- The night was slowly descending upon them.
- Anthony and Thalia were watching the live footage from Natasha’s surveillance cameras in a car parked outside the hospital.
- Thalia yawned. “With Kenneth here, your mom will be fine,” she said, turning to look at Anthony. “How about I send you back home first? You’re a growing kid, and staying up so late is definitely not good for you.”
- Anthony shook his head and looked at the computer seriously. “There’s no need. I have a bad feeling somewhere in my gut, and I keep feeling like that person is going to appear.” He glanced at Thalia. “If I’m tired, I’ll just sleep for a bit in the car.”
- “Today?” She rose an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
- “I can’t explain it, but I keep feeling anxious deep inside. I mean my instinct,” Anthony said.
- She narrowed her eyes before nodding. “Okay, if you say so. We’ll just continue watching, then. I would love to see which doofus has been wasting my time these last few days. If I get my hands on him, I’ll beat him up.”
- Anthony simply looked at her.
- “What?” she asked. “Is there something on my face?” She began to look in the mirror.
- “Well, all I can see here are my good looks,” she muttered as she turned her face from side to side.
- Anthony shook his head.
- “Then what are you looking at?”
- “Nothing. I’m just worried for you.”
- Thalia frowned in confusion. “Worried? Worried about what?”
- “I’m worried that whoever marries you in the future is going to have a headache every single day.”
- Thalia was speechless.
- She looked at Anthony and was about to spite him back, but she changed her mind. With a smile, she said, “What? Are you worrying for yourself?”
- “Why would I be worried about myself?”
- Thalia narrowed her eyes and leaned in closer to him. “Maybe you already have feelings for me, and that’s why you thought about something as random as that. It’s alright! I’m only a decade or so older than you. I’ll wait, and once you marry me you get to experience firsthand whether I’ll give you headaches or not!”
- Anthony smirked. “Sorry.”
- “Oh, stop pretending! That’s that. I was even worried about which man could live up to marrying an outstanding woman like me, but…” she trailed off as she looked at Anthony. “You seem like a pretty good candidate.”
- Anthony was speechless.
- “Don’t look at other girls from now on, okay? Don’t date prematurely either. I need to keep an eye on you.”
- Anthony finally understood what ‘digging your own grave’ meant.
- …
- Soon, the night was as dark as pitch.
- Kenneth walked in from outside and looked at Natasha. “Grandpa and the kids went straight home after going out for the whole day, so they might only come over tomorrow morning.”
- Natasha nodded. “Okay.”
- She got off the bed and began walking outside, causing Kenneth to frown. “Where are you going?”
- “I’m bored. I want to go walk around for a bit,” Natasha replied without looking at him.
- Kenneth followed her without another word.
- She could feel him walking behind her and turned back to look at him. “Kenneth, I’m a good citizen. Don’t treat me like a prisoner.”
- “Do you think a prisoner would have such luxurious treatment?” Kenneth asked.
- She frowned and simply continued walking, too lazy to quarrel with him.
- With that, he followed behind her silently.
- The hospital was extra quiet at night due to the lack of people, especially in the VIP area.
- Most of the hustle and bustle happened downstairs, where some of the patients were moving around as a form of exercise.
- The doctors and nurses were busying around as well.
- Natasha walked toward the stairs and looked out the window at the moon hung high up in the night sky.
- Kenneth looked at her before glancing up at the moon as well.
- He couldn’t help but feel like she had something on her mind, even more so than usual.
- “Kenneth.”
- He turned away from the moon and looked at her when she called his name. “What is it?”
- “If I don’t survive this, my grandfather…” Natasha trailed off. What right do I have to pass him over to Kenneth? They are not even related!
- After a few seconds, she finally started speaking again. “Please take Old Mr. Hamilton to visit Grandpa more often and keep an eye on his health for me. He only dislikes you because of me. In fact, he used to sing praises on you back then,” Natasha said plainly.
- Kenneth felt like something had pierced through his heart and frowned. Why did Natasha sound like she was giving him her last words?
- He only spoke up after a long time. “You’ll be fine.”
- Natasha smiled and looked at him. “I hope you don’t have any prejudices toward Grandpa because of me.”
- “Of course not. No matter how he treats me, he’ll always be the same Old Mr. Watson who treated me well when I was a kid,” Kenneth replied.
- Natasha nodded in relief.
- “Do you know something I don’t?” Kenneth asked with narrowed eyes.
- “Isn’t this feeling primarily caused by the uncertainty of not knowing anything at all?” Natasha shot back.
- She started feeling panicked ever since she realized the car had gone faulty while she was in it.
- She didn’t want to leave suddenly like her parents.
- She was also afraid that she would suddenly get into an accident or something.
- It wasn’t death that she feared. Instead, she was more worried about how the people she left behind would feel.
- The Hamilton family would take care of the kids, but what about her grandfather?
- She didn’t want to see her grandpa crying over her dead body.
- Natasha’s eyes were starting to redden and she turned away, not wanting Kenneth to see her cry. However, the very next second, Kenneth stepped forward to stand directly in front of her.
- “Listen up, Natasha. I won’t let anything happen to you, you hear me? Nothing!” Kenneth said clearly as he stared her straight in the eyes.
- Natasha looked at him with a slight smile. “Kenneth, do you know how many people are here? You wouldn’t want me to call for sexual harassment, would you?”
- Kenneth looked at her, stunned. That was the first time she had ever smiled at him.
- For a brief moment, he was caught off-guard by her smile.
- “Do it then,” Kenneth said.
- Natasha knew that it wouldn’t work on Kenneth anyway.
- She fell silent for another second before saying, “Kenneth, can you do me a favor?”
- “Just tell me.”
- “I feel like having something sweet,” Natasha said. “There’s a dessert place nearby. Could you help me get some?”
- Of course, Kenneth couldn’t turn her request down. “What flavor?”
- “Anything as long as it’s very, very sweet,” Natasha said.
- He nodded. “Okay.”
- “I’ll wait for you here,” Natasha said.
- He looked at her small face and porcelain-like skin, looking just as she did when she was barely twenty. For some reason, he didn’t know how to react.
- He only woke up from his stupor a few seconds later. “Okay. Stay here,” he said as he walked away.
- He had barely walked away before turning back.
- “What is it?” Natasha asked.
- He looked at the people around her and said again, “Don’t go anywhere, alright? I’ll be right back.”
- “Don’t worry. I’ll be right here waiting for you,” Natasha said.
- Kenneth was worried, but since there were so many people around, he finally left after a few seconds of hesitation.
- Natasha watched him leave and her smile slowly faded as her gaze became serious.
- Her smile finally disappeared after he had completely disappeared from her line of sight and she walked back to her room.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Not Twins (Natasha and Kenneth)