CHAPTER 115: THE ONE AND ONLY BRUCE

Hilla was surprised because of Bruce’s sudden action. She turned her head and subconsciously wrapped her arms around Bruce’s neck.

When seeing Bruce, Hilla felt her little face immediately blushed. She looked down to conceal her panic and whispered, "Aren’t you going to take a shower?"

It sounded like an invitation, but Bruce knew that Hilla didn’t mean that.

As expected, Hilla added soon, "I think that your clothes are dirty and your image is ruined."

In another word, she thought he was not clean!

Bruce was thirty years old and had been adored since he was a boy.

People would even be happy after they got near him.

However, Hilla did not care about Bruce so much as others did and it made Bruce quite depressed.

"I didn’t mean that. I thought that we have suffered a lot in the forest in the last two days. I’m afraid that you will get sick if you still wear this cloth."

Maybe due to guilt, or noticing Bruce’s upset, Hilla quickly walked forward to him and explained. She was careful and aggrieved, looking pitiful.

Suddenly, Bruce’s mood got better. He agreed and carried her to the bedside. After lying Hilla on the bed, he wrapped her tightly with a quilt.

"I will dry your hair first and take shower later."

Did he just want to dry her hair for her before taking a shower?

Looking that Bruce took out the hairdryer, Hilla felt warm in her heart.

It was a bad habit that Hilla hated to dry her hair with a hairdryer. When she was a little girl, her mother always dried her hair patiently and carefully. Halle took over this task when she was older.

After marrying into the Tyson family, Hilla claimed that she would dry her hair without a blow dryer to protect her hair.

Her hair was too long, and Hilla was impatient to take time to dry her hair.

The buzzing sound came behind her ear, and the warm wind was sweeping across her neck as if she was touched by a gentle big hand.

When Bruce’s thin and long fingers passed through her thick hair, Hilla trembled subconsciously. She turned around and hurriedly took the hairdryer away from Bruce.

"I can do it by myself. You can take a shower."

It seemed that she insisted to urge him to take a shower. Bruce pursed his lips and

agreed.

Watching that Brace walked into the bathroom, Hilla was finally relieved. She touched her hot little face and muttered, "It’s so hot. I was almost out of breath."

Whenever Bruce approached her, Hilla flustered and her heartbeat was fast.

She had checked and confirmed that she had these symptoms because she liked Bruce. Would she have a heart attack because of that? She must like him so much.

After drying her hair half-dried, Hilla stopped, lost in thoughts.

It was too tiring to dry such long hair. She finally gave it up. Although her hair was not fully dry, it should be dry soon.

Putting down the hairdryer, Hilla fetched her mobile phone from the table.

Bruce and she had been in the shooting range in the last two days. It was not allowed to bring their mobile phones along. After they came out, their mobile phones had run out of battery and turned off.

Hilla turned on her mobile phone that was fully recharged. As soon as the desktop displayed, she found that she had missed several calls.

She was stunned. After checking the details, it turned out that missing calls were all from Halle.

She didn’t answer her phone for a day and a night. Halle must be frightened.

Hilla quivered and quickly made a video call to Halle.

Her call was answered soon. Halle was in a coach.

When seeing Hilla, Halle asked anxiously, "Hilla, are you okay? What happened? Where are you now?"

Halle asked three questions in a row, making Hilla feel guilty and nervous. She quickly replied, "Halle, I’m fine. Don’t worry. Nothing happened. I traveled and my phone was accidentally broken. I’m at home now. Don’t worry."

She could not tell Halle that she and Bruce went to a stimulating shooting range. Not only had they shot, but they had also broken the coach’s arm.

She also had heard that one of the two persons she had hurt was a veteran. With the rules of the shooting range, this veteran had never expected that Hilla, a young girl, would make a move. That was why she had a chance to take advantage.

When Hilla thought it over, she would not have fought with them in a real fight. She might be seriously injured!

Staring at Hilla on the screen, Halle frowned instantly and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you just travel for one day and one night? Are you at home? It doesn’t look like you are in the Anderson’s at all. You are wearing men’s clothes. Whose clothes are they? Hilla, what exactly did you do?"

Halle was on a coach. Her cold voice immediately attracted people’s attention around her.

She didn’t care that at all. Staring at Hilla on the screen, she worried that Hilla would do something bad since she was so young.

No matter why Hilla married Bruce, she was Bruce’s wife now. If Hilla liked someone else, she couldn’t cheat on Bruch now.

Hilla was a Holt family daughter and could not be self-abandonment.

Halle was getting angry. Hilla knew that she could not conceal it from Halle.

Moreover, Halle was on a coach now and was pregnant.

Hilla was immediately scared. She quickly sat up from the bed and waved her hand, "Please don’t get me wrong, Halle. I’m in the Anderson’s. I mean that this is not the Anderson’s mansion. It is a house downtown that belonged to Bruce. We were together yesterday and stay here temporarily."

She really wanted to take a rest. After Bruce took a shower, they would return to the Anderson’s mansion afterward.

