Kiss me tender
Chapter 40

"Good!" Colin gazed at her for a long time and then gritted his teeth with saying, "I'll be relieved if you have this thought."

Nobody had no idea whether Colin said those words sincerely or against his heart. But he was heartbroken and mad at the thought of it to speak this words.

Hearing his words, Melissa sneered, "What are you worrying about?" Or what are you worried about? "Are you worried that I will badger you like those women outside?"

Colin didn't reply, but stared at her. The look in his eyes was quiet and deep and cold, which contained a lot of emotions.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Melissa said, "Then you can rest assured. I still have dignity." Then she turned her back to him and went on sleeping, as if she didn't want to face him.

Hearing that, Colin was frozen on the spot. He didn't know whether to hug her or let her leave his arms, or to turn her back against him. After a long time, he suddenly asked, "Don't you want me to make you popular?" "Don't you want to use such a big backstage?"

Hearing this, Melissa opened her eyes again, but she didn't turn back. "I'm a person with integrity, not to mention that I never intended to use your power from the beginning. The price is too high. I won't have the guts to touch it again."

"So do you want to struggle for yourself?"

After a long pause, Melissa replied, "No matter how successful I am, I won't get in the way of your power or influence. I'll be grateful as long as you, known as Colin, don't trouble me!" "We will be apart next month. I hope you can show mercy and don't cause any trouble to me. I really appreciate it, Mr. Colin!"

Hearing that, Colin didn't reply. He slowly withdrew his hand from her and lay down behind her. They fell asleep, each with something on their minds.

But Melissa couldn't fall asleep. With her back to him, she opened her eyes. Colin lay behind her, resting his arms on his head and staring at the ceiling.

After a long time, as Melissa stared at the wall and felt tired, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Then Colin abruptly turned over and she woke up again. She found Colin get up from bed. Colin put on his pajamas and walked to the window. He opened the curtain and looked at the view outside through the French window.

The whole room of Colin was spacious. There was ceiling window right outside the bed. He pulled the curtain open and the dim moonlight poured in. It landed on the wall in front of Melissa. And Melissa gazed at her own shadow on the wall, motionless.

After a while, she heard the crack of Colin's lighter. Then the room was full of the smoke. The smell of cigarettes pervaded in the night and there was an indescribable sense of decadence and loneliness. Melissa wanted to get over to Colin, but she didn't dare to do so. She had been pretending to be asleep. If she suddenly woke up, what could she say to him? Nothing else, didn't she? She had just made it clear to him that they will go their separate ways after the contract was over. She wouldn't use his power and she also hoped he wouldn't affect me anymore. At that time, they would be as good as each other. So Melissa didn't move. She just stood there stiffly, looking at her shadow on the wall and Colin who was smoking, standing beside the bed. He was reflected by the moon and dim shadow could be seen on the wall. But it was still recognizable that he was smoking with his back to her.

Both of them stayed there in silence. Later, by chance, Melissa noticed a photo frame on the bedside cupboard. A woman sitting on the grass was laughing, but something could block her face.

All of a sudden, it dawned on Melissa that the woman must be Avril as only her photos could account for Colin's collection. He wanted to see her as he woke up from the dream. Also, he was willing to watch her before he fell asleep. But he blocked her face because he couldn't face their romance.

There was only Avril in Colin's heart, so he smoked alone at night, in despair. She desperately wanted to see what kind of power on earth Avril was and how beautiful she was. Colin kept thinking of her for so many years, from the age of teenager to thirty, even though she had died for so many years. He couldn't forget her.

For some unknown reason, Melissa's heart ached for a moment. Suddenly, he heard Colin choke on cigarette, coughing. And then she sighed, "Avril..."

Then Melissa gave up, completely. When he was sober or confused and despite there was no one at night, the only one he called was Avril and no one else was except Avril. So she gave up and closed her eyes slowly. She forced herself not to think about those things, not to think about him and stop thinking about his feelings. Because that man did not love her, because it was not worth it!

In a daze, Melissa fell asleep. Perhaps she would not think so much after she had given up, so she fell asleep soundly. Or she was really too tired, so she didn't wake up until very late the next day. When she woke up, Colin had already gone. There was no other clothes on the shelf, only a pajama he had worn. Melissa thought, "Did he go out?"

She stood up and went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Then she changed the dress which she wore yesterday. It was washed by Candy to have it dried. As for the dress that Colin gave her, she hesitated for a while. At last, she didn't take it but directly found a plastic bag and threw it into the garbage can. No matter how expensive the gift was and as long as it was sent by Colin, she didn't want it anymore. From today on, she must try to get rid of him.

Then she went downstairs. Seeing that she was downstairs, Candy hurriedly said, "Melissa, you're awake. I'll prepare breakfast for you right away. Just warm it up. Please wait for a moment!"

Melissa glanced around the living room and as she expected. No one else was in the room, except for Candy. So she asked, "Where is Colin?"

Candy had to stop and answered, "Oh, he went out early in the morning."

"What is he doing outside?"

It seemed that Candy wasn't afraid of Melissa thinking too much at all, or perhaps because of the statement that Colin had mentioned to her. She thought that Melissa was just one of those sexy women and wasn't scared of hurting her. Therefore, she honestly said, "Mr. Colin, he's in the cemetery now."

"To the cemetery?"

"Oh, today is the anniversary of Avril. Every year, he always got up early and went to the cemetery to visit her. He might not be able to come back until night. And today's breakfast can only be cooked with vegetables. Avril is a vegetarian. On her anniversary, he always accompanied her to eat vegetables all day."

Hearing that, Melissa didn't say anything more. She finally understood that it wasn't that Colin didn't have kindness, but that he had given Avril his heart. Every year, he remembered clearly her death anniversary. And on that day, he had to get up early to see her. And for her, he had also been eating only vegetables the whole day. Even though she had died for so many years, his love for her had not changed at all. It seemed that he still cared about her.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