Chapter 383: Let him be happy

"Little Ian had become completely cold and detached over the years,," Old Madam King explained, looking up at the sky, "He didn’t care about anyone or anything and he functioned like a machine. So when he finally started to care about you, it felt like a miracle to us. We hoped things would look more optimistic... It gave us hope that our boy was finally becoming human again. "Ella looked away from the old woman as she opened her mouth, "There was nothing about ’becoming human’ again. Adrian had always been humane enough, he just didn’t express himself. He felt the pain like the rest of, and he experienced happiness the same too. His experiences... made him cold but he was not... incapable of feeling human emotions..."

Ella trailed off suddenly, realizing that even in a situation where her own world was falling apart, she was defending Adrian.

It was almost ironic and laughable how deep she had walked into this.

Old Madam King probably noticed the same thing but her face only hardened further, "I didn’t like how it ended, Ella. He should never have risked his life for you the way he did. He put an Empire on stake, he ran into danger, and he almost died taking the hit of that accident to save you."

A single tear ran down the old lady’s face, but her voice stayed firm, "I know how stubborn my grandson is once he decided on something. But this old lady can only take his stubborness till he is fighting against the entire family for you...

I can’t watch him risk his life for you, child. We have come close to losing him many times, Ella. This time, the doctors told us his amnesia is a defense mechanism. His mind chose to forget his past so it could save itself from the trauma. The Old Master is worried about the company but I’m not... I’m selfishly wishing my grandson stays like this if it would help him be happier."

Old Madam King stepped closer to Ella, looking directly into her eyes, "But you... you are a trigger for his instability. I’m afraid his health would continue to worsen with you around..."

"If you really care about him, Ella... if you love him at all, you know what you have to do. Just disappear from his life. Since he has forgotten the old memories between you, you do not need to create new ones that might come haunting him in the future. Let him live this simple, peaceful life. Let him be happy, even if it means he doesn’t know who you are."

Ella couldn’t even breathe.

Even as the bitterness in her heart spread like liquid poison, she couldn’t say a word to Old Madam King.

There was nothing to argue about, no point to prove. The old lady didn’t know what was eating her heart away. In this moment, the prestigious Old Madam was just an ordinary grandmother trying to protect her grandson.

"I understand," Ella whispered. She bowed deeply to the old woman. "Please excuse me, Old Madam."

She didn’t say a ’yes’ nor did she utter a ’no’.

Old Madam looked at her retreating back, complicated feelings reflecting in her eyes.

The drive back to the Eve Mansion went by in a flash of blurry streetlights.

By the time Ella walked through the front door, she looked completely exhausted. Her shoulders were slumped, and her face was slightly pale.

As soon as she stepped inside, Riri and Lala ran out. The cat rubbed against her legs, meowing anxiously, while the dog whined and nudged her hand with his wet nose.

Ella patted Lala’s head and let her fingers brush against Riri’s fur.

"Miss Yu?" Bertha called out from the dining room, looking worried, "You’re back. The Second Young Master...’’

Bertha’s voice faded into the background because Ella wasn’t listening.

She was blankly looking up at the grand staircase.

She stood straighter and walked up the stairs with steady, slightly hurried steps.

She walked right past her own bedroom and kept going until she reached the large double doors at the very end of the hallway.

It was Adrian’s private study.

She pushed the heavy doors open and stepped into the quiet room.

The study seemed to have transformed completely in the recent times. The place that had always been solemn and untouched by anything that was outside of work was now smeared with paints of all time.

In every corner of the depressing walls now hung aesthetic and beautiful paintings of all times.

From beautiful flowers to enamouring landscapes, animals and all views of nature. It was stunning.

No one in this world was probably aware of Adrian’s painting skills. Before, he had never looked like the kind of man who would ever pick a paintbrush at all.

But Ella knew.

Somehow, she had known.

Because, she had witnessed it first hand herself. So, she knew how good he was it.

Ella let her eyes roam through the paintings in the study again.

Perhaps she was overthinking it but there was no portrait, no sight of a person’s art amongst the variety that was displayed on the walls.

Then, Ella stepped forward and focused on the files on the table.

She inhaled a deep breath and decisively stepped towards it.

Ella flipped through the pages one by one until she found it.

It was a small white page with a sketch that she had accidentally stumbled upon in the past. It was the sketch of a little girl squatting and planting a small tree.

Lana’s words consumed her mind all over like a curse again. And the sighting of that magnolia tree came back like a vice.

A bitter smile crept on Ella’s lips as she looked at the sketch.

She observed every painting in the study before looking at the one that she held in her hand. It was truly different, it captured the painter’s innocence... the way the person had not let their thoughts be tainted by anything while doing it.

The other paintings were masterpieces but the one she held in her hands, it held a person’s true heart.

A pang of rage... and something akin to jealousy curled in Ella’s heart.

She hated the sight of it.

As her vision blurred by the hot tears that welled in her eyes, Ella tightened her grip on the paper and pressed down her fingers, ready to tear it to shreds.

But before she could move an inch, a cold voice reverberated in the study, "What are you doing?"