Kendall sat up, and Emma passed her the brown sugar syrup.
"Thank you, Emma. Good thing I still have you."
Emma smiled. "Thank Master Dylan. He assigned me to you, after all."
Kendall sipped the syrup. "Wonder if he's doing as I say. He never does anything I tell him to. I bet he's starving himself right now."
"No, he listens to you. Don't worry too much. He won't starve himself. He still has to take you home."
Emma smiled with a hint of envy in her eyes. "I envy your relationship. I've worked for him for many years, and he's an aloof man. But once he loves, he loves deeply. You're fortunate and brave. You managed to make him fall for you all through your work."
Yeah, right. It's all thanks to me being reborn. Wouldn't have clung onto him otherwise, and none of this would have happened. I was blind in my last life. "Sometimes you gotta fight for your happiness."
She did fight for her happiness in this life. She clung to him without fear and did her best to learn and grow until she could stand by him. Thanks to him, even without any cheat system helping her like most protagonists in novels like this, she managed to live well.
Even though there were some blips now, she knew they could work through it together and gain Tilly's approval. Now that she wasn't working or attending any etiquette classes, she had time to think about her marriage life, and she realized she spent too little time with her husband's family.
If she never gave anything to them, she had no right to expect anything from them. She had to shoulder a bit of the responsibility for what happened. Marriage was a two-way street, and in their community, marriages involved families, not just individuals. Both families had to merge for the marriage to work.
A forlorn Emma said, "Sometimes, you still can't get any happiness even if you fight for it." She did fight for her happiness, but in the end, she had to force herself to forget about Toddy. Someday, I will move on from him, she lamented in silence.
"Do you know anybody who's super loyal? Except for Master Dylan. And I need it to be a guy."
Kendall looked at her and smiled. "You want me to play matchmaker?" Just what I wanted. I've always wanted to match her up with Nelson. But he's not as good as Toddy. Wonder if she'd think he's not a good match. Nelson was still in the hospital. She never told him things were going bad between her and the Colemans just in case it would affect him.
"I see you have someone in mind. I need a new relationship to forget about the pain brought about by the last one. I'd like to try."
Kendall finished the syrup soon enough. For some reason, the pain in her belly subsided. Perhaps it was nullified by the excitement of playing matchmaker. "Are you sure you and Toddy are over?"
"I'm over him."
"What about him?"
"He never cared about me."
Kendall didn't think so. She had a hunch that Toddy had feelings for Emma, but he just couldn't bring himself to admit it. "I think Nelson's a good guy. And Roger, too, but they're not as good as Toddy, so you might not like them."
Kendall thought her brothers were good men, but she wasn't Emma. She couldn't control what Emma thought about them.
"I've seen Nelson before, haven't I?"
"I think so? But maybe not."
Emma smiled. "I don't remember him. Probably never officially met. Toddy's an ideal man, but he's too ideal for me. I should find someone around my level. Trying to go after someone out of my league is a tiring endeavor. So, how's he doing?"
"Getting better."
"He'll heal."
"Would you give him a chance? I'll hook you up after he gets better if you want."
"Sure," Emma answered without hesitation.
She had no idea what kind of man Nelson was, but if the Woods could raise Kendall well, they could raise their other kids fine, too. The Woods was a fine family, after all. She wasn't after a life of wealth. All that mattered to her was a stable relationship. Toddy is in the past now. No, we haven't even dated. Not like he can be my past.
And then, her phone rang. She took a look and froze.
Kendall noticed the look on her face. She smiled. "It's Toddy, isn't it?" Speak of the devil.
"Yes." The smile was wiped off Emma's face. She said coolly, "There's nothing to talk about but work."
"Well, why don't you pick it up and find out?"
Emma stayed quiet. He knows I'm assigned to Kendall. There's no way he's gonna call for work. Still, she took the call.
While Emma went out to take the call, Kendall picked her phone up and noticed Orapolis' news on her feed, and it was related to her.
She clicked on the news article and read through all the gossip. Man, the netizens sure know how to make a story.
Look at this. Tilly apologizes and accepts me back into the fold because I am pregnant with Dylan's child? Yeah, right.
She then rubbed her belly. Ouch. The pain was still tormenting her. I wouldn't be going through this torture now if I were pregnant. She and Dylan had talked about it and agreed to not make any babies for the time being. Every time they talked about kids, she would be reminded of the one she had in her past life. I couldn't raise her last time, and this time, I can't even get to see her. I hope she finds herself some good parents.
The apology came as a surprise. No matter what, Tilly still loves Dylan. She wouldn't relent otherwise.
How long did he stand outside the house? Can his legs hold up? She started missing him. She would have flown back into his embrace and kissed him a thousand times if she could.
Emma ended the call and stayed quiet for a long while. Toddy didn't talk about work. All he did was make small talk, and she could see he was trying to make conversation. Emma hung up first, and she noticed the reluctance in his voice as he said goodbye. She finally returned to Kendall's room a long, long while later.
Kendall noticed the dour mood and asked in concern, "What happened?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love Knows No Bounds novel (Kendall and Dylan)
Beautiful story....