Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“Thank you, Margaret. You’ve done a lot for me, so don’t be sad or blame yourself. To tell you the truth, I’m much calmer and happier now.” Flossie tried to reassure Margaret, knowing how upset she was. However, it only made Margaret sadder.
“Ms. Flossie, you’re the one who’s injured but you’re trying to comfort me. Why are you so nice? I’m really useless… I promised your mother to take good care of you, but something this terrible happened to you. I… I…” Margaret sobbed, unable to speak. Eventually, she took a deep breath and calmed herself, wiping her tears away. “It’s getting windy. Let me go and get you a blanket, Ms. Flossie. Please wait for me and call for me if you need anything.”
“Go on, Margaret. I grew up here, so I know my way around. Don’t worry about me.” Flossie smiled. She remembered every part of the manor, and she could live there even if Margaret and her children weren’t around.
Margaret entered the villa to look for a blanket while Flossie lay down under the pagoda tree, enjoying the serenity of the quiet morning. The breeze ruffled her hair, bringing along the sweet scent of flowers, and the sunlight warmed her skin.
Suddenly, Flossie found something amiss. She couldn’t feel the wind, but it didn’t feel like the wind had stopped. Rather, it felt like something was blocking the wind. Frowning, she asked hesitantly, “Margaret?”
Only silence greeted her.
Flossie could hear someone’s rapid breathing, and felt their gaze on her skin. “You aren’t Margaret, are you?” Margaret wasn’t tall enough to be able to block out the breeze entirely, and she would have answered Flossie by now. Also, this person smelled like grass, ambergris, and medical disinfectant. Finally, she realized who it was. Flossie clenched her fists and asked coolly, “What are you doing here, Halston?”
Halston’s heartbeat quickened, and he stared at Flossie’s eyes in disbelief. “Your… eyes?”
“You came at last.” Flossie wasn’t surprised because Adie had warned her about Halston’s desire to meet her. People usually needed around two weeks to recover after brain surgery, but he had come here in less than a week. His wound had probably just healed; this man was really taking his health too lightly.
“Tell me. What’s wrong… with your eyes?” Halston demanded hoarsely. He could tell that there was something wrong with Flossie’s eyes, but he refused to believe it. In his memory, she was perfect, and he couldn’t accept that her beautiful eyes were flawed.
“I’m the blind one here, not you. I’m sure you can tell what’s wrong with my eyes.” Flossie took off her sunglasses, revealing her swollen eye sockets and the ghastly injuries around them.
“What? You… You…” Halston’s large frame trembled as if he was having a terrible nightmare.
“Can you leave now that you know what’s wrong with me?” Flossie put her sunglasses back on and smiled pleasantly. She knew that Halston was a perfectionist, and even if he came here to get back together with her, he might give up after seeing her hollow eyes.
It was exactly what she wanted.
“I guess you’ve remembered who I am. Yes, we’ve wronged each other, but we’re even now. You can follow through with your plan and get married to Seraphina. You don’t have to feel burdened or guilty,” Flossie said calmly.
“We’re even…” Halston stared at Flossie, and his voice shook as he said, “Does that mean we can start over?”
Flossie’s heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, she was thrown off guard. “Stop messing around. It’s not funny.” She never felt that they could start over. After all, many things had happened, and they were already heartbroken. If they started over, they would go down the same path and get hurt again.
“Yeah, I was just joking. If you don’t think it’s funny, I’ll stop.” Taking a deep breath, Halston moved closer to Flossie and suggested calmly, “It doesn’t mean that we have to be lovers or married if we start over… but I think we can restart our relationship. As for our future, we can wait and see what destiny holds for us. Maybe we’ll be good competitors or friends, but if nothing else… you’re the mother of my children. We can be good partners. What do you think?”
Halston’s words calmed Flossie’s tension for some reason. She swallowed and asked, “Do you really think so? Or… do you want to snatch the kids away from me?” Legally, it would be a piece of cake if the Guajardo family wanted to snatch the children’s custody from her because she couldn’t even take care of herself now.
“No, the kids belong to us, and we’re not rivals. I don’t care if they’re with you or me-as long as they’re happy.” Halston smiled and said teasingly, “You can have custody of me too.”
Flossie couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you out of your mind?”
Flossie’s laughter made Halston grin too. “As you know, my brain’s a bit messed up. It’s still healing, so I hope you won’t be too hard on me.”
“Well, I won’t hate you, and you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t plot schemes, take away my kids, or target my brother.” Flossie’s tone was friendly, but her boundaries were clear. She had spent the last few days worrying about future attacks on her family, and she was exhausted. Now that she was blind, she couldn’t do much. She wouldn’t target others if they left her be.
“Okay, you have my word,” Halston promised firmly. Frankly, he didn’t plan to plot schemes or fight against Quinton even if he hadn’t recovered his memories. If he had such intentions, he wouldn’t have gone all out to ask Owen to save Quinton. Besides, he had regained his memories now, and all he wanted to do was adore Flossie. There was no way he’d do anything to harm her.
