"Grandma, Dylan is but a human as well. He's an ordinary man. How could he truly be cold-blooded? Plus, it wouldn't do the family any good should he really be cold-blooded." Alice wanted her brother to be of flesh and blood, and not just some tool of the Coleman Family.
Due to how her grandparents raised Dylan with their focus solely on his talents, they never taught him how to love another, which was the main cause as to why her brother had such a cold and lonely nature.
Pursing her lips, Tilly asked abruptly, "I heard that your parents are coming back soon."
"My mother wants to, but my father said that since it was rare for them to be on a trip, he wanted them to stay for a few more days. I assume that they'll be back by next weekend at the earliest."
"Ever since your father retired, he has done nothing other than bringing your mother around to have fun."
Alice smiled. "Is grandma not happy to see how happy my parents are?"
"Silly girl, I would love nothing more than to see each and everyone one of you achieve happiness." She was true to her words and had hoped for Dylan to achieve the same happiness. However, she would not allow Dylan to spoil a woman excessively. The moment there was the element of love involved, then there would be a weak point for others to exploit.
Regardless, the conversation between the grandmother and granddaughter here would never reach the ears of Dylan and Kendall.
When Kendall came out of the bathroom, she found that Dylan was already lying in bed waiting for her. While drying her hair with her towel, she walked over and flirted with him. "Dylan, did you get all cleaned up so that you can wait here to be pounced on by me?"
Glancing at Kendall twice, Dylan only replied indifferently, "I've already seen everything there is to see after your numerous pouncing." Besides kisses and a few physical touches, Dylan knew that Kendall would not go any further. Surprisingly, Kendall wholeheartedly believed the rumors that he had difficulties after the car accident.
"… Dylan, why does it feel like you are implying to me to do something new? Do you perhaps wish for me to strip you naked before taking a photo of you?"
Dylan's expression grew dark. "Kendall Parker, you are a woman for crying out loud!" Why would you be so shameless when you're talking?
"Since we can't go at it, what's the harm in talking about it? Every time I lay eyes on how good your face looks compared to mine, I feel bitter and guilty inside."
"What do you mean by that?"
Kendall gave a suggestive glance at a certain part of Dylan. "You know."
At this point, Dylan was tempted to pick up a pillow and throw it right in her face.
Unaware of what Dylan was thinking, Kendall picked up the hairdryer and placed it near him. With a pleasing smile on her face, she coaxed, "Dylan, my hair told me that they like you a lot, and want you to dry their wet bodies with that thing you have there."
"Why did you wash your hair when it's this late?" Although Dylan said that, he still picked up the hairdryer and asked Kendall to plug the power in and to move a chair over to the side of the bed so that it would be easier for him to blow-dry her hair.
Ten minutes later.
The couple was now lying in bed. Kendall—who was resting her head on one of her hands—was lying on her side while fixing her gaze on Dylan.
Dylan—who was pretending to read the magazine in his hand—pursed his thin lips before finally speaking up. "Say it."
"Dylan, I love you."
"… Kendall, if you dare continue with your nonsense, I swear I will throw you out to the doghouse and let you spend a night there with this scenario ending with me picking up your ashes the next morning."
"You're no fun." Saying that, Kendall went to lie flat on her back. However, it didn't take long for her to lie on her side once more. She then placed one of her hands on Dylan but immediately felt that it might be uncomfortable for her. Thus, she cheekily went into Dylan's arms and adjusted herself into a comfortable position before she completely stopped moving about.
"Dylan, do you believe that people can go back to the past after their death?"
"Back to the past?"
"Meaning to be given a second chance in life."
Dylan sneered before lightly hitting her face with the magazine. "You've read one too many novels."
Kendall stayed quiet, as she knew that Dylan would never believe her. After all, if it was not because of her personal experience, she would not believe it either. Although it was true that she had been reading such novels over the past years, she knew that it was all ultimately just fiction. The death of a person was just like the burning out of the filament of a lightbulb. There was no way that a person would be able to go back in time and start their life all over again. Nevertheless, she was given the chance to do so.
"Wasn't I in a coma after cutting my wrist to kill myself as a rejection of the proposal? During the coma, I had a long, long bizarre dream. In that bizarre dream of mine, I was still the daughter of the Parker Family." Since Dylan did not believe in a person going back in time after death, Kendall could only retell her story in the form of a dream.
"After I was taken back to the Parker Family by my real parents, I became the second daughter of the Parker Family. However, I wasn't close with them since I was practically raised by the Woods Family. Until I was twenty-five years old, I've always thought of myself as the daughter of the Woods Family, and so did they."
"After knowing that I was actually the daughter of the Parker Family, due to how my birth parents felt that they did me wrong, they would treat me well and give me whatever I desired. In all honesty, I was not greedy, as the only thing I have ever asked from them was to allow me to love Jackson and for me to marry him, as I had fallen in love with him at first sight," Kendall recounted the story as though it was someone else's life story.
Although Dylan knew of all that transpired after Kendall became part of the Parker Family since he had had people investigate her, he only continued to listen quietly to her.
"In that dream, I've also cut my wrist in order to refuse the proposal, and then went on a hunger strike to force my parents' agreement with my marriage with Jackson. Soon after that, as Jackson's fiancée, I went along with him to a social event and got drunk as a result. When I woke up, I realized I was inside a hotel room with Jackson, with blood all over the bed. The moment I woke up there, Jackson came out of the bathroom and tenderly embraced me before he told me that it would have happened anyway now that we were engaged, and that it was just things moving ahead of schedule."
Speaking of the events that night, Kendall still couldn't recall what happened after she was drunk. Not to mention, the reason as to why her purity was taken by Frank instead. She had suspected that it was Jackson who had gifted herself to Frank at some point. Thinking from this perspective, Jackson would have known who the real father of her baby was. However, when Kelly told her the truth about her pregnancy, she said they had no idea who the father of her baby was either, and only accused her baby as an illegitimate child.
At this point, Dylan tightened his grip on the magazine he was holding and tried to suppress his jealousy so as to not tear that magazine in his hand to pieces. He was still feeling indignant even though Kendall had told him that it was but a dream.
"After that, lo and behold, I was pregnant and even had a grand wedding ceremony with Jackson. However, ever since the wedding, he would never have any physical contact with me and would always say that he was just thinking of the child. In the end, we slept in separate rooms as a married couple. Even then, I was still feeling appreciative of how thoughtful he was being. Hah, I was really naive back then." Kendall's tone shifted and took on a hateful tone.
"After the marriage, he asked me to stay at home to raise my baby. In truth, he was merely placing me under house arrest. He would often leave early in the morning and return home late at night. Sometimes, he might not even be back at all. Furthermore, he would often have work outstation and would not be back home for days—weeks even. I've always thought that it was because he was busy with work, but who would've thought—'' Kendall stopped mid sentence abruptly. She then rolled herself out of Dylan's embrace and wrapped herself with the thin blanket tightly.
Rehashing her past life, her idiocy, her foolishness, and everything that she had experienced, she felt as though a knife had stabbed through her heart that left her feeling that she was covered in blood and pain once more.
With every pain and regret she recalled, her hatred grew deeper and deeper.
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