Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Clifford couldn’t understand why Gideon was suddenly in a better mood: He recalled their brief conversation but found nothing. He had long heard that Gideon was a very temperamental man. Today, he had seen it for himself.

“We’re old acquaintances indeed. We’ve known each other for almost ten years.” Gideon answered this question with great pleasure, emphasizing the words “ten years” to let Clifford figure it out for himself.

Clifford thought that Gideon and Margaret were just acquaintances, but he didn’t expect them to have known each other for such a long

time.

Although it didn’t matter who met whom first when it came to love, Clifford had met Margaret an entire decade later. He wondered if he still stood a chance since he had entirely missed her transformation.

While he was freaking out, Gideon was already almost in the elevator. If it weren’t for the sound it made when it arrived, Clifford would not have come back to his senses.

Gideon was very satisfied with the pressure he had caused to his rival. The best outcome would be for Clifford to think he no longer stood a chance with Margaret and just stop trying to court her.

When the elevator door was about to close, Clifford entered and realized that now was not the time to compete with Gideon. He couldn’t let Gideon stay in a room alone with Margaret at night. He had to keep an eye on Gideon

“When did you meet Maggie, Dr. Huxley?” Gideon asked in return.

“On the battlefield. Maggie was very brave.” Clifford wanted Gideon to know that though his friendship with Margaret wasn’t as long as Gideon’s, he had a deep relationship with her.

Clifford’s bragging gave Gideon a clue. He had been getting people to look into what happened in Margaret’s life over the past five years, but they couldn’t find anything except that small incident in Atharia. They wanted Gideon to provide them with a direction. Otherwise, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, which was time–consuming, and results weren’t guaranteed.

Gideon had been thinking about when to get Margaret to talk. He hadn’t figured out a strategy yet, but Clifford gave him a start.

“She’s always been brave.” If she were cowardly, she wouldn’t have dared to find him when she was out of options. Gideon was grateful for

her bravery. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have met.

As they spoke, the elevator had reached the 15th floor. The two men made way for each other and then walked out of the elevator together.

Margaret was only thinking about giving coffee to Clifford and forgot about the clingy Gideon. Seeing them walking in together through the

front door, Margaret got a very strange feeling.

“Um, the coffee beans.” Margaret shoved the coffee beans into Clifford’s hand, hoping to get rid of both men..

It was quite stressful for Margaret to see them in her house together.

However, Gideon could see Margaret’s intention at a glance. It was still early, and he had no intention of quitting. He had to show Clifford who would emerge victorious.

Before Margaret could speak, Gideon had already walked to the sofa and sat down uninvited. Then he took out a small jar from under the

coffee table,

Margaret liked eating nuts and would put them in some small comers of her home.

Gideon was not sure if Margaret’s habits were different from before. He just wanted to try, but he didn’t expect him to be lucky. Margaret’s

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Chapter 30

habits had not changed, which also meant that her feelings remained the same.

Margaret’s eyes widened as she watched Gideon shell pistachios for her. The urge to send him to a psychiatrist grew stronger within her.

Tonight, Gideon was not only extraordinarily kind–hearted but also did something that he wouldn’t usually do.

A long time later, when Margaret thought of this day again, she asked Gideon what he was thinking at the time. Gideon merely said with a disdainful expression, “He’s my love rival. Wouldn’t I be stupid if I didn’t assert my dominance?”

“Mr. Compton, you can take all the pistachios back if you want to eat them. Take your time, and don’t worry.” Margaret put aside the thoughts In her mind and changed her perspective to understand what Gideon was doing.

Gideon looked at Margaret like she was stupid. “Do I look like I would eat such a childish thing? Aren’t you the one who likes eating pistachios but not shelling them?” With that, he lowered his head and continued working.

Clifford didn’t expect that Gideon would play such a dirty trick. He took a deep breath to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor. Ignoring Gideon’s provocative gaze, he went straight to the small chair not far away and sat down like he was reluctant to leave. “Maggle, I’m off this weekend. Do you have time? I’ll take you to the suburbs for a walk. You haven’t been back in years and must have forgotten what it’s like.”

Clifford was no match for Gideon in terms of scheming, but his 1Q was not much lower than that of Gideon. After realizing Gideon’s intention, he invited Margaret on a “date” in front of him.

