Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
“Don’t worry. I will protect you,”
he reassured her.”Ahem!”It was only when a cough rang out from the side that the couple noticed Theodore was still there, and they awkwardly detached themselves from one another.”It’s normal for you youngsters to be passionate in love. Don’t mind me. Just pretend that I’m not here.”Theodore let out a stiff smile when he realized that he was being a third wheel.”Geez! Don’t start imagining things, Dad. How’s Mom doing?”Callum was always thinking about his mother. Even though his father repeatedly told him on the phone that his mother was fine, he was still worried.Theodore stood up and stated,
“She’s upstairs. I’ll take the two of you to her.”
The two of them went upstairs with Theodore and soon, they were greeted by the sight of Margot lying in the room, her breathing even as she slept soundly.
“After your mother came back, there was nothing wrong with her except for the heart attack caused by shock. Look at her. I’ve just tucked her in, and she will probably only wake up after a few hours.”Callum visibly relaxed upon hearing that.
“I’m glad. You have to let me or Elspeth know immediately if something happens, Dad.”After he said that, he threw a glance at Elspeth standing beside him and smilingly praised,
“You have a capable daughter-in- law.”Once again, Theodore could barely hold back his tears at Callum’s words. But since Callum was here and Margot was still resting, he could only lower his voice and say,
“Indeed. I’m as grateful for Elspeth as much as I am sorry. It’s all my fault. When I found out that your mother was kidnapped and rushed to the doctor, I was so out of my head that I forced Callum to break up with you. The two of you wouldn’t be in such a mess if it weren’t for me.”Elspeth shook her head.
“It’s alright, Mr. Winthrop. I know how you feel. If it were me, I would have made the same decision as you.”He sucked in a deep breath when he heard that.
“Thank you for understanding and thank you for saving her life. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know when I would see her again.”The three of them continued to chat without knowing that Margot, who was lying there, had already woken up. When she heard what they were talking about, she couldn’t help but open her eyes.”You’re awake!”
Theodore exclaimed in surprise when he saw Margot open her eyes.
“Why are you up so early? You haven’t even slept for long.”Margot immediately scolded,
“How dare you tell me to sleep when you know that Elspeth would be home?! You don’t want me to see her, do you?”Theodore flushed red at her words.
“D-Did not!”Seeing him cower, Elspeth covered her mouth and laughed.”Elspeth.”
Margot stretched out a hand and Elspeth hurried over and sat next to her.
“Come here. Let me take a good look at you. Why are you so much rounder and healthier looking than when you first came to our house? I heard that you and Callum broke up. Tell me, did he treat you badly and starve you when you were together? I will beat him if that’s so!”She had given her whole heart to this charming and intelligent daughter-in-law of hers. No one else even mattered to her anymore at this point.”Of course not. Callum and I get along just fine.
He treats me really well.”Margot’s fierce gaze was on her as soon as Elspeth finished speaking.
“Why are you still calling him Callum? Don’t you two lovebirds have any intimate nicknames for each other?”Elspeth froze upon hearing that. This was beyond her comprehension.”Geez!”
Margot huffed.
“You know, something along the lines of babe, honey bunny, cutie pie… Nicknames like that!”Elspeth almost choked on her saliva.The corners of her mouth twitched as she stammered,
“Aren’t those nicknames… a little… too much?”At that point, she was at a loss.Margot patted the back of Elspeth’s hand and patiently explained,
“Not at all. It’s just right. Isn’t this what young couples do? Theodore used to call me baby when we were dating.”She then shot Theodore a glare.
“Isn’t that right?”Theodore’s wrinkly face was flushed out of embarrassment now. However, to not make his wife angry, he repeatedly bobbed his head in agreement.
“That’s right. That was our nickname back then.”Unable to think of a better word to describe her shock, Elspeth could only blurt out,
“How avant- garde, Mr. Winthrop.”
Theodore had never been in such an embarrassing situation in his life and he could only tug at his sleeves as he stood there, not knowing what to do.Margot only continued to reminisce when she saw his reaction.”You see how he’s behaving now? He looked exactly like this back when he went to my father and asked for my hand-“”Okay, okay. That’s enough. Let the youngsters solve their problems. You’re not well yet. You should rest.”Theodore quickly stopped her as he couldn’t handle hearing more of Margot’s stories.Callum and Elspeth could read the room well. Seeing Theodore being on the verge of losing his mind, they tactfully stood up.”Alright, Mrs. Winthrop. We’ll be out of your hair. You should rest now. We’ll come to see you later.”Margot didn’t stop the couple as she felt quite weak. Instead, she grumpily took a glance at Theodore.
