At that moment, Wayne interrupted her, âAnna, please believe me. I wasnât the one who forced you to sign the contract back then. It was because my butler messed it up that you ended up being my surrogate. te âWell, I canât blame it all on you as Allie was one of the major reasons why the incident had happened. And now, sheâs already six feet underground and our children have already reached their puberty. Itâs pointless to discuss who was right or wrong at this point,â Anna said, put ona wry smile and took another sip of the drink.
âRight...â Wayne tightened his grip, his knuckles turning white.
âOkay, where was I? Right. However, even though Iâm still haunted by the past, I clearly know that thereâs nothing | could do about. Itâs not like I can just turn the clock backward as | want. What is settled in the past is already unchangeable. And gradually, after all the struggle | have suffered, |
finally learned to move on.â
âWhat do you mean? Do you mean that youâve finally gotten over me?
âMaybe. Maybe not.â
âBut we have had such a great time together, havenât we? Donât tell me you were faking it all the time... We couldâve built a wonderful and happy family.â
âWe did have our good old days, and I was indeed happy when I was with you. But, Wayne, donât you think that our love was built on a very unstable foundation? Yes, I did love you and I did want to grow old with 400 | Still Love You you. Still, from the moment | realized you were Matthew and Tammyâs birth father, everything changed. From the moment I realized that I fell in love with someone who had once nearly destroyed my life, I couldnât think straight anymore.â
At that point, Anna had already had tears welled up in her eyes, and the rims of her eyes turned a bit red. Clenching the cup in her hands, she tried her best to refrain herself from shedding tears.
Awhile later, she added, âWayne, you have to understand me. We both know that Iâm always insecure, especially when it comes to marriage. Ijust, ljust donât want our marriage to end up like that of my parents. Up till now, it still hurts like hell every time I think of the fact that my father married his mistress, who caused my motherâs death. I canât and I wonât forget the fact that it was the same woman who had killed my father! Damn it!â
Anna couldnât hold back anymore. With tears streaming down her face, she covered her face and sobbed sadly. Wayne quickly handed over a piece of tissue to her, and she thanked him for it. Just as he was about to reach out his hand to hold her hands and comfort her, Wayne flinched.
Then withdrawing his hand in embarrassment, he said, âAnna, Iâm so sorry. I didnât know what Iâve done in the past have had turned your life upside down. And I didnât know that your parentsâ failed marriage would have such a great impact on your life. Iâm so sorry that Iâve hurt you in the past.â
âItâs okay. Itâs not entirely your fault, after all. âm also to be blamed for how everything turned out the way it is. Anyways, the k********g that happened five years ago was the last straw that made me give up on you Wayne, being with you did make me happy, but it also made me worry about my life because ever since our fate was intertwined, my life had been 400 | Still Love You full of uncertainty. And I hate uncertainty.â
âOriginally, I thought I would be able to overcome my insecurity. But it turns out that | canât. I just canât. Wayne, sometimes, being with you is exhausting. Not only did | have to worry that you would learn the truth about my identity and then take Tammy away from me, but also, have to always be on guard when facing the women who fawned upon you because they would either try hard to steal you from me or do harm to Matthew or Tammy.â
What?! ... Gosh! Why didnât think of it earlier? Had | known about it, I wouldnât have said those harsh words to you back then.
And you wouldnât have left me without hesitation. Damn it! How could | be so stupid and ruin the love we had?!
Much as he wanted to speak his thoughts out loud, Wayne chose to shut it because Anna looked like she still had a lot to say to him. Then with a nodding, he said, âAnna, keep it on.â
âand when I found out that I was pregnant five years ago, I panicked.â
âWhat?! You were pregnant five years ago?!â This time, Wayne couldnât hold back any longer. He exclaimed with a pale face âYes, I was three months pregnant back then.â
âWhy didnât you tell me, Anna? We couldâve sorted things out together.
âIf only it would be the case, Wayne. You think | didnât want to sort that out with you? Of course, I did! By the way, thank you so much for saving me that day. After | was rescued and taken to the hospital after being kidnapped, | kept wondering whether to tell you about it for a long time. On the one hand, I couldnât help thinking of the scene in which the five of us living in a big and warm family happily. On the other hand, at the 400 | Still Love You thought that Matthew was almost murdered multiple times before by Ada and that she might still be an outlaw who would come back any moment to hurt us, | lost the courage to be with you anymore. Also, those hurtful words you said to me suppressed my willingness to be with you even more.
Feeling regretful and sorry, Wayne lowered his head and put his hand on his forehead to support it. He had so many words to say to Anna such as âI still love you, Annaâ, âIâm so sorryâ, âPlease get back with meâ, and so on. However, he was so choked by the mixed emotions that he eventually failed to utter a single word.
âItwas a boy.â At the moment, Annaâs voice was like a floating melody that came into Wayneâs wandering mind.
Startled, Wayne asked after he was back to earth, âWhat?â
âI mean our son. He was a beautiful boy. Itâs such a shame that we lost him forever. Matthew and Tammy would be more than happy if they knew that they would have a baby brother back then.â
âanna, Iâm so sorry.â
âItâs okay. I know youâre heartbroken as well. When I was in France, every time I went to the hospital for the ultrasound exam, I would be excited to see that he grew bigger and bigger day by day. Unlike last time When I was pregnant with Tammy and Matthew, the time when | was pregnant with Archie; yes, I was going to name him Archie; | was expecting his arrival. I wanted him to appreciate the beauty of the world and I wanted him to feel that he was loved and cared for. However, when I was five-
month-pregnant, the doctor told me that she couldnât hear his heartbeat anymore. I told her to double check whether she got it wrong. And after checking it for the fourth time and there was still not a sound of his heartbeat, | know he was really gone...â 400 | Still Love You Anna couldnât help sobbing. This time, she shed more tears and her face turned red because she tried so hard to suppress her sobbing. Seeing that, Wayne reached out his hands and held her soft hands. As Anna felt the warmth passing from Wayneâs warm palm to her cold hands, she didnât refuse him. Instead, she held his hands more tightly.