Sean listened quietly. As an outsider, he felt sorry for Patrick.
Patrick said he knew he was wrong, which meant that he was on the verge of desperation.
"If so, we would have kids by now, and they would be at the age of attending school." Patrick looked into the distance.
Sean felt as if Patrick's words were boiling oil that was poured onto his heart, upsetting him inexplicably.
"Let's have a drink."
"No. She will get hungry when she wakes up." After saying that, Patrick stood up and took out some vegetables from the fridge. "I'll make some soup. She has a delicate stomach."
Just as he placed the vegetables on the counter, he suddenly paused, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the stuffed trash can.
After looking at it for a while, Patrick squatted down and took things out of the trash can one by one.
Sean looked at Patrick, who was quietly washing the couple's mugs behind the sink, and sighed silently that fate always made jokes with people.
After Patrick put everything back, he returned. "Alger's lover has signed the bone marrow donation agreement. Sean, I'll leave Harry for you."
Sean looked at Patrick and realized that Patrick cared about whatever Gloria cared about.
For bone marrow transplant surgery, it was important to be in the capsule one month after surgery. Patrick was afraid that something would happen to Harry after the surgery and that Gloria would be sad.
"OK. I will be in the capsule too." Sean nodded solemnly.
Gloria gradually woke up. When she woke up, the room was dark. She got up, walked to the living room, and was not surprised to see Patrick sitting on the sofa watching TV under the warm light.
In the living room, he kept the TV volume low. It seemed that he was worried that it might wake her up.
There were light footsteps in the corridor, and Patrick turned to look.
Their eyes met.
Neither of them seemed to have any huge mood swings, as if they were a couple that had been together for decades, or maybe they had already reached a tacit understanding. They somehow stayed in peace.
The atmosphere appeared to be peaceful.
Patrick stood up and walked to the bar counter. He warmed up the food and placed it on the bar counter.
Then Gloria walked over silently and sat down to eat.
It was as if there was never so much love and hate or so many painful memories between them.
It struck everyone as a peaceful meal, which created an illusion that everything was fine, and everything would continue to be fine.
After the last mouthful of warm food, Gloria put down the tableware, which made a slight noise on the counter.
"Let me go."
Gloria said slowly in a hoarse voice.
Patrick was putting away the dinner plates, and his hands froze in midair. "You're tired. Sean says you're not well. Go get some sleep, and in the morning, I'll go to the supermarket and get some food for you."
"Let me go," Gloria said in a hoarse voice. She didn't respond to Patrick's words at all.
"Be good." Patrick put the plates in the sink, washed his hands clean, dried them, and walked to her.
He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Go to sleep. Everything will be all right after you sleep it off."
"Let me go," she said, her eyes calm.
His strong arms held her waist tight. Though they were so close, she felt no warmth at all.
Her eyes were dry without any traces of moisture.
Patrick said nicely, "Gloria, be good and go to sleep. I'll pretend I never heard this. Don't say such silly words again."
Patrick's voice was as gentle as ever, even with a hint of indulgence, but at the same time, it also carried a clear warning.
"I want to leave this place."
Gloria hadn't finished yet, but she had already angered Patrick. "Do you want to leave this place, or do you want to leave me?"
Patrick tightened his arms, his temples throbbing. He was pissed off. Yet he still suppressed his anger mixed with some helplessness that could not be vented. "Don't be silly. Don't let me hear the word 'leave' again."
He gritted his teeth. Only he knew the pain in his eyes. "Gloria, you have been so smart since you were a child. I'm sure you know what's good for you."
What Patrick didn't understand was that business negotiation skills were useless when it comes to relationships.
The reason why he could play tough in the business field was that he had abundant capital to support him. However, it was not the business field here.
He did not know any tricks. The only thing he wanted was to keep Gloria here.
His two friends had reminded him that if he could not keep her, he should let her go.
However, every time he thought that Gloria would leave him, and they would become strangers, he would get flustered uncontrollably.
He would get so flustered that he did not know what to do.
She was poisonous, and yet at the same time, she was his antidote.
Gloria just lowered her head. The smile in her eyes was utterly ironic. She thought, 'He is always like this.
He has never changed.
What Damon said to me today is ringing in my head, including the two families' entanglement as well as the beginning of us. It turns out that everything is nothing but a mistake.
I have a temper, too. I want to yell at him and ask him why he is doing this to me.'
Damon's words were like a huge hammer that smashed her into pieces. She was silent and thought for a long time about the things that Damon said about the two families.
In the end, Gloria did not say anything.
She said nothing to Patrick, who was behind her.
She figured that he did not need to know about those things, since everything between them was just a mistake, to begin with.
"Patrick, you said that you hate me. I got it. I am already ruined like this, and I've got nothing left. I don't understand. What do I have that can possibly catch your eye, Alpha Patrick? Let me go, and we will both enjoy a peaceful life from now on. How is that not good?"
Gloria tried to persuade him, but she forgot one thing. His paranoia could be so scary sometimes.
"No!" Patrick shouted angrily. He thought, 'All she wants to do is leave.
She will do anything to leave.
Is it that bad to be around me?'
"Be good and go to sleep," he said.
He squeezed his hands tightly and waited in terror for Gloria's response as she was in his arms. He was afraid she would tell him again that she wanted to leave. That way, he might no longer be able to control himself, and he had no idea what he would do.
Time ticked by. Gloria, in Patrick's arms, seemed to sense Patrick's thoughts as he was behind her. She said, "OK."
Patrick then loosened his arms and watched Gloria walk into the bedroom. Only when the bedroom door closed gently did he loosen his clenched fists.
When she woke up, everything had changed.
Overnight, aluminum bars were installed on all the windows.
The morning sunlight entered the room. Gloria opened her eyes and turned her head, and in the next second, her gaze was glued to the bars on the windows that were meant to trap her.
She stared at the windows for a long time. Suddenly, she laughed, and tears fell. She was imprisoned again, and this time, he built this prison for her.
She propped herself up, walked barefoot to the windows, and grabbed the bars tightly.
Facing the second prison in her life, she laughed while her tears kept rolling down her cheeks.
It was no different from those three years behind bars. She clutched the bars with both hands tightly. It was the only place where the light shone.