Chapter72

Ellsworth didn’t mind. With his free right hand, he gently pinched

her cheek, kissing her on the side of her face, her neck, and her

ear.

When his warm, soft kissesnded on her ear, Harriet’s brows

furrowed tightly. She reminded him, “Ellsworth, it’s enough to

just fool around a little.”

“Fool around?” Ellsworth chuckled. “Who’s fooling around with

you?”

Afterughing, he released Harriet’s hands, letting them fall gently to the front of her pajamas, and nonchntly undid the

bottom button.

Harriet quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him from going further.

Looking down at Harriet, Ellsworth smiled. “Harriet, we’re not

even divorced yet, and you won’t even let me touch you. Does

that make sense?”

Ellsworth’s casual tone made Harriet’s resistancee to an

abrupt halt.

Her right hand was still gripping Ellsworth’s arm, but not as

tightly as before.

As Ellsworth undid her second button, Harriet swallowed and

said calmly, “Ellsworth, I’ve never cared what you do outside.

For that alone, please let me go.”

She had already decided to leave; Harriet didn’t want to create

any more memories,

It wasn’t that she was unwilling to give herself to him, but she

was afraid that if she looked back one day, she wouldn’t be able

to bear it.

If Harriet hadn’t brought it up, Ellsworth wouldn’t have thought

much of it. But when she said she never cared about him, his

hands paused as he undid her clothes. Looking into her eyes,

he sneered, “You’re so virtuous and dutiful. Should I reward you

for that?”

With that, Ellsworth undid her second button as well.

Immediately after, the next two buttons were undone as well.

Harriet tried to push his hand away again, but Ellsworth simply

scooped her up andid her back on the bed.

She wanted to resist Ellsworth, but after a few rounds of

struggle, she was no match for him.

He teased her as if she were a kitten or a puppy.

In the end, she clenched her fists, lightly gripping the bedsheet,

turned her face away, and gave up struggling.

Sheforted herself, thinking that whether or not this

happened, it didn’t really matter anymore.

With one hand caressing Harriet’s neck and the other removing

her pants, Ellsworth kissed her. But when he saw a scar on her

lower left abdomen-one that was still fresh-he suddenly

stopped.

Staring at the scar on Harriet’s stomach, Ellsworth asked,

“Harriet, what happened to the scar on your stomach?”

Ellsworth’s sudden change of topic snapped Harriet back to

reality. Instinctively, she reached to cover the scar, but Ellsworth

caught her hand, not letting her hide it.

At this, Harriet sat up on the bed, propping herself up with both hands, pulling her clothes back up over her shoulders, and said calmly, “I had my appendix removedst year.”

“Appendix removed?” Ellsworth looked up at her face, his expression serious as he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Harriet, covering the scar through her clothes, replied in a t

voice, “I called you, but you had blocked my number.”

After Harriet spoke, Ellsworth fell silent, just staring at her.

He stared at Harriet for a while without moving. Seeing that she

never looked at him, Ellsworth lost all interest and walked over

to the floor-to-ceiling window.

He opened the window, picked up a cigarette from the side, and

lit it for himself.

The faint smoke rings slowly drifted out the window, while

Ellsworth’s brows remained tightly furrowed.

He had hung up on Harriet before and blocked her number,

because every time she called, it was about his mother, his

grandfather, always family matters.

She had almost never sought him out for herself-never wanted

to have a meal with him, never contacted him just to see him. It

was always at someone else’s urging.

So, he had blocked her number.

He never expected that he would miss her call about going to

the hospital for surgery.

Exhaling a heavy smoke ring, Ellsworth turned sideways and

stubbed out the remaining half of his cigarette in the ashtray.

Then he turned to Harriet and exined, “It wasn’t on purpose.”

From the bed, Harriet said, “I know. I don’t mind.”

She knew he was busy, knew that other people and things were

more important to him than she was, knew that she wasn’t

important.

She knew. She knew it all.

Besides… whether it was intentional or not, whether she minded

or not, none of it mattered anymore.

Harriet’s indifference made Ellsworth stare at her with a heavy

expression for a long time. Then he walked over, lifted her chin,

and kissed her hard on the lips.

This time, his kiss was fiercer and more forceful than ever

before.

He bit her lips and tongue until they ached.