“Sure, sure. Come see me when you’re free.”Elspeth responded with a nod before she tugged Callum along and left at the speed of light.When they got downstairs, Elspeth looked at Callum’s face and instantly grew serious again.
“Let’s go to Arthur next and have him meet Mr. Blue as soon as possible. We might be able to persuade him to turn around.”However, she noticed that Callum was distracted after she spoke.
“What are you thinking about?”
She waved her hand in his face.His eyebrows were knitted into a frown.
“Babe is a little icky, baby sounds somewhat cheap, and cutie pie is a mouthful. Let’s call you Mrs. Winthrop.”He’s still stuck on the topic of nicknames after such a long time! Elspeth inwardly sighed as she held her forehead.”Let’s not worry about this first. You should think of a way to get Arthur to agree to meet up.””This is important enough to me!””Callum Winthrop! Stop being such a kid!”He looked calm as he refuted,
“I’m not. This is an intimate nickname that couples should call each other. You, too, shouldn’t call me Callum.”Seeing how unrepentant he was, she dragged him to a corner and held his hand.
“Babe?”
she purred.The tip of the man’s ears turned red.”Baby boy…”His throat bobbed.”Hubby!”That was the final straw that prompted Callum to grab Elspeth’s wrists in return and press a kiss on her lips.The moment he kissed her, she felt her mind go blank.Her heart thundered away when she felt his breath and heartbeat.This level of excitement should be illegal.”Callum… Mmph -“His lips devoured hers as he sucked in her taste.Only after a long, long time did he let her go.Elspeth felt like she almost ran out of breath. Panting, she glared at Callum who had a triumphant smile.
“Callum Winthrop, you are such a jerk!”He paid no heed to the look in her eyes as he drawled,
“Weren’t you the one who seduced me first, Mrs. Winthrop?””I was teasing you, not seducing you!”
She was about to blow her top because of him.”You standing here is enough to seduce me.”Callum’s voice was still slightly raspy after they kissed earlier. Hearing him speak in the seductive way only a mature man could immediately made her heart race.What a seducer!”Call me hubby from now on.”There was no way she would do as he pleased. She turned the other way and shouted,
“No! I won’t do it!””Call me your baby boy, then.”She calmed down after hearing his words.Compared to hubby, this she could accept…Hold up. Why does he want me to call him that?She glared at him.
“I’m going to start the car engine. You should inform Mr. Winthrop that we are going out. We will go find Arthur together.”
Elspeth and Arthur rendezvoused at the office in Winthrop Group. After the move Jordan pulled the other day, Callum didn’t feel safe letting Elspeth meet up with people anywhere else. The safest place would be the company.It wasn’t long before Arthur opened the door and came striding into the room.”What is this, Callum? What bullsh*t are you and Elspeth up to this time?”
He scoffed and plopped on a chair, his eyes fixed on her.”Arthur, I have something to tell you about your birth parents’ death.”Before she could say anything more, Arthur’s face fell and he warned,
“Callum, I don’t mind talking if you don’t bring up this sh*t.””You don’t still think that your father is the murderer of your family, do you? Arthur, you wouldn’t have held onto your grudge against Mr. Winthrop who has raised you for decades if your brain functions even a bit!”Elspeth didn’t hold back at all. She had nothing to say to Arthur.Arthur let out a soft chuckle at first before his laugh erupted into a full-blown chortle.
“What do you know, Elspeth? It wasn’t your parents who died, and you weren’t the one who was raised being preferred over someone else. What right do you have to stand on the moral high ground and criticize me? Who do you think you are?”Seeing him laughing maniacally, Elspeth took a glance at the restroom at the side.Someone walked out right then and called out,
“Arthur!”It was Arthur’s birth father, Yoel Blue.Arthur was taken aback as he looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar man in front of him, and he suddenly didn’t know what to say.Yoel and Arthur were way too alike!Yoel was what Arthur would look like in twenty years.Arthur was stunned and with a doubtful heart, he gingerly asked,
“Are you my… father?”When Yoel heard that last word, he couldn’t hold back his emotions anymore and swiftly burst into tears.
