Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“Do you know her biggest regret?” Flossie asked Quinton calmly.
Quinton hung his head low and looked at his feet. After a long silence, he replied somberly, “I guess it’s the fact that she can never be a mother.”
He couldn’t forget about that incident, let alone Joanne.
In the past, he and Joanne sought warmth from each other. They regarded each other as their most important person, and were willing to fight the entire world to keep each other from getting hurt.
But at the moment, they were the ones who had harmed each other the most. They cherished and valued each other so much that they knew each other’s sore spots. Naturally, they could inflict the greatest harm on each other.
Even so, Quinton didn’t regret the decision he made back then. He would never let Joanne give birth to that bastard. If he allowed the child to come into this world, both his and Joanne’s life would be ruined. The child would live in endless shame and darkness.
“Uh, that’s one of them. Feeling awkward, Flossie immediately avoided that serious topic. ‘Make another guess. There’s something else.”
She knew the biggest obstacle between Quinton and Joanne was the aborted child, so she tried her best to avoid talking about that.
When she brought that topic up, Quinton would become agitated. She would also easily lose control of herself. In the end, she would become a judge who criticized him and they would part in bad terms.
As a woman, she found him a cruel and crazy beast and wished she could beat him up.
But as his sister, she knew of his pathetic and cruel childhood. When she thought of his pathological mindset, she felt sorry for him.
Thus, she regarded his past self as a crazy patient. All she wanted to do was slowly cure him and try to pull him out of his extremity.
“Something else?” Quinton frowned. After a long pause, he sneered, “Does she want to marry Halston? Too bad it’s not written in the stars for them. There’s even an eyesore like me between them.”
“You’re very imaginative,” Flossie said, helpless. “Well, she doesn’t like Halston. She’s only very grateful toward him. Maybe she’s closer to me than to him. Do you believe that?”
“No, I don’t,” Quinton rudely denied Flossie’s statement. “You don’t know her. She said those things just to fool you, so you wouldn’t see her as an enemy. She’s not as simple as you think. If not, she wouldn’t be able to fool me back then…
“No woman would risk their life for a man they don’t love. She betrayed me to make herself look good and successfully helped Halston put me down. Do you honestly think she doesn’t like him?”
When he brought up that affair, he gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists.
The scar on Quinton’s face had been recovering so well that it was almost negligible. Yet, it didn’t mean that his inner woes had gone away.
His hatred was still there, but he kept suppressing for Flossie’s sake. He wanted to be a decent man.
“It’s no longer important whether she likes him or not. Stop fixating on it,” Flossie snapped.
She had no idea how to comfort Quinton, because she couldn’t comfort herself either.
The only thing they could do was to stop dwelling on it. They had to force themselves to get out of that dilemma.
Flossiee had a full understanding of human nature. It would be hard to make things clear if they dwelled on it.
As a woman, she couldn’t believe that Joanne felt nothing for Halston. However, after some consideration, Joanne knew Halston only regarded her as someone he happened to help. It didn’t mean that she was conniving and scheming.
If one took a fancy to a flower, they could stand afar and enjoy its charms quietly. There was no need to pluck it out.
Flossie felt that Joanne might be that kind of woman. Joanne might have felt something for Halston, but never wanted to get into a relationship with him. She merely admired him because he had rescued her from a desperate and dangerous situation. It had nothing to do with love.
“Quinton, you must trust me and yourself. Joanne has deeper and more complicated feelings for you. I think she just admires Halston, like an idol. If you want to fuss over that, it’ll be tiring and meaningless,’ Flossie said.
She wanted Quinton to stop taking things too hard. If he could do that, his relationship with Joanne could be eased.
Otherwise, they would always remember the harm the other inflicted on them. Then, it would cause more harm. Quinton made no reply, opting to stay silent.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Flossie said.
She knew Quinton well. He was arrogant; even if he agreed with her, he would appear quite headstrong about it.
“I know you want to make peace with Joanne, no matter how fierce or resentful you are. If not, you wouldn’t want her to stay or force her to stay when she tried to leave. You wouldn’t try all means to make s’mores pops and desserts to make her happy. You pretended to be indifferent because you didn’t know how to make peace with her. Am I right?”
“What do you know?” Quinton glanced at Flossie arrogantly, but didn’t reject her opinion.
True, he wanted to ease his relationship with Joanne though he was still full of hatred and anger.
“Well, listen to me then. Come to my class from tomorrow onward,” Flossie said.
Quinton was flabbergasted.
Flossie smiled. “You know it. Her other regret is she didn’t get to go to college. You’ll be her study buddy from now on. She’ll stay here just to get into a college.
Flossie suggested Joanne apply for a college because she wanted to stall for time. She hoped to see Joanne focus on something else, so Joanne wouldn’t dwell on her sad past. Doing so would only lead to a dead end.
Flossie also hoped Joanne could stay in Ellsworth Manor with peace of mind. Then, they could take good care of her and help her recuperate to full health.
Unexpectedly, Joanne accepted Flossie’s suggestion. She studied very seriously every day and completed the test questions. She took the college entrance exam seriously as if it were her sole ambition and the pivot of her life.
She would start reading and reciting before seven o’clock in the morning. She read aloud the vocabulary and was as enthusiastic as high school students.
Flossie kept her promise. She left her company in the charge of a manager and Leia. Then, she set up an exclusive timetable to tutor Joanne every day.
Quinton kept his promise too. He sat in a comer of the room, turning into a weak and helpless study buddy. The three of them spent their time talking about their studies instead of other things. It was rather harmonious.
Joanne had some foundation and was once the top student. She caught up fast even with just a little guidance from Flossie, and made rapid improvements.
However, such a curriculum was torture for the indifferent Quinton. He couldn’t understand Early Modern English, the Pythagorean theorem, and the trigonometric functions.
His contemporary language was better. At the very least, he started reciting vocabulary early in the morning every day.
“Abandon, abandon, abandon..” he muttered.
At that time, both Flossie and Joanne would smile at each other. “That’s right, Quinton. You should give up. Studying is difficult for you. Why don’t you quit?”
Quinton closed the book and said arrogantly, “Bah! I just don’t want to study. When I do, nothing’s too difficult for me,”
“Fine, you’re the best. Keep dozing off, but don’t snore loudly. You’ll disturb Joanne from doing the questions, Flossie teased him, suppressing her laughter.
She could see what Quinton wanted-he just wanted to spend more time with Joanne. The fact that he could hold on for such a long time since despite finding it difficult to solve Mathematical questions or memorize texts must be true love.
However, there was something strange. It seemed Joanne and Quinton could get along well right now. They acted like true classmates as they discussed the content of the lesson, studying methods, and the ways to resolve some difficult questions. They were no longer at daggers drawn.
After a careful analysis, Flossie felt they might have regarded each other as high school students and sincerely thought they were back to the time when they were still students.
During that period, they were both pure and innocent. They held no grudges against each other.
It was another day of learning. Flossie purposely designed a comprehensive test for the two of them.
“We’re having a test today to see your level after studying for half a month. Do the test quietly. You can’t whisper to each other.
Flossie distributed the test papers and exited the class, leaving Joanne and Quinton in the class.
The questions were relatively basic, and Joanne found them easy. However, she couldn’t figure out the resolution for the final advanced application question.