Chapter 691
Chapter 691
“Jareth, you came back early today,” Thaddeus greeted him, a hint of surprise in his voice.
“Honey, I’m home. I’ve been working hard all day, won’t youe give me a hug?”
There was a twinkle of mirth in Jareth’s beautiful eyes as he stretched his arms out to Mari. His ck
overcoat slid to the floor with a careless shrug, but he paid it no mind.
Mari felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest, but obediently walked over. Like a small kitten
seekingfort, she burrowed into the man’s embrace.
Jareth’s tall frame enveloped her protectively, the warmth from the car ride still clinging to him, seeping
into Mari’s skin and easing her tension.
“Jareth, don’t be mad,” Mari murmured so softly that only the two of them could hear.
“Mad? Why would I be mad, sweetheart?” Jareth’s voice was a low rumble in her ear.
Mari hesitated. Her thoughts were clearer now, and she dared not speak further.
“If you did something you thought might upset me, just give me a kiss, and I won’t be mad,” Jareth
whispered, his cool lips brushing against her soft cheek.
With her brother Thaddeus and her inw, Mari found it embarrassing, but she feared Jareth’s
displeasure even more.
So, on tiptoes, she pecked his lips lightly.
But Jareth wasn’t satisfied with just a peck. He cupped her lower back with his palm, deepening their
shallow kiss into a tender entwine.
At that moment, Lily came in with a tray of freshly baked cookies and tea. She was ustomed to such
disys of affection and offered a polite smile.
“Mr. Thaddeus, Ms. Evadne, please have some tea.”
Thaddeus cleared his throat and took a cup, handing it to Evadne. “Evadne, have some tea.”
“Oh, sure,” she agreed, her gaze returning from the couple.
The scene should have been one of sweet harmony, but Evadne sensed something off with Mari’s
emotions–seemingly suppressed, carrying a cautious timidity.
Now that Mari’s mother was gone, her father virtually absent, and her grandfather too ill to offer much
care, Evadne felt it was her duty as Mari’s sister to pay more attention and care toward her.
Once Jareth and Mari’s intimate moment had ended, Thaddeus spoke calmly, “Jareth, I have
something to discuss with you privately.”
“Sure, let’s go to my study.”
Jareth, seeing his brother, naturallyughed happily, and the two walked upstairs side by side.
“Lily, I’d like some freshly squeezed orange juice. Could you make one for me and Mari each? She
likes it too,” Evadne requested with a gentle smile.
“Of course, I’ll go right now.”
Lily replied before heading to the kitchen.
Evadne’s request for orange juice was just an excuse to have Lily step away.
“Mari,” she began, taking Mari’s hand and holding it tight, “Sis wants to ask you, how have you
been settling in heretely?”
“Very well. Jareth and Lily take very good care of me,” Mari replied, herrge eyes blinking.
“Has Jareth done anything strange recently?” Evadne pressed gently, her eyes narrowing slightly.
After a moment’s thought, Mari blushed deeply. “There is.”
“What is it?” Evadne asked hurriedly,
“Well, when we’re together, he doesn’t use protection anymore.” Mari was so embarrassed she
hardly knew how to express it. her breathing quickened.
But Evadne asked, so she honestly answered whatever was asked.
Evadne understood and coughed discreetly, her experience as a married woman and having a stable
partner herself, she wasn’t embarrassed about such bedroom matters. She gently said, “Mari, are
you ready to be a mother?”
“Mother?” Mari froze, feeling that the word so distant from her reality.
Truthfully, she wasn’t ready.
She felt like she hadn’t even grown up yet, and with her health concerns, she worried if the child would
be affected.
But Jareth seemed to long for children.
Every time they were intimately together, he would whisper in her ear over and over, “Have my child,
Mari, have several for me, boys or girls, I’ll love them all, as long as they’re yours.”
Mari’s face was mired in conflict. “I haven’t thought it through. Do you want to have children for
Thaddeus?”
Her question struck a sensitive chord in Evadne, spreading a subtle pain throughout her full heart.
I love your second brother deeply, both in the past and now,” she said, her eyes glistening with unshed
tears, suppressing a painful regret. “But, it doesn’t have to be through having children. As long as.”
This was her own experience, as her body also didn’t allow her to have children.
But it unexpectedly resonated with Mari.
“I don’t really want children, either.”
Mari kept her head low, her fingers nervously intertwined and kneading, as she expressed her true
feelings, which is quite umon to her. “I’m afraid of passing on my illness. I’m scared that people
willugh at my child.”
Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
“And I want to pursue painting. But if I have a child, I won’t be able to concentrate on it. My mother was
always so busy with us, even with all the help of servants and nannies she had. I’m afraid.”
“Then you should talk to Jareth about it,” Evadne’s brow furrowed.
Mari shook her head hastily. “Jareth wants children; he loves children so much. I don’t want to
disappoint him.”
The more Evadne listened to her words, the more her heart ached for this reticent girl. how much had
she hidden in her heart without anyone to confide in?
Lily was ultimately Jareth’s subordinate. Even if Mari liked Lily very much, there were some things
she could never share with her.
However, when it came to having children, Evadne knew she could not interfere further.
It was a matter between Mari and Jareth; further involvement would be overstepping.
Evadne remembered a day when she and Thaddeus hade to visit Mari, only to be turned away
at the door by Jareth, his eyes red and brooding as if he hadn’t slept for days.
Thaddeus, always oblivious to the concerns of those close to him, thought nothing of it. But Evadne,
meticulous and keenly observant, could sense even the slightest change.
“Is everything okay with your Jarethtely? I see you’re very cautious around him,” Evadne lowered her
voice. “What happened after you were rescued that day?”
Mari was immediately struck to the core, her delicate lips pressing together tightly as she struggled to
find the right words. “That day, in the hospital… Jareth and Aaron had a quarrel. Jareth doesn’t seem to
like Aaron much. Whenever I mention him, he gets upset.
“Sis, Aaron’s really nice, but so is Jareth. I don’t want them to fight. I just wish they could be
friends.” Evadne couldn’t help but be startled, then her beautiful face shadowed over slightly.