CHAPTER 283: CHAPTER 283: HE LOVED HER IN SILENCE ALL THESE YEARS

Although Tanya Sinclair only had contact with Zeke Pierce this one time, she believed that Zeke would do anything for her!

He has never really seen Declan Pierce as a member of The Pierce Family...

Tanya couldn’t even begin to imagine the inhuman torment Declan has endured these past few years with The Pierce Family.

"He wants my blood to survive; I want The Pierce Family’s power and wealth to achieve my goal." Declan softly reassured her, "Tanya, it’s very fair."

"Fair, my ass!" Tanya rarely cursed, "What goal is worth risking your life for?"

Declan gazed at her, stubbornly deliberate, "To me, it’s worth it."

"..."

Tanya’s pupils trembled violently.

She suddenly understood something, a feeling so heavy and vast it overwhelmed her, like a colossal, uncontrollable tsunami, completely engulfing her.

Tanya felt a strong sense of suffocation...

The door lock suddenly clicked open, and the next second, the door burst open.

Zion Monroe stormed in, wielding two kitchen knives.

"Brother Pierce! I’m here..." He aggressively halted upon seeing Declan on the sofa, alongside Tanya.

Zion Monroe casually tossed the knives aside, forcing a couple of awkward laughs, "Oh, the future sister-in-law is here too."

Tanya: "..."

Declan threw a cushion at him.

"Stop blabbering here."

Zion Monroe caught the flying cushion with both hands, grinning shamelessly, "Sorry, Ms. Tanya, I spoke too fast."

Brother Pierce certainly wasn’t angry; after all, given Brother Pierce’s temperament, if he was really mad, what flew over wouldn’t be a soft, fragrant cushion!

"It’s getting late. Let Zion Monroe take you back." Declan looked at Tanya, "If you’d like to stay the night, I’ll have him tidy up the guest room."

Zion Monroe floated over with the cushion, lamenting, "Brother, am I a driver or a cleaner..."

And when Brother Pierce talked to Ms. Tanya, he was so gentle, unlike his usual self.

"Is there anyone to care for you here at night?" Tanya was a bit worried.

This Phoenix Court was too big; besides the main building, there were several other buildings behind it, and she was unsure if others lived here.

Declan curled his lips lazily, "Don’t worry, Zeke Pierce will take care of me from every angle until I’m all better."

"..." Just hearing Zeke Pierce’s name made Tanya inexplicably angry.

"Go back." Declan reined in his scattered smile, looked at Tanya, and said, "You’re still a patient yourself, and there should be many waiting to visit you tomorrow."

He knew that Tanya now had many people around her who loved and cared for her.

And she cared for them too.

Tanya remained silent for a moment.

Tomorrow Caden would come to her hospital room... and staying here, she indeed couldn’t care for Declan much, instead becoming more of a burden; it was better to leave and find a way to do something for Declan.

"It’s getting late." Declan gazed at her, his eyes tender and soft, smiling faintly, "Head back, princess."

The word ’princess’ reminded Tanya.

There were still questions she hadn’t asked Declan.

"Mr. Monroe, could you wait for me in the car? I’ll be right there."

Zion "The Light Bulb" Monroe: "Sure, leaving now."

Zion Monroe slickly withdrew.

Now it was just her and Declan alone, and Tanya asked the questions she’d long wanted to ask.

"Why do you call me princess? And you said you liked me since before college? Did we know each other before?"

Her confusion was too much.

In Tanya’s view, the first time she met Declan was during the freshman self-introduction at the start of college.

Declan had striking golden hair, sitting at the back by the window, sleeping.

After she introduced herself, she saw that eye-catching golden head lift, revealing a stunning face, half-asleep, eyes squinting at her, until she felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at...

Declan gave a cryptic smile, his voice cool and gentle.

"When I met you, you were a princess celebrating in a castle, and I was the little beggar peeking from outside the iron gate..."

Tanya was slightly taken aback, some distant, dusty images vaguely rising in her mind.

Declan spoke softly, "You were the first person to give me cake. That day, coincidentally, was also my birthday."

He and Tanya were born on the same day.

But his mother never celebrated his birthday; in young Declan’s memory, his birthday equaled a nightmare, the day his mother hated him the most every year, and she hit him harder than ever.

’How could you be born? Go die! Die!!’

When one lives in pain for so long, it no longer feels painful, only numb.

But that day, the princess from the castle handed him a piece of cake.

’Today’s my birthday, so I’m giving you birthday cake. I also wish you a happy birthday day.’

In his memory, the little beggar whose face had long blurred slowly merged with the Declan before her, finally becoming this living, breathing man.

Tanya was utterly stunned there.

She wanted to say something, but she was momentarily speechless.

Declan reached out, gently touching her cold face.

"Then one day, the princess suddenly disappeared. I thought maybe she went to another place, to live a happier life. Until a long time later, I met her again. The princess had become very quiet, no longer as fond of smiling as before, and she didn’t remember me."

Declan gave a mocking curl of his lips, yet his gaze was so tender it ached.

"I didn’t know how to make her laugh, what I could do to make the princess happy. But every time it seemed to backfire. She hated me; she thought I hated her. Actually, I was just... too self-conscious. In front of her, I wanted not to seem so poor and pathetic."

He just calmly and gently offered his heart, bloody, for her to see.

"In those years when I couldn’t find her, the princess fell in love with someone, liked him very much, very much. In my eyes, he was a rotten man. But she liked him, to death." Declan’s Adam’s apple rolled minutely, continuing with bitterness, "I couldn’t stop her, only comforted myself; maybe it’s just my poor judgment, perhaps the princess would indeed be happy."

Tanya’s vision was already blurred by tears.

Everything afterward needn’t be said, she did fall for a rotten man and learned her lesson, paid a terrible price...

But during those years she loved Vincent Hawthorne desperately, Declan was in that corner she’d never turned back to, loving her more profoundly and silently.

Her eyelashes finally buckled under the weight, allowing tears to fall.

"Declan..." Tanya choked, "Are you an idiot?"

How could there be someone so foolish?

How could he love her so long without any response, without any hope...?

Declan wiped her tears away, but the more he wiped, the more they flowed.

He frowned slightly, "Don’t cry, Tanya."

If he’d known it would make her cry like this, he might not have spoken at all.

"Declan, live well. You know?" Tanya grabbed his hand, wiped her face haphazardly, staring at him seriously.

Her eyes were red from crying, and her nose was red too.

In Declan’s eyes, she was so adorable it made his heart soft and collapsing.

"Understood." He replied softly.

Tanya couldn’t quite say what feelings she now had for Declan; her heart was a mess, shock, and emotion alongside other emotions, filled to the brim.

But she didn’t want these chaotic emotions to be taken for liking or love.

But one thing was clear to her.

—She wanted Declan to live.

"Declan, if you can truly die for me, then from this day on, I want you to live well for me!"