Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 281: Do You Like It?

"Mistress is coming!" Anne heard some of the staff whisper to each other and all of a sudden, they went running in different directions, suspiciously looking like they were hiding something.

All day Anne had been suspecting something wrong, it felt like they were all aware of something that she was completely clueless about and they seemed determined to keep it that way.

"Razia, is something wrong?" When Anne spotted the woman, she quickly tried to go in another direction untill Anne spoke causing her to stop walking abruptly.

The woman was the older and more mature among them, surely she would tell her what was going on.

"Mrs Sterling, nothing is wrong at all." She muttered making Anne frown curiously.

"I still have some things to do." Razia said before slipping away, she almost bumped into another maid rushing in a different direction but they didn’t take it as anything strange and instead went on their separate ways.

Anne was preparing something of her own that evening, so despite feeling quite suspicious of the maids actions, she didn’t see moments where they snuck in baskets full of roses, or notice the traces of glitter all over the floors.

She sat on the floor in her bedroom with a notebook in hand making calculations. She and Jasmine had discussed and spoken about the design of Jasmine’s new restaurant, and Jasmine had commissioned her to make all the decorative art pieces that would be hung up in the restaurant.

It was a gig Anne needed at this moment, especially with how much she was busy accumulating all the savings from her salary from the past few months.

When her calculations were done, she realized with a crestfallen expression that it still wasn’t enough.

If she didn’t get enough, how was she going to tell him that she loved him too?

’I love you...’

As she recalled those words, she smiled to herself, giggling like a teenager. She really badly wanted to tell him that she felt the same way too, but this was the only thing stopping her.

There were times Anne would sit alone, thinking about how things would have been in her life right now, it everything had happened differently.

Back then if she hadn’t signed the surrogacy contract, she wouldn’t have had a way to pay for Kristen’s surgery, however all hope wouldn’t have been lost on her since she had gotten the job to work at SE after that, which meant she might have eventually perhaps ended up raising the money for the surgery, it just would have taken so long, and Kristen might not have had that amount of time.

Anne knew her life had become so different from then and now, but somehow, she was happy now. She had Kristen back, and she had Andrew, and she also had...

Anne placed her hand to her stomach, caressing the barely noticeable bump she had begun to notice merely a few days ago.

All this time she had felt guilty, she had felt unworthy to be this child’s mother. All this time subconsciously, she didn’t allow herself to see herself as someone who would become it’s mother.

She could envision herself nurturing, caring for and raising her child without feeling hurt or guilt anymore.

Anne noticed the steel gates open automatically from her view through the windows and her heart began to hammer rapidly when she noticed Andrew’s car driving in.

He was here already?

Anne panicked internally, turning around as if looking for somewhere to hide.

She wasn’t ready yet?

Had ten hours already passed?

She stopped to count on her fingers.

Damnit, ten hours weren’t that long. She really wasn’t ready yet.

She grabbed the little notebook she had been calculating on, and made some rough estimates in her head.

The car had stopped outside.

Forget it, she would just tell him.

Still feeling nervous, Anne went out of her room clutching the notebook to her chest, as if she had forgotten something, she rushed back into her room and opened a drawer in her closet where she pulled out an iPad and held it to her chest before finally going downstairs.

She had just rushed outside when she noticed everywhere looked empty, Andrew’s car was outside but there was no one in there.

Had he already gone inside?

By the time she turned and went back in, Anne stopped in her tracks because immediately she entered, everywhere had gone dark.

Anne looked around, unable to even see her own fingers in the darkness.

"Who turned off the lights?" She wondered aloud and all of a sudden, lights came on, blinding and bright.

It wasn’t the usual lights that lit up the Manor’s entrance, but a different kind of spotlight shining specifically at a single spot.

There was something on the floor, the white light came from the ceilings, illuminating a small heart shaped note kept on the floor.

Her heart skipped a few beats as she slowly walked forward till she came to the lights, picking up the heart shaped note on the floor. The heart shaped note was cut from thick ivory paper, the edges softly curled with her name written in Andrew’s handwriting.

There was a familiar fragrance on the note, as she inhaled the scent, she immediately recognized the smell of magnolias.

When she opened the note, it read,

~Come to the rooftop~

Her heartbeat stumbled, Anne swallowed hard and her hand trembled.

The way he had quietly, almost brokenly told her he loved her still rung fresh in her mind.

’...stay with me forever.’ She recalled the words in his voice.

Anne slowly pushed open the doors of the rooftop as she got there.

Warm, golden lights suddenly spilled over.

Anne’s breath hitched. She felt like she had walked into a completely different world.

Soft fairy lights hung overhead in wide arcs twinkling like captured stars, candle filled lanterns glowed beautifully along the edge of the rooftop casting gentle halos of amber lights. The air was fragrant with dozens and dozens of roses in full bloom scattered across the floor, lining the railings, and on the small table holding a glass vase was a beautiful bunch of magnolias.

The rose petals formed a narrow pathway, leading to the broad figure whose sight made her heart start beating incredibly fast.

Andrew was standing at the center, his hands in his pockets, he beckoned her over with a captivating heart stopping smile on his face.

Behind him, there was a canopy structure draped with sheer light blue curtains that swayed with the wind looking like something out of a dream.

Did he prepare all this for her?

Anne realized it could be what the maids had been working on all day and being all secretive.

So he had tasked them to set up this place.

Anne returned his smile from the distance that separated them and the beautiful path made of flower petals that led her to him. Even as she walked to him, she couldn’t believe how beautiful it all looked, it felt...unreal.

The closer she came to him, the clearer she could sense the nervousness in his eyes. Anne was stunned...she couldn’t believe he looked scared, this man who intimidates everyone he sees, he breaks people with a single word. Ruined empires, and acted like he was made of steel now looks at her like the most precious treasure in the room, like his heart, his soul, his life all depended on her.

Her eyes misted and she felt a light prick of tears well up in them.

When she reached him fully, there seemed to be a stillness in the air.

"Do you like it?" He asked, a deep huskiness to his voice.

Knowing he was referring to the beautiful decorations of the rooftop, Anne nodded and he pulled his hand out of his pocket and closed the little distance between them.

He lifted a hand to her face cupping her cheek with tenderness in his gaze.

"It’s been ten hours Annelise."

Her breath trembled.

His touch felt warm and soothing, he came closer to her with a single step, she could breathe him in along with the magnolias in the air. He dropped his forehead to her own lovingly caressing her face.

"I would bring the whole world down to your feet if you just said the word, I love you that much and more."

Hearing him say it again felt like her whole heart would swell and explode.

"You turned my whole life upside down. And now I won’t be able to survive in the world if you aren’t in it."

He moved back to look down at her, a bitter smile raised his lips, "Do you know how much I tried to resist you slipping into my heart?"

That made her laugh softly, she had felt the exact same way too, but her feelings had been very clear to her so she hadn’t tried to deny them.

"If somewhere in your heart, you still hate me for the things I said to you in the past..."

Anne quickly shook her head, "I don’t hate you, I never did."

His eyes softened.

"Not even once?" He asked, a tiny touch of humor in his tone.

"Not even a little bit." She added.

"Then...do you love me?" A single quiet moment passed after he asked this question.

There was quiet hope lurking inside his dark eyes.