Chapter 195: I’ve Been So Charming!
It was dark outside when Hilla woke up. She didn’t wake up but found that her headache was gone.
Although she was weak, Hilla assumed it was because of sweating. She felt uncomfortable and was thirsty!
Hilla slowly got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. She saw that the lights in the study were on. The maid was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen.
She had never expected that she would sleep for so long. Bruce must have stayed with her for the entire afternoon.
Not wanting to disturb Bruce, Hilla went downstairs.
"Mrs. Anderson, you are awake!"
Seeing Hilla, the maid smiled happily. She knew that Hilla had not returned for a long time and the family members missed her so much.
Hilla nodded and pulled on her coat. When opening the refrigerator, she heard the maid reminded her, "Mrs. Anderson, you just recovered. Mr. Anderson said that you shouldn’t have cold stuff."
After saying that, the maid handed over a glass of water.
Looking at the transparent glass in front of her, Hilla nodded with a smile. She took the glass and slowly walked toward the sofa in the living room.
"Are you hungry, Mrs. Anderson? Dinner will be ready in a minute."
Hearing the maid’s friendly words, Hilla finished the water in the glass and replied, "I’m fine. I’m not very hungry. Take your time."
She was not in a good mood all of a sudden. Hilla wanted to have a chat with Halle but did not want to bother her with such an unpleasant thing. She felt guilty when she looked at Bruce.
She had been influenced by Queeney’s proposal more or less.
She wanted to take back things that belonged to the Holt family. She never expected that being Mrs. Anderson would not only be her advantage but also Bruce’s disadvantage.
She was not strong enough after all.
The Holt family had declined, and she had no backers. Some people thought that they could use her to take advantage of Bruce.
With his social status, Bruce should marry a girl from a famous family.
If it happened on Riya, the proposal would be different.
Hilla was lost in thought and didn’t notice that Bruce had gone downstairs and sat opposite.
Looking at her in a trance, Bruce reached out his hand and touched her forehead.
"Are you still having a fever?"
Hilla was slightly stunned, and subconsciously raised her head and moved back.
Hilla awkwardly smoothed her hair on her forehead and said, "My fever has gone. I was thinking about what we will have this evening."
She told a lie. Hilla glanced in the direction of the kitchen and said, "The maid makes delicious dishes."
"Who did you meet today?"
"Does she make a mashed potato? She must have added butter to it. I can smell it."
"What did you talk about?"
"I’ll ask the maid to make a cream of mushroom soup."
After finishing her words, Hilla stood up from the sofa, trying to avoid him. But Bruce would never let her change the topic easily.
Bruce grabbed her wrist with his big hand, and Hilla had to stop.
She opened her mouth, straightened her back, but said nothing. She did not want to face him.
Bruce’s black eyes landed on Hilla’s back. After carefully examining her for a moment, he spoke helplessly, "You’ve just recovered. I’ll tell her. Sit down and take a rest!"
After finishing his words, Bruce walked past Hilla and did not ask further about what had happened today.
Looking at Bruce’s back, Hilla bit her lips. In the end, she did not tell him what was in her mind.
Since she could not take back things that belonged to the Holt family, she could get what the studio needed first. Halle was waiting. Neither could she make Halle worry, nor delay the progress of the studio.
Hilla quickly collected herself. When Bruce returned, she was happily waiting for him at the table.
Looking at the beautiful Hilla sitting in front of him, Bruce was distracted.
He had only been in the kitchen for a while. What had happened to her?
After having dinner, Hilla was not sleepy because she had slept for a long time.
Bruce was breathing evenly beside her. Lying on the bed, Hilla stared at the window that was not fully covered by the curtain. Her gaze was fixed on the sky outside.
The sky was in dark blue. Hilla was not sleepy at all.
She kept thinking about what Queeney had said. Queeney had asked Hilla to pay her
300 million and a piece of land for exchanging the paintings and the sewing patterns of the Holt family.
Queeney knew that these things were useless to many people now. They had no brand. The Holt family had declined.
However, they were so important for Hilla and the Holt family.
Finally, Hilla took out her phone under her pillow. After hesitating for a while, she sent a message to Halle.
She knew that Halle should have fallen asleep with Emily now. Hilla sent this message because Halle was also a Holt. She should inform Halle.
She didn’t want Halle to be worried. That was why she sent the message when Halle fell asleep.
Hilla didn’t expect that Halle replied her message at once.
"You mean that Mrs. Richards is Ms. Shaw. She has all of the Holt family’s paintings?"
Hilla looked at the message in surprise and quickly replied, "Why do you stay up? How’s Emily?"
Halle replied, "She is sick!"
Sure enough, only Emily could keep Halle awake at such a late hour.
Hilla instantly regretted telling Halle about this when Emily was sick.
Before replying, Hilla received a message from Halle, "Don’t worry. Her fever has gone."
Hilla was relieved. The kids always got sick at this age. Although they all knew this, Hilla had seen how worried Halle was whenever Emily was sick.
She had never been a mother. But she could understand how upset Halle was. "What has happened?"
Halle’s message came again. Hilla calmed down and lowered her head to explain seriously, "Mrs. Richards is Ms. Shaw. She is the shop owner. She offered me a proposal."
Halle knew that this offer must be not easy to accept. That was why Hilla had hesitated for so long before sending her this message.
Halle became worried since Hilla did not tell her the details. It was likely that they could hardly complete the terms!
"What does she want?"
"She wants 300 million and a piece of land from the Anderson Group."
After sending this message, Hilla lowered her head and stared at the screen of her cell phone. She held her phone tightly.
