Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Waylen didn't give me a proper explanation. "As a subordinate, I'm in no position to make guesses about Mr. Xenos' intentions. Why don't you ask him directly, Miss Felix?" he uttered in a gentle tone. I stared at him speechlessly. I just wanted to know what they were doing there!
After Waylen left, I lay on the hospital bed as I fell deep into thought.
What Quinn uttered a few days ago felt like a stab to my heart. As I ran my hand across the skin around my kidney area, I felt a dull ache in my heart. If the kidney inside me really belongs to Quinn, then I'd rather die than be alive now. Since I'm in a hospital, perhaps I can get the doctor to check on my kidney.
After this was done, the doctor arrived with my report. "You had a kidney transplant surgery 12 years ago, but your healing process went well, so you're no different from the regular person," he said. Upon hearing those words, I felt dazed for a moment as I recalled the pale and sickly look on Quinn's bloated face. She only looks so ill now because I'm using her kidney! She had her kidney taken away without her consent—she wasn't even of age during the time of the surgery! A sharp pain spread across my chest, and it felt like there were a million ants gnawing on my heart. Now, I have hopes for a healthy body, but she's one step closer to death…
"Would it still be possible for me to donate a kidney to someone?" I asked the doctor with a trembling voice. He shot me a puzzled glare. "How are you going to donate a kidney when you only have one kidney? It's not such a simple process, either. A kidney can only survive between ten to thirty years. This is just an estimate, so it'll still depend on how well your kidney is functioning. If you face more issues with your kidney and wish to get a second transplantation, there may not be a suitable match,
and the success rate will be much lower."
The doctor's words felt like a slap in my face. My kidney can only survive for a maximum of 30 years… It has been 12 years since I did the surgery, but I'm only 23 now. My lifespan is going to be short if the doctor's right.
Right then, I also understood what Quinn's words meant. She asked for my kidney when I only have one kidney. That means that she was offering to treat my cancer before sending me off to my death. She might as well just kill me, right?! Isn't she torturing me more if she heals my cancer before ending my life?! It seems like Quinn hates me more than I think.
When the doctor saw the grim look on my face, he softened his tone to comfort me. "I'm just giving you estimates here. Your kidney is working perfectly, so you should be able to survive up until your fifties or sixties," he uttered. However, I wasn't concerned about the amount of time I had in this world—it felt like I still had an abundance of it at that point. My main concern was how I was going to face Quinn in the future. I didn't know if I was supposed to return her kidney to her! I returned to my ward with a glum look on my face, and I spent the next two months recuperating in the hospital.
Throughout that period, Waylen was the only person who came to visit me. By the time I was due to be discharged, I knew that I would have to return to Bryxton to handle the mess that I had left behind. However, I didn't feel like going back at all. Waylen was a thoughtful and empathetic man—he brought this topic up before I even spoke about going back to Bryxton. "Miss Felix, would you prefer to go back to the Xenos' Villa for now? We can send you back to Bryxton after you're fully healed."
Waylen spoke as if I was a part of the Xenos Family—it sounded like I could go home and leave whenever I wanted to. However, that was clearly Shawn's territory, not mine. I wanted to reject the offer, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Staying in the Xenos' Villa sounded much better than heading
back to Bryxton. "Sure. I'll have to thank Shawn for all of this," I uttered in agreement. I hadn't gotten the chance to thank him for pulling me out of the pit of fire that night.
Waylen helped to carry my bags back to the Xenos' Villa. The villa was located in a rather deserted area, and I was in a rush the last two times I visited the place at night, so I never had the opportunity to observe my surroundings. This time, while I looked out from the car window, I saw that there were rose bushes along the road leading into the villa. The roses were small and delicate, and there were purple, yellow, red, and white roses that lay in the bushes.
The rose bushes lined up on the side of the roads were clearly well taken care of, and they continued all the way until the front door of the villa. I couldn't stop myself from asking Waylen about it. "Who planted all of these?"
He gazed at where I was looking before explaining with a smile, "Mr. Xenos insisted on planting these. These flowers can survive quite a long period of time, and it's easier to keep them neat. Do you like these roses too, Miss Felix?" Waylen asked.
"They look really pretty," I commented on one of the pink roses.
"Yeah. It has a really good meaning to it as well," Waylen added. What's the message for roses again? I forgot, I thought as Waylen led me into the large hall. It was empty inside—even the maid who had been around the last time was nowhere to be seen. Being the busybody that I was, I questioned Waylen about it.
