Delayed Regrets: He Regretted Only After Her Death-Chapter 171: You’re Seriously Sick

Tiana Linden sat across the dining table, having just adjusted her emotions and was about to eat properly.

One sentence from Aiden Grant, and her mood was completely gone.

Has he already contacted the school on the island? Is he planning to trap her and Daisy here long-term?

Her long eyelashes gently drooped, her pupils barely able to conceal the anger.

But no matter what she said or did, this man wouldn’t let her leave this place.

She could only take a deep breath, clenched her chopsticks, pretend she hadn’t heard Aiden, and continued to scoop the white rice from her bowl.

While eating, Tiana specifically took notice.

The servants nearby, it was hard to tell where they were from.

Their skin was lighter than Africans but darker than Caucasians, neither yellow-skinned, with shining white teeth.

Tiana was genuinely unable to determine from these servants which country she was in.

All because she hated geography in school.

She had no idea which country or island in the world could have such a snowstorm in mid-October.

In the dining room, she, Daisy, Aiden, and the servants, all dressed lightly.

But outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the snow was falling heavily, nonstop.

This was not just an early deep winter arriving in mid-October; it was also shaping up to be the coldest winter of her life.

Tiana felt that, even with all the comforts, such days were still more difficult than her time in prison.

Her eyes drifted from far to near, gazing at the snow-filled skies in the distance.

She wondered if that direction was east.

Is Hector Chaucer far in the east doing alright?

Her brows knitted tightly with deep sorrow, just like the icy snow outside, unmelting.

In that sorrow was also her deep longing for Hector Chaucer.

She picked up another piece of rib for Daisy, sighed, and said, "I wonder if your dad in the homeland has eaten yet."

Across from her, Aiden Grant paused while picking up a dish.

He took a deep breath, tightly gripping his chopsticks, "You don’t have to act so concerned about Hector Chaucer in front of me; I won’t care."

Tiana lifted her eyes, glaring at Aiden, "Do you think my concern for Hector Chaucer needs to be deliberately displayed? It’s an inherent worry for a loved one, engraved in my bones, something you’d never understand."

If this man understood even a bit of what it meant to worry about a loved one, he wouldn’t have ignored her when she was in prison.

This shameless man dared to say he had always held her in his heart, remaining faithful?

Just the thought was laughable.

All the hardships she and Daisy endured over the years were thanks to this man.

Today, no matter what Aiden says or does, she won’t appreciate it at all.

After dinner, Tiana took Daisy to put on thick clothes.

Outside was a world of ice and snow.

She put a thick hat on Daisy, wrapped her in a scarf, and put on thick gloves.

The mother and daughter watched the snowy scene outside.

When they saw a maid with skin not too dark nor too light, with shining white teeth, Tiana tried speaking English with her.

The maid gestured for a long time, speaking in a language Tiana couldn’t understand at all.

Tiana could confidently determine that it wasn’t English or any language she knew.

It must have been a small language she had never heard before.

She was initially thinking if she could bribe these servants.

Even if Aiden paid them, there ought to be some who were greedy and could provide her with a breakthrough.

But she couldn’t even have basic communication with these servants.

This breakthrough was impossible.

As she sighed in frustration, the maid suddenly saluted to someone behind her with respect.

She didn’t know what this greeting was. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Soon after, she saw Aiden behind her, exchanging a few words with the maid in a language Tiana couldn’t understand.

Quickly, the maid saluted the three of them and sensibly retreated.

In no time, Aiden’s head was covered in a white blanket of snow.

The same was true for her and Daisy.

Aiden stepped on the crunching snow, moving step by step in front of her and Daisy, "You needn’t bother; these people can’t understand you."

Tiana tentatively asked, "What language are they speaking? I truly can’t understand a word."

Aiden stood in front of her, speaking calmly, "You don’t need to wring words out of me. Even if you knew what language they spoke, you wouldn’t have the chance to reach Hector Chaucer."

Realizing her intentions were seen through, Tiana sighed heavily.

This place truly was a world of ice and snow.

Every breath they took brought a puff of white vapor before them.

The heavy snow seemed to have no intention of stopping.

If it had been a few years earlier, seeing such snow would have thrilled her.

Aiden, glancing at the lightly swirling, all-encompassing snow, couldn’t help but sigh, "You once said if we could walk together in the snow, that we would grow old with silver hair together. I always remembered that."

