Chapter39

After all, they were about to go through the formalities. There

was no need anymore.

However, seeing Ellsworth’s unhappy gaze fixed on her, Harriet avoided his eyes and exined, “You’re usually very

busy, so I thought I wouldn’t bother you.”

Every word, even the punctuation, was full of distance.

Ellsworth’s gaze grew even colder.

Staring at Harriet with a nk expression for a while, Ellsworth said coldly, “I’m going outside for a smoke.”‘

Only then did Harriet look at him again. “Okay.”

Ellsworth got up and left. Harriet’s gaze lingered at the door for

a while before she looked away.

After closing the door, Ellsworth walked a bit farther down the hall beforezily leaning against the corridor wall and lighting

a cigarette.

Blowing out a heavy ring of smoke, Ellsworth noticed the ring

Chapter39

on his ring finger.

His right hand hung in midair as he stared intently at the ring.

It wasn’t until the cigarette burned down and singed his fingers

that he snapped out of it and quickly stubbed the butt out in the

nearby trash can.

After tossing the cigarette, Ellsworth nced at Ralph’s hospital

room. He didn’t go in, nor did he go to Kelsey’s room, but instead

sat down on a bench in the corridor.

His long legs casually crossed and stretched out, his whole body

backrest, looking like a model straight out of a magazine.

For some reason, Harriet’s coldness and obvious dislike for him

left him feeling rather unsettled.

She hadn’t been like this before. If he so much as nced at her,

or came back to Auburn Heights, she would be overjoyed.

After sitting in the corridor for quite a while, Ellsworth turned

to look at the hospital room again.

Staring at the door for a moment, he finally got up and walked

over.

When he reached the door and saw Harriet still sitting by

Ralph’s bedside, Ellsworth quietly pushed open the door and sat

back down in the same chair as before.

In the days that followed, Ralph remained in the hospital for

observation.

Harriet put her work aside for the time being and stayed at the hospital to keep Ralphpany.

Ellsworth also came by frequently these days, chatting with

Ralph and ying chess with him, which made Ralph quite

happy.

However, Harriet remained very polite toward him. Although

she asked about his meals and drinks just as she did for Ralph,

there was a clear sense of distance and formality.

It wasn’t like before.

That afternoon, while the grandfather and granddaughter

were in the hospital room, Ralph reclined on the bed and looked

at Harriet, asking, “Hara, I’ve noticed you haven’t been very warm to Ells these days, and you’re especially polite to him. Did something happen?”

Handing the peeled apple to Ralph, Harriet said, “Nothing

happened, Grandpa. Don’t overthink it. I’ve always respected

him.”

Ralph didn’t believe her. “I can tell something’s up just by the

way you act.”

Harriet couldn’t help butugh, pushing the apple into the old

man’s hand. “There’s nothing going on. Besides, since we’re

nning to get divorced, why should we be so close anymore?”

Ralph didn’t eat the apple Harriet handed him. Instead, he put it

back in the bowl on the nightstand and looked at Harriet with

utmost seriousness.

Feeling guilty under Ralph’s gaze, Harriet looked away and

said, “Grandpa, please don’t ask. I can handle my own affairs.”

She didn’t want to say too much to Ralph, afraid it would upset

him.

But Ralph still looked at Harriet with a serious expression and

said earnestly, “Hara, your parents are both gone. I’m your only

family. If you don’t talk to Grandpa when something happens,

who else can you talk to?”

When Ralph mentioned her parents, Harriet lowered her head

and fell silent.

After thinking for a long time, weighing her options, and not wanting Ralph to jump to conclusions, Harriet finally looked up at him and said softly, “He said I was something he didn’t want.”

When Harriet finished speaking, Ralph was stunned.

He stared wide-eyed at Harriet, even straightening his back

against the bed, looking utterly incredulous, as if he couldn’t

believe what he’d just heard.

But after watching Harriet for a long time, seeing that she

didn’t take back her words and quietly avoided his gaze, Ralph

said nothing, his eyes turning red.

After that, the hospital room fell into a long silence.

After a long time, and much thought, Ralph let out a long sigh.

“Then just get divorced.”

Harriet nodded. “Mm.”

That evening, Ellsworth came by again.

Harriet, meanwhile, had been sent by Ralph to fetch some

things.

So, only he and Ellsworth were left in the hospital room.

The two of them yed chess at the table.