Garden of May - Chapter 147
“Then… you should just do the same.”
“Do whatever I want?”
“You’ve been doing that all along. What’s stopping you now…?”
At her cheeky reply, he let out a laugh then suddenly swept Vanessa up into his arms, as if testing whether she really meant it.
Her feet left the ground before she could react, and Vanessa gasped, instinctively wrapping her arms around River Ross’s neck. A moment later, she landed bottom first on the soft bed.
The way he set her down was too gentle. That habitual kindness of his felt especially piercing today. Ridiculously so that her nose stung faintly.
It was all his fault. At a time when the world was twisting lies into truth, acting like this would only make her misunderstand again…
“If that’s what you thought, then I’m sorry.”
Right. This was a misunderstanding.
Just like River Ross had said—they were nothing more than two people sharing bodies, with no future between them. A temporary arrangement born from a transaction. No matter how much they pretended to be lovers, the limits were obvious from the start.
And yet, she wanted this.
This warmth. The feeling of skin against skin, of two people comforting and steadying each other’s existence.
She had pretended to be fine all this time, but looking back, even breathing had felt difficult. Being pelted with stones over a scandal she didn’t even understand.
Rosalyn avoiding her calls for days. Suspecting her own uncle of her parents’ murder… Vanessa quickly wiped away the tear that slipped down her cheek. Even she was startled by how suddenly the tears had come.
No, really—was this something to cry over this much…? Still clutching at River Ross’s clothes, she sniffled faintly. He looked at her, incredulous.
“…You’re crying, Vanessa?”
“No! I’m not… just… wait a moment. Let’s stay like this.”
She hurriedly added, afraid River Ross might pull away.
“After that… you can do whatever you want.”
Theodore stared at Vanessa for a moment and speechless, then let out a hollow laugh. He could more or less guess now what she thought of him.
Some kind of heat-driven brute, maybe. Well, it wasn’t entirely unfair. Every time they met, they ended up tangled together, and he had just carried her straight to the bed again.
This time, though, he didn’t rush. He gave up part of his shirt without protest and leaned his cheek lightly against her round forehead, letting out a low chuckle. One hand braced against the bed with more weight, while the other slowly brushed her sunlit, disheveled hair back behind her ear.
“You just told me to do whatever I want.”
“…I’m almost calm now. Just a moment…”
“I won’t do anything right away, so lift your head.”
“Why…?”
“Because I want to see you.”
I want to see you. At those words alone, Vanessa’s face turned bright red in an instant. She could never withstand River Ross. He knew she liked him and still said things like that.
If emotions had temperature, hers would always burn hotter than his. Just like that night on the ship. A moment so overwhelming she couldn’t measure it or reduce it to something as trivial as calculation.
“Just wait a bit. I… my face is a mess right now…”
“Let me see.”
River Ross’ large, warm hand tilted her chin up. His gaze followed, careful and searching, as if inspecting something precious.
“….”
His thumb brushed gently over her damp cheeks, her swollen eyes, her bitten lips. For some reason, it reminded her of Dahlia—the warm, wet tongue of the little dog that used to lick at even the smallest cut she got from pruning shears.
Of course, River Ross wasn’t a dog. And he wasn’t nearly as warm as Dahlia, either. Even so, Vanessa let out a tearful laugh.
“That tickles.”
“I don’t know about you looking like a mess, but… you look like you’ve lost some weight.”
“That can’t be true. I’ve been living off sweets lately…”
“You feel warm, too.”
“It’s just because the weather’s too hot.”
“And your face is way too red.”
“That’s because you’re… so close…”
“Vanessa.”
At the sound of her name, she lifted her head again, startled. Her eyes met his vivid blue gaze looking down at her.
“If it’s hard, don’t force yourself to endure it. Just say so.”
“…It’s not that hard.”
Vanessa shook her head and dropped her gaze. What frustrated her more was that this wasn’t even a big deal, and yet the tears kept coming.
She bit her lip hard, then forced a smile, as if nothing was wrong.
- Protected: Garden of May Chapter 152 - Jun 16, 2026
- Protected: Garden of May Chapter 151 - Jun 16, 2026
- Protected: Garden of May Chapter 150 - Jun 16, 2026
