Chapter 10 Light Touch
Chelsea grabbed Fremont’s jacket. She bent over, holding her stomach with one hand. “Mr. Woodward, my stomach hurts.”
Everyone could see what a lousy act this was.
But the baby was her ace in the hole.
She looked up at Fremont with sad eyes. “Mr. Woodward,
I…”
But she met his cold, hard stare. If looks could kill, she’d be frozen solid by now.
“Let go.”
The two words sent a chill down her spine. She quickly let go.
Fremont didn’t even turn his head. He sprinted in the direction Eileen had gone.
Chelsea played with a lock of hair, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
If a husband cheated on his wife, she wouldn’t let it go.
It didn’t matter if it was a misunderstanding. As long as Chelsea was around, she’d be a constant irritation to Eileen!
Even if Fremont didn’t like her now, with the baby, he’d eventually see her value.
She pulled out her phone and snapped some selfies with the fireworks in the background.
11
By the time Fremont got there, Eileen had left in her car.
“Eily, it’s not what you think!”
Eileen glanced at the man in the rearview mirror. Usually so cool and collected, he now looked totally panicked, chasing after her car.
She wasn’t fooled by such a cheap trick.
If he really wanted to confess to Chelsea, why would he call her over on purpose?
Was he crazy?
Thinking about the Porsche that had crashed into a lamppost for no reason, Eileen gave a bitter smile.
The real pain wasn’t seeing Fremont confess to someone else. It was realizing that the person she had treated like a sister for years had schemed against her for Chelsea.
So the Woodward family had known about Chelsea all along.
And they had accepted the girl who broke up their marriage without even telling her!
What did she really mean to them?
Eileen kept going. The explanation didn’t matter. It wouldn’t change anything.
It would just keep reminding her of Chelsea.
And she didn’t want to get into a fight with Fremont on the side of the road and give the media another juicy story.
The car pulled up by the sea, and the fireworks were still going on.
Eileen looked up at the fireworks that Fremont had planned for her.
They were beautiful, but she didn’t feel the same way she did years ago when she stood with him on the other side of the river, watching the rich folks‘ fireworks with eyes full of longing and hope.
Now, standing at the top as one of the rich, all she felt was a deep, cold loneliness.
When the last firework lit up the sky and then faded away, it was like none of it had ever happened.
“Lost in the fireworks?” A voice that should have been back in Palsbury suddenly rang in Eileen’s car.
She was startled. Through her tearful eyes, she turned to look.
Welburn stood under the streetlight.
Unlike the guy in the white shirt back in Palsbury, he wore a black turtleneck sweater and a mid–length black cashmere coat.
The soft edge of the sweater rested against his prominent Adam’s apple, making him look a bit softer.
He looked down, his face expressionless, and held out a handkerchief to Eileen.
The black beads on his wrist dangled as he moved.
This scene reminded Eileen of those “Divine Girl” videos that were all over the short–video platforms.
Welburn looked like a deity from up above, reaching out to her with a lotus branch when she was stuck in the mud, saving and redeeming her.
Ilis eyes, both kind and distant, looked at her. “Wipe your tears.”
“Do I even cry?” Eileen wondered.
She reached up to touch her check, but her hand came away cold.
Welburn’s handkerchief was soft and smelled faintly of sandalwood, and it helped calm her racing thoughts.
Her voice was a bit rough. “Sorry, I kinda lost it.”
Welburn sat down next to her and handed her a cup of hot coffee.
“I picked it up at the airport.”
Eileen cradled the coffee in both hands. Back in the day, she had to film several scenes every day and relied on coffee to keep her going. She really
loved this brand.
After she got married, Fremont said she should stop drinking it because they were thinking about having a baby.
The first few weeks without it were rough, but she got through it.
The taste she hadn’t had in years, with the perfect warmth, didn’t feel the
same anymore.
Her voice was bitter. “Thanks.”
Welburn glanced at her long black eyelashes, still wet with tears, and asked casually, “Why the tears? Because of him“?”
Eileen didn’t like showing her weak side to strangers, so she said, “Yeah. something came up at home.”
Both times she ran into Welburn, she was at her lowest. He wasn’t blind.
She thought the topic was closed because Welburn wasn’t one to gossip, but he spoke up again. “Three years ago, you guys were very much in
17
love.”
Eileen never hid that she had someone while on set. Even with just three hours of sleep, she’d squeeze out ten minutes to make a phone call
It was freezing cold, below zero, and she squatted by the forest in a black puffer jacket, not acting like a star at all.
Her lips were curved into a smile, making her look like a teenager, her eyes twinkling.
Anyone could tell she only got that sweet when she was with Fremont.
Now, all that was left on her lips was a bitter smile.
Eileen looked up at the endless night sky. “But sometimes things don’t go as planned.”
“Do you regret it?”
She whispered. “No.”
She didn’t regret quitting showbiz without hesitation, and even less about the divorce.
The wind kicked up, sending a shower of golden ginkgo leaves.
Eileen stood up and watched the leaves dance around. a small smile on her face. “People always think the road they didn’t take is full of flowers. But there’s no choice without regrets and no such thing as the perfect answer. It’s better to dry your tears and keep going than to feel sorry for yourself.”
Earlier in the car, she had taken off her coat, leaving her in just a loose
white dress.
Now, her hair and the hem of her dress were fluttering in the wind,
making her look like a fairy from the moon.
Aller three years, compared to her once cool and elegant beauty, there was now a touch of quiet sadness that made her seem even more delicate
A strand of hair stuck to the corner of her mouth Suddenly, Welburn’s cool fingers touched her cheek.
The light touch sent a tickling sensation straight to her brain.
Being touched by a man other than Fremont caught her off guard.
Not knowing what to do, she froze, like a statue brought to life only by the flutter of her wide eyes.
But Welburn brushed the hair away from her lips and pulled his hand back
Eileen looked into his cold eyes.
He still looked so distant, like he didn’t care about anything in the world.
It was like even thinking about him was too much.
Maybe he was just being nice. Eileen didn’t think anything more of it.
It was getting late, so she said she should go and got in the car. Seeing Welburn standing by the door, she rolled down the window.
He said calmly, “Eileen, you said you’d take me out for a meal.”
Eileen didn’t expect he’d be in Warington so soon. She smiled, “Sure, how about tomorrow?”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll pick you up”
“Okay”
The car window went back up. Welburn’s thumb and index finger were loosely rubbing together, like he was remembering the feel of Eileen’s check.
It was soft and a little cool.
Eileen drove off, and she saw Welburn get into a black SUV through the rearview mirror.
The SUV followed her at a good distance, all the way to her home.
After she parked the car, she sent him a message: “Thanks, you didn’t have to see me home. I could drive this route blindfolded.”
Welburn replied: “Have an early night.”
The cool and detached guy,
thoughtful and polite.
Eileen’s memory was actually pretty
When she got out of the car, she saw the handkerchief she had tossed into the car. It would be rude to throw it away.
So she decided to wash it and give it back to Welburn. Whether he wanted it or not was his business.
Eileen locked the car, holding the half–drunk coffee and the handkerchief as she walked into the house.
The living room was as bright as day. Before she could even kick off her shoes, Fremont was already there, looking a bit anxious.
He blurted out, “Eily, let me explain. What happened tonight was a mistake. L…”
As they stood close, he caught a hint of sandalwood
It was that familiar scent!
His eyes flicked from her face to the handkerchief in her hand. As he realized where the scent was coming from, his face darkened.
Eileen, now in her slippers, looked up and met Fremont’s cold, accusing
stare.
His voice was icy. “Who were you just with?”
