Chapter 237: I’ve Told You, You Can’t Get Angry

Chapter 237: Chapter 237: I’ve Told You, You Can’t Get Angry

"Don’t think I can’t see right through you. When we got married, I told you frankly that there was someone else in my heart. You were the one who said you didn’t mind, who promised to treat Vesper as your own."

"Over the years, I’ve tried to let go of the past and accept you. We had children together, and I gave you everything you ever wanted! But your unreasonable tantrums and stupidity have become increasingly unbearable!"

"Joyce, you’d better learn your place. If you don’t want to go on like this, then we’ll separate."

Milton Grayson’s words were sharp, and he looked at her with intense displeasure.

"What did you say?" Joyce took a step back, looking at him in disbelief. "So after all these years of marriage, you’ve never loved me?"

"All I feel for you is responsibility and my duty as a husband!" Milton Grayson’s expression was cold. "How could I ever fall in love with someone as narrow-minded and two-faced as you?"

Theirs hadn’t been a love match to begin with, but a marriage of business alliance.

He had confessed everything to Joyce before they married, telling her things he should and shouldn’t have. But she had still married him without a second thought.

After the wedding, their relationship was one of mutual respect, though they had their brief moments of warmth.

But whenever he showed Joyce even a sliver of kindness, she would take a mile for every inch and make excessive demands.

She never managed to treat Vesper as her own. Of course, he didn’t blame her. After all, everyone is selfish to some degree. What woman could truly treat another’s child as her own flesh and blood?

Joyce looked utterly stricken, her expression lost. "So after all these years, you’re still in love with her, aren’t you?"

"Yes. My feelings for her have never changed! She’s pure and innocent, gentle and beautiful, far more perceptive and kind than you—and worthy of my love," Milton Grayson enunciated every word, his eyes cold. "Are you satisfied now?"

"So what if you love her? That woman might have died long ago for all you know! I’m the one who married you, the one living with you—I, Joyce Rivers!"

Not wanting to argue with her, Milton Grayson strode out.

In the grand hall of the opera house, a lilting melody drifted from the stage, the singing full of sorrow and longing. But the whole affair of tangled love and hate, of obsessive passions and bitter resentment, was in the end nothing more than a one-woman show, directed by and starring Joyce Rivers—a drama in which she was the only one trapped.

...

"Regina, you look a little pale. Are you all right?"

Chelsea Bell refilled her teacup, her expression concerned.

"I’m fine..." She gripped Chelsea’s arm. "Chelsea, the year I was missing... I was living in Northolme the whole time."

"You remembered something?"

"No... Someone just told me."

"Who?"

"Mr. Grayson. Vesper’s father."

"And how would he know?" Chelsea asked reflexively.

Renee recounted what she had just learned, leaving Chelsea utterly stunned.

"After you woke up, we asked what happened during that past year, but you couldn’t remember. Jenson Whitman had people investigate, but they couldn’t find anything either."

It’s a big world. Without any specific leads, no one had any idea where she had gone during the year she was missing.

"I don’t think Mr. Grayson was lying. It’s just... he said that he and I... had a past..." Renee’s knuckles curled slightly. ’Does that mean I did things I shouldn’t have with him?’

’Doesn’t that mean I wronged Lance—betrayed him—without even knowing it?’

Chelsea frowned. "You didn’t ask him?"

"No. I was too stunned when he suddenly said it. I didn’t know what to do."

’I had so many questions for Mr. Grayson, but then Mrs. Grayson stormed in, and I lost my chance to ask.’

’About what happened between them, about the child...’

Her mind was a complete mess; she’d totally lost any mood for the opera.

"Regina, even if something did happen, it wouldn’t have been your fault. I’m sure Jenson Whitman will understand," Chelsea said comfortingly. "Maybe you’re just overthinking things."

"He said I had amnesia. We were together for a year, and I agreed to marry him." Renee pressed her temples. "But I don’t remember any of it."

"If you can’t remember, then don’t try. So many years have passed; who cares what happened back then? The past is the past. That Mr. Grayson has a wife and a happy family now!" Chelsea took a sip of tea, not understanding. "Why would he tell you all this? Don’t tell me he wants to rekindle something?"

