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Margaret called Humbert and asked how things were going with Sylvia.
She also mentioned that Sylvia’s mother, Lorraine, would be coming over tomorrow, so he should come home too.
“Mom, just turn her down for me, okay?” Humbert replied.
“I’m feeling some chest pain. I might need to call for emergency help,” Margaret said.
“Don’t bother with an emergency call. It’s my colleague’s turn for duty today, and they might ask me to come in. We have all kinds of medicine at home,” Humbert said.
Three hours earlier, it was Margaret who called and said her blood pressure was high and asked him to have dinner with Sylvia, which he reluctantly agreed to.
“You little rascal! My blood pressure is rising again,” Margaret continued. She played cards with Lorraine and was happy with Sylvia. If they could end up together, she’d be thrilled.
Whether it was a good match or not, they had to spend some time together to find out.
“If you really don’t like Sylvia, I’ll turn her down for you. What about Evelyn from the Duncan family? She’s an art academy teacher, and she’s gentle. Do you want to meet her?” Margaret asked.
After she finished speaking, there was silence on the other end.
“Speak up. Benson’s daughter works in the hospital. She also likes you. I’ve met that girl,” Margaret pressed on.
Humbert was focused on driving, listening to Margaret while glancing at his phone.
Her profile picture was a cartoon animal that his little nephew had put there recently. Margaret loved it. Even in her sixties, she was still as energetic as someone in their forties.
“Mother,” Humbert said, but was interrupted.
“I don’t care. You have to bring a girlfriend home this year. Even if she’s an actress, I’ll convince your dad to accept her. As long as the girl has no questionable background, it’s fine.” Margaret insisted.
Margaret was loosening her standards. She used to be completely against any actresses becoming part of the Pierce family.
Lying back in the chair with a sip of coffee, Margaret suddenly thought of someone. She
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asked, “Didn’t you have a girlfriend in college? You broke up when you went abroad.
“Now that you’re back, why don’t you try reaching out to her? If you can’t bring yourself to do it, give me her contact info, and I’ll call her.”
Humbert fell silent for a moment. “Maybe she doesn’t want to see me.” His tone was calm but carried a hint of self–deprecation.
“Is she married? Most people your age are already married. If she is, then it’s definitely over,” Margaret muttered to herself.
Humbert stayed quiet.
In reality, Margaret wasn’t bound by traditional values. As long as Humbert was happy, she’d be fine with him marrying someone who was divorced, as long as he could convince his dad.
But if the girl was already married and had a happy family, asking her to divorce just to be with Humbert would be wrong.
Margaret visited Greenhill Temple each month to speak with the pastor. Breaking up a marriage would invite divine retribution.
“Are you badmouthing me again?” Joseph, Humbert’s father, walked in and saw Margaret lounging in the rocking chair, sipping coffee and eating chips while talking on the phone.
“You couldn’t even sleep after having that a few days ago,” he added.
Margaret ignored him and slurped loudly through her straw.
After hanging up, she called Lorraine to arrange dinner together for tomorrow night. Joseph frowned and said, “Humbert won’t be going. What is this dinner for? You’re just wasting your
time.”
“Who’s gonna worry about this if I don’t? Unlike you, I can’t spend all day fishing and come back sunburned. Don’t you dare sleep on my bed. Go sleep in the study instead,” Margaret replied.
Margaret didn’t genuinely want Joseph to leave. She subtly asked, “Do you remember our son had a girlfriend back in college?”
“Yeah,” Joseph said, sitting on the edge of the bed with a book in hand.
Mentioning this sparked Joseph’s memory. Having had a child in middle age and then experiencing the loss of his son, he understood Humbert’s personality all too well.
From a young age, Humbert had been bright and outshone his two older brothers,
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If it hadn’t been for the kidnapping incident, Humbert, having experienced the tragic death of his brother Edward, would have grown up without that huge trauma.
After all, Edward was tortured by the kidnappers right in front of Humbert.
They were twins. Because of that huge change, Humbert’s personality shifted completely. Previously, he was the little tyrant of the house, but afterward, he became quiet and distant.
Joseph’s eldest son, Simon, was his close friend’s son and had been raised alongside Humbert. Humbert respected Simon very much.
Joseph intended for both of his sons to manage the Pierce Group together.
To his surprise, Humbert chose to go into medicine instead and spent seven years abroad, deliberately avoiding the family power struggles. Joseph always felt a bit guilty towards Humbert.
“I feel like Humbert has never really gotten over that girl,” Joseph said.
He wasn’t too traditional. Nowadays, it was all about free love. Joseph didn’t want to let business relationships affect Humbert’s marriage prospects.
“As long as the girl has a clean background, it doesn’t matter if she’s a little ordinary. And if Humbert truly likes her, you’ll be very happy, won’t you?” he said.
“She’s married now. But I can’t help but think, if she still has feelings for Humbert…” Margaret murmured.
Joseph frowned. “Margaret, what are you thinking?”
Margaret rubbed her ear and said, “I was just thinking. Why are you yelling?”
“Don’t even think about it!” Joseph replied.
“The Pierce family has been prominent for over a hundred years. How low would we have to fall for Humbert to marry a divorced woman?‘ he thought.
Even if Joseph were to die, he would still rise from the grave to stand at the door of the Pierce residence to block such nonsense,
*****
Humbert had no idea that his parents were bickering in bed.
At the moment, he was sitting at his desk, trying to get through some diflicult medical records from overseas. But he kept losing focus.
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He attributed his recent emotional and physiological changes, as well as his inexplicable thoughts about Winifred, to the fact that she reminded him of Claire.
It was a feeling, not about their looks or body types. It was in the way they spoke, the way Claire bit her lip and glared when she was mad.
He couldn’t help but connect the two in his mind, but he knew deep down that they weren’t the same person.
Humbert felt like the name Claire had disrupted his usual rhythm of life. It even made his brain feel out of control.
It was a terrible feeling.
The next night, Humbert didn’t go back to the Pierce residence. That evening, Lorraine took Sylvia to the Pierce residence, but Humbert was on duty at the hospital.
When Sylvia messaged him, he was busy, and later, he forgot to reply.
Lying on the hard bed in the break room, he felt a bit tired and kept drifting in and out of sleep.
That night, he dreamed about Claire again. In the dream, they were in high school. She was wearing her school uniform, and he leaned down to kiss her, but she pulled away.
The dream wasn’t realistic. Even though they were in the same class in high school, they had never dated. They only got together in college.
The surroundings were a classroom. They were in blue and white school uniforms. There was no one else. He had her on the desk, and she was pushing against his chest, refusing to have
sex.
Her voice was soft, and she didn’t seem angry.
Humbert felt a little upset by her rejection. That year, they hung out every week. They went to hotels, or she came to his apartment. The fact that she was now refusing him made him angry enough to shove her uniform up a little roughly.
As he kissed her, Humbert suddenly froze. The girl’s face changed to Winifred’s, looking at him with teary eyes.
He was taken aback and woke up.
The dream had left him in a cold sweat.
He couldn’t believe he felt a physical attraction towards a strange woman who was married
with a kid. “Thank goodness it was inst a dream‘ be thought
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He had been kissing Claire, but somehow, when he was about to go further, she turned into Winifred.
He got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face, glancing at his phone, which showed it was four in the morning.
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Chapter 25
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
