Renewal Of Love

Kevin carefully tended to Cherry's wound as soon as they arrived at her room. The tenderness in his eyes was palpable.

"Does it still hurt?"

Seeing the look of resignation on Cherry's face only made him worry even more.

"It doesn't hurt. It's just a little red and swollen. Nothing too serious. Don't worry,"

Cherry said gently.

"What are you talking about? It's completely swollen. You're so considerate. You don't even want to admit that it hurts." Kevin sighed helplessly. Sometimes, she could be too thoughtful for her own good. Cherry beamed at this.

"Kevin, can you stop blaming Anne for what happened? I don't think she did it on purpose." She held Kevin's arm, hoping to defend Anne.

At the mention of Anne, Kevin began to get all riled up once more.

"Cherry, you shouldn't be so kind to her. You may see her as your cousin but she obviously doesn't treat you the same way!"

He hated seeing Cherry have to compromise for someone like Anne.

"Kevin, don't be mad at Anne. I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose."

Kevin's hatred for Anne only intensified with the way Cherry was defending her. This was exactly what she wanted. She wanted Anne to suffer more.

While this made her happy, she still had to act concerned in front of Kevin.

She was smart enough to know that this was what she needed to do to gain Kevin's sympathy and drive his hatred for Anne.

"Cherry, maybe you shouldn't talk to her anymore. I don't know if she would do something like this to you again. From now on, you should just stay away from her, got it?"

Kevin exhaled sharply. He was afraid that Anne would attempt to hurt Cherry again.

"Kevin, to be honest with you, I understand why Anne hates me. After all, considering our relationship..." Cherry looked remorseful at the mention of their relationship.

"You're the woman I love. There's no reason for you to worry about anything else. Once she gives birth, I'm divorcing her. I promise you will get what you deserve right the minute all of this is over," Kevin promised firmly.

As far as he was concerned, he deserved a kind-hearted and considerate woman like Cherry as his wife-unlike Anne.

"Well, I trust you. I just don't want Anne to hate me."

Cherry threw herself into his arms in utter joy. She made sure to restrain herself and not get too excited though.

"The nerve of her to hate you! After she gives birth to the baby, she'll mean nothing to me."

If it weren't for the baby, he wouldn't even have anything to do with Anne.

Cherry buried herself in his chest, smirking proudly to herself. Much to her delight, she had achieved her goal.

Meanwhile, Anne walked over to her vanity to check her red and swollen face in the mirror. She couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Her face was still stinging along with her heart.

Was Cherry that important to Kevin that he would willingly hit her for that woman?

Anne made her way downstairs and grabbed some ice cubes from the fridge. She neatly wrapped them with a towel to help with the swelling.

As the servants walked past her, they whispered amongst themselves. Even the servants in this house didn't take her seriously.

At that moment, Kevin headed downstairs too. When he saw Anne, he frowned as he approached her.

She had already seen him but she didn't expect that he would talk to her. Wordlessly, she walked past him, intending to go back to her room upstairs.

She didn't even look at him as they walked past each other, acting indifferently.

"Stop!" Kevin said as he turned around, clearly annoyed.

Suppressing the anger in her heart, she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him.

"What now?" She looked at him coldly.

"You weren't even going to say anything to me?" Kevin turned around and walked towards her, the look on his face unfathomable.

"I have nothing to say to you. What am I supposed to do? Wait for you to hit me?" Anne spat. Her face turned cold as she thought of how ruthless Kevin was when he hit her earlier. Kevin was rendered speechless.

He gazed at her, the mark that his slap had left was still visible on her cheek.

"Does it still hurt? Do you need a doctor?" Kevin said lightly as a strange look spread across his face.

"Don't bother, Mr. Kevin! If you aren't going to say anything else, please excuse me as I need to go back to my room."

Anne knew that he was only acting concerned for the baby's sake.

Anne brushing him off hurt Kevin's pride. For some reason, he felt angry once more but he didn't know why.

As time passed, she was growing more and more distant. She wasn't always like this. In the past, she would defend herself no matter what bad things she had done. Now it seemed as if she didn't care enough to do that anymore.

Her constant excuses and explanations used to irk him but now that she wasn't doing that anymore, he found himself just as irked as before.

Not long after, Sam arrived for his daily check-up on Anne. The first thing he saw was Kevin sitting in the living room with a glum look on his face.

When Kevin saw Sam, he frowned as he approached him.

"Are you here to check up on Anne again?" Kevin asked calmly.

"Yes. What's up with you today? Why do you suddenly care about Anne?"

Sam asked, his tone aloof. The irony in Kevin's words was not lost on him.

Kevin scowled.

"Do you have any issues with that? She's carrying my child!"

He snorted. He couldn't figure out why he was so upset about Sam coming every two or three days to check up on Anne. He began to consider getting a new doctor for her.

"Of course I'm fine with it Anne's your wife after all," Sam said, sounding unimpressed.

He'd always been detached and never showed his emotions easily, not even in front of Kevin.

His indifference annoyed Kevin for no reason at all. Recently, Kevin found himself unable to control his emotions.

"Mr. Kevin, if you don't have any other instructions, I'll head upstairs now." Sam nodded at Kevin before making his way upstairs.

Kevin frowned as he watched him leave.

Sam politely knocked on Anne's door before entering her room. When he saw Anne reading on her bed, he smiled faintly.

"You seem to be in a good mood today. That's good for the baby." Then Sam put down his medical kit and walked towards Anne.

"It's not like I have anything else to do here. Besides, there are some people I don't want to see here, so I might as well just kill time in my room."

Anne closed her book and turned towards Sam.

Sam was just about to respond to what she had said when he saw her swollen face. Nervously, he asked,

"Why is your face swollen? Did someone hit you?"

He strode towards her, pity plastered across his face.

Anne briskly turned her head away, not wanting Sam to see her like this.

"Nothing." She wasn't in the mood to talk about the events of today.

"Look at your face. Who hit you? Kevin? Cherry?"

Sam's usually gentle voice turned cold as anger filled his eyes.

"Sam, I'm fine. I really don't want to talk about it. Just let it go, okay?"

Anne could tell that Sam was worried about her. However, she knew there was no point in telling him the truth as she would only be causing him trouble.

Sam frowned as he looked at her solemnly. He was clearly worried about her.

It seemed that she was always being mistreated her. As much as he wanted to help her, his hands were tied. Oftentimes, he felt guilty about this.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, I'll let it go but please stand up for yourself." Sam sighed helplessly. He had to respect Anne's wishes.

"Okay, I know."

Sam's sincerity towards her never failed to make her feel better. Perhaps this was why she didn't feel the need to put up her defenses when she was around him.

"Let me put some ointment on your face first. Look at your swollen face."

Sam promptly took out some ointment from his medical kit. Then he gently applied it on her swollen face.

The pain instantly disappeared as Anne gradually smoothed out her knitted eyebrows.

She could feel the warmth emanating from his gentle touch. Sam could feel his heart pounding in his chest, tenderness visible in his eyes.

As the tension rose between them, Anne leaned back, moving away from his touch.

Sam quickly withdrew his hand, feeling the awkwardness.

"Here. Keep the ointment. Apply it again tonight before you sleep. It'll ease the swelling completely."

Sam handed her ointment, flashing her an easy smile.

"Okay, okay. Thanks."

To Anne, Sam was a loyal friend.

As Sam gazed at her, he felt the urge to protect her. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the position to do so.