Nelly sat down beside her after closing the door to the room.
Thalia's lips quivered as she wondered how she should put everything into words. All the while, Nelly crossed her legs and studied her with a gentle gaze. “It's you.”
Startled, Thalia looked at her in puzzlement.
Nelly held Thalia's gaze upon noticing her suspicion. “Haven't you been wondering who Spencer likes? It's you. You're the only one.”
Thalia looked at Nelly in surprise. Then she smiled in a self-deprecating manner. “I wanted to speak to you in private because I wish to hear the truth from you!”
Without explaining any further, Nelly reassured her, “I'm telling you the truth. I don't lie, especially to other women.”
Thalia continued to stare at Nelly . She knew the latter somewhat and that she would never lie. To be precise, she was more of the taciturn type.
But... how could Spencer possibly like me? He's been hiding from me and pushing me away. How could he possibly fancy me?
Thalia was about to say something else when Nelly went on, “While I don't know much about anything else, this is the one thing that I'm certain of.”
Thalia blinked in disbelief.
“If that's the case, why would he do that? Is it possible to show no interest and ignore the person one likes?” Thalia questioned. “I don't believe that. At the least, I won't be able to do that. Nobody I know can do that.”
Nelly mulled over Alpha Kilian 's words, then looked at Thalia with a frown. “I don't know what happened between you two, but the fact that he pushed you away, turned you down, and even hid from you wasn't because he didn't like you. On the contrary, he likes you so much that he has to show restraint.
You should think back on what happened between you two. I bet that must be the reason he rejected you.”
After listening to Nelly 's words, Thalia did her best to recall her past with Spencer, but nothing tipped her off as to Spencer's behavior.
She faced Nelly . “What makes you think he likes me? Did he tell you in person?”
Nelly took a deep breath and gazed at Thalia at the mention of that. “When we first met, he asked me to investigate a woman named Thalia Jacoway. Since then, he would keep track of her whereabouts no matter where the woman went.”
Thalia was startled. So he's also aware that I've been looking for him throughout the years?
“Other than that, he always has a soft look in his eyes whenever he speaks your name.” Thalia continued to stare at Nelly .
“Every year, he would prepare a gift for this woman and send it to her anonymously without fail,” Nelly said.
Thalia was stunned when she mentioned that.
“He was the one who sent the gifts?” Thalia asked. Nelly nodded. “Yeah.”
A teardrop fell from the corner of Thalia's eye. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time. While she might question everything else Nelly had told her, the gifts that she had received every year were solid proof.
She would receive them wherever she was, to the point where she suspected that someone had planted a tracker on her. She had gone as far as conducting a search back at Darknetz, but nothing turned up.
As far as those mysterious gifts were concerned, she abhorred them, for they made her feel as if she were under constant surveillance. It wasn't until she received another one at night after being injured while on a mission that she came to loathe them less.
In fact, she even felt a sense of warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time.
It wasn't until then that she became less resistant to receiving the gifts. The fact that they didn't affect her life might be another reason.
So this is all Spencer's doing.
Thalia lay on the bed with tears in her eyes.
“Although he never admitted the truth to me, I don't know what love is if these aren't considered acts of love,” Nelly added.
Yeah. What does love look like if not like this?
Thalia blinked in silence, still unable to hide the disappointment in her eyes.
Right then, Nelly seemed to have recalled something. “Oh, there's one more thing.” Thalia looked at her from the corner of her eyes.
“He never admitted it to me, and he denied it whenever I pressed for answers. But he admitted it to someone else.”
“Someone else? Who is it?” Thalia asked.
Nelly narrowed her eyes. “A woman I don't know!” “A woman?” Thalia's smile stiffened.
Nelly figured she had beaten around the bush enough, so she explained slowly, “There was once when he had too much to drink at a bar. I don't know if he was just drunk or if he needed to vent his feelings, but he told the woman who hit on him that he fancied someone named Thalia Jacoway!”
“And how did you know that?”
“I got a phone call and went to pick him up. The woman saw me and addressed me by your name,” Nelly said with a smile.
Caught off guard, Thalia glanced weakly at the person standing at the door. Nelly raised her brows at Thalia to tell Thalia that the rest was up to her.
Spencer examined Thalia's body and asked anxiously, “What's wrong, Thalia? Are you feeling unwell?”
Only then did Thalia retract her gaze and look at Spencer. “I... I don't think I can carry on...” she uttered weakly.
“What?” Spencer froze momentarily before shaking his head. “No. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Thalia, tell me now. What's wrong?”
“I... Everywhere hurts. It's getting difficult to breathe...”
“How did this happen?” Spencer was still examining her. However, he couldn't find anything wrong with her. She looks like she's in a lot of pain. Did I miss something?
“Thalia, tell me, where are you hurting? Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you...” Spencer panicked, his hands trembling.
“There's nothing you can do. No one knows my body better than I do...” Thalia shook her head.
Tears rolled down Spencer's cheeks. “Even if you die, I'm going to drag you back to life! I swear I won't let anything happen to you!”
Nelly looked at them with her brows slightly arched.
Suddenly, the kids outside seemed to have found out about something, and they rushed in. They were so fast that Thalia couldn't stop them in time.
“Thalia.”
“Thalia.”
The three kids looked at her with their red eyes.
Uh... Thalia was stunned when she saw them, and she almost couldn't continue her act. “How did this happen? You were all right just now, no?” Tony mumbled.
“Save her, Spencer. Don't you have superb medical skills? Save her!” Ben shouted.
Spencer was flustered. He was on the verge of freaking out. In fact, he had never been more anxious than that in his life. I've never doubted my medical skills, but I'm doubting myself now...
“Thalia, where are you hurting? Tell me,” Spencer asked in his hoarse voice.
Thalia was saddened when she saw how sorrowful everyone was. Right when she was about to give up, Nelly stepped forward and said, “Quiet down, the three of you. Let Thalia talk to Spencer.”
“But—” Tony was about to say something, but when he lifted his head, he saw Nelly winking at him.
Tony froze.
After staring at Nelly for a long while and shifting his gaze to Spencer and Thalia, he finally realized what was going on.
True enough, Nelly was signaling him to leave.
“All right, listen to me. Let's give them some space,” Nelly uttered. “Okay,” Tony responded.
Ben and Donna were still staring at Thalia. “The two of you too,” Nelly said.
“I don't want to leave, Nelly . I want to stay with Thalia.” Donna 's eyes were filled with sorrow, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Upon hearing that, Nelly couldn't help frowning. It's so hard to control so many kids at once. Ben was looking at Thalia in silence.
Tony went up to them and grabbed them. “Let's give Thalia some space. Let them talk to each other in private.”
“I don't want to...” Donna replied while shedding tears. However, she suddenly felt Tony tapping on her hand, so she turned toward him in confusion.
She immediately stopped crying after the tapping stopped. “Be good. Let's go,” Tony said to her.
Only then did Donna bob her head.
Ben received the signal as well, and the three of them left at once.
Nelly glanced at Thalia and Spencer and heaved a sigh. “Have a nice talk, you two. I'll be right outside.” With that, she turned around and left.
She even closed the door behind her.
At that moment, the atmosphere was at its peak. Spencer looked at Thalia. He was convinced that there was something wrong with her. “Thalia...”
After everyone left, Thalia could perform without holding back.
Weakly, she said, “Spencer, after I leave this world, no one is going to pester you anymore. You can finally live a normal life...”
“No. I don't want to live a normal life. I want you to pester me. Thalia, that's really what I want. I want you to stay alive. I'll send you to the hospital now!” Spencer wanted to lift her up.
“There's no use... Spencer, let me finish, okay?” Thalia stared at him and stopped him.
Spencer shook his head. He did not want to listen to her. “Don't talk. I don't want to listen. I just want you to live. I want you to stay alive.”
For some reason, Thalia started crying. “Spencer, don't you want to listen to my last words?”
Shocked, Spencer merely stared at her in silence.
“I just need to say a few words.” Thalia looked at him with pleading eyes.
Spencer's eyes were brimming with tears. As he looked at her, he tried his best to conceal something. “I know you despise me, but I won't pester you anymore after this. Just talk with me, okay?”