Secretly Married for 4 Years, He Regrets to Tears After the Divorce

Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Reason Is Like a Cold String

The lingering warmth of their embrace flowed between them, like a quiet stream after the spring thaw, seeping into the very air around them.

Adrian Lancaster fell silent for a moment. In that quiet, it felt as if countless words were rushing forward, finally converging into a single, clear, and impulsive idea that burst from his heart.

"Let’s go on vacation." His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable resolve. "Just the two of us."

Wren Sutton froze, thinking she must have misheard. "A vacation?" she repeated instinctively.

"Yes, a vacation abroad." Adrian Lancaster met her blank gaze, his tone a mixture of guilt and urgency.

"We haven’t been anywhere since we got married. I’m sorry. It’s my fault, and I have to make up for it."

Wren Sutton’s lips parted. Before she could form the words "You don’t have to," Adrian Lancaster spoke again, cutting off any chance of refusal.

"Let’s go to the Calypsos Sea."

The Calypsos Sea...

Those four words were like a fine needle, gently pricking the softest corner of Wren Sutton’s memory.

Her breath caught, and her heart skipped a beat.

The vivid, almost real dream she’d had a week ago rushed into her mind without warning.

In her dream, the sun was brilliant, the sea as blue as a gemstone. She and Adrian Lancaster were standing side-by-side in front of a white-walled, blue-roofed church, the air filled with the salty taste of freedom.

She never expected the dream to overlap with reality.

"You mentioned it once while flipping through a magazine." Adrian Lancaster gazed at Wren Sutton, his stare so intense it seemed to pierce through time.

"You said the Calypsos Sea is like a blue diamond set into the Earth, that it’s beautiful. You also said that if you ever got the chance, you had to go."

Wren Sutton shook her head blankly. "I said that? I don’t remember."

"You did," Adrian Lancaster’s tone was resolute, each word landing like a solemn promise. "That’s why I have to take you."

Wren Sutton still showed no interest.

She turned her head slightly, avoiding Adrian Lancaster’s burning gaze. Her eyes fell unconsciously on a corner of the children’s play mat in the corner of the room.

Scattered on it were her son’s favorite toy truck and the little soft rubber rabbit her daughter always clutched in her hand.

That small patch of floor was the entire center of her world.

"I don’t remember," she repeated, her voice as light as a sigh. "Besides, I don’t want to go anywhere right now. I just want to stay home with the children."

The world outside might be wonderful, but for her, that tiny realm, filled with the scent of milk and the sound of cooing, was the haven that put her heart at ease.

’When the children are older, it won’t be too late to take them to see the world.’

Adrian Lancaster keenly caught the worry in her eyes and immediately followed up, "If you’re worried about the children, we can bring them with us. The four of us can go on vacation as a family."

"No." Wren Sutton’s refusal was swift, her brow furrowed. "The children are too young for a long trip. If they get sick or something else happens along the way, it would be our fault."

"Nothing will happen," Adrian Lancaster tried to persuade her, his speech quickening. "We can bring the nanny and the child-rearing specialist. They’ll have someone watching them the whole time, and we can also..."

"No, I don’t agree," Wren Sutton interrupted him, her tone serious. "The children are safest at home."

Adrian Lancaster took a deep breath, his mind racing. His gaze toward Wren Sutton remained gentle, even holding a hint of pleading.

"Then let’s not take the children."

He took a step back, his tone softening as he tried to sound more reasonable.

"We can leave them at the old family house with Grandma and my parents. There are so many people there, looking after two babies will be no problem. We can video call three times a day—morning, noon, and night. We’ll be able to see them and know what they’re up to at all times."

Adrian Lancaster loosened his arms around Wren Sutton slightly and looked down at her.

The warm yellow light fell into his deep eyes, where a clear apology burned alongside a desire so intense it was almost scorching.

He reached out, the slightly calloused pads of his fingers gently brushing away a stray lock of hair by her cheek, his movements as careful as if he were touching a fragile dream.

"It won’t be for long. Just a week, or even four or five days would be fine. We can go soak up some sun, look at the ocean, okay?"

His voice grew quiet, carrying an unprecedented softness, yet hidden within that softness was a sense of urgency.

"You need to relax. I need to relax. I need some time alone with you."

Even after Adrian Lancaster had pleaded to this extent, Wren Sutton remained unmoved.

Logic was like a taut, even cold, string stretched tightly across her heart, warding off any romantic but impractical temptations.

"It’s too sudden." She furrowed her brow and shook her head, not just rejecting the suggestion, but rejecting the very possibility of disrupting her safe routine.

"Besides, I can’t just leave the children behind. They’ll cry, they’ll look for their mommy, they won’t adjust well... Just imagining it makes my heart ache. I can’t leave them, and they need me."

Adrian Lancaster gripped her hand, his palm searing hot, his tone as firm as an oath.

