Abi felt like the world stood still. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she tried to hide her shocked expression. Even though she had been worrying about this, that Ezekiel Qin might have become suspicious after seeing her at the hospital, she still couldn’t believe that he found her out.
Her face became white as chalk and she started to tremble.
Seeing the girl’s reaction, Zeke’s eyes slightly widened. He didn’t expect her to react like this.
The man’s eyes moved as he checked if anyone else was within earshot of the two of them. When he confirmed that it was clear, he slightly bent down and whispered in her ear. “Rest assured that I will not tell anyone about it, not even Alex.”
Abi was again stunned. She opened her mouth but no words came out.
“He’s like that because he’s angry about something else.”
“S-something else?”
“Miss Chen… just like the fact that you have a secret that you never want him to find out, you also know that he is hiding something as well, right? This is something that he never wants you to find out, no matter what happens.” He stared at her, his eyes calm like there was a drifting gray cloud in them. “I’m not going to meddle in your affairs. I will keep yours and his secrets but… I just want to tell you this, Miss Chen, that no matter what he does to you, no matter how terrifying he becomes, if you want to stay with him… don’t ever fear him… or at least, make sure not to show him how scared you are.”
Abi just gaped at him as she listened to his words. She couldn’t say a word back.
It was then that someone entered the living room.
Zeke glanced at the person before he casually moved away. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll come back once he calms down,” he told her before he left.
Once the man was gone, Abi finally moved from her spot. She abruptly turned and was about to run out but she collided with Kai, the person who walked into the room from behind her.
“Careful,” the man said as he held her shoulders, steadying her.
When Abi saw that it was Kai, she immediately asked him where Alex was.
“I don’t know. He’s probably outside somewhere,” the man replied as he looked outside the window. Abi followed his line of sight and she finally realized that a thunderstorm was raging outside.
When Kai saw worry and panic flood into her eyes, he immediately tried to coax her.
“Don’t worry, Abigail, that guy will be fine. Even if a tornado will eat him, he will still survive,” he chuckled. Even though his words seemed like a joke, he wasn’t kidding at all.
Abi knew that Alex wasn’t a fragile creature like her but that didn’t make her feel any better. She walked past Kai and headed to the grand entrance door.
“Wait! Please don’t go out!” Kai stood against the door, blocking her. “It’s dangerous for you to go out there! The lightning might strike you. Don’t worry. Alex will come back soon. That guy’s just throwing a tantrum. It’s nothing serious. Hehe. And I didn’t mean he’s just outside the house. I meant that he went somewhere far from here. So just wait for him here, okay?”
Abi could see that the man was doing his best and she didn’t want to give him a hard time, but she couldn’t contain herself.
“It’s okay, Kai. I won’t step out into the rain. I will wait for him just outside the door. I promise, I won’t run away,” she pleaded and the man was speechless.
He was about to coax her again when Zeke’s voice rang from behind them.
“Stop blocking her, Kai. Let her do what she wants,” he said and Kai pressed his lips into a thin line.
He looked worried as he stared at her. “Promise me that you’ll just stay by the door,” he hesitantly said and when Abi nodded, he finally moved away from the door, letting her step out. He followed her outside but the girl politely asked him to leave her alone.
Once the door was closed, Abi leaned on it. She stared at the raging rain and the strong wind and a tear fell from her eyes.
She realized what she had done. That look in his eyes when he saw her tremble in fear, squeezed her heart. She remembered that Alex had always tried to scare her away but every time he tried, she always managed to coax his coldness and his terrifying aura away by hugging him. Now that she thought about all those times, she realized that he always mellowed down when she stayed fearless. He even easily softened when she hugged him tightly like she never wanted to let go. So why didn’t she hug him that time? Why did she let him go? Why did she let her fear beat her?
Abi slid down to the ground and she sat on the floor, hugging her knees.
To her, Alex was like the moon. Distant, cold, and lonesome, but he was breathtakingly beautiful and he exuded a light that always warmed her heart. He was ever changing and the light he exuded changed all the time. Despite that, she managed to embrace all those sides of him no matter when he was shining brightly or when his light dimmed like the full moon turning to its waning crescent phase. But this time, she failed. When he lost all his warmth and light, she started to tremble in fear, like how people only appreciated the moon when it exuded beauty and light and shunned and ignored it when what it showed was its mere dark side. She felt like she had done that to him tonight – when the moon turned dark, she feared him.
She shouldn’t have feared him when he no longer exuded any warmth. She should’ve embraced him during his darkest state and tried to shared some of her starlight with him, to give him a spark to help him shine again, instead of letting fear take over.
But she didn’t and she regretted it.
