When Two Winters Met (Henrietta and Yosef) novel Chapter 262

Just as she was about to murmur a soft “Yes?” in reply, Yosef sighed and gently laid a hand on her flat stomach. “Sorry, little one. Looks like we’ll have to wait a couple of years to meet you.” Henrietta was dumbfounded. Oh. So he wasn’t talking to her. She should have known he wasn’t the type to use such a cloying pet name for her. She said nothing. Yosef was genuinely a little down. For some reason, the thought of her taking that pill felt like he was actively preventing their child from coming into the world. “Aren’t you going to take a shower?” Henrietta asked, breaking the silence. Snapping out of his melancholy, Yosef nodded and patted the small of her back. “Right.” Henrietta stood up. Yosef also rose, but then he cupped the back of her head and pulled her in for a deep kiss. “I’ll go wash up,” he said afterward. Henrietta nodded as he walked into the bathroom. He knew he should have been the one to give her the pill, but he couldn’t even bear to watch her take it. The thought of his child… just like that… not being able to exist… it was too much. So, he showered instead. After taking the pill, Henrietta went into the bathroom as well. By the time she was done, Yosef was already in bed, having been reading for a while. As she approached, he set his book down and held out a hand to her. The moment she was on the bed, he pulled her down beneath him, his actions forceful and demanding. It was strange. In his professional life, in the world of business, he was calm, rational, and possessed impeccable self-control. But when it came to this, he seemed to lose all restraint. The warm, floral scent of her skin was his undoing, pushing his hunger to a fever pitch. He kissed her deeply, pinning her hands above her head, his urgency palpable. Watching him shed his mask of cool rationality for this raw, unbridled need, Henrietta felt a jolt of pure, dark electricity strike her. But just as the storm was about to break, the sharp ring of a cell phone shattered the charged atmosphere. Yosef paused. Henrietta came back to her senses. It was her phone. She reached for it, but Yosef’s voice was tight with desire. “Don’t answer it.” “Let me just see who it is,” she said, glancing at the screen. “It’s Jethro.” Yosef captured her lips in another kiss. “Don’t answer. Be good,” he murmured, freeing one hand to switch her phone off. On the other end of the line, Jethro frowned. Why was her phone off? Did the battery die? Well, he figured Henrietta would call him back soon enough. Jethro was in the Royal Crest villa—the very one he had gifted to Artina. He was drinking, and he’d already had quite a lot. He couldn’t quite process the tangle of emotions inside him. There was rage and hatred, enough to burn the world down, but underneath it all, he felt pathetic, ridiculous, and overcome with an indescribable sadness. That’s why he wanted to talk to Henrietta. He never expected to wait for over an hour. By the time Henrietta called back, he was half-drunk. “Henrietta, what were you doing?” he slurred. “Your phone was off. Did it die?” Blushing, Henrietta went along with his assumption. “Yeah, the battery was dead.” Jethro paused, thinking her voice sounded strange.Her usual icy composure had melted into something soft, a lingering huskiness in her voice that she couldn't quite hide. But Henrietta was never the soft, delicate type. “Your voice sounds weird,” Jethro said. “Did you skip dinner? Are you on a diet or something?” Was she weak from hunger? Henrietta quickly cleared her throat, her voice returning to its normal cool tone as she changed the subject. “Did you need something?” “Yeah.” Jethro’s tone grew heavy. “I wanted to ask you… back then, when you were betrayed, how did you get over it so quickly?” Henrietta fell silent. For him to be asking this so late at night, he must be truly hurting. She understood. Jethro was a hopeless romantic at heart, and people like that are simply more sensitive and feel things more deeply. After a moment, Henrietta’s voice was cool and steady. “If you’re still stuck in the sad phase, mourning how someone you loved turned into a monster, it’s only because you haven’t seen or heard enough. Hold on, I’m going to send you something else. After you see it, I don’t think you’ll feel sad for this person any longer.” Hearing this, Jethro, who had been sprawled on the sofa, suddenly sat bolt upright. “You have more?” “Of course,” Henrietta replied. “I have a lot more. Whatever you want, I’ve got it. The whole collection.” Jethro was stunned. “How did you gather so much?” “Why do you think I was so ‘kind’ as to let him live in my villa for over a month?” she said. The evidence she now possessed was more than enough to ruin that family and Artina for life, ensuring they could never recover. That’s why she had finally taken the villa back. “I see,” Jethro breathed. “You’re… incredible.” Pulled into Yosef’s embrace, Henrietta continued her conversation with Jethro. “I understand how you feel. But have you ever considered that you’re not sad for someone else, but for yourself?” Just like she had been. After her birthday party, she’d gone home, showered, and finally let herself break down, crying until she had no tears left. She was only crying for herself—not for someone leaving or for their betrayal. She was mourning her own efforts and the genuine love of her sincere heart. That was all. Jethro had never heard anything like that before. “Is… is that right?” he asked.