Free Web NovelChapter 117: Chapter 118: Felix Preston Confirms His Feelings
"Guess?" Sonia Quincy tilted her head and said with a playful smile.
"I... I can’t guess," Felix Preston stammered.
His heart was already pounding out of control, and Sonia had turned his thoughts into a hot, sticky mush. He had no mental energy left to think about her question.
He lifted the hand that didn’t have the IV drip in it, carefully and gently stroking the watch’s face. "Sonia, I really can’t guess. Will you tell me, please?"
"Alright." Sonia stopped teasing him. She cleared her throat and explained seriously, "After the company went bankrupt, you sold almost everything you owned just to pay your employees’ salaries. You sold your car, your house, and many of your bespoke suits. You also sold that watch you’d worn for nearly eight years."
"Afterward, I often noticed you’d lift your left hand to look at your empty wrist when you were heading out. So, I figured you still weren’t used to not having a watch on. That’s why I secretly bought one for you."
This was the first time Sonia had ever given a gift to a man, so her tone was unconsciously gentle as she spoke. But to Felix, every single word seemed to carry immense weight.
Felix slowly raised his eyes, his expression complex as he gazed at the woman before him, a faint, gentle smile on her lips.
’This woman used to have a terrible temper, always picking fights with him over nothing. Their relationship had started under shameful circumstances, so even after they were legally married, they had tormented each other for a very long time.’
’He married her to take responsibility—for their child. She married him for money. Originally, it was a relationship of convenience, neither caring for the other. But now, because of his bankruptcy, their relationship had changed completely.’
’They should have flown their separate ways when disaster struck, but Sonia insisted on staying. They let go of their past resentments, comforting and supporting each other, becoming a couple whose devotion in hardship was the envy of all who heard their story.’
’He cherished this hard-won bond between them, but he couldn’t avoid the feelings of doubt and insecurity.’
’After Sonia began to change, he’d spent a long time doubting and suspecting her. Though that suspicion eventually faded, he still felt afraid from time to time.’
’He was afraid that this was all fake, that Sonia was deceiving him again, and even more afraid that she was just acting on a momentary impulse and didn’t truly like him. He knew this fear was hurtful to Sonia, but a person’s heart is hard to control, and he simply couldn’t suppress his panic.’
But now, at this very moment, as Sonia presented him with the watch, all his worries and anxieties finally went up in smoke, spiraling away and vanishing from his mind.
Sonia lowered her head, embarrassed, and mumbled shyly, "I never paid attention to what your old watch looked like, so I didn’t know what style you liked. I just bought this one based on what I thought looked good... Try it on and see if it fits—Mmph!"
Before she could finish, Felix forcefully cut her off.
Felix tossed the watch onto the blanket, pressed his left hand to the back of Sonia’s head, and crushed his lips against hers.
His kisses were always a stark contrast to his personality. He appeared gentle, refined, and impeccably suave, but when he kissed someone, he was surprisingly fierce.
He nipped and suckled at Sonia’s vulnerable lips before his tongue pried her teeth apart, venturing deeper to conquer more territory.
Sonia had never been good at this, and with Felix’s kiss being so sudden, she had no way to parry from the start. Even when she tried to respond, her tentative, cat-like gestures were quickly devoured by him.
"Mmph..."
Felix’s kiss was too fierce for Sonia to handle. She could only lift her right hand to press against his chest, protesting with a gentle push and a muffled whimper.
Although Felix was overcome with emotion, he was still clear-headed. The moment he sensed Sonia was running out of air, he released her lips.
Her lips red and swollen from his rough treatment, Sonia gasped for breath, looking at Felix with a dazed, wronged expression.
The corners of Felix’s eyes were red, a storm of emotion churning in their glistening depths.
He gently cupped Sonia’s face, his thumbs stroking the corners of her reddened lips as he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, Sonia. I love the watch you gave me. But even more... I love..."
’I love you even more.’
"L-Love what?" Sonia, unable to hear his thoughts, asked in a daze.
He smiled but didn’t say, only telling her, "Help me put it on. My right hand is still hooked up to the IV; I can’t move it."
"Hmph..." Sonia, slowly recovering from the fierce kiss, shot Felix a playful glare. "Your right hand may be out of commission, but your left hand seems to be working just fine... bullying people..."
Muttering quietly, she picked the watch back up and, with her head bowed, began to carefully fasten it onto Felix’s wrist.
Felix watched her with reddened eyes, his desire-filled gaze lingering on her butterfly-wing lashes, tracing a path to the small mole on the tip of her nose, then to the lips he’d kissed red and swollen, before finally returning to her eyes and brows.
She was completely absorbed in fastening the watch, oblivious to the fact that Felix had already devoured her once over with his eyes.
"Sonia."
Felix suddenly called her name just as she was making repeated adjustments to the strap.
"Hm?" she replied softly.
"You haven’t been good," Felix said.
"...Huh?" Sonia’s hands froze. She looked up at Felix, confused. "How have I not been good?"
Felix stared into her eyes, his gaze growing heavy. "Willow Quincy is a scumbag. He doesn’t deserve to die by your side. So how could you possibly drag him with you into a pit of fire?"
"..." Sonia froze for a moment before realization dawned.
"You... you know everything?"
Felix hummed a deadpan "mm-hm." "Jasper Linden came to see me at the hospital this afternoon."
"Jasper Linden?" Sonia’s indignant tone was thick with guilt. "Why would he tell you everything?"
"Shouldn’t he have told me?" Felix asked, his expression cold. "If he hadn’t, were you planning to keep it from me forever?"
"..." Sonia lowered her head, picking at her fingers. "I wasn’t planning on hiding it forever..."
Felix raised an eyebrow. "Then how long were you planning to hide it?"
"..." Sonia didn’t dare to say.
Felix raised a hand to her face, forcing her to lift her head and look him in the eye.
"Sonia, back then... why were you so determined to die for me?"
Sonia blinked, and the memory of cold flames flickered to life in the depths of her eyes.
She pressed her lips together and said in a low voice, "At the time, I thought you were dead."
"You thought I was dead, so you decided to die for me?" Felix pressed.
Sonia no longer dared to look at him and lowered her gaze. "Yes."
"But you could have gone on living without me," Felix said.
Sonia shook her head. "Without you, I didn’t want to live."
"Why?" Felix shifted his fingers, tilting her chin up firmly to make her look at him.
"Why would you not want to live just because I was dead?"
"..." Pain numbed Sonia’s thoughts. Her mind seemed to grind to a halt, but the answer surfaced on its own.
