The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 284: Off the hook

Finding Joanna not avoiding him and letting them be intimately close instead, with a blissful heart, Canillas pulled Joanna closer to him as his arms encircled her more.

"It was unfortunate you didn’t see how I acted as a loyal person to your brother," Canillas spoke. His forearm, which was lifted as his elbow was bent, was on the other side of Joanna’s head, giving her support so that her neck would not strain in accordance with their current cuddling position.

"Whether it would be seen as a brother-in-law who tried to gain your brother’s blessing for marrying his beautiful sister or a servant who tried to gain his master’s favor, I stuck around your brother and didn’t let him off my hook," he stated more.

Joanna, on the other side, was quite stunned upon hearing Canillas’ narration. Immediately, her one hand covered Canillas’, which had devotedly caressed the back of her other hand, which still held the bottle that gradually lost its warmth.

She then slightly pulled her head away from Canillas’ so that she could look him in the eyes.

As Canillas also turned his head to face Joanna, Joanna shook her head with a frown. She said, "Please don’t ever think and say you are a servant. Even though it is only a joke, it is improper to say. It is not pleased to be heard." Joanna voiced her objection, advising Canillas that, even though it was only a form of a joke, hopefully not truly coming from the heart and mind, she did not like to hear that.

He was not a servant. He was her husband, the man who chose her to be his wife. And he was there at the festival because of her demand. He lingered around her brother because she told him that she did not want Phillip to be alone with Valerie, and he did that for her, sticking around Phillip and not letting him off the hook as he narrated.

Aside from that, she did not want Canillas to regard himself as a lowly member of her family because he was not a lowly person, and her family never regarded him as lower than them.

Canillas’ lips curved into a warm smile. "I was wrong. I am sorry," Canillas uttered, knowing her nature well enough that she always respected those whose status was lower than hers. And she never disrespected him, who came from a humble family. For her, he was her family.

"Let me delete the latter. So what is left is not a joke, is it?"

What was left was, ’He acted like a brother-in-law who tried to gain her brother’s blessing for marrying her, his beautiful sister.’

Joanna’s cheeks grew warm as Canillas’ words twirled in her mind. She shyly nodded her head. "Don’t say that again in the future. You are never a servant in our family." Joanna managed to remind Canillas again amidst her shyness, and she saw Canillas respond to her with a nod of his head and a warm smile on his face.

Suddenly, upon seeing what was captured before her eyes, Joanna became flustered.

She blinked her eyes, breaking away from the pair of green eyes that captured hers intently, as if attempting to absorb her soul.

She had been on intimate terms with Canillas numerous times lately, including this moment when she not only allowed him to sleep by her side but also did not resist sleeping in his arms. But there were moments when she had her heart pounding erratically to the point she had difficulty breathing.

And it happened mostly when she was face-to-face with him in very close proximity and his eyes were fixated on hers, piercing deeply to her soul with an unbearable intensity.

She had tried to get used to it, attempting to normalize such intimate gestures, as she realized intimacy could not be separated from one’s married life. Nonetheless, she failed at some points, including this moment when they were in such an intimate proximity that her breath was entangled with his.

She wondered if the state of her emotions played a pivotal role in her reaction towards intimacy. Or perhaps she was too weak to deal with such an overbearing affection.

Such a situation made her wonder how Canillas could be so calm every time they were intimate, calmly invading her heart and mind mercilessly. His flow was so fluid, not like hers, which was rippling.

"This won’t do. I need to ask for another hot bottle from Bianca," the flustered Joanna muttered an excuse to escape from the overbearing affection. Subsequently, she turned away and propped her body that still lay on her side with her elbow, about to push her body off the bed.

"Let’s try to do this, Joanna." Before she could completely execute her intention to calm her pounding heart, she was held back by Canillas’ gentle words and actions.

Canillas, as if not wanting to lose the warmth that had tried her best to embrace their togetherness, encircled Joanna’s shoulder with his hand that was used as a pillow by Joanna, making her slightly lifted upper body lie back on the bed and her head rest back on his arm.

Meanwhile, his other hand, which had been devoted to caressing the back of Joanna’s hand under the blanket, took the bottle that had lost most of its warmth from her hands. He then leaned forward to put the bottle on the table side near Joanna.

His actions filled Joanna’s countenance with puzzlement, as she wondered what Canillas tried to do.

Not long later, the gentle pressure and warmth that rested on her stomach and had disappeared due to the removed bottle from her hold returned. Nonetheless, instead of feeling comfort, Joanna was in a panic. Instantly, she grabbed Canillas’ hand that was on her stomach.

"What are you doing?" Joanna asked with her eyes wide open, looking sideways at Canillas. The strength of her grip immobilized Canillas’ hand from moving further.

Looking at Joanna’s flabbergasted reaction, Canillas chuckled. He then calmly placed his cheek on Joanna’s temple, his one hand around her shoulders, embracing her. He said...