"No wonder she looks so sad," Annie gazed around the garden, where Tiana and the kids were playing, brow furrowed with worry. She wondered whether Tiana would be able to survive the pain.
"Don't worry! Everything that happened is in the past, and she will be fine," Rain lowered his head to give Annie a slight kiss on her forehead.
"I hope so!" Annie wasn't so optimistic about that as Rain.
Due to circumstances, Tiana had come to stay at Rain's home as a temporary arrangement. In consideration of her low spirits, the company granted her leave for several days to deal with her mental crisis.
On the day of the wedding ceremony, Annie wore a wonderful wedding dress tailored specially by Leena, and she was surrounded by a halo of happiness.
Compared with Belinda's stunning wedding dress earlier, Leena had outdone herself with Annie's. It was decorated exceptionally well, and Leena had carefully sketched the contours and seen to the creation of every stitch. It was a gorgeous realization of every little girl's fairy tale dream.
"Leena, wow, what a good job! Your wedding dress designs are becoming increasingly beautiful," Belinda said trying to hide her envy. The wedding dress Annie was wearing was certainly much more beautiful and exquisite than her own wedding dress had been.
"Belinda, if you ever get married again, I will design a new one for you," Leena blurted out without even thinking. She was, in that moment, unaware of the repercussions that her ill-considered words would have.
"Leena, come say that again, to my face!" Duke's cold voice cut through their chat suddenly, and he glared at Leena with a frosted light in his eyes. He hadn't imagined she would go so far as to instigate her elder brother's wife to marry once again. Did she consider what kind of a situation her elder brother would be in then?
"Yikes! Dear brother, I was just teasing. Please don't let my silly words upset you. I'm just talking trash!" Leena quickly covered up, sticking her tongue out in jest. She thought, 'Gosh! I really sent myself to the gun now.'
"All right. Duke, Leena doesn't mean anything by it. Please, don't be angry with her," Kevin explained when he noticed Duke's anger, and the tension of the situation. But he need not have worried, as Duke loved his sister very much, and could not remain angry with her.
"Kevin, set your heart at rest! His dear sister is the last person he would remain angry with. So, let's just relax and enjoy the ceremony!" Belinda had nothing more to say about the matter. She knew that no further words were required, as their flustering was due to them caring so much for each other.
"You know me quite well. Better than I know myself, it seems," Duke sai
e vision of her, but also cold at the same time, having known so little about her.
It was said that his mother had always lived a rough life. So, when she had met Sanford, she had finally been pushed to the brink of abysmal destruction. She had died before she had enjoyed even one day of a happy life. From then on, he had been alone, separated from his mother forever.
"What are you thinking about?" A pair of soft hands encircled his waist from behind, and her face snuggled up to his broad back.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?" he asked while turning around to hold her in his arms. Then he carried her back into the room. It was cold outside, so he was afraid that she would catch a cold in her light bedclothes.
"I couldn't sleep without you by my side," Annie felt his genuine warmth and commitment in his concern for her well being.
"I'm sorry for waking you up!" Rain transferred her directly back to bed, and slipped under the covers with her.
"It's all right. Were you thinking about your mother just now?" Annie knew that the early loss of his mother had always been a deep wound in his heart; so, it was natural for him to recall her on such an important day as his wedding.
"Hmm! How about visiting her grave with me someday?" Rain suggested. He considered that he had been undutiful for not introducing Annie and their children to his mother yet.
"Okay. She is my mother too, now. I heard that she was very pretty when she was young, right?" Annie asked in a soft voice while resting her head in the crook of his arm.
"Yeah, but who told you that?" Rain was surprised, because he had never mentioned that to her before.
"Leena told me. She said that she had seen mommy's photos," she knew he was still mourning her, but from now on he would not be alone. He now had his wife by his side.
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