The Love That Withered Over Time

Scott was still as considerate as ever. He had even thought about the gift already. It wasn't out of my imagination, though. He had spent hundreds of thousands just to decorate the wedding venue, as well as going to an auction to bid on a rare diamond just so he could commission a unique wedding ring for Bethany. I could tell he was in love with her.

"I understand," I answered in a low voice as I massaged my forehead. Scott stopped talking, but he didn't hang up either.

After a long pause, Scott finally said something again. "Quin, I hope you've really learned your lesson after spending five years overseas. If you do anything to Bethany, you'll be sorry."

I was stunned when I heard those words. All the white noise around me seemed to have disappeared. Scott had just told me that I would be sorry. Before I could say anything, he had already hung up.

To be honest, Scott didn't have to worry. I wouldn't do anything to them. I simply wanted to raise Alanna and find a job.

When I left the airport, I lowered my head. When I was 22 years old, I never would have thought my life would take such a turn for the worse. It was on my 22nd birthday that Scott forced me to go overseas that he found my diary.

When I was young, something happened to the yacht that my parents were on and never came back. Scott took care of me after that. We had a pretty good relationship. When I became an adult, I realized I wasn't treating Scott as just my uncle. I loved him, but I knew very well that we would have no future.

That was why I wrote all my thoughts into the diary. If Scott never found my diary, I would most likely still pretend that my love for him was familial in nature. It was a niece's love for his uncle. However, when Scott saw it, he tore my diary into pieces. "How can you have such disgusting thoughts? You know I'm your uncle, right? Your mother's younger brother? Even if we're not blood related, the most we can ever be is uncle and niece!"

Scott, who had always been a gentleman, was no longer tender to me. He roared at me with disgust in his eyes. I wanted to explain to him, but there was nothing I could say. The only thing I could do was to keep on apologizing.

However, Scott didn't calm down at all. The next day, he called my workplace that I was due to start and informed them I would be resigning. Then, he shipped me off to a university in the middle of nowhere in another country using further studies as an excuse. He even sent me bodyguards to make sure that I wouldn't have any contact with the outside world.

In the beginning, I didn't understand why he treated me like this. Only during my first month overseas did I find out Scott had someone he loved for many years when news of his wedding hit the top searches.

I had watched the video of his wedding multiple times. In the video, Scott would look at Bethany with gentle and sentimental eyes. He had never looked at me with those kinds of eyes. At that moment, I knew that Scott had taken care of me for all these years out of pity and obligation.

"Ms. Parker, please." A man's voice pulled me back into reality. It was Scott's personal assistant, Robin. I nodded, and got into the car with Alanna already sleeping soundly in my arms. When he saw Alanna, there was surprise in his eyes. "Ms. Parker, she's…"

I put my finger on my lips, worrying that my chat with him would wake Alanna up. Only when I got into the backseat did I whisper back to him, "My daughter."

Robin nodded and said nothing else. When Robin drove the car to our destination, I was a little stunned.

It was the hotel where Scott and Bethany had their wedding. For all five years of their marriage, Scott would organize a wedding anniversary party every year. He would also personally choose a gift for Bethany. I think he must be very protective of Bethany. In the first few years, he refused to let me even show my face in their world. And this year, the only reason he called me back was to witness their happiness.

I got out of the car a little numb. Then, I saw Bethany, who was standing by the street, walking over with a smile on her face. Unlike me who was plainly dressed, Bethany was wearing expensive jewelry and had perfume on her. Seemed like Scott had taken good care of her.

Bethany's smile froze suddenly. I knew she had seen Alanna in my arms. As expected, she was full of shock as she stood next to me. "Why didn't you tell me that you have a daughter overseas, Quin? Do you still treat me like an outsider even though I've been married to your uncle for so long?"

I hadn't even said anything yet, but Bethany had already tried to grab Alanna from my arms. Alanna woke up because of the noise and she immediately cried. She wriggled, refusing to stay still in Bethany's arms. I took Alanna back from Bethany and consoled her.

In truth, Bethany knew that I was secretly in love with Scott. This time, I didn't want to interact too much with Bethany, but she still stubbornly wanted to hang on to Alanna.

When Bethany and I got into the hotel's private room, Alanna was still crying and wanted me to hold her instead. Bethany forced a smile and put Alanna back in my arms. "Scott knows that it's difficult for us to have children, so we never tried having our own in the past few years. I just got too excited when I saw you have a daughter."

There were already a few people in the room. I wasn't used to socializing with others, so I picked a spot in the corner. Meanwhile, Bethany sat down next to me and held my arm as if we were very close. She then introduced me and Alanna to the others. I could tell how others were judging me.

I couldn't stand the strange atmosphere and let them know I was going to the washroom. After I washed my face and came back, I then heard Bethany's voice. Someone asked, "Why did you bring someone as notorious here?"