Derek's POV
I came back after dealing with Daphne, thinking Tabitha would be waiting for me in the living room.
It was always like this. No matter how late I came home, I could always see her in the living room, sleeping on the sofa.
She always kept a light on for me.
But today was an exception. When I pushed open the front door, the room was dark, and Tabitha wasn't on the sofa.
In the past, Tabitha would have met me by this time, grumbling and helping me with my clothes.
She would nag and nag non-stop, but I liked her like this the most.
Yet now, though the room was filled with warm air, I still felt cold.
As I pushed open the door, through the light outside the bedroom, I could vaguely see a lump on the bed.
Tabitha had already slept.
I walked to the bedside and gently lay down beside her.
Her unique scent lingered on the tip of my nose.
I couldn't help but reach out and hold her in my arms.
When I heard her wake up, I said unhappily, "Tabitha, you're no longer faithful to me."
She immediately woke up.
She struggled to sit up and said, "Are you kidding? Aren't you the one who's unfaithful first?"
I held her tightly in my arms again.
I whispered in her ear, "I've never been unfaithful to you. Never."
I couldn't tell her about Randall or Kyrian's real identity for her protection.
The only thing I could do was hold her, and I hoped she could feel the complex emotions overwhelming me.
Tabitha stayed in my arms and didn't say anything. Gradually, I calmed down.
I rested my head on her shoulder.
"Tabitha, I found you finally. Please. Don't run away again. OK?"
She was in my arms. It felt so real.
Soon, I became sleepy.
With her in my arms, I fell asleep soon, having the illusion that I had returned to the past.
Tabitha's POV
It had been a long time since I heard Derek's coaxing tone.
If it were two months ago, I might have been surprised and even flattered. Yet now, I simply didn't feel a thing.
For the entire night, Derek held me tightly, like he'd found a lost treasure.
He fell asleep shortly. On the contrary, since I had been used to being alone, his warm body next to me kept me awake for a long time.
My mind was filled with Vilda's death.
After being certain that Derek was already asleep soundly, I slowly slid out of his embrace.
I put on a coat, cautiously left the villa, and then went to the pack house's records room.
He didn't change the password, which was still my birth date. Was he faithful or not? Seemed hard to categorize him.
I opened the safe again and took out the file folder that I had only glanced at hastily before.
I was pretty certain that I had overlooked something. There must have been some connection between Elena's death, John, and Vilda.
This time, I didn't rush to look at others' information. I fixed my gaze on Elena's file bag.
For Derek, her death was a taboo, and I didn't even dare to mention it in the past. So, I never really looked into anything about her.
In addition to some of her childhood toys, the only thing in the safe was this brown paper bag.
Anyone who had once lived in this world would leave certain traces behind.
Taking photos of those papers one by one with my phone, I believed the truth must be hidden somewhere inside.
While I was taking photos nervously, a casual voice suddenly came from the door. "Have you seen enough?"
As I looked up, I saw Derek leaning lazily against the door, his hair slightly disheveled.
He did not take off his clothes before sleeping, so now, his shirt was wrinkled, and several buttons on his collar were pulled open.
I had upset him, and now I was here, secretly checking Elena's information.
Guessed Derek must be very angry now.
It came back to me that he had threatened me with those on the island, and my first reaction was fear.
"I... I couldn't sleep," I explained, flustered, watching him approach me step by step.
I sat on my knees. Derek, tall as he was, blocked out the light above my head and cast a shadow over me.
His eyes were clear, and there was no emotion in his pupils. I had no idea what he was thinking right now. Was he pissed off or not?
I scrambled to put the papers back while stammering, "I was just browsing..."
A strong hand grabbed my wrist.
My heart skipped a beat, and I instinctively begged for forgiveness, "Sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have touched Elena's file. Please don't be angry..."
Derek held my hand and said in a hoarse voice, "It's late."
Puzzled, I looked at him.
He took the papers from my hands, bent down, picked me up, and said, "You have all the time in the world to look at it."
I stared at him with wide eyes. Did he mean I could go in and out of the records room whenever I wanted? I could even look at anything of his?
Seemed that Derek saw through me. He said casually, "I didn't change the password, which means I wasn't planning on hiding anything from you."
He left the pack house with me in his arms and returned to the villa.
Then he put me back on the soft bed and held me tightly in his arms.
His muffled voice came from above me. "Time to sleep."
I stared at the silver buttons on his shirt, which gleamed with a cold silver light in the darkness of the night.
We were so close to each other that I could hear his heartbeat loud and clear.
I was completely confused and had no idea what he was thinking.
"If you don't wanna sleep, I don't mind picking up where we left off."