...

"Did you enjoy the opera today?"

Jenson Whitman, who had just finished a video conference, smiled and asked as she came in.

"It was all right."

"What did you see?"

"The Peony Pavilion..." she answered distractedly, wrapping her arms tightly around him and resting her head on his chest.

Jenson Whitman wrapped an arm around her shoulder and chuckled softly. "What’s this? Why so affectionate all of a sudden?"

They had been married for over thirty years, but she was a shy person. It was rare for her to be this forward.

"Lance, I ran into Mr. Grayson at the opera house today."

"Milton Grayson? Vesper’s father?"

"Mhm."

Jenson Whitman frowned. He didn’t like the way Milton Grayson looked at his wife; there was always something inscrutable and complex in his gaze whenever he looked at Regina.

"And?"

"He said some things to me..."

"What did he say?"

Renee was silent for a few seconds.

"When I went missing back then... he was the one who saved me."

Jenson Whitman’s eyes darkened instantly.

"What else?"

Renee looked up, biting her lip. "You have to promise you won’t get angry."

"Okay. I won’t get angry."

"When I woke up, I had amnesia. I couldn’t remember anything. He gave me the name Janine Bell. We were together for a period of time, and we even planned... to get married after a trip we were on."

She glanced at him cautiously, and seeing that he wasn’t angry, she continued, "It was during that trip that you found me and brought me home..."

’Who could have known that when I woke up again, I would forget everything about Northolme, including Milton Grayson!’

This was the sequence of events she had pieced together on the way home.

Jenson Whitman’s heart jolted violently. A wave of retroactive fear washed over him. If he hadn’t found her in time, Regina would have married another man.

"Why is he suddenly telling you all this? Is he still hung up on you?"

At that thought, his face fell.

"Mr. Grayson is married with a family. How could he possibly still have any other ideas about me? He probably just wanted to reminisce, don’t you think?"

"What old times are there to reminisce about!" Jenson Whitman’s voice was grim. "If he really saved you without knowing who you were, he should have called the police! Instead, he got ideas, kept you by his side, and developed feelings for you!"

’If Milton Grayson had called the police, I would have known Regina was in Northolme much sooner.’

Looking at his hard jawline, Renee knew this petty man was getting jealous again. ’And he’s really angry.’

"I was unconscious and pregnant at the time, and in bad shape..." As she spoke, Renee’s nose began to sting with unshed tears. "We had another child. Why didn’t you tell me?"

If it hadn’t been for Chelsea Bell, she never would have known she had once been pregnant.

Jenson Whitman sighed. A look of pained affection crossed his face as he gazed at her red-rimmed eyes.

"I was afraid it would make you sad."

’If it weren’t for that accident, his and Regina’s second child would have been born safe and sound.’

’The pregnancy had been in its early stages; they didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. And just like that, it was gone.’

’Over the years, in the dead of countless nights, he would think of that child. He had even secretly placed a memorial tablet for her in the ancestral hall.’

’But he never dared mention it in front of Regina.’

Renee’s eyes welled up, and her throat felt tight. "It’s all my fault. I couldn’t protect our child."

"It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. If I hadn’t taken you out that day, you could have avoided that accident!"

’He would have been the only one hurt.’

’Regina wouldn’t have been injured, wouldn’t have lost her memory, and wouldn’t have disappeared for a year.’

’And they wouldn’t have lost their second child!’

Renee’s arms tightened around him as she sniffled.

"Neither of us was at fault. The ones truly to blame are the people who schemed to hurt you! I actually wanted to ask Mr. Grayson about the child today, but Mrs. Grayson suddenly burst into our box and interrupted. I want to find a time for us, as a couple, to meet with Mr. Grayson and talk properly, face-to-face, about what happened back then."

"Okay. We’ll do whatever you want." Jenson Whitman knew that the lost memories and the child they’d lost had become the deepest knots in Regina’s heart. If she couldn’t get answers, she would never be able to find peace.