Love's Tangled Web (Alex and Ellie)

Chapter 169

Ellie mtend the hospital rooms and noticed that Carlos had woken up. Alex was there, helping his grandpa with a sponge bath. When Ellie walked th. Alex paused what he was doing.

With the hospital bed between them, they briefly exchanged glances before Ellie looked away, expressionless, "Grandpa Carlos Ellie walked and the bed and took the towel from Alex's hand

At that moment. Evan brought dinner over. Neither of them spoke, Ellie washed Carlo's hands to get ready for dinner, while Alex opened the meal boses and set them on the hospital bedside table. "Dear, have dinner with your grandpa" The bed was adjusted upright, and Carlos struggled to sit up. Having been bedridden for so long, his voice

notably weak

"Grandpa, let me feed you" Ellie sat next to the bed and picked up the bowl of porridge

Since her father passed away, she understood one thing. Every meal one has is one less one will get to relish. The time with loved ones is always limited. The path one walks on gets shorter with each day. Life is about constant subtraction, not granting endless tomorrows.

You eat, I'll help Alex said as he approached Ellie.

Carlos gestured to his grandson, 'Dear, eat and chat with your grandpa

Ellie silently handed the bowl and chopsticks to Alex, then moved to the other side of the bed.

Alex saw Ellie move to the other side of the bed, keeping a distance from him. Holding back his emotions, he said, "Grandpa, let's eat."

Carlos took a few sips and insisted on eating by himself. Alex put down his bowl and chopsticks and sat across from Ellie at the hospital bed.

For a moment, neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere in the hospital room began to feel strangely stifling. Every now and then, Carlos would sigh, which made the air feel even heavier.

Alex kept a watchful eye on Ellie. Noticing she was busy caring for her grandpa and hadn't eaten much, he picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of fish in her bowl

Ellie lowered her eyes to the fish Alex had placed in her bowl, her eyebrows knitted slightly. After a few seconds, Ellie put down her chopsticks and said. "Grandpa. I've had enough. Let me peel the shrimp for you.

When Alex noticed that Ellie didn't eat the fish or touch the rice in her bowl, a sharp pain suddenly gripped his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.

He sat stiffly across from Ellie, not uttering a single word, but his gaze never left

Carlos's cloudy eyes scanned his grandson as he spoke faintly, "Dear, I'm afraid I won't make it home this time. Could you take care of those orchids Hearing Carlos's words, Lillie's nose tingled with emotion. Grandpa, you'll surely live a long life."

*I'll get!

Carlos shook his head and said, "I know my own body, and once I lie down like this, it's unlikely my car hid; I can't stop worrying about them up again. Please find some time to look after

After a short hesitation, Ellie nodded in agreement, "Grandpa, I'm off tomorrow, so I'll come by to help you check on them"

Carlos had a few pots of orchids, rach one a top-tier, rare variety. Among them was a highly valuable Ghost Orchid, a Golden Moth Orchid, and a

Alex didn't like taking care of flowers. He just wasn't patient enough for it. So from a young age, Carlos taught her how to tend to orchids

During her decade with the Warren family, Carlos taught her more than just orchid care. He also taught her to play chess, perform tea ceremonies, do ralligraplay, and create traditional paintings.

He even talked about the ever-changing and complex business world, teaching her how to handle tough situations with gentle tactics.

Namry Mmat out, sending her to learn music theory, etiquette, flower arranging, body language management, wine ti

tasting, fragrance appreciation, and fashion styling. She was trained like a high-class heiress, even taking self-defense classes with Alex

Reflecting on the past, the Warren family (

amily really treated her very well. But she was such a disappointment.

When she was young, all she wanted w possible

(was to study, get

into medical school, grow up quickly to become a doctor, and heal her father's leg as soon as

Every day she learned a lot, but what she loved the most was drawing. Over the years, what she drew the best and the most was him.

After spending some time with Carlos, Ellie left when she got a message from Leonard. Alex followed to the door and stopped

Carlos sighed, closed his eyes to rest, and said. "Alex, take the snacks delivered from the Yorksure yesterday and give them to that girl. Let her take them home for her mom to try"

I_ "Gorn. Grandja" Alex turned around, picked up two boxes of snacks, and hurried out of the hospital room.

"Have you been waiting long?" Ellie jogged out to the hospital entrance. Just as she stopped, a cup

p of milk tea was handed to Ellie. Leonard said, "It's hot and has red beans"

"Thanks," Ellie smiled as she took the milk tea Leonard offered. "How did you know I like red bean milk tea?"

Leonard said. "If you pay attention, you'll notice these things."

Ellie was momentarily surprised but then she and Leonard exchanged smiles. She thought, Turns out when people say love is in the details, it's true. If someone has you in their heart, they will see you everywhere?

Not far away, Alex stood there, watching Ellie and Leonard gradually disappear from his view. He looked down at the snacks in his hand and squeezed them tightly without realizing it. His mind was filled with Ellie's past accusations against him. She said. "Even though I'm poor, I really don't want things others have thrown away

She said, "Even though I'm broke and might never afford it, I really don't want to wear a free gift.

She said, "I really don't want you to kick me out of the passenger seat again."

She asked, "Have you ever cared about me or respected me? Do you even know what I truly want?"

Alex leaned against the hospital's back wall, his eyes closed as he tried really hard to control himself.

His breathing was labored, and the more he tried to steady his emotions, the more the memories of everything he had done to Ellie wrapped around his heart like a silken thread, tightening with each thought.

He gave her a bracelet, one he had carefully picked out and paid for in advance. It was something he took her to get, claiming it was a freebie for buying a necklace for Haley.

During that period, they were constantly arguing, and he could clearly feel her pulling away. He simply wanted to give her a nice bracelet before her birthday to cheer her up a bit. But she wouldn't accept it.

She was left in the rain, and when he visited her in the hospital, he fed her the mung bean pastry that Haley had thrown away.

At that moment, all he wanted was to cheer her up, but seeing her cry while eating the pastry hurt him more than when he was rejected by Haley. Heined to act relaxed, saying he'd go out to get her lunch. After running around several streets to buy her favorite snacks, she just wouldn't eat a

He brought her a melted cream cake to the hospital lounge at noon. Seeing the tears she was trying to hold back, she avoided him and left the

He really wanted to run after her and tell her that the cream cake wasn't bought for Haley!

e to make her angry. Even if it meant arguing with him, it was better than seeing her cold, distant face.

He said that on purpose to

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Chapter 169

In the past, they were just like that. Ever since she joined the Warren family, she had been particularly concerned about money and never accepted

no matter who he gave her, he would always say it didn't cost anything.

Every time her bowl was piled with more food than she could eat, he would silently finish off all her leftovers. Whenever she had ice cream, he would come upamil take a bug bite first, leaving her with the rest..

Every time, his parents would call him a jerk, saying he even took his sister's treats. He didn't care they scolded him.

Every month during her period, her stomach would ache, and he just didn't want her to eat too much cold food. so sweet, so

But later, she ignored him. So he would deliberately annoy her, purposely going against

her. He admitted he was a jerk. But she was so well-behaved. He never thought there would be a day she would actually leave him.