The President's Gift is a New Wife

Chapter 16

Hannah was bad at cooking. Liam took care of her all these years. He got angry at her once when he saw her cooking with the servant. When she thought about it, everything seemed bad at the old residence. There was no warmth at all. It was the reason why she liked visiting Calvin’s place. She could be free. Especially that year when Cindy broke up with him. Hannah kept going to his place because she felt sorry for him. She just wanted to stay by his side. She learned to make pasta from Mrs. Wright. Calvin had strict requirements for his food even if it was just pasta. Hannah did her best to remember every instruction from Mrs. Wright but she was so inept that she finally made al dente pasta successfully after a few tries. However, she added too much salt because she got cocky. It tasted bad yet Calvin still finished all the pasta. He told Hannah how tasty it was. It was also the first time when he called Hannah by her full name. He was so happy that it seemed like he had forgotten who Cindy was. Pasta was something special to them. Hannah felt that she was not the only one who thinks that. However, Calvin said Mrs. Wright’s pasta was too bland. Hannah wondered what was going on. The door opened. A man was staring at Hannah beside her bed. “Why didn’t you knock” Hannah hid her body in the blanket including her arms. Her arms were still bruised, and she had no time to treat those wounds. Calvin noticed how defensive she had become as he said, “I can enter my house anytime I want. Why should I knock?” Hannah looked at him in disbelief and said, “How can you be so unreasonable?” “Unreasonable?” Calvin chuckled. “What should I do to be reasonable?” Hannah explained seriously, “You shouldn’t enter my room without my permission.” Calvin tried his best not to laugh. “So, what?” “It means what you did was wrong.” Calvin went out after closing the door. He knocked again and said, “I’m coming in.” Hannah was rendered speechless by his actions. Calvin gave her the ointment. “Help me apply it.” Hannah got out of her blanket, “Why did Zac leave so soon? Didn’t he just arrive?” Calvin couldn’t tell her that he chased Zac away because Zac took advantage of him. He sat on the bed. Hannah saw his fair skin when she pulled her pajamas down. She tried everything but she couldn’t apply the ointment well. She knew a complaint would be coming because of how picky Calvin was. She thought about it and said, “You should lie down. I can’t apply the ointment.” “The ointment on your back is clumped together,” She nearly burst out laughing when she imagined Zac applying it on Calvin. “Is this Zac’s doing?” Now, she knew why Zac left so soon. He was chased away.

Calvin stared at her and asked. “Why are you laughing?” Hannah kept quiet. The room was silent. Calvin fell asleep from the comfort of Hannah applying the ointment on his back. Hannah stops when she hears Calvin’s calm breathing. She wanted to wake him up but had no courage to do so. Now, she had no place to sleep. It was late. She felt bad disturbing Mrs. Wright. She also couldn’t sleep in Calvin’s room without his permission. In the end, she took out a mattress and lay it on the floor. However, she rolled around and still couldn’t fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the aggrieved look on Liam’s bloodied face. The Fullerton brothers used to be an honor to her. Now, they were just trouble. In the morning, Hannah took a peek at Calvin’s body. Most of his rashes were gone. Hannah was relieved to see Calvin sleeping soundly. She stood beside the bed for a while to look at Calvin’s face. Before she went to sleep, she remembered that night in the basement again. She kept remembering Liam who did many unspeakable things to her. She mumbled, “Why are you doing this to me?” Calvin’s eyebrows twitched in the darkness.