Suddenly, she was hugged tightly by Bruce.
...
Hilla subconsciously turned off the screen of her phone the moment she was pulled over.
When she felt that she was embraced by two strong arms, her back instantly tightened and her hand hid under the pillow tightly gripped the phone in her palm out of nervousness.
"Did I wake you up?"
She had actually forgotten Bruce was beside her! Thinking of what might happen next, Hilla was extremely nervous.
She had been so concentrating on the chat with Halle that she didn’t even consider the possibility that Bruce might wake up.
However, for husband and wife, one might have reactions when the other was having unusual movements.
Did Bruce see the message she sent just now?
Sensing the breath above her head, Hilla subconsciously bit her lips.
She had no idea what to explain! Would it be better if she reject Bruce directly?
As she could tell, Bruce would definitely help her if she needed it.
But this was not for her own, but the whole Holt Family. She did not want Bruce to pay for things between her and Halle.
The Andersons had already helped too much.
Hilla knew very well that the reason why Halle and Emily could live restfully in the countryside for so many years must have something to do with Bruce. He must have given a lot of benefits to the neighbors in the village.
The village had built a road during the year she was abroad. In addition, except for Halle’s studio, the Anderson Group had also bought a large area of land and the back mountains around.
She understood that Bruce was doing all this for her. Having Halle a safe living environment would save her from a lot of worries.
And this was also why she didn’t want Bruce to get involved anymore.
The sacrifices between them were unequal. She had always been the one receiving but not giving, the one that kept hiding behind him and enjoying the happy life he had brought to her.
However, it was not supposed to be like this. The more he gave her, the self-abased she was.
She didn’t see herself like that, thus she must work harder and harder!
She could only be more and more confident when she was keeping in steps with
him!
The man behind her rubbed the tip of his nose against the back of her neck.
His lazy and low voice came from behind, "Can’t fall asleep?"
Knew that Bruce was asking her, Hilla had her lips pursed. Before she could say anything, she felt Bruce’s hot breath hit her back again, "What is it?"
Hearing this, her heart skipped a beat. Naturally, she couldn’t tell Bruce what was on her mind. Clutched the sheets tightly with both hands, she whispered, "It’s just Halle. Emily is sick."
Hilla knew that Bruce would let go of his doubts as she said so. After giving a short response, he raised his head slightly and opened his eyes, which glowed with faint depression.
Without turning around, Hilla could still tell that Bruce was staring at her.
Suddenly, guilt came pouring in Hilla, even though she was not lying.
Halle must have sent her a message at this moment. She was glad that she had muted the phone just now.
The light brought by the lit-up screen would be perfectly covered under the thick and heavy pillow.
"Should we go back and take a look?"
Bruce suddenly asked when Hilla was sweating because of the hot breath on the back of her neck.
She was dumbfounded for a moment before she realized what he was talking about.
Quickly shook her head, she said, "No need. Halle just said that the fever has gone down, but she hasn’t slept yet."
"OK!"
Naturally, Halle wouldn’t be able to sleep tight when Emily was sick.
Understanding as he seemed to be, Bruce lay back on the pillow but tightened his arms.
"We’ll go back tomorrow if you’re worried. It’s late. Just get some sleep. Or you may get angry again tomorrow morning."
Girls would sometimes get up on the wrong side of the bed. Hilla wouldn’t always be like that, but Bruce still said so with fondness.
Hearing this, Hilla nodded guiltily and lay obediently on his arm. Then as if something had come into her head, she moved to her pillow slightly.
"I am not going back tomorrow."
She whispered. In the quiet night, it was like comfort for someone.
She had promised that she would spend some time with him recently. How could she go away and break the promise?
Bruce was silent for a moment. Together with soft and inaudible laughter, his deep and melodious voice rang in her ears, "Alright!"
His voice was so appealing!
She lay in Bruce’s embrace, not knowing when she had fallen asleep. She had thought that she would not be able to sleep that night, but it was exceptionally peaceful.
When Hilla woke up, she subconsciously turned her head. Staring at the empty bed behind her, she didn’t know whether she was disappointed or relieved.
The next second, she took out the phone under the pillow and saw the reply from Halle as expected.
There was just one sentence, "Don’t agree!"
Maybe it was because she did not respond for a long time, Halle did not text another message.
Halle probably knew that she didn’t want Bruce to know about this!
Staring at the message on the screen, Hilla was somewhat lost in thought. She didn’t know if she should send another message to Halle now.
But what could she say? They knew clearly that with their current situation, it was already very good not to ask others for money, not to mention about taking out another 300 million.
As for the development rights of Brightbush City of the Anderson Group that Queeney wanted, they didn’t even have it.
Hilla lowered her head, her long hair falling down as well. She was particularly in low spirits.
If she couldn’t take back those design paintings, she would never be able to set up the brand for the Holt Corporation. If Queeney exposed them intentionally, then the blood and sweat that the predecessors of the Holt Corporation had devoted for over a hundred years would eventually become a pile of cheap goods that could be bought off the street.
She would definitely not let that happen! She still remembered how proud her father was when he looked at those unique patterns at the time she was a child.
Although she might not be able to save the Holt Corporation, she wouldn’t just watch the hundred years of hard work turned into a pile of junk!
"Dear Hilla, what are you plotting?"
Just as Hilla was lost in thought, she suddenly heard a cold voice.
A ghostly figure had climbed onto her bed at some point, staring at Hilla with her eyes wide open and a strange smile.
Hilla couldn’t help quivered and rolled to the ground following a bang.
A thought came to Margaret’s mind as she saw this, "I’ve been so charming!"