My One-month Marriage With Mr. Hawkins

Chapter 606: Bewildered

However, it wasn’t the anger that surged in his heart. Instead, Stanford was in a panic. Without any hesitation, he rushed to follow her.

The tall and strong figure of Stanford was standing at the door, blocking Phoebe’s way.

Phoebe immediately paused, taking a few steps back to distance herself from him.

She slightly raised her head and looked at him in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

Looking at Phoebe’s aloof face, Stanford felt quite upset.

However, when he looked at the ponytail on her head, he felt relaxed actually.

Pressing his lips, Stanford whispered, “I’m here to take you back.”

Upon hearing it, Phoebe felt quite puzzled.

Her eyes twinkled, but in the end, they were dimmed.

She slightly bent down her head and said, “I’m pretty well when staying here. I can kneel to recite the scriptures and repent my sins. I’ll become calmer. You don’t need to feel guilty or sorry for me, nor do you need to force yourself to take care of me.”

He had said that he wouldn’t want to meet her again, so she wouldn’t show up in front of him to annoy him.

Her words were reechoed in his mind, ‘Kneel to recite the scriptures and repent my sins...’

Stanford looked at her in a daze, feeling as if there was a huge stone pressing on his chest. His breath became heavier. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

It had been just a short period, Phoebe had lost a lot of weight. Her face was extremely pale without any color. Under her eyes, there were two huge dark circles.

Undoubtedly, he could tell how bad she had been in the past few weeks.

She knelt to recite the scriptures, and inwardly she kept feeling guilty and suffered.

Every day, she seemed to be living in hell.

She used to be optimistic and lively, but now she looked so dimmed, timid, and silent.

She wasn’t herself as before.

Stanford pressed his thin lips tightly, gazing at her deeply.

In a hoarse tone, he said, “I’m here to pick you up and go to see... Florence.”

Phoebe gaped suddenly.

Her widened eyes suddenly became reddened, tears welling up in them.

Between sobs, she said, “Flory... She... she...”

She wanted to ask if he had found Flory’s dead body.

She was too upset to finish the words to complete the question.

After leaving the scene that day, she was extremely sad and panicked. She also got some news later, knowing that Stanford had been searching on the sea. He blocked the area and poisoned the sea. He

kept searching Florence’s dead body without a stop like crazy.

Phoebe wandered around the city. Every day and night, she was tortured by sadness and self-blame.

Once, she had thought that she couldn’t hold on any longer.

Later, she walked into this temple as a ghost. Looking at the believer keeling and praying there, listening to the bell ringing, she felt as if she had found a place to stop.

It was a place for her to repent.

It was also a place for her to tolerate her pain.

After that day, she stayed here. Every day, she knelt to recite the scriptures, repenting her sins in the same way so that to numb her nerve with the deep feeling of grief.

She had thought that she would be like this for a long long time.

She had thought that she accepted the fact that Florence was gone all through the past weeks.

However, upon hearing Stanford’s words, she still felt so suffocated and couldn’t stand it at all.

Gritting her teeth, she shook her head desperately.

She uttered words between sobs, “I... I don’t want to see that... I don’t...”

She refused to take a look at Florence's body.

She didn’t have the heart to.

She couldn’t imagine if she would directly break down when seeing Florence’s body beyond recognition.

What Stanford said was correct - it was all because of her. She was Florence’s bestie, so she had the chance to take Clarence to the Fraser family, which caused the fight between Clarence and Benjamin.

It also led to Benjamin’s crazy kidnap, in which he wanted everyone to die together.

All of those matters started with her accomplices and deceit. She was indeed guilty.

Stanford looked at how painful Phoebe was, and his heart trembled fiercely.

That day, he lost his reason because of losing Florence, so he scolded Phoebe so ruthlessly, blaming her for everything that happened.

He made such heartless remarks to her.

In fact, Phoebe had just helped Florence. She just lied. It was Benjamin who had hurt Florence.

Right now, when seeing Phoebe’s painful look, Stanford was shocked and realized that Phoebe felt the same upset as him after those things happened to Florence.

It wasn’t until now did he saw Phoebe was also sad and suffering.

Stanford felt his heart was about to explode at any time, which kept tightening and squeezing as if it were pinched by a hand because of Phoebe’s pain.

Almost by instinct, he stepped forward, reached out, and grabbed her shoulders.

He raised his voice and said, “Flory didn’t die. She’s still alive!”

Phoebe was taken aback instantly. Her reddish eyes stared at Stanford in confusion.

Her eyes fiercely twinkled. She bit her bottom lip tightly, refusing to believe what he said.

Stanford felt quite sorry for her when seeing her expression. Immediately, he added, “Flory is still alive for real. She was taken away by Benjamin in secret after the explosion.”

That was why he couldn’t find her or her body no matter how hard he had tried.

Phoebe was surprised and excited. She stammered, “Then... Where is she... now...”

“She’s pretty well with Ernest now, waiting for you to go back,” Stanford said in a deep voice patiently.

“Is Ernest also fine?”

Phoebe was so excited that her voice was trembling.

It was absolutely the most exciting, incredible, and fantastic news she had heard in the past few weeks.

Stanford nodded affirmatively. “Yes. They both are fine.”

He implied that Phoebe didn’t need to repent and torture herself any longer.

When Phoebe heard Stanford’s positive answer, the tears that welled up in her eyes finally dropped.

Covering her face with both hands, she burst into tears.

She swept aloud, crying her voice hoarse, just like a child.

Stanford looked at her in a daze. In an instant, he gaped.

He wondered why Phoebe cried more sadly and miserably after knowing that Florence was still alive.

‘Holy smoke!’ he thought to himself, ‘What should I do now?’

Bewildered, Stanford pressed her shoulders.

He comforted her in a panic, “Phoebe, everything is fine. Please don’t cry. For real... everything is truly all right. They are both fine... Benjamin Turner... I caught Benjamin Turner as well. I’m torturing him violently now...”

The more he spoke, the louder Phoebe cried.

Covering her face, she trembled when crying. She trembled more and more fiercely as if she couldn’t stop it at all.

Stanford was so confused, feeling not well at all.

Seeing her crying so miserably, he felt as if his heart was on fire, which made him at a loss of what to do.

He couldn’t help but become gentle, and he said in a doting and coaxing tone, “Don’t cry, Phoebe. Please stop crying...”

Addison was standing motionlessly, looking at Stanford in disdain.

He truly wanted to remind Stanford, who had pretty low EQ, that Phoebe cried in joy. After shedding her tears, she could vent the suppressed feelings in the past few weeks.

It was a good thing for her to cry.

What she needed wasn’t the meaningless comfort, but instead, she needed a decisive hug and a domineering comfort, such as “Go ahead and cry out in my arms”.