“Arthur! It’s me, your father!”Suddenly, Arthur glanced at Elspeth and immediately grew cautious.”Bullsh*t! Elspeth must have found a man who looks somewhat similar to me and lied about him being my father. You are not my father. My father died twenty years ago!”No one would be able to accept having a person who was supposed to have died twenty years ago suddenly appear in front of them.Seeing Arthur losing his calm, Elspeth spoke in a calmer voice.
“No matter if you believe it or not, this man is your father. I have a copy of your DNA certificate here. If you don’t believe it, you can run the test again yourself. You’ll know whether he is your father or not.”Arthur took a deep breath and looked at the man in front of him, his eyes were a mix of both warmth and indifference.
“Why are you back now of all times?”Yoel took a step forward to hold Arthur’s hand, but the younger man avoided him. Yoel lamented,
“Arthur, I must have been possessed in the past. Your mother died in the car accident and I was seriously injured. As a last resort, I left you behind because I thought you could live a good life with the Winthrops. I didn’t think-“”You didn’t think I would fall apart with the Winthrops? And you came back because you can’t accept how things have turned out, right?”An unhesitant Arthur exposed Yoel when he guessed what the man was about to say.Yoel was slightly stunned as he nodded.
“Arthur, our car accident back then was not caused by Mr. Winthrop. It was because I was running away from my debts. Mr. Winthrop had no choice but to drive and follow us…”
Yoel remembered that the accident happened in the afternoon. Due to his owing a huge sum of money, he had no choice but to abscond with his family in a fit of desperation. Unexpectedly, he met Theodore on the road.Left with no other way, he drove away quickly. However, he forgot that this section of the road was a high-risk section and he hit a stone at the side. As a result, he was seriously injured and fell into a coma while his wife died on the spot. The only person who came out of the accident unscathed was the child his wife tightly protected in her arms.Just thinking about this made Yoel feel sorry for both Arthur and Theodore.”So what? That still makes him the one who pushed you and my mother to death.””Arthur!”
Yoel’s voice immediately turned stern when he heard those words.
“You must be grateful. Theodore has raised you for so many years. Even giving you a bite of food is benevolent of him. He even raised you so well. How can you be so heartless?!”Arthur sneered at that.
“Do you think I will forgive them just because of what you said? How ridiculous. I don’t hate them only because they killed you and my mother. I have been wronged since I was a child. I will never forget what I lost. I will have everything that is rightfully mine!”That put a frown on Elspeth’s face.
“Wronged? What do you mean?”Arthur realized that he had said too much. His eyes were slightly red, but he still calmed down.
“No matter what you say, I won’t forgive the Winthrops.”He glanced back at Yoel with hatred and disappointment in his eyes.
“And you… I will never, ever forgive you!”After finishing speaking, he slammed the door and left.Yoel collapsed to the ground all of a sudden.
“It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault that things have turned out this way…”Elspeth quickly helped him up when she saw this.”Mr. Blue, don’t think too much about it. I told you that Arthur’s thoughts have been somewhat distorted since he was a child. Understandably, you can’t persuade him.”Yoel let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll talk to him again. I’m his biological father, after all. I’m sure he will listen to me, even if it’s only a little.”After speaking, he also went out, leaving only Elspeth and Callum to look at each other with exhaustion in their gazes.”Callum, why do you think Arthur turned out this way?”Callum’s voice was as calm as a lake.
“Comparison is unavoidable in a wealthy family like the Winthrops. I was also like this when I was a child.”She immediately became interested when she heard his words.
“You mean… you felt sad because you lost to someone else when you were younger?”He began to reminisce as he thought of the past.
“When I was young, there were five children in my family, and I was the best at studying. Blake and Max would stick to me all the time. Edmund used to tear up my test papers and say that I got zero marks every time after my school exams. And because of that, I would be punished by not being given dinner.”Elspeth accidentally let a laugh slip as soon as she heard that.
“Edmund grew up evil, huh?”Callum shot her a glum look.
“You’re making fun of me,”
he complained.”Ahem! My apologies. Please continue. I’ll listen well and I promise I won’t laugh. Not if I can hold it in.””And after 12.00AM when everyone in the family had gone to bed, Arthur would sneak over to bring me food in case I was hungry.”Elspeth rubbed her chin.
“A young Arthur seems kind.””But Arthur was actually the one who tore up my test papers.””And yet he brought you food at night?”
