed by such an image.
Damien frowned and said coldly, “Even if you explain, Grandpa will still call me. I don’t want the extra trouble. Hurry up. Don’t make me wait.”
Due to her dizziness, Autumn couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse to tell Hank, so she couldn’t go against Damien’s word. She got up from the bed and changed her clothes before getting into Damien’s car. They left the Caldwell residence together.
Damien had only driven one–third of a mile before his phone rang suddenly. A few moments after he answered it, his brow furrowed.
Autumn could see the panic lining his face. They’ve been married for three years, but this was the first time that she could see emotion being displayed so openly on Damien’s face. She wondered what had happened.
She was still lost in her thoughts when Damien disconnected the call. He ordered, “Get out of the car and go back to the Caldwell residence.”
She didn’t immediately understand what he was saying. “What do you mean ‘get out of the car‘?”
“Hurry up,” he said impatiently.
Autumn was struck with a sudden realization–only Emilia could stir up such anxious feelings within Damien. If it were daytime, Autumn would have followed his orders, but it was two in the morning.
There were no lights beyond the car window that could have illuminated the winding mountain road. The trees were also being buffeted by the strong gust, their trunks and branches swishing back and forth according to the direction of the wind.
It was pitch–black and freezing. Most importantly, she would be by herself.
Chapter 19
2/2
Autumn was immensely against Damien’s order. As she stared at the frost in Damien’s eyes, she couldn’t help but ask, “Can you send me back? It’s less than a mile away…”
Why must he force her to get out of the car now?
Damien’s gaze remained icy. “It’ll be a waste of time.”
“You could drop me off in the city…”
Autumn didn’t ask for too much. She truly didn’t dare to exit the car herself.
“It’s in the wrong direction.” Damien had exhausted his patience. “Get out of the car now.”
The glaciers in his eyes told her that there would be no room for discussion. Damien had been late when Autumn was waiting for him at the foot of the mountain earlier. However, when it came to Emilia, he refused to delay even a single second.
Earlier, he had thought it would be troublesome if he left her alone because he knew that Hank would be displeased, which would eventually lead to him calling Damien to berate him. However, he couldn’t care less about that now.
Although she didn’t have any expectations of Damien, Autumn’s heart was still chilled to the core. Even regular friends wouldn’t treat each other so heartlessly.
The truth was that when they first got married, Autumn was a little afraid of Damien. But after living with him for three years, her fear of him had faded away. However, at that moment, as she took in the warning flashing in his eyes, the fear returned to her in full force.
Even though Damien treated her coldly, he was raised with strict family principles, so he treated everyone with a certain degree of grace. An idea floated to the forefront of Autumn’s thoughts. If she didn’t cooperate with him, would he lose his temper because Emilia was involved? Would he go so far as to raise his hand against her?
It was why Autumn couldn’t behave like Britney. She would probably turn the question around on him and ask what he would do if she refused to get out of the car. Autumn would only be humiliating herself if she did that.
Enduring the throbbing in her tightened jaw, Autumn opened the door and alighted from the car. She stared at Damien with dead eyes that were devoid of light. If Damien had spared even a single glance at her, he would have noticed that, at that moment, she was reminiscent of an abandoned kitten, her brow furrowed in an attempt to hide the true extent of her sorrow.
However, Damien had averted his gaze a long time ago. He didn’t linger for a second longer. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and disappeared from Autumn’s line of sight in the blink of an eye, leaving her rooted to the spot pitifully under the cover of darkness.
An icy gust of wind billowed past her. Autumn shivered violently at the headache that suddenly exploded in her skull. She was forced to snap out of her depressive spiral to face reality.
Her surroundings were dark and filled with all types of strange noises, which made her brain supply her with horrifying images of different murder cases. Fear gripped her heart as she pulled out her phone and tried to turn on the flashlight.
She nearly dropped her phone because of how scared she was, which was further made worse by the freezing temperature. Luckily, she managed to turn on the flashlight, after which she sprinted in the direction of the Caldwell residence.
Fortunately, her sickness hadn’t sapped her of all her strength yet, so she still had enough energy left in her to run. When she made it to the garden, Autumn felt as if her heart was going to hammer right out of her chest from a mixture of fear, the cold, and the intense workout she just experienced, which had exhausted most of her stamina.
She leaned a hand against the door that led to the garden and sucked in deep gulps of breath. Her body’s reflexive reaction to the sudden exertion had occupied most of her brain capacity. She didn’t have much left in her to think about other things, but she did notice that the light in the other guest room on the second floor was still switched on.
That must be Dawson’s room. A person’s gaze would naturally be drawn to light when they’re bathed in darkness. Autumn was no different as she kept her eyes trained on the light.
She would sneak back to her room to rest after she caught her breath. She was certain that she was going to fall ill soon and wanted to take some medication to suppress the illness before it overwhelmed her immune system.
However, she knew that the guest room didn’t have any medicine. It was also too late in the night to ask the housekeeper for some. It seemed she was destined to fall sick tomorrow when she woke up.
Autumn wanted to run away. She wanted to go back to her own home, but she didn’t have a car. It would be difficult to hire a cab since she was at the top of a mountain. When she thought about being stuck there, she was suddenly overwhelmed with despair
At the same time, the single light in the night that shone from the guest room was extinguished. Autuma didn’t actually care if Dawson switched off the light or turned in for the night. She didn’t know what the exact triggering factor was, but after suffering through a nonstop sequence of horrible events, she lost control of her emotions. Silent tears streamed from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
She leaned against the doorframe and cried quietly to herself. It wouldn’t take long for her tears to dry, especially on such a cold night. After weeping for a little while, she realized she was so cold that she was shivering all over.
Autumn wiped her tears away, accepting her fate that she had no other choice but to return to the house. When she raised her head, she realized that an extremely tall silhouette was blocking her way forward.
