Chapter 396
As Emma''s headache was so bad, she didn''t have much appetite, so she put down her cutleries
halfway through the meal.
Toddy looked at her and said, "Don''t like my cooking?"
"My headache is killing me."
"Serves you right for drinking that much. Don''t you know your limits?"
Since Dn rarely socialized with others, his secretary, Emma, was the same. Although she wasn''t a
bad drinker, her tolerance wasn''t that good either.
"Have you forgotten everything I told you when you were still under me?"
Emma quietly looked at Toddy. The reason she got so drunk was precisely because of this man, yet
she was getting criticized by him now.
Meeting her stare, Toddy ced a piece of fish fillet onto her te and said indifferently, "Finish up your
food. I''ll apany you for a walk after you''re done with the meal."
"My head hurts. I don''t want to go."
At the moment, Emma only wanted to go home and have a good long rest. Nheless, she picked up
her cutleries and started eating again. "Say, Toddy." When the man''s attention was on her, she
continued, "I was always the one putting food on your te ever since we first met each other. This is
the first time you''ve done so for me."
Pursing his lips, Toddy made no remarks.
"Ever since my confession, you''ve treated me as if I was a burden and always had that look of
reluctance on you when you''re with me."
He frowned. Did I? He only ever wanted to prevent her from hoping that they could be together.
"You even said that you''ll apany me for a walk. Did the sun rise from the west today? Did you
perhaps take a picture of such a wonder? Do show me just how wonderful it looked."
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This time, Toddy ced a piece of fatty meat into her bowl.
"I dislike the fatty part." Saying that, she ced the meat back into his bowl.
"You told me you loved them before and said that you''ll eat whatever I disliked."
With a smile tinged with sadness, she said, "Toddy, that was because I loved you. Because I love you,
I''ll eat whatever it is that you dislike. Even if I disliked the fatty parts, I''ll still eat them for you. Now that I
want to give up my feelings for you, why would I still force myself to eat something I dislike? Toddy, you
men will treat your woman as your queen when you''re in love. It''s the same with women. We pour our
heart out for you men and would even dote on you like our own son. However, once there is no love
anymore, you''ll be nothing in our eyes."
I can dote on you, but if you do not know how to cherish me, then I can easily rece you as well.
Finishing her meal quickly, Emma stood up and said, "Please help me wash the dishes. Thank you for
taking care of me for once." Then, she got up and walked away with determination. She didn''t even
bother taking onest nce at him.
Toddy wanted to continue his meal, but he couldn''t move a muscle due to Emma''s actions.
Returning to the room, Emma found her bag and went to pick it up before she asked, "Where''s my
clothes fromst night?"
"I threw them away. The smell was awful."
After a brief silence, she said, "Since you threw away my clothes, then I''ll consider this set of clothes as
compensation. I won''t be giving you a single cent. Well then, excuse me." With her bag in hand, she
left without a single look back at the man.
Toddy only silently watched Emma leave. It was only after some time passed did he put down his
cutleries, walk over to the door, and open them. Looking outside, the figure of the woman was no
longer there. She''s really gone, he thought. Standing by the door, he was stunned as he looked at the
empty courtyard.
In the courtyard, there were many potted flowers. Most of the flowers were wilting from overexposure to
the sun, while a number of them had already withered. These were all caused by ack of water, as
Toddy rarely took care of them. Initially, he had hired part-timers to help take care of the flowers from
time to time, but after having Emma around, she was the one taking care of the house to show her
appreciation. The flowers'' care naturally fell on her shoulders as well.
When he first moved into this house, there weren''t many flowers and nts around. Emma was the
one who bought most of them for him. Not only that, but she had even bought arge number of books
to study about them. Under her sincere care, this ce was once a courtyard that drew people''s envy,
as it was filled with beautiful flowers. When spring came, the beautiful flowers only became more
prominent, so much so that it would be mistaken as a beautiful painting.
Now, the woman hadn''t been over to help him care for the flowers for quite a while. Since he was busy
with work, he had neglected the flowers for a while. He couldn''t even remember when was thest time
he watered those flowers. The yard was now a mess as the swing, dolls, a few books, and pillows were
all piled up in the courtyard. With how much of a mess it was, having to sort them out would take a very
long time.
Then, a certain woman seemed to appear in front of his eyes. Sitting on the swing, the woman was
reading a book and eating fruits while listening to music. With a blink of his eyes, that scenery
disappeared. When he realized this, a sense of anxiety started to spread within him. Am I afraid of
losing her? I had never epted the woman''s feelings, so how am I losing her? Putting a pause on his
thoughts, he walked into the courtyard.
Looking at the courtyard filled with flowers and greeneries, Toddy thought of the potted flowers in his
superior''s courtyard. In the past, that courtyard was clean as it was empty. However, it was now as
though someone had breathed new life into it. He knew that it was because his superior had fallen in
love. Because of love, that man had changed. When one was in love, one would take their partner''s joy
as their own. Loving someone would naturally make one devoted to their partner. But when one
stopped loving…
Emma''s words echoed in his ears. Has she really given up her feelings for me? It took him many years,
but he was finally sessful in getting her to give up on him. He should be happy and put on fireworks
to celebrate this moment. Yet, there were no such joyful thoughts in his mind, as he was only left with a
sense of anxiety.
He walked to a nearby shelf that held the various gardening tools and filled the watering can with water
before beginning to water the flowers and greeneries that were on the verge of wilting under the zing
sun. As Emma had taken many years to nurture them into beautiful flowers, he couldn''t bear to allow
them to wither.
After he was done watering them, he noticed that the ground was slightly dirty, so he went to bring a
broom over and started sweeping. By the time he was done, his shirt was drenched with his sweat.
It turned out that these things that looked trivial weren''t so easy after all. Yet, Emma had done all these
for many years just for his sake without asking for anypensation. Ever since she confessed, he
had always criticized her after she was done cleaning the courtyard and would ask her to do so again,
all for the sake of forcing her to kill her feelings for him. What a jerk I was, he thought.
When he went back inside the house, he was stunned once more as hey his eyes on the dishes on
the dining table. Back then, no matter what he had asked of her, she would silently endure and do it
until the point that even he couldn''t find any fault to pick. Yet, now that he had treated her better, she
chose to walk away.
She no longer yearned for his love, and no longer wanted to wait for his eptance. She had let go of
her feelings for him, so she would stop doing things for his sake. When she was still in love with him,
she could serve him as though he was the emperor; when she decided to move on, she did so with
clear determination.
Just as one would expect from his student.