Chapter 74 Besties
After both of them were done with their meals, Irene talked to Claudia about health and children. A while later, Claudia left to deal with matters regarding the paint exhibition.
Irene and Edward were alone in the ward once more.
"Irene, have you made up your mind about our child's name? Or do you want to use the name I suggested?" Edward said something to fill the silence between them.
"The name you've chosen is a good name. Let's name her that," Irene answered calmly.
Hadn't he already settled on a name? Why was he asking for her opinion?
"Okay, how does 'Charlotte' sound? Do you like it?"
Still, Edward wanted to talk to Irene. He didn't want them to sit in silence when there was obviously things to be said. Otherwise, he could feel the distance between them growing steadily.
It wasn't one of physical distance, but of their feelings.
"Sounds good-I like it a lot," Irene's answer was curt.
Edward felt quite upset about it, but this was nothing. At least she was still talking to him. He would slowly rekindle the dying embers of her heart.
Things were silent once more.
If either one of them were unwilling to communicate, silence would easily creep its way in. Such was the case of Edward and Irene.
Irene decided to shut her eyes for some rest, and Edward continued to read his documents. Silence fell between them.
"How are you, Irene?" Millicent had visited her with some fruits. Although she didn't want to see Elio take care of Irene so meticulously, she still wanted to see her friend.
"Millicent, you're finally here. Come talk to me-I'm very bored," Irene said, happy to see her best friend. She had a lot of things to talk about with her.
"Millicent, you're here. Come have a seat," Edward greeted her politely. He felt that she was a kind person.
"Okay. Edward, you can continue with your documents. No need to bother with me, I'll be fine. Anyways, I've come over to chat with Irene-you know, girls always have a lot of things to talk about," Millicent said jokingly.
She could feel the awkwardness between both of them the moment she set foot into the ward. Irene's cold demeanour towards Edward was obvious.
Edward understood the tacit implications in her words. It seemed that Irene also wanted some alone time with Millicent, so it was best for him to give them some space.
"Mm, you two have a good chat. I'll return to the company to deal with some things. Irene, I'll be back later," Edward said tactfully, giving them some privacy.
...
There were times where things couldn't be forced and needed to be taken slowly. That applied to their current relationship. As time passed, they would eventually be able to resolve this misunderstanding and restore their bond.
"Okay. Don't worry too much, Edward. After all, Millicent's here with me," Irene said calmly. This seemed to be the longest sentence she had spoken to him.
Edward packed up his documents and drove to the company after making some arrangements.
"Irene, what happened between you guys? You seem a bit distant when you talk to him, and you aren't as happy as you were before either," Millicent asked Irene with great concern.
She knew that Irene really cared about Edward, and she loved him dearly. Otherwise, she wouldn't have married him without hesitation.
"Yeah, Millicent. I just don't have it in me to chase after him as madly as I did back then. My feelings for him are diminishing," Irene said bluntly.
Her heart throbbed uncomfortably. She had endured it all this while, and she felt rather exhausted. Now, she could finally say it to her best friend, Millicent.
Irene had given up on Edward, for she was at her limit. She had no strength to continue this relationship of hers.
"Irene, there must be some sort of misunderstanding between you two. Edward seems to care about you a lot. Isn't this what you've always wanted? Tell me what happened," Millicent said. Millicent knew just how much Irene loved Edward. It was because of this knowledge that she was more worried about her now.
There were only two reasons for a person who was madly in love with another person to fall out of love one day.
The first was if they had changed their mind and had fallen in love with someone else. The second was if they were hurt by their beloved and had lost the strength to continue loving them. Obviously, Millicent knew that Irene belonged to the second category.
Millicent felt really sorry for her. She knew that Irene was the kind of person who loved fearlessly, but here she was, about to give up hope.
Millicent knew that Irene was a very persistent person. Whether it was about a person or some issues, she wouldn't give up as long as she had set her sights on it. But now, she had changed and was about to give up.
"That's right, Millicent. I used to love Edward immensely, but now I've lost all hope for him. I just can't bear to think about my mother's death and his relationship with Celine," Irene poured out her heartfelt anguish to her friend.
She knew that Sofia's death was an accident, and she was also aware that Edward once had feelings for Celine.
However, she needed some time to digest some of the undesirable things. Now was that time.
"Irene, didn't Edward already explain these things to the media? Why are you still angry with him over this? I think you may have misunderstood him," Millicent persuaded Irene patiently.
She hoped Irene could stop worrying about these things. She was well aware of the effort she had put in to reach this point today.
"Millicent, Edward came home very late the night before I delivered my baby, and his coat had obvious lipstick marks and some faint perfume smell. Do you know how uncomfortable I felt at that time?" Irene finally spoke what was on her mind.
She had kept it in her heart for a long time, but they had all piled up and resulted in these misunderstandings.
"Irene, don't get so worked up over it. I don't think Edward is a playboy. Maybe you misunderstood him. Do you know where he went that night?" Millicent asked rationally.
Millicent listened carefully to her answer, because she wanted to see if Irene had misunderstood Edward.
"That night, Edward went to pick Celine up from the hospital. I wasn't aware of it back then, but I saw her in the photos on the news when Edward explained it to the media. She was wearing that coat." The memory was still fresh in Irene's mind.
She went into early labour that morning because she saw the scandalous news involving Edward and Celine. In those photos, Celine was wearing his coat.
With such clear evidence before her eyes, even a fool would be able to deduce that Celine had left the lipstick stain and perfume on the coat.
Irene was pregnant at the time, and Edward didn't tell her the truth after he returned from Celine's apartment. He had lied to her, saying that he had an urgent meeting in the company. Anyone would've jumped to such a conclusion in such a situation. Was Irene expected to be any different?
"Okay, but even if you are so sure that this lipstick mark and perfume belong to her, you can't conclude that Edward has cheated on you. Perhaps Celine intentionally left these here for you to notice?" Millicent was currently logically analyzing Irene, whose heart was hurt. Even though she had little contact with Edward, she could see that he was a good man. Therefore, she believed in him. However, she simply couldn't find any discrepancies between their relationship.
"Millicent, you don't have to persuade me. I know you mean well. Celine was once pregnant with his child, so nothing is impossible," Irene said sadly.
Millicent was a little shaken by Irene's words, but she still wasn't convinced that Edward would cross the line like this.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐
↑