Chapter 813: Not Playing Dirty at All, I Just Like You This Way

Chapter 813: Chapter 813: Not Playing Dirty at All, I Just Like You This Way

Annabelle Linton couldn’t help but laugh again.

Leona Grant held her close and suddenly asked, "Annabelle, am I being a bit shameless?"

"So you finally realized it?" she thought to herself. She smiled and replied, "No."

"Honey."

"Hmm?"

Leona held her tight, rubbing his face affectionately against hers as he coaxed, "I want you to say it. Say, ’You aren’t being shameless at all, and I like you just the way you are.’"

Annabelle burst into uncontrollable laughter. He was such an adorable man. It took her a good while to finally suppress her giggles. Looking at his endearing expression, she couldn’t help but lift her head to gaze at him.

Leona leaned in to kiss her, whining playfully, "Say it, say it." Seeing her bright smile, he found her incredibly cute. He pulled her flush against his body, his lips brushing against hers. He sucked gently on her bottom lip and mumbled indistinctly, "Say it, Annabelle. Say that you like me just like this."

Amused, she pushed him away and turned her head to hide her laughter. Leona didn’t stay idle, his hands beginning to wander freely over her body.

Annabelle swatted his hands away and looked at him seriously. "Will you go to sleep if I say it?"

"Mhm." Leona stroked her smooth back and quickly agreed. "Say it. I will go straight to sleep once you do. No playing dirty this time."

Annabelle let out a breath and turned her attention back to him, while Leona watched her with a slight smirk. Staring deeply at his flawless profile, she wished time could freeze in this very moment forever. "How wonderful would it be if time simply forgot to move forward?" she thought.

But it wouldn’t. Time never paused for a single second. It only marched on relentlessly, devouring human lives.

Her eyes grew a little misty. Swallowing all her bitterness, she spoke slowly in a hoarse voice, "You aren’t being shameless at all. I like you just the way you are."

Leona leaned in and kissed her deeply.

A while later, Leona had fallen fast asleep. Only then did Annabelle quietly slip out of bed. She had mixed a sleeping pill into his milk, which was why he had drifted off so quickly.

COUGH COUGH COUGH.

The moment she stepped out of the bedroom, a violent fit of coughing seized her. With trembling hands, she pulled out a bottle of pills and swallowed them without hesitation, gulping down a large glass of water just to keep herself upright. The tissue she used to cover her mouth was stained with bright red blood. Looking up at the mirror, she saw her own pale face and the blood still clinging to the corners of her lips. She stood there in a daze, staring at her reflection as tears silently streamed down her cheeks.

She didn’t have much time left. While the medicine could quickly suppress her cough, the side effects were severe. It allowed the virus to devour her immune system at twice the normal rate, cutting her remaining two months down to just one. It was a cruel paradox. She wanted to stay alive as long as possible to spend more time with him, yet she had to destroy her own body to hide her condition.

Within a month at the latest, Leona would discover the virus ravaging her body. By then, she would have to leave him forever. How was she supposed to face him when that day came? How could she ever expect him to accept it?

Drained of all strength, Annabelle slumped onto the freezing floor. She pulled her knees to her chest, buried her face in them, and broke down crying.

"Annabelle, how great would it have been if you hadn’t been reborn?" she thought to herself. "In your past life, you got him killed, and in this one, you still won’t let him live in peace. What exactly are you trying to do?"

As if completely numb to the pain, she slammed her fists brutally against the wall to vent her overwhelming despair.