Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 297: Happy Birthday

That night, Anne was unable to fall asleep.

The launch event had far ended, but Anne wasn’t able to shake off what that woman had told her in the restroom at the event.

Anne looked down at the manly arms wrapped around her waist, she could feel his solid warmth behind her and his hot, steadily sleeping breath falling against her neck.

She twisted around, being careful not to move too hastily so she would wake him. Anne gazed into his sleeping face and her heart began to suddenly hurt until tears filled her eyes.

She gently caressed his face, keeping her touch light and feather like.

These past few weeks, she could confidently say that they were happy, she could see it in him too.

He smiled more, laughed more and spent as much time as he could with her.

Anne knew his wound had been brought about by his mother in the past but he had healed now, he had healed his heart which had hidden away due to pain, he had retrieved his heart and learned to love her, Anne wondered...if that past which hurt him, came back now, how would he react?

Slowly, Anne got off the bed after carefully unwrapping his arms from around her.

She went into the bathroom to ease herself and found herself staring at the mirror over the his and hers sink in the bathroom.

They had both moved into the master bedroom together a few days ago after the renovations had been finished.

The room had been remodeled to be fit for a couple rather than a single, dark hearted man who made everything in his life black.

Seeing the touches of color added into the space, Anne had smiled.

Elder Sterling had requested her to bring color and love into Andrew’s life, Anne had felt very emotional to realize that she has fulfilled that wish for elder Sterling.

But looking at the mirror right now, Anne feared that the same hurt which had escaped Andrew’s life might find it’s way back again.

Anne recalled the woman’s eyes, deep black just like Andrew’s, the similarities between them was frightening but those eyes had filled up with tears.

The image broke out of Anne’s memory as she shook it off, sighing to herself before she exited the bathroom and went back to bed.

Immediately she laid down, Andrew moved himself closer to her. He seemed half awake, only seeking her warmth as he hugged her to his chest then fell fully asleep again.

Anne smiled at the subconscious movement which seemed to have become a habit for him now. He could only sleep properly if she was beside him, if she left his side for too long he would wake up and go looking for her.

Anne hugged him tightly, her heart couldn’t stop thinking about that woman.

The following days, whenever Anne was alone with Andrew, she would try to bring up the conversation and inform him about that woman. In truth, she really didn’t want to hide anything from him, she hadn’t told him about the woman she had seen several times before because she suspected her to be Clara, and if it was Clara, Anne had wanted to confront her personally, however now knowing who it was, Anne wanted to tell him badly, but whenever he smiled at her or did something for her completely different from his past self, Anne would feel her heart selfishly hold on, refusing to inform him of something that might shatter his heart.

Anne knew he had been broken by this past, and if this past returned, she might lose him...the him now who cared, the him now who loved.

Hence everytime, Anne swallowed the words and allowed herself to stay in the moment with Andrew until she saw the calendar the very next day and saw a certain date dotted in black.

That date...it was Andrew’s birthday.

Anne had been excited at first, thinking about ways to create something extremely sweet and memorable for him. The butler had told her that he rarely celebrated his birthday, though elder Sterling would usually throw a birthday banquet, but Andrew never spent a few minutes at the event before leaving every year.

Anne decided on a warm, intimate celebration that would only involve close family members. However, mid planning the party, Anne remembered that woman once again, making an idea form in her head.

’You can’t be selfish for too long Anne, he needs to know.’ She had quietly admonished herself for keeping this from him for this long.

Anne made preparations with butler Jones and when the day came, Anne woke up very early, however slipping out of Andrew’s arms long enough to prepare what she had planned was a little bit challenging.

It would only take a few minutes of her being away from him for him to wake up because she wasn’t next to him, and if he woke up, the surprise would be ruined. So Anne had prepared the night before so she could use the few minutes he would still be asleep to quickly finish up before he would wake up.

Thankfully, Andrew only woke up around the time Anne estimated.

The cake she held was a single chocolate cake, it was something butler Jones had attested that Andrew had liked as a kid, so Anne had gone all the way to a far away patisserie to get it the previous night.

Anne sat by the side of the bed, and she could already tell he was beginning to feel her absence by his side when he stirred with his hands searching around the bed.

She chuckled lightly before calling,

"Andrew."

His brow furrowed.

"Andrew, wake up." She whispered playfully and his eyes slowly blinked open.

He looked adorable in his sleep, the way his hair fell harmlessly over his face, and the peacefulness on his face.

When his gaze settled on her he looked beside him first as if wondering why she was sitting at the edge of the bed instead of next to him, then he scanned her face with worried confusion when the single flickering candle on the cake she held fell into his sight.

He went still, staring at her deeply for a long moment. It seemed like his mind was struggling to compute the moment.

He knew what the date was today, but he clearly hadn’t expected to wake up to something like this.

"Annelise, what..." His voice was gravelly with sleep, but he couldn’t complete his question, as if he wasn’t sure himself what he wanted to ask her.

"Happy birthday." Anne said, her voice impossibly soft, her eye glowing in the candlelight...