Halle was relieved and her tone became gentle. She smiled, "I’m in River City now. Please ask Mr. Anderson to send a car to pick me up at the station, if it’s convenient."

"Halle, you are in River City! I will pick you up immediately."

Bruce had just come out of the bathroom. He was shocked when he heard Hilla’s excited shouting.

He planned to enjoy lovers’ world with Hilla for several days. But they had a visitor!

When Bruce picked up Halle and drove back to Lakeshore Center, Hilla happily stuck with Halle and was excitedly touching Halle’s belly.

Halle looked at Bruce, smiling without any embarrassment, "Sorry for bothering you, Mr. Anderson. I didn’t know that you were out together. I have been calling Hilla, but she didn’t answer my call. I have to come personally."

Halle spoke in a polite, but reasonable manner.

No one in the Anderson family cared about them. But Hilla was different. Even though she only had an elder sister, she was still the little Princess of the Holt family.

Bruce pursed his lips and didn’t respond. He had told Hilla that the locks of the other three rooms were broken and they only had one main bedroom. Bruce was quite bothered. Where would he sleep if Hilla would stay with Halle?

Mr. Anderson was frustrated. Halle ruined his plan. It was such a good opportunity to spend with his wife. He even had a shower. What should he do now?

...

Hilla touched Halle’s slightly bulging belly, feeling the wonder of life.

Although she was shocked by the fact Halle was pregnant, this unborn child was now one of their family.

Life had such a mysterious power that made her, though angry at first, feel excited about this coming baby.

"Halle, you must be exhausted to come all the way here from the countryside. I can’t imagine how you make it by bus now that you’re pregnant. You can stay with me and be relieved now."

With empathy for Halle’s hardship, Hilla hold her hands firmly and comforted her.

Looking at Hilla’s distressed expression, Halle poked her forehead with a chuckle. "I can only be relieved if you don’t do things so recklessly again."

And then she turned to Bruce, "And I’ll be more relieved if Bruce can also be more cautious next time."

She could allow him to take Hilla out, but she could not bear that he should take Hilla to any place or to do anything dangerous.

She and Hilla were so close that they would phone or text or video chat with each other every day.

They had never been out of contact for more than 24 hours, so Halle could immediately sense that something was wrong when she could not reach Hilla.

This was the first time Hilla hadn’t chatted with her through any kind of social media.

If she hadn’t been pregnant, she would have set off last night.

Bruce didn’t expect that she would say so. Feeling her sincere concern, he nodded as if he were a little child who had made a mistake.

Hilla touched the spot where Halle just poked and said, "When are you going for the prenatal examination? Now that you’re here, I can accompany you to the hospital run by the Anderson Group. It’s supervised by our family, so it’s very trustworthy."

When Bruce heard she mentioned "family", he was quite pleased. Halle smiled and said, "My little sister is Mrs. Anderson now." "But I am still the one of the Holts and your dear sister."

Halle’s smile became wider as she heard Hilla’s words. She felt at ease when she knew Hilla was alright.

This experience reminded her that the next time she visited them, she’d better tell them in advance or agree on a fixed time with them. Otherwise, she might disturb their romantic moment.

She was aware that the timing of her visit was somewhat inappropriate, but she

didn’t show her sorry attitude.

She didn’t want to make the atmosphere more embarrassed and uneasy.

However, Bruce was a little troubled for not knowing where to accommodate Halle. It was already late, so it was too exhausting and dangerous for a pregnant woman to leave their house and find a hotel. Besides, Hilla was so concerned about her that she would not agree to place Halle in a hotel.

But he had told Hilla that the door of the guest room couldn’t be unlocked.

He would be awkward if this lie was revealed. He wanted to leave a dignified impression, especially on Hilla and her family.

"What do you want to eat? I’m going to the supermarket. And I can also buy Halle some life necessities."

Bruce said, hoping Halle could feel his awkwardness and lived elsewhere tonight.

Hilla looked out from the window, "It’s so late! You must be hungry. What do you feel like eating? Don’t starve your baby."

Maybe because Hilla was about to be an aunt or because she had maternal instincts, she cared a lot about Halle’s coming baby.

Halle looked at Bruce and said, "Thank you for your consideration. I indeed forgot to bring life necessities when I set off. I’ll list out what I need. I don’t need very many things."

Shocked, Bruce wondered, "Does that mean she doesn’t intend to leave? Is she planning to stay with us for a long time?"

He felt so pitiful for losing a wonderful chance of being with Hilla alone.

But he still nodded. "Okay." Then, he looked at Hilla and said gently, "Do you want to go together?"

He thought that he could enjoy some time for just the two of them on the way to and back from the supermarket.

But Hilla didn’t get his meaning, "How about buy some food from Gill’s Place. I love that restaurant. I’ll be here with Halle, waiting for you."

Bruce was speechless, feeling that her attention was all on Halle and was left none on him.

Although he was very reluctant, he still took the list and left.

Halle waited till he left, and then she looked around and smiled, "Is this place prepared for you?"

She could tell the style of the decoration didn’t coincide with a