“Okay. Umm… can you go now?” Flossie trusted Halston, and felt like the past grudges between them were now gone. However, she still didn’t know how to act around him.
“Go?” Halston casually pulled a stool over, sat down next to Flossie’s bean bag and said righteously, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Flossie frowned. “What?”
“Adie and Abby are here, and I’m their father. Plus, you made me promise not to take them, so… I’m not going. I want to live with my kids,” Halston said reasonably, carefully leaving out that he wanted to be where Flossie was too.
“No, Halston. Why are you being so shameless?” Flossie groaned.
“What’s the big deal? This manor is so large, and I’m sure there’s an empty room I can stay in. I’ll stay here and work for you. I’ll take care of the kids and help them with their homework. You’ve got nothing to lose, right?”
“Well, you’re not wrong…”
It seemed rather cost-effective to hire a capable live-in helper like Halston, but Flossie found it weird. He was always cold and distant, so why had he become so shameless after his brain recovery surgery?
“Just say yes. You can always kick me out if it doesn’t work out, right?” Halston urged Flossie.
Since Flossie couldn’t find a reason to reject him, she said grumpily, “Whatever. I can’t see, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
“So, you said yes…” Halston’s deep-set eyes brightened immediately. The first step had gone much more smoothly than he thought. Being persistent was quite effective when dealing with Flossie.Margaret’s voice came from the manor at that moment. “
Ms. Flossie, whose luggage is at the door…” Margaret entered the front yard, looking confused when she saw Halston. “
What are you doing here, Master Guajardo? What are you trying to do to Ms. Flossie?” Margaret immediately ran over to stand in front of Flossie and glared at Halston, saying firmly, “You’re not welcome here. Please leave!”
Flossie waved dismissively and said, “Just ignore him, Margaret. He’s free labor, so feel free to order him around.”
Halston nodded humbly, still managing to look elegant as he said, “That’s right. Just let me do all the dirty and tedious chores.”
“Ah, um…” Margaret was puzzled. She had only been gone for a few minutes, and so much had happened in between.
“Just let him stay since he’s brought his luggage here. Isn’t there a room for Barky in the backyard? Let him clean it up and stay there,” Flossie instructed Margaret calmly.
“You don’t have to trouble yourself. Just give me a small room-—I’m not fussy when it comes to living arrangements…” Halston was moved by Flossie’s care, and smiled as he asked, “By the way, who’s Barky? Was he your former housekeeper?”
“Well… I guess you could say that since he was my guard dog,” Flossie explained while smiling.
“You… you’re asking me to stay in the doghouse?” Halston’s eyes widened and he gritted his teeth.
“I can’t do anything about it since I’ve only got one empty room here,” Flossie said innocently. She wanted to see if Halston would run away.
“No, it’s fine as long as I can lie down,” Halston said immediately, then stood up and dragged his luggage along. ” I’ll go and clean it up… I’m looking forward to it!”
Margaret was baffled to see Halston run happily to the backyard in search of his room. “Why is Mr. Guajardo so happy to stay in the doghouse? Did they remove a part of his brain during the surgery?” Margaret asked seriously.
Speechless, Flossie shook her head in confusion. “I don’t know why he’s suddenly become so shameless. I couldn’t get rid of him.”
“Do you want me to be the bad guy and drive him out?” Margaret asked, raising a brow. Her opinion of Halston was based on Flossie’s—if Flossie liked him, she would welcome him; if she didn’t, Margaret would dislike him too.
“Just let him be. I want to see what tricks he has up his sleeve…” Flossie had done this out of consideration for her two children. “The kids are still so young, but I’m blind now, and you’re getting old. Plus, Quinton isn’t back yet. If our enemies come, we’re powerless against them. I think we might as well keep Halston around.”
“Yes, you’re right, Ms. Flossie.” Margaret nodded approvingly, but still asked, “Do you want him to stay? Will his existence affect your mood?”
“It doesn’t matter since I can’t see him,” Flossie said vaguely.
“I think it’s good for Mr. Guajardo to stay if he sincerely wants to protect this family…” Margaret let out a long sigh. “I just don’t know how long he can protect his family. Didn’t he do the same in the past but only for a short while? If he suddenly leaves again, I’m afraid you and the kids will be let down.” Yes, Flossie and Halston did have some lovey-dovey moments, but it always ended with his cruel departure. Even if Flossie could take it, Margaret found it unacceptable.
“I guess it won’t be for long…” Flossie wore a stony expression behind her sunglasses. “Guajardo Enterprise is about to face a crisis, and he can’t lay idle for long. Well, we’ll just let him be, and I won’t be let down since I don’t have any expectations of him.”
For the past two years, the large and powerful families of Beach City had undergone many drastic changes. Although the Guajardo family had always been strong and influential, they couldn’t stop the other families’ from developing. The Great
Eight of Beach City would be shuffled, and Guajardo Enterprise might face attacks from other powerful families. Of course,
Jovan might do something too. All these things made
Flossie worry for Halston, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to stay for long.