Love Contract
Chapter 192 His Embrace (P art One)

Mary tucked the two kids in the bed early. The three men stayed in the room next door. She was not sure if they had already gone to sleep.

Mary was not able to recover from her grief and her sleepiness had worn off.

She tossed and turned on the bed for a long time. Eventually, she gave up. She put on her coat and walked to the balcony.

When she walked to the balcony, she smelled a whiff of cigarette. She turned her head and saw William leaning against the wall of his balcony while smoking.

In his index finger and middle finger on his right hand was a cigarette stick. His eyes were half-closed as if in a daze and his expression was quite misty.

"Ahem.'1

Mary could not stand the smell of smoke and coughed.

William's eyes twitched when he heard her. He turned around and quickly stubbed the cigarette that he was holding. "Mary?" said William.

"Yes." Mary nodded and said, "I'm sorry for interrupting."

"It's nothing. Why are you still up?" William took a few steps forward and continued, "It's already one o'clock."

"I know. I just can't fall asleep." Mary smiled awkwardly.

The two stood on their respective balconies less than two meters apart and their silence enveloped the air for a moment.

"The moon is shining brightly tonight," said William suddenly while looking up at the sky.

"Yes, the moon is very round." Mary glanced up at the bright moon as well.

"The moon in our hometown is always the brightest." When William spoke, his voice was soft and reposeful.

"What... what did you say?" asked Mary, who was a little flustered.

"The moon in our hometown," repeated William, turning to look at Mary. "Didn't you say that you would share with me half of the moon?"

"I don't remember telling that!" Mary turned her head away, unwilling to mention the past.

"But I remember it clearly so I come back every year." William's eyes were a little hurt, but he tried his best to keep smiling. "Every year... You came here every year?" Mary asked. "Yes, I did." William nodded.

Mary stared at him blankly for a few seconds before asking, "Did you also build my mother's tomb?"

"Yes, I did," answered William with a bitter smile at the corners of his mouth. "Just take it as a little compensation. This way, I will feel better."

"Thank you," Mary said gently, not wanting to argue anymore.

"As long as you don't hate me," said William in a faint voice. "The dead could never come back to life. It's been so long, Mary. I just hope that you don't feel sad anymore."

"As long as I remember, I wouldn't be able to recover. I'm not that tough." Mary looked up and her eyes were bleak. "Never mind. I'm going to bed."

"Wait!" William stopped her in a hurry.

"Anything else?"

"I'll go to you." William gazed at her intently.

However, Mary remained unhappy. "Don't come over. I won't open the door for you."

"I didn't say I would go through the door!" With a smile on his face, William supported himself with one hand against the railing on the balcony. Before Mary could say anything, she saw William jump from the other balcony to hers.

"See what I did?" William clapped the dust on his hands and looked at Mary with a smile.

With her hands trembling, Mary stared at him while dumbfounded. "This is... more than ten floors high! Weren't you afraid of falling down? It was so dangerous!"

"Are you worried about me?" With a smile at the corners of his mouth, William slowly approached Mary.

"I was afraid that you might fall to death and the police would arrest me as a suspect," Mary answered crossly. "You are too old to do such a dangerous thing. You're not young anymore."

"No! I'm not old!" The smile on William's face widened. "Have both Alick and Elissa slept?"

"Yep." Mary nodded. "What time is it now? I'm going to bed now."

"But I just came here."

"I didn't ask you to come here," said Mary while glaring at him. "You'd better go back as soon as possible."

"Your eyes are still swollen!" Due to the light from the room, William was able to see the red rims of Mary's eyes and the tear stains on her face. "It's none of your business." Mary frowned and turned to leave. "Mary," said William, grabbing her hand, "are you still blaming me?"

"Let me go!" Mary tried to shake off his hand. "Don't use violence on me every time! How rude!

"I felt sad to see you cry today," said William, holding her tightly. "If you have any grievance or dissatisfaction, you can vent on me."

As soon as William finished speaking, Mary suddenly turned around and kicked his shin.

"Aw!" William gasped at the pain. He quickly released Mary, lowered his head and rubbed his leg. "You took the move so sudden. I was not ready!"

William murmured to himself for quite some time. He did not see any response from Mary so he looked up in confusion. Her head was lowered and she was not saying a word. Moreover, her body trembled as she tried to suppress her sobs.

"Mary? Are you crying?" Upon hearing her sobs, William immediately straightened up and held her shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked with sincere concern. "Did you get hurt when you kicked me?" Her tears streamed down her face one after another. She raised her head and shouted, "William Lan! I hate you! I hate you so much! Why did I have to meet you? You're the worst!" When Mary spoke, tears welled up in her eyes and fell down like water rushing out a dam.

William panicked. He had never seen Mary cry so sadly. He wiped her tears in a hurry and apologized profusely. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Please stop crying. Mary, I'm so sorry. Don't cry anymore."

"I hate you so much! I hate you every time I see you. And I hate you even more every time I think of my mother," Mary said in between sobs and tears streamed down her face.

"I'm so sorry, Mary!" As he spoke, William held her in his arms, letting her vent in his arms. "It's my fault."

"Why did you lock me up? I didn't even see her for the last time before she passed away!" Mary tried to get out of his grasp by kicking him again but to no avail.

"I'm sorry!" William held her tightly even more, unwilling to let her go.

"What's the use of coming here now? She couldn't even see me. I will never have a chance to see her again.

I hate you so much." Mary cried so hard that her breath was getting shallower by the minute. "I hate you! I hate you so much." "I love you," William said nervously. "I love you, Mary. No matter what, I love you."

All of a sudden, Mary stopped crying. Although her nose was blocked due to crying, she seemed to be able to get a whiff of William's tobacco.

"Even if you hate me, I won't let you go." His voice sounded above her head. "Mary, I want to be with you, always and forever. I will make it up to you with all my life."

At this moment, Mary could not tell how she felt. But one thing was clear: her heart ached.

"During the past four years without you, I felt like I was in a daze," said William, holding her in his arms. "I used all my connections but I couldn't replace you anywhere. You have no idea how desperate I was when I saw the divorce agreement.

You were everywhere in my mind. Your words and actions were in my mind over and over again. I hated myself for losing you.

Thinking of how disappointed you were with me that you chose to leave without even saying goodbye, I wished I could beat myself to death. Every day and every night, I dreamed of you leaving me and that you cried and blamed me. I didn't even have a chance to say sorry.