Entwined With the Villainous Guardian
Chapter 112: Settled Heart

Chapter 112: Settled Heart

"...It’s me..."

The voice that he got recently accustomed to was filled with uncertainty. His heart almost leaped out of his chest cavity hearing her voice through the phone. He wanted to check if he is really talking to her. But then she might end the call in the meantime, so he pressed his phone to his ear.

"...Minerva..." She added, confirming that he was not dreaming.

"Hmm," his voice calmed down several notches.

"I..." she stopped speaking for a moment.

"Are you near..."

She started her enquiring in a curious tone, but for some reason decided to cut it short. He, still curious, listened to her keenly not wanting to miss even the sound of her breath.

It was serene. The wound of waves in his one ear, and the sound of her breath in the other. His eyes end up on the young couple he saw earlier. She said that she was loved. She would know that feeling.

"Will you show me what love is?"

He almost asked her. Almost.

But he held himself back. It’s pathetic for a man to beg someone for love. It is more pathetic if that someone is his wife. And it is the most pathetic thing to beg the person who hates him to show him what love is.

It hurt.

But even then, her voice was like a soothing balm for his wounded heart.

"Steve was worried for you as you weren’t answering his calls. He said you went missing the entire night," she said, her voice being plain as it can be if she wanted to hide her care.

Or maybe she didn’t really care. He didn’t want to think about that possibility though.

Snake... he wanted to remind himself. She’s a snake that he took his bedroom. She now is coiled around his heart and even entered his dream.

But he didn’t realize that she has such a sweet voice. She had a soft, feminine voice, and it was accentuated through the phone.

"Pass the phone to Steve," he said, mirroring her curiosity. Although he didn’t think that he pretended as well as her. Maybe he unconsciously didn’t want to sound too harsh.

Silence. There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Steve is not nearby..." she said after a few seconds of silence.

He couldn’t stop his chuckle. She fell for his interrogation tactic. He now knew that Steve was not the one who asked her to make the call. If it was Steve, he wouldn’t have dialed using the landline. She could have made him believe her if she mentioned Katerina.

Not so good of a liar she is, isn’t she?

She cleared her throat pretending to not hear his laugh. "I’ll inform him once I see him. He went to the garden to talk to the gardener about something. How long will it take for your return?"

"Maybe a couple of hours or three hours maximum. I’ll send Steve my location," he said, deciding to not embarrass her.

"Okay, get something to eat before you leave," she said and ended the call.

Leander who was about to ask her if she had her breakfast, stared blankly at his phone. He didn’t want to be happy about this little call. But he couldn’t control his grin for a long time.

And looking at the happy couples and families on the beach, he didn’t feel that sad anymore.

Until the weird dream resurfaced in his memory.

On the way back, that’s all he thought about. How the little girl with the prettiest eyes that were filled with innocence and affection turned to the woman on the ledge whose eyes were filled with hatred and disappointment.

He dismissed that weird dream as something induced by the weird story, he heard the previous day along with the research he did on the Abenney fire.

But he felt like he knew the girl.

His hands ended up on his chest. He didn’t know why he wanted to have that tattoo on his chest. Whenever he had nightmares after his accident, he’d hear the voice of a girl saying ’Jophiel’. In those times, only that voice could snap him out of his nightmares. He didn’t even know who Jophiel was and he did some research to find out that Jophiel is believed to be one of the seven archangels.

He always believed that it was an angel who helped him with his nightmares.

After having that tattoo when he was sixteen, he however stopped getting those nightmares. He started to get more involved with his father in their family business and when he went to school in his off time, he saw a girl whom he somehow associated with the angel. And he fell in love with her.

That didn’t work out.

Maybe this is the same. Like he associated the "angel in his dreams" with Helena back then, he associated the angel with his wife. And the story she told must be the reason for this dream.

But he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he is connected to her somehow. That much is obvious. But the hatred she had for him made him afraid to dig deeper.

What can of worms will he end up opening if he digs deeper?

The closer he got to their city, the more he got anxious. The recent truths he learned made him sigh. He wanted to just drive in the opposite direction and maybe live in a small hut beside the sea, watching the sunrise and hearing the waves crash. Maybe he can become a fisherman to support himself.

But no, he cannot abandon his family just because of one thing. His family needs him. He regretted saving her on the ledge. If he didn’t save her, he would still be ignorant about the various decisions his grandfather made against his wishes.

No, he cannot think of it as his grandfather didn’t trust him. He will see it as his grandfather knew better. He is more experienced and to not hurt his grandson, he did the right thing by keeping it a secret from him so as not to hurt his feelings.

It was not easy for him to accept, but that is how he settled his heart. He’s had experience settling his heart to things he knew were not the truth.

When he reached home, it was almost one in the afternoon. And when he alighted from his car and walked into his house, what he saw surprised him.