The Unveiled Rose

Rowena had no idea of how harsh her words were. "This way, you wouldn't have to take care of her, and maybe you would have found a girlfriend and gotten married by now. I could even have a grandson sooner!" "Humph!" Zane let out a cold laugh, and the disappointment in his eyes gradually faded. It was replaced by an icy chill-like snow in the winter.

He articulated each word carefully, "Since you still haven't seen your mistakes, then don't come to my house anymore, and don't seek me out in any situation."

Rowena looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

Zane replied calmly, "To me, Willow is my own daughter. If you indiscriminately place all the blame on her and scold her, it's like you're saying the mistake was mine and blaming me. Wanting her to die means you want me dead as well." Zane's face showed no emotion, yet his words were heavy. "You've treated me so maliciously, I naturally have to fight back. Otherwise, if word gets out, people will definitely think I'm easy to bully. Then, won't everyone want to step on me?" Rowena stared at Zane in disbelief. "You..."

Zane turned around, facing away from Rowena. "You can go. I don't want to see you right now."

Rowena hadn't expected that her son would come to this point because of a little girl. She didn't plan to indulge Zane. "You said that yourself. Fine! I'll leave! Don't regret it!"

After throwing down her harsh words, Rowena stormed out.

Zane stood alone in the bright living room, his tall figure appearing particularly lonely under the light.

...

After getting Willow to sleep, I left the bedroom and noticed that Zane was missing, which puzzled me.

In the past few days, we had almost developed a routine. We would find a place to chat around this time every day. What was going on today? Was he busy with work? As I wondered, I spotted Zane in the living room.

I approached him, noticing that his mood was not good. I asked softly, "What happened?"

"Anna." Zane didn't answer my question, and he looked particularly exhausted. "Can you hold me?"

He was feeling really down but didn't want to tell me why.

I hugged him and gently patted his back, not knowing how to comfort him. "It's okay."

Zane buried his face in my shoulder and didn't say a word.

I didn't know how long it had been when he finally returned the hug. He held me tightly as if trying to embed me into his body.

I was a bit taken aback. It looked like this wasn't just a regular problem.

I gently stroked his hair. "It's okay, Zane. I'm here."

"Mm."

Zane finally released me after some time, looking a bit apologetic. "Did I scare you?"

"It's fine." I didn't mind. "Everyone encounters some bad things in life. But they will all pass."

Zane looked at me intently. "I'll remember that."

"It's already late." I still had some sketches to finish, so I headed upstairs. "I'll go rest now."

The tension in Zane's eyes dissipated, and his expression softened. "Go ahead."

...

Zane watched Annalise walk into the bedroom, gently closing the door behind her before he averted his gaze.

The first time he saw Annalise was at the hospital. She had just had a miscarriage, her face pale, and she seemed so fragile like she could break.