Tiana unceremoniously retorted, "Keep dreaming; I won’t grow old with you."

After snapping at Aiden, Tiana took Daisy by the hand and started walking back, "Come on, Daisy, let’s go back to sleep."

Mother and daughter, their figures large and small, stepped deep in the thick snow, slowly disappearing from Aiden’s sight.

And Aiden, stood in the snow for a long time, lonely appreciating the belated snowy scene that was ten years overdue.

The differing footprints left in the snow were like treading on the scars in his heart.

On the way back, he stepped into Tiana’s footprints, walking every step of her path, pretending that by doing so, he could somehow align their hearts.

But as he walked, even he found himself ridiculous.

...

When Tiana returned to Daisy’s room, she found a pair of ceramic dolls on the bedside table.

They looked very familiar.

The same pair, she had already smashed them twice, a boy and a pair.

On them was inscribed: A Thread Bound Early, Grow Old Together.

She didn’t know how Aiden managed to repair them each time she smashed them.

He was indeed very capable.

His craftsmanship was also exquisite.

But seeing these ceramic dolls made Tiana’s chest tighten; this man endlessly convinced himself of his deep affection.

She picked up the pair of ceramic dolls, opened the window, and tossed them out directly.

Outside the building, with a crash.

The pair of ceramic dolls shattered in the snow.

Tiana felt no regret, shutting the window decisively.

That night, Aiden brought a box full of fairy tale books and placed them one by one on the bookshelf next to Daisy’s window.

He looked at Daisy, who was lying in bed, ready to sleep, and gently asked, "Daisy, which story would you like to hear, so Daddy can read to you?"

Daisy’s voice was icy, "I won’t like any story you read."

One sentence, and Aiden’s hand, flipping through the fairy tale books, froze in each compartment of the bookshelf, unmoving.

Yet, he still carefully selected a copy of "Guess How Much I Love You."

It was a very warm parent-child picture book.

Inside were segments of dialogue between a big rabbit and a little rabbit.

Aiden sat by Daisy’s bedside and gently read a passage.

The book in his hand was suddenly snatched by Daisy, thrown onto the carpet beside the bed, "You’re annoying like a sticky band-aid that one can never shake off."

Aiden Grant took a deep breath.

His clenched knuckles turned slightly pale.

Not only was it snowing outside the window, but there was also snow in Aiden Grant’s heart.

He asked, "Daisy, do you really hate Dad so much?"

Daisy no longer looked at him, "Rhetorical question."

The oppressive atmosphere made Tiana Linden not want Aiden Grant to keep bothering Daisy.

She picked up the book from the floor, "I’ll read the bedtime story to Daisy today, you can leave."

Aiden Grant was neither willing nor discouraged.

Because he knew there was a saying: time reveals a person’s heart, persistence wears away stone, and a determined person accomplishes goals.

He gathered up his painful emotions, patient and gentle, "Then Dad will come back to read you a story tomorrow."

Receiving no response from Daisy, Aiden Grant felt very awkward.

He got up and wisely left.

Glancing inadvertently, he noticed the empty space on the right bedside table.

The pair of ceramic dolls he had deliberately placed there were gone.

Looking at Tiana Linden sitting on the bed, he suppressed his anger and asked, "Where are the ceramic dolls?"

Tiana Linden opened a picture book, ready to tell Daisy a story, "Threw them away."

"Where did you throw them?"

"Just threw them away."

In the trash can, there were no discarded ceramic dolls.

So it was very likely that Tiana Linden had thrown them out the window.

Aiden Grant, like a madman, dressed in thin indoor clothes, ran downstairs and rushed outside.

Outside, it was icy and snowy, with a biting cold wind.

Uncle Carter saw him running out so scantily dressed, and hurriedly grabbed a coat to chase after him, "Mr. Grant, what are you looking for?"

Outside Tiana Linden’s window, directly facing the glass greenhouse.

On the greenhouse, thick snow had accumulated.

Aiden Grant took a ladder, climbed up, braving the heavy snowfall, searching through the piles of snow.

Under the glass greenhouse, Uncle Carter was anxious, "Mr. Grant, you’ll freeze like this, what exactly are you looking for, tell me, I’ll get someone to help look."

Aiden Grant didn’t answer.

The intensity of the snow, he didn’t know.

The sharpness of the cold wind, he didn’t know either.