Margaret nodded without thinking. “Sure! I wanted to invite Luciana to walk around the other day, but Zachary wouldn’t let her.” Margaret was afraid that she would feel upset if she returned to the places in her memories to find that they had changed drastically. She didn’t go back to the places she had been to to feel what she had felt back then.

If someone accompanied her, she would be able to distract herself somewhat from her emotions. They would be able to joke with each other and make new memories.

Gideon’s face darkened at once, but he restrained his anger and made a new plan, which was

o’clock on the weekend.

It would be more interesting to explore the area with three people.

s to come and wait at Margaret’s house at four

Clifford chatted with Margaret about all kinds of things and basically hogged all her attention. He was smug enough to turn around and give Gideon a provocative smile. However, Gideon wasn’t looking at him and Margaret at all. He just had his head lowered, concentrating on shelling the pistachios. He looked serious as if he was dealing with something very important.

Although Margaret didn’t look at Gideon at all, Clifford felt like he had already lost.

Clifford was still chatting happily with Margaret. He became more proactive because of Margaret’s smile, but Gideon noticed that she was. feeling uncomfortable.

In the past half an hour, Margaret had looked up five times to check the time.

Gideon shelled the remaining pistachios quietly, went to the kitchen to get a small plate, put the pistachios on it, and brought them to Margaret.

“I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I’m leaving now.” Without asking for credit, showing off, or provoking Clifford, Gideon turned around and left under Margaret’s gaze.

Margaret

et was stunned for a moment but managed to say before he left, “Okay. Don’t speed on the road.”

Gideon turned around and said with a warm smile, “Go to bed early.”

Chapter 30

Margaret was confused by Gideon’s gentlemanly attitude tonight. In her memory, Gideon had never been gentle to her. He always gave orders indifferently, and the only enthusiasm was…

“Maggie? Maggie?” Clifford said a couple of things, but Margaret was staring at the plate of pistachios and didn’t hear him.

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“Huh?” After Clifford called her several times, Margaret came back to her senses and said apologetically, “I’m sorry. I was distracted just now,”

When Margaret didn’t know how to explain her distraction, Clifford helped Margaret think of an excuse. “Are you too tired? I’m sorry. I haven’t seen you in a while and got carried away with chatting. It’s getting late, so I’ll go home now. See you this weekend.”

With Gideon gone, Clifford had nothing to worry about.

“Okay.” Margaret stood up and walked Clifford to the door. The smile on her face disappeared after she said goodbye.

Looking at the plate of pistachios, Margaret was not very happy. It took her nearly three years to slowly forget the little warmth that Gideon had given her and begin to move on from their relationship. It took her four years to stop thinking of Gideon so often. It took her five years to tell herself that she could still love him, but some of her feelings had to be let go of.

Gideon had no idea how much energy and courage it took for her to turn him down every single time she did. Margaret had been trying so hard not to run back to him, but what Gideon did today made her waver.

Five years ago, if Gideon was willing to shell pistachios for her, she would choose to stay and follow him regardless of anything.

But now, though she was moved and wavering, she chose to suppress her feelings.

Turning on the TV, Margaret played a variety show randomly and turned up the volume. She giggled unconsciously with the people on the screen while slowly popping the pistachios into her mouth one by one.

Margaret ate slowly, and gradually, tears rolled down her cheeks.

Gideon was downstairs, watching the lights in Margaret’s house go out before leaving. What he did was a risky move that he thought up on the spot. He wasn’t sure whether he would succeed, so he could only wait quietly downstairs.

Clifford came out five minutes after he left, which made Gideon feel relieved.

Getting out of the car, Gideon looked up at Margaret’s house arid imagined that Margaret was sleeping quietly. He was a little envious for a moment. He hadn’t slept well for a long time, and recently, his two “sisters” began to get restless again. They found some random manager

to come in and share some of his power.

With a cold smile on his face, Gideon had figured out how to deal with the two women. If they just played their part as his older sisters, he wouldn’t be too harsh with them. But they had too many delusions and never treated him as their younger brother. Why should he be nice to

them?

Repaying evil with good had never been his style.

After standing in the night breeze for a while, Gideon thought about many things, and his heart began to calm. Then, he drove away. On the way back, he thought about how to keep Margaret busy so that she didn’t have time to meet those pesky suitors.

After all, Gideon was busy with his work and went on business trips often. He was really afraid that someone would swoop in and steal her

away.