Grape nodded emphatically, then suddenly whispered, “Mommy, Daddy really loves you.”
Josie was taken aback. “Do you know what love is?”
“I don’t know, but I know he’s deeply in love with you.”
The child’s words were disjointed, spilling out without rhyme or reason. Josie didn’t pay it any mind.
Out of the blue, Grape asked, “Mommy, can you love Daddy?”
Josie paused once again, instinctively glancing at the figure outside. Love him?
“Why?” Josie asked.
“I want the two of you to be together, just like before in the big house, both of you loving me together.
Before, Josie never thought much about being from a single-parent family. It wasn’t until then that she realized the profound warmth a complete family could bring to a child’s upbringing.
For a moment, she found it incredibly difficult to respond.
It was getting late. Grape mentioned she was exhausted, and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep. Josie carefully covered her with a small blanket before she quietly opened the car door and left.
When Dexter saw her, his fingers loosened, dropping the half-smoked cigarette to the ground, where it was snuffed out. “How are you feeling?”
Josie stood by his side, momentarily at a loss for words. “Not bad. You’ve been taking care of her. You must be exhausted from these past few days.”
Dexter managed to maintain his composure, no longer as emotionally expressive as he was when he was at sea.
“You’ve raised her well, so it wasn’t a hardship. The focus is on official matters.”
Josie seemed to half-understand the words. The lingering scent of smoke was still present in the air. She cleared her throat lightly and said, “Grape mentioned she found a puppy?”
Dexter chuckled softly. “It’s not a dog. It’s a wolf pup.”
“A wolf?” She was taken aback.
“A timid wolf. It doesn’t cause harm to anyone. For now, it only listens to Grape.”
Josie seemed to half-understand those words. She strived to find a topic, so she told him about Laura’s reaction. “I don’t think Laura is that kind of person.”
The glow from the streetlight fell upon her porcelain-white earlobe. Dexter felt the urge to smoke again, but he held back. “Were you really that close to her? Then why didn’t you tell her where you were during the two years you were gone?”
Josie was choked up.
Indeed, they hadn’t reached the point of truly understanding each other. “I refrained from telling her due to considering many factors,” Josie explained.
Dexter lowered his gaze, meeting her eyes. “For
instance?”
Josie was taken aback, falling deeply into his soft, pitiful gaze. For instance? For instance, you.
She looked at him, for the first time not averting her gaze, “Arnold said that on the night I left, you also wanted to leave.”
She was talking about him leaving the world behind.
When this question was raised, Dexter unexpectedly avoided her gaze. Josie swiftly grabbed his wrist. “Look at me when you speak.”
“He was talking nonsense.”
“Was he just spouting nonsense? Show me the medical reports from back then, and we’ll know the truth.”
Dexter furrowed his brows. At that moment, she seemed like a stubborn little creature, unable to break free.
“Yes,” he blurted out. “Without you by my side, I don’t know how I could go on living.”
With such raw honesty, Josie was once again taken aback. She shook her head. “You are the CEO of Russell Group, the decision-maker of the Russell family. Your life shouldn’t be bound by me. You wouldn’t have allowed it in the past.”
The impression he gave her was one of perpetual rationality and calm, always weighing the pros and cons. Josie found it hard to believe she held such a significant weight in his life. How could he possibly act so impulsively?
“These titles, they only hold meaning when you’re by my side.” Dexter reached out, taking her hand in his. “I used to think that no one was worth giving up everything for. But then you came into my life, your significance, so profound that even I can’t fully comprehend. But that night, I found the answer.”
“What was the answer?”
“You mean more to me than my own life,” he replied.
Josie trembled when she heard that.