"Mr. Xenos doesn't like noise, so he usually doesn't have anyone around to serve him. The maid that you saw was someone he had prepared just for you." Waylen froze for a moment before he looked at
his wristwatch. "She'll be here soon," he said.
"Okay!" I uttered. The assistant brought me up to the same room that I had used before. The white shirt that I had worn was dangling from a hanger, and the sheets that I had slept on had been changed into fresh ones.
"This is Mr. Xenos' room, but you can stay here since he's rarely home," Waylen explained while moving my things into the room. Shawn's room… The large, white shirt belongs to him… I can't believe I walked around in front of him when I was wearing his shirt! How embarrassing!
I thanked the assistant for everything. "You don't have to be so polite with me, Miss Felix," Waylen uttered. Once I settled down, Waylen excused himself while I continued to roam around in the room. I found a white dressing table that stood out in comparison to the rest of the cool colors that filled the room. When I checked the dressing table, there were all sorts of expensive makeup products, and the drawer was filled with lipsticks with a variety of shades to choose from. Waylen's probably the one who prepared all of this. At that thought, I hurried to check the closet, where I was greeted with all sorts of different outfits that took up nearly half of the whole cupboard.
Initially, I thought of using some makeup to cover the scars on my face, but I figured that there was no point wasting all that energy when I was in the Xenos' Villa. While I had always been particular about my appearances, it seemed like I wasn't as harsh on myself after I got to Shawn's home. I picked a simple dress and put it on before spinning around in front of the mirror. Then, I realized that there were still black suits and white shirts hanging in one corner of the closet. From what I remembered, Shawn only ever wore black suits and white shirts, which made him look sterner than ever.
After changing into my outfit, I went downstairs in my bare feet to find the maid who was working in the kitchen. "What are you preparing, young lady?" I asked in a whisper after approaching her. The maid
was shocked for a moment, but she quickly turned around to greet me. "Miss Felix!"
"I'm not scary, am I?" I laughed when I saw how shocked she seemed.
"I'm just a really jumpy person. You seem to be in a good mood, Miss Felix," the maid commented.
"Is that so?" I asked in return. I had no idea what I was happy about! Perhaps I was glad that my illness had healed, or perhaps it was because I could hide—like an ostrich sticking its head into the sand— since I didn't have to return to Bryxton. "Yeah, you seem to be in high spirits today," the maid said with a smile.
"It's probably because I've just recovered from my illness," I explained.
"What do you feel like eating at night?" the maid asked. Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
"Anything's fine. I'm not picky," I replied with a smile.
"Great. I'm going to prepare you a meal that has some healing properties," the maid uttered.
When I walked out of the villa, I could feel the sun's heat against my skin. It was scorching hot, so I only stayed outside for a while before heading back to my room to use my phone. I hadn't used my WhatsApp in the past two months, so there were more than 99 unread messages inside. I didn't know who texted me—I had decided that I wasn't going to care much about all these matters for the time being.
I glanced at the entertainment headlines for a while, but nothing seemed to interest me, so I went to Shawn's study in search of some books to read. The moment I opened the door, I was greeted with all
sorts of calligraphy writings and paintings on the walls. There was a mixture of quotes and pictures on the walls, and the calligraphy wordings were sharp and precise. I had been to his study in the past, but I was too nervous to take a good look at it. This time, I could take my time to scan through the whole place.
The word 'Xenos' was stamped onto all of the paintings, so I figured that one of the elderlies in the family must have been the one who created all of them. Most of the books in the study were old books from the past century. I couldn't find anything interesting, so I picked a poetry collection called 'Memories' by Lang Leav to read in my room.
I only got to read for a while before the maid called me to go down for a meal. I lowered my book and went down to see a scrumptious meal waiting for me. Even though I told the maid to eat with me, she refused to do so, and she wouldn't agree no matter how much I tried to convince her! She was practically close to tears at one point. "Please let me go, Miss Felix."
"What is it?" I raised an eyebrow.
"The Xenos Family's rules…" The maid froze for a moment upon mentioning the rules. "I came from the Xenos' Residence, and the rules are extremely strict there. We are never allowed to offend those who are above us," she explained.