"I’ll arrange everything to be foolproof. You know how much Mom dotes on her grandchildren, and the nanny and child-rearing specialist are both trustworthy."

Adrian Lancaster leaned down and gently pressed his forehead against Wren Sutton’s. In that moment, their breaths mingled, becoming one.

He spoke in a near whisper, his voice an almost humble plea.

"Just see it as giving me a chance. A chance to make up for my shortcomings, a chance for us to really talk. Please?"

Wren Sutton fell completely silent.

Adrian Lancaster’s suggestion was rash, sudden, and even a bit unrealistic.

But his desperate desire to make amends, his yearning to grow closer—it was so real, so searing.

It was like a warm current washing over her numb heart.

She felt something deep inside her begin to give way, as if a fine crack had appeared on the surface of a frozen lake.

But...

A clamor of practical worries instantly rushed in, covering that hairline crack once more.

She closed her eyes, completely erasing the last faint ripple of emotion within them.

When she opened them again, her gaze was as placid as a lake, holding a clear-eyed resolve born from careful deliberation.

Her tone was calm and decisive, leaving no room for argument.

"Adrian Lancaster, I’ll say it again. I don’t want to go."

With that, Wren Sutton gently but firmly pulled her hand free and turned toward the master bedroom.

Her back was like an invisible wall, shutting out all of Adrian Lancaster’s fervent passion and everything else he wanted to say.

Adrian Lancaster stood frozen in place, his hand still slightly outstretched. His palm was empty, left with nothing but the faint, fading coolness from the moment she had pulled away.

His mood was like an elevator in free fall, plummeting into a silent abyss of despair.

He walked over to the crib, rested his hand on the railing, and quietly watched his two sleeping children.

His daughter was sleeping soundly, her little mouth smacking softly every so often.

His son’s tiny hands were raised as if in surrender, his chest rising and falling steadily.

The dejection of being rejected wasn’t sharp, but it crept over him like a silent, rising tide, soaking him to the bone.

It was a coldness mixed with helplessness, frustration, and a deeper self-recrimination.

He remembered the flicker of shock in her eyes when he’d said "The Calypsos Sea." It was like a shooting star across the night sky, so fast he almost thought he’d imagined it.

’I thought I’d caught that tiny glimmer of light. I thought it was the beginning of the thaw.’

But in the end, it was no use.

Reality’s gravitational pull was too strong, easily yanking back any wings that tried to escape.

Adrian Lancaster’s vacant gaze swept over the gently rotating starry-sky projector night light hanging over the crib.

It swept over the brightly colored soft blocks scattered on the floor.

It swept over the cream-colored low armchair in the corner where Wren Sutton often sat, a thin cashmere blanket she used for naps draped casually over it...

Every detail in this room was branded with her presence, her sacrifices, her love for the children.

"I need some time alone with you."

The words echoed in his ears again, sounding so pale and feeble in the silence of the nursery.

They even carried a selfishness that ignored the core of Wren Sutton’s world.

Of course, Adrian Lancaster knew that children couldn’t be without their mother, knew of the almost physiological bond between a mother and her child.

But his own desperate guilt over his past absence, his desperate desire to snatch back a little private space from the daily grind, his desperate anxiety to rediscover their former intimacy and passion...

All of it had clouded his judgment, making him act like a clumsy, greenhorn boy experiencing his first crush, proposing something he thought was romantic but which, in reality, might only push Wren Sutton further away.

Adrian Lancaster reached out, his fingertips touching his daughter’s soft cheek with extreme gentleness.

The warm, vibrant touch softened his heart, but it was immediately followed by a surging wave of bitterness and apology.

What he owed Wren Sutton was so much more than just a long-overdue trip.

He had been absent for the anxiety and anticipation of every prenatal check-up. He had been absent from the delivery room when she needed support the most. He had been absent for the countless late nights she’d spent alone, soothing a crying baby to sleep...

He owed her far, far too much.

’Perhaps I was wrong.’

’It wasn’t my intention to take her away that was wrong, but the timing, the method.’

He had been too hasty, so desperate to smooth over all the chasms of the past with a single trip that he’d forgotten those chasms needed to be filled and compacted day after day, not leaped over in a single bound.

Adrian Lancaster raised his head, his gaze falling in the direction of the master bedroom.

Dejection still weighed heavily on his chest, but amidst the despair, a clearer understanding slowly began to surface.

What he needed wasn’t just a trip for the two of them alone. What he needed was to relearn how to approach her, how to warm her heart in a way she could accept, a way that would make her feel secure.

This process would undoubtedly be slow. It would require him to set aside his impatience and invest more patience and care than he would in closing any business deal.

In the silence, Adrian Lancaster looked down at his sleeping children again, as if drawing a sliver of strength from their completely dependent faces.

He let out a soft breath, and the dim light in his eyes gradually settled, transforming into a more steady resolve.

Then, he looked toward the master bedroom and whispered silently but firmly in his heart.

’Wren Sutton, I won’t give up.’