Tasting
Chapter 401

401–The Painting Of Our Lost Love

Nora:

I made it inside the mansion to replace Lord Atwood standing at the entrance. His sons were right behind him, their arms folded across their chests, except for Cain. He was nowhere to be seen.

“I see you’ve brought her here,” Lord Atwood remarked, nodding toward the living room. I stepped further inside and saw Daphne lying on the couch, deep in slumber. She stirred only to walk around aimlessly before collapsing back into sleep again.

As expected, her condition was terrible, and I had no idea how much worse it would get before everything was resolved–or if it would just keep deteriorating from here.

“I thought it would be a good idea to keep her in sight. Last time when we let the victim out of our sight, we lost him,” I replied, ignoring the underlying meaning behind their stares. They stood there like they had a bone to pick with me.

“I don’t want to interfere with your judgment regarding the mission, but having her live here might make you uncomfortable,” Lord Atwood surprised me with his hypocrisy.

I didn’t want to say it aloud, but I vividly remembered when he had brought in Natalya and April. Did he not think they made me uncomfortable too?

“Oh no, it’s fine. I’m more concerned about her than I am about the possibility that she might irritate me with her behavior,” I replied casually, noticing them exchange glances with one another.

“Anyway, I’d like her to stay in my room, if that’s alright,” I suggested, once again souring their mood.

“Why in your room? She despises you. She’s done so much wrong to you –” Silas groaned as he stepped forward, attempting to argue, but Lord Atwood gestured for him to step back.

“It’s okay. Whatever you decide,” Lord Atwood agreed.

With a nod, I walked over to Daphne and stood beside her, debating whether I should wake her up and disturb her sleep or wait for her to wake on her own so I could take her to my room. I decided to let her rest for now. She was incredibly sick, and I didn’t want to make it worse. I knew the brothers were still around.

“Silas–may I ask for your help?” I called out, catching them off guard as they were about to head to their respective rooms.

Silas turned to his brothers and gave a strange smile. I noticed Ryker and Nash exchange questioning glances before Nash stepped forward to speak.

“Why him? You could ask me. I can help you.”

I raised an eyebrow, tapping my foot on the ground with my hands on my hips.

“You two should rest. I can handle it,” Ryker cleared his throat and

offered his assistance. With their father already gone, they were no longer hiding their competitiveness.

“I asked Silas-,” I started to explain why I’d chosen Silas, but Nash groaned, cutting me off.

“I was with her the whole day. So why is it that now, when she needs help, you two are suddenly stepping in?” he growled at his brothers, surprising me. Why was he so eager to assist me?

“Alright, fine. Nash–can you help me?” I said, hoping to prevent any more arguing that might wake Daphne. I chose Nash, though it was clear his brothers were not happy with my decision.

“Thank you. You two can go ahead; I’ll take care of her,” Nash said, his tone carrying an odd, smug hint as he dismissed his brothers, who left reluctantly.

“So, tell me what do you need me to do?” Nash asked, stepping inside and stopping just when he was uncomfortably close to my face.

“I want you to sit here and watch Daphne for me while I go freshen up, okay?” I gave him a smile as I handed over the task, watching his smile slowly fade.

“Pffft! Yeah, Nash, be a good boy and take care of your ex,” Silas joked, laughing under his breath. Nash’s jaw clenched, clearly not pleased. What did he think I was going to ask him for?

I didn’t stick around, even as the brothers kept laughing and pointing at Nash from the staircase.

“Move!” I ordered the two as soon as I reached the stairs, and they hurried off as if their tails were on fire.

However, I wasn’t only thinking about taking a shower–I had something else in mind.

I remembered Cain saying last time that he had burned my painting because he was trying to protect me. I don’t know why he lied when he could have just told me the truth. Of course, he did it to hurt me.

So this time, I was going to make his statement true. I stormed into his studio, knowing he wasn’t home, and grabbed the painting.

I was going to burn it–my painting. He should not be having my painting in his studio anymore.

I have moved on, and thankfully, I could now get rid of the painting.