Chapter 1515 - 1504: After Learning of His Loneliness, She Fell in Love with Him

When the two returned home, the housekeeper had already completed the chores; only then did they head back to the villa on Fulham Road.

Chloe Winston busied herself with preparing the New Year’s gifts for the Shaw Family and the orphanage for the following day, unsure of what exactly to bring to the Shaw Family.

"How about tomorrow I go directly to see the orphanage director, and you go to the Shaw Family." Chloe bit her lip, feeling that her relationship with Constantine Stewart was still awkward. Going to the Shaw Family together might be mistaken as acknowledgment that they were a couple.

Even though they were indeed together now, they hadn’t openly defined their relationship, and many things still needed to progress gradually.

Constantine’s expression deepened as he heard her, his handsome face turning towards her, contemplating softly: "I’m not comfortable with you going to the orphanage that far alone. Besides, we had New Year’s Eve dinner at the Shaw Family’s, visiting on the second day isn’t a big deal."

Chloe was speechless, gloomily continuing to sort through the gifts.

"There’s no need to overthink. Just pick out gifts for the orphanage; as for the Shaw Family, bring anything casually. Their household doesn’t lack anything, and usually, anything good is directly taken to their doorstep. It doesn’t matter this time." Constantine saw her anxious expression and laughed.

"Oh." Chloe nodded, realizing that she naturally lacked social skills. She hadn’t faced these so-called familial interactions from a young age, nor had parents to teach her. Constantine was more of a homebody, handling things based on his own moods.

Chloe pondered, she still needed to learn.

Once she had selected the New Year’s gifts, Chloe separated the items for the two families and then noticed Constantine standing by the stairs, watching her busy herself. She paused, saying, "Why are you still here?"

Constantine: "..."

The man wanted to ask if he could sleep in the master bedroom tonight, but seeing Chloe’s big, blinking eyes and her naive expression, his temples throbbed, realizing there was no chance.

"Ahem, you should sleep early. I’ll wait for you to go up together; just leave a night light by the corridor." Constantine lowered his eyes, avoiding her gaze.

"Okay." Chloe turned off the living room lights and then went upstairs. There were three rooms on the second floor—the master bedroom on the left side, while Constantine’s bedroom was on the right side of the stairs.

Seeing her head directly towards her bedroom without looking back, the man sighed quietly, pulling her, and said in a deep voice, "Even if you don’t plan on letting me onto your bed now, you should at least give me a goodnight kiss, hmm?"

He pulled her closer, pressing her against the pale pink wallpaper, his deep, striking features leaning down, nose to nose, breaths mingling.

Chloe slightly parted her mouth to speak, but Constantine’s warm lips were already on hers, a long, French kiss that made time stand still, quiet enough to faintly hear the snow falling outside the window.

Constantine released her, his breath uneven, his voice hoarse: "You’re truly my nemesis."

Chloe’s heart was pounding fiercely, gasping for air, her voice raspy: "Constantine, you used to dislike me. Why did you later cling to me?"

As she said this, a faint bitter feeling emerged within her. Perhaps their initial smooth sailing was meant to be balanced by later trials and tribulations.

That year she became legally adult, the sharp edges and wildness in her personality were mostly smoothed out by Constantine. Following him, her demeanor and manners acquired the characteristics of a young lady from a prestigious family. Gradually, she transformed from a wild child growing up in the orphanage into the dignified lady Chloe Winston.

She still remembered, that evening after her birthday celebration, he casually said: "Chloe, you’re an adult woman now. Although I adopted you, it’s still somewhat inappropriate for us to live together."

At that time, she had already experienced the warmth of home, even developing a touch of admiration and blind obedience to powerful Constantine. He had profound knowledge, wealth, influence, and endless stories, all of which were admired by eighteen-year-old Chloe.

"Then what should we do?" She was a bit flustered then, her first thought being he didn’t want her anymore, having fulfilled his duty till adulthood, she was once more going to be alone.

The man smiled, leisurely saying: "A man and a woman alone, with only a ten-year age difference; living together is not good for either of our reputations. Why don’t we get married?"

Back then, she was still young, never even considering marriage or having experienced romance. She thought if she could continue living in this home, marriage it was—she never wanted to leave him.

Later, they got their marriage certificate, without hosting a banquet. Constantine wasn’t very invested in the marriage, nor did he have many friends or appearances, naturally leading her to believe she was his only one, cheerfully marrying him, enjoying a sweet period together.

Only then did she understand, this was marriage. But aside from sharing the same bed and occasionally engaging in exhausting activities, there wasn’t too much difference from before; except after marriage, she saw many sides of Constantine: malevolent, gentle, lazy, lonely, and even unfeeling.

At that time, she was simply a girl dependent on him, hence within the marriage, she suffered overwhelming defeat.

Chloe’s eyes were slightly moist, thinking back to her foolish self back then, she felt like laughing. Who hasn’t stumbled through their youthful naïveté and made it through love’s trials battered and bruised, only to arm themselves with immunity and shy away from the word ’love’?

Constantine was silent for a while, running his hands through her soft hair, his voice deep: "Before meeting you, I had never dated anyone, thinking I’d never understand love. Marriage to me was merely something to play with out of boredom. So I didn’t know I liked you. I’m sorry."

He apologized softly, then bent down to kiss away the tears at her eyes, kisses sparking like fireworks.

Constantine kissed deeply, as in this past year, his life underwent drastic changes—or perhaps since he adopted this young girl, life unraveled from his control. He went from living at the fringes of society back into this vibrant, living world, led by her. She redeemed him, unknowingly saving him from solitude threatening his very breath.

She was his life, only now did he profoundly realize this.

Constantine’s heart was inflamed, his blood restless, kissing more intensely until somehow ending up on the bed.

Outside, snowflakes fell quietly, occasionally drifting in through the half-open window, melting into the passionate ambiance of the bedroom.