Is it offensive for her to have a meal with me?! I'm not even from the Xenos Family, I thought. I recalled how Waylen mentioned that the Xenos Family was rather special, but I still had no idea what he meant by that. All I knew was that they were extremely strict with their rules. I decided not to bother the maid after that. She waited for me to finish my meal before she tidied the kitchen and left.
I was the only one left in the huge Xenos Villa. All of a sudden, I felt rather lonely. I tossed and turned in
bed for a long time, but I couldn't fall asleep, so I grabbed a vase and walked out of the villa. The rose bushes lining both sides of the road were gorgeous, and I squatted by the bushes to pick more than 30 roses before placing them in the vase. I plucked a majority of white roses and a few green and pink ones to give the bouquet a pop of color.
After I was done, I hugged the vase in front of me and got up. I had just turned around when I was shocked by the person standing behind me. The dim street lights showed his icy, dark figure looming above me, and I was reminded of how he had shown up and carried me in his arms two months ago. I could still hear him calling me 'Myra' in his deep, husky voice. Although he still wore the same cold expression on his face, I felt warmed by his presence. He was the one who took me away from all the embarrassment and shame that I felt, after all. "Thank you," I uttered with a smile.
Shawn was smart, so he knew what I was thanking him for. "How are you feeling?" he asked coldly.
"The doctor said I should be completely healed in a few months," I replied hastily. "Anyway, why aren't you asleep yet?" I edged closer to him with the vase in my hands. I took a glance at the sharp and delicate features on his face before I pulled out a white rose and handed it to him. "I found these really pretty, so I wanted to bring them back to the room."
Shawn gazed at the white rose for a long while without saying anything. He didn't take it from me in the end. It was just like how he didn't respond when Clair asked him about his relationship with me two months ago. Shawn was a man of few words—he was too lazy to explain himself to others and do things he didn't want to do. He had always been easy going and unopinionated, but his silence made him seem especially hostile and cold. It seemed as if he was fearless. Judging by Shawn's abilities, he had every right to be fearless, anyway.
I pulled the rose back as I changed the topic. "Let's go in." Before he responded, I walked into the villa
and saw him following along behind me after that. "Have you eaten?" I asked after opening the door and placing the vase on the table.
"Mhmm," he grunted.
I eyed him silently for a while before I simply excused myself and returned to the room. Only when I got back to the room did I realize… If I'm sleeping here, where's he going to sleep?! I stood up in the room and hesitated for a long while before opening the door. When I walked to the staircase, I found Shawn sleeping on the couch with his back slightly hunched. "Do you want to rest in the room upstairs?" I whispered to him.
He opened his eyes and gazed at me with dark pupils that threatened to turn me into ice. "It's nicer to sleep on the bed," I uttered sheepishly.
"There's only one bedroom in the villa," he uttered as his form of rejection.
"It's a huge bed. We can each sleep on one side," I offered before thinking through my words. The moment I finished my sentence, I felt like slapping myself. However, I could no longer take my words back.
He froze for a moment. "Okay. You can go rest first," he said. My face was burning with shame at this point. I hurried back into the room, but I rolled around on the bed without being able to sleep. I wanted to change into a less revealing set of pajamas, but I didn't want Shawn to think that I had my guard up against him. I gazed at the size of the bed, and I felt a little better after realizing how huge it really was.
About 20 minutes later, Shawn entered the room. However, instead of heading directly to bed, he grabbed his black bathrobe and went into the shower. After he came out, he silently slipped into the
spot beside me. He didn't utter a single word since he entered the room. He didn't seem flustered even in the situation we were in, so I figured that I must've been the one overthinking everything. Eventually, I turned and fell asleep on my side.
While I was dreaming, I felt myself hugging a really hard object. I opened my eyes in a daze, only to find myself hugging the man beside me. I was shocked—I hastily let go of him before edging back to keep my distance. Shawn, on the other hand, looked like he was fast asleep. His sleeping posture hadn't changed from the moment he got into bed.
I took a glance at the time on my phone to realize that it was nearly 6.00AM. When I gazed out of the window, I saw that it was drizzling a little outside. Then, I lowered my phone and glanced at Shawn for a while more. His side profile was facing me, and his sharp jaw looked as perfect as a painting. Someone like him was born to win in life! His looks, his background… and the way that people respect and fear him at the same time, set him out for success! I was heaving a sigh when I heard the man's icy voice in my ear. "How long are you going to stare at me like that?"