No one could know for sure when one would take action upon their murderous intentions, and I did not want to risk agitating him with such ruthless words. Nevertheless, every creature in the world had something to subdue it with. Since the soft approach did not work on Marcus, I could only resort to tougher ones.
We were in a stalemate for a few seconds before Marcus finally reacted—he slowly turned his head toward me.
I then reached out again, and he opened his mouth to take in the chicken soup.
The moment it went down his throat, he furrowed his brows.
“What’s the matter?” I asked. “Do you not like chicken soup?”
Marcus raised his head, and I noticed that his dry lips seemed to be sticking together because of the chicken soup, making it tougher for him to speak. “How much salt did you put in there?”
“It’s too salty? Hold on. I’ll make a new one for you.”
The soup was made according to my family recipe, but perhaps patients preferred blander food. I had to admit that was something that I neglected. It was rare for Marcus to agree to eat, so I felt that a little bit more effort into his meal was more than worth it.
Just as I was about to put the chicken soup back, Marcus stopped me. “I can drink it if you add a little water into it. I’m not patient enough to wait until you’re back from remaking one.”
I froze, but soon, a smile crept upon my face. “Sure.”
With that said, I then poured some hot water into the soup before feeding him slowly. To my surprise, he actually finished it all.
There were a few more snack-bite foods in the lunchbox. I was about to grab it, but he impatiently shook his head and rejected it.
After putting the lunchbox away, I thought of peeling an apple for him. Hence, I pulled a chair closer to sit by the bedside.
Marcus kept looking at me. When the apple was half-peeled, he finally said, “If you’re here, can I assume that you’ve agreed to my terms?”
I froze for a moment. Then, I muttered, “No.”
He took in a deep breath before laughing self-deprecatingly. “You’re earlier. Much earlier than that foolish woman. Make a guess, then. When you come into this room tomorrow at this time, will you see me alive, or will you see a dead body?”
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