He only knew that the pair of ceramic dolls he cared most about had been thrown outside by Tiana Linden.

He dug barehanded, repeatedly, into the thick snow.

The whereabouts of the ceramic dolls were still nowhere to be found.

In fact, when Tiana Linden threw away the ceramic dolls, it had an arc.

They didn’t fall onto the corner of the greenhouse right below the window.

But landed in the snow at the very bottom.

Unable to find the ceramic dolls, Aiden Grant saw the gathered servants, using a language Uncle Carter couldn’t understand, asking about the whereabouts of the ceramic dolls.

As he spoke, he gestured, indicating the size of the ceramic dolls.

One of the long-haired, heavyset maids remembered.

But it was already too late.

She had already thrown the ceramic dolls into the trash can.

Today’s trash had already been collected.

Uncle Carter, Mrs. Walsh, and Walsh couldn’t understand what Aiden Grant and the island servants were saying.

They only saw Aiden Grant, dressed scantily, get into a car and hurriedly leave the castle.

Tiana Linden, hearing the commotion below, went to the window and looked down, only to see a black car leaving the castle, disappearing into the snowy night.

The next morning.

When Tiana Linden and Daisy went downstairs for breakfast, Aiden Grant was nowhere to be seen.

Tiana Linden casually asked, "Uncle Carter, where is that person?"

She hated Aiden Grant so much that she didn’t even want to say his name in front of Uncle Carter.

Uncle Carter knew that person referred to Aiden Grant, he sighed and replied, "Mr. Grant has a high fever of 41 degrees, the doctor just left. Last night, for some reason, he kept digging in the snow wearing only a thin shirt, then drove out to the town’s recycling center."

Tiana Linden knew that this man was looking for the ceramic dolls she had thrown away.

Not sure whether to call him persistent or delusional.

Those ceramic dolls meant nothing to her anymore.

No matter how many times he restored them, it was to no avail.

Tiana Linden just casually asked, "Has the fever subsided?"

"Are you concerned about me?"

The man’s voice was thick with congestion, low, and hoarse.

That was the voice of someone who, after a high fever, had their throat and nasal passages affected.

Tiana Linden looked up and saw Aiden Grant’s sickly face, she didn’t respond.

Aiden Grant sat down, "I’ll take it as you’re concerned about me."

Tiana Linden buried her head, drinking hot milk, "I just casually asked."

Aiden Grant replied with an unrelated answer, "I found those ceramic dolls. They were taken to the town’s recycling center by the trash collectors, but I still got them back."

"Are they that important to you?"

"Important."

"But to me, they’re just a pile of garbage. No matter how many times you retrieve them, or restore them, I don’t need them anymore. Aiden Grant, just like I no longer need you. Do you understand?"

Aiden Grant didn’t respond.

He served himself a warm bowl of millet porridge.

With a fever of 41 degrees, his fever still hadn’t subsided, and he was feeling dizzy and unsteady.

Although he had taken medicine, the fever reducer hadn’t taken effect yet.

He needed to eat well and take good care of himself to be able to look after the two of them, "It doesn’t matter, as long as they are important to me, that’s enough."

Tiana Linden: "You’re simply sick!"

...

Daisy was originally unwilling to study on the island.

But given Aiden Grant’s determination to confine them, the mother and daughter had no way to leave the island for the time being.

Tiana Linden didn’t want Daisy’s studies to be delayed and hoped that by going to school, Daisy might find some breakthrough.

Daisy only spoke Chinese.

Surely, the school Aiden Grant arranged for Daisy would have teachers who spoke Chinese.

Ten days later, Tiana Linden and Daisy made up their mind to attend school on the island.

That day, Daisy returned from school.

Tiana Linden took Daisy back to the room, knowing that Aiden Grant would install listening devices, she wrote a note under the paper:

How was it, Daisy, did you ask at school which country this island belongs to?

Daisy shook her head and wrote on the paper: Mom, the teacher is a pretty Asian lady, speaks Chinese and is very kind, but she refused to tell me anything. She also advised me to stay here and said that man really loves me and wants me to forgive him.

That man referred to Aiden Grant.

Daisy wrote again: During class, several bodyguards were watching me. Even if the teacher wanted to help, she wouldn’t dare.

Upon hearing this, Tiana Linden let out a heavy sigh.

This island felt like a prison, completely confining her and Daisy. A life like this was worse than death.