Win My Husband Over to Find My Child
Chapter 174: What If I Deceived You?

Chapter 174: What If I Deceived You?

Aunt Wendy prepared minced beef porridge, half-boiled eggs, red bean paste steamed buns and hot soymilk for them. Calix served them all on the garden table.

Sitting side by side, they enjoyed breakfast in the backyard. Leslie’s appetite was great, perhaps heightened by her surroundings right now. Calix was happy to see her eating more than usual.

"Do you want this bun?" Calix showed the steamed bun held in his right hand, "We can soak it in the soy milk."

"I want..."

Leslie nodded, forlornly staring at the big yet fluffy steamed bun. Her nutritionist still put her on a liquid diet. Eating solid food wouldn’t be good for her throat yet.

Calix poured some soy milk into a small bowl. He ripped the bun into tiny pieces before letting them soak in the drink.

"They’re soft enough now, I think."

Scooping one piece with the red bean paste, Calix brought the spoon to Leslie’s mouth. His grin widened at the sight of Leslie’s sparkling eyes once she tasted the bun.

"Is it yummy?"

"Yes..." Leslie couldn’t help herself from smiling. She pointed to the bowl with her chin, "Again, please..."

"Aye, aye, ma’am."

Calix and Leslie took their sweet time having breakfast outdoors. He was the one who finished everything, amusing her.

The sky was already bright by the time they returned to the house but, it was bearable for Leslie. The clock showed a quarter before seven.

"Will you sleep... or, go for a run?"

Leaving the elevator, Leslie wondered what Calix’s plan was after this.

CEO Xu frequently went for a morning run and did a couple of exercises. His habit helped him to stay in shape.

"Sleep sounds better than running," replied Calix cheekily. He pushed Leslie’s wheelchair to the bedroom, "How about you?"

"Maybe, listen to some... morning news," Leslie didn’t feel like going to bed straightaway after breakfast, "It’s as entertaining... as audiobooks..."

Leslie learned a lot through the news. This world closely resembled the one in her previous life yet, still had its own differences.

Mrs. An had left the house, replaced by Mrs. Su. Even though the private nurse had arrived, Calix still brought Leslie to the bedroom himself instead of asking Mrs. Su to do it.

While Calix helped Leslie to lie against the headboard, his gaze drifted to her hands. Pursing his lips, he guiltily thought about the idea he had in mind since yesterday.

"Leslie..." taking one of her hands, Calix gently touched her fingers, "En... your nails look longer. How about I clip them for you?"

Blinking, Leslie stared at both of her hands. Calix’s words were true. Her nails had grown from the previous clipping.

"Okay... please help me..."

Leslie didn’t think twice about accepting Calix’s help. He had done the same thing for her before thus, the suggestion didn’t sound weird.

Little did she know that his assistance this time was laced with a hidden motive.

Calix sat on the bed as he carefully clipped Leslie’s nails. Lowering his head down, he feigned focus as guilt tugged at his heart. The clipped nails were placed on a tissue.

"Leslie, I have a question."

Once Calix was done, he folded the tissue before placing it on the bedside table. Leslie arced her brows, wondering why suddenly his expression sank.

"Calix... what’s wrong?"

Did something happen?

Or, was he simply tired from waking up too early?

"What if..." Calix locked his undecipherable gaze on Leslie’s confused ones. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, "One way or another, there’s a time when I deceived you?"

Leslie blinked, unable to understand what Calix meant by that. By how cloudy his countenance was, she could tell he was being serious instead of playing around like usual.

What was weighing his mind now? Really, this came out of the blue.

From how he sounded, it seemed like the matter was related to her.

Curling up her lips, Leslie reached out for Calix’s right hand. Her action enticed him to briefly look at their hands before once again staring at her.

Her hand was a bit cold, perhaps due to staying outside for so long. Hesitating, he slowly enveloped his palm around her hand, wanting to warm it.

"Somehow... we can know whether... one person is... malicious toward... us or not... like white lies..."

Leslie didn’t know what made Calix ask her that. This was the first time he ever brought up such a question.

But, she sensed no malice through his voice and expressions.

Calix pressed his lips together, pondering over Leslie’s words. He unconsciously tightened his grasp around her hand.

"White lies are still lies," Calix exhaled a sigh, his brows furrowing. His voice wavering, he asked quietly, "If I ever do that... you can punish me however you want."

Calix understood the consequences that lay beneath his secretive actions. Once he was truthful to Leslie, he prepared himself to receive her anger.

Just... he was afraid that she would no longer trust him in the future.

As a corporate leader, Calix was accustomed to masking his emotions and perfecting his act of lying. But, he couldn’t do so when Leslie was at the heart of the matter.

The day he laid out everything including the night from six years ago would come soon.

’Why did he look like that?’

Leslie was uncomfortable by how heavy Calix’s expression was. This was the first time ever he showed such a face to her. She couldn’t help but wonder the reason he asked her this.

But, Leslie had no intention to find it out. Doing so might burden her mind, especially when she was still preoccupied with many other things.

Leslie believed Calix would reveal everything to her later. She planned to decide how would she feel when the time came instead of worrying about it now.

"Kneel on the washboard[1]..."

"...pardon?" Calix blinked in confusion.

Letting out a chuckle, Leslie said more, "I’ll make you... kneel on the... washboard... How about that?"

Calix blankly stared at Leslie. He actually expected her to question him instead of joking like that, trying to ease the mood.

Leslie laughed again, amused by how puzzled Calix appeared. Squeezing his hand once, she continued talking, "If not... kneel on durian... I’ll accept either way..."

"...yeah."

Calix pulled himself out of the stupor. A helpless chuckle escaped his lips as he ran his thumb on the back of Leslie’s hand.

"There’s something I’m doing. I’m not sure about the results but, I want to let you know about this first."

Leslie simply nodded. She didn’t want to pry into the matter when Calix seemed reluctant to talk about it further.

Talking about this reminded Leslie of the night she first talked about Calliope to Calix[2]. She also admitted that she had something she still—had to—hide from him.

"You should sleep... before going to work..." Leslie changed the subject, her smile remaining on her lips, "Let’s talk about... this when... you’re ready..."

Calix nodded once, knowing that this conversation would go nowhere even if he insisted on continuing.

"You should get some rest too," Calix stood up from the bed. He pulled up the blanket to cover Leslie, "See you later."

"...en. Thank you for... this morning..."

Calix returned Leslie’s smile despite being not as cheerful as usual. Grabbing the folded tissue, he stepped out of the bedroom.

----------

Reference:

1 - Chinese women’s punishment for their husbands, a verbal joke

2 - 31