Chapter 206
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In the drawing, only the queen’s expression was sorrowful Kavier pushed out another picture.
This time, he had used crayons to sketch the queen in a pink dress holding her daughter’s hand as they left the castle. But in this picture, the queen’s face was bright with happiness.
Elara then picked up the third drawing Xavier handed her.
In this one, the queen and her daughter encountered another king. The king, stood beside a young boy and was holding out a diamond ring, proposing to the queen.
A soft rustling sound came from behind the door as Xavier Bid out a fifth drawing. This time, the queen had formed a new family with the king, along with their children. However, her face was blank, lost in confusion.
Xavier had a gift for drawing. With just a few simple strokes he captured expressions so vividly that they felt deeply real
Elara sat on the floor, leaning against the door. In her hands were Xavier’s five drawings, along with the note that read: “I don’t want you to be my mom.”
A warmth surged through her eyes, and a mist of tears blurred her vision.
He didn’t want her to be his mom. He didn’t want to see her enter another family, become another child’s mother, and carry yet another burden on her shoulders.
And yet, he had drawn her so many pictures, proving that he truly cared for her. It was because he cared too much that he couldn’t bear to hurt her in any way.
When Xavier realized that he, too, might bring complications into Elara’s life, his first instinct was to distance himself from her as much as possible.
Would locking himself in his room stop Elara from making the same mistake again?
Elara turned her head and saw Leonard resting one hand on the armrest of his wheelchair as it carried him forward.
“Why are you sitting on the floor?” he asked while lowering his gaze to her.
Elara then handed him the drawings she had received. “Xay is a bright child, but one who makes your heart ache.”
Leonard studied Xavier’s drawings before speaking. “Liking someone doesn’t mean you have to claim them as your own.”
Then, he looked directly at Elara and admitted honestly, “I once had the wrong idea. You were the most outstanding student I ever met, but you were also a woman.
“I thought the only way for you to be nurtured and protected was to place you inside a greenhouse, to have your husband take care of you. But reality proved me wrong.
“People’s hearts change. Never place yourself in a position of weakness, and never entrust yourself entirely to another.”
Harvey’s resentful roar now echoed in Leonard’s memory.
“You had your own selfish motives, didn’t you? You didn’t want to let an asset slip through your fingers! You pushed Elara into my hands because you saw her as someone who could benefit Fisher Corp.
“After all, what’s the strongest and most secure partnership in the world? Marriage!
Chapter 206
“You shoved her at me. So, how could I ever fall for such a calculative woman?”
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Leonard lowered his gaze, like a god seated upon a thrones he reached out his hand toward her. Yet, in the end, he did not touch her.
The compassion in his eyes was directed at himself–for the emotions he had harbored.
“I should not have kept you on my planet. You belong in the wilderness, growing wild and untamed. You need to weather storms and tempests. And all I can do is water you
“Elara, I want to see you grow back your sharp thoms. I want to see you rise above the masses and stand unmatched!”
Leonard returned Xavier’s drawings to her. “You don’t need to be anyone’s mother. You don’t have to be anyone’s wife or anyone’s daughter–in–law.
“You should live for yourself, and only for yourself.”
Silence enveloped them. Finnegan, who had followed after Leonard out of concern for Elara, stopped in his tracks when he heard those words.
Elara’s eyes shone brightly as she looked at Leonard. She said with gratitude, “I know now that you’re fond of me too, Mr. Fisher.”
It was a kind of affection without the desire for possession, just pure admiration and wholehearted appreciation. Leonard’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. Her passion and her sincerity were a force of gravity strong enough to pull him in, even in the vastness of the universe.
At that moment, the door creaked open. A small pair of hands gripped the doorknob as Xavier peeked out from behind the crack.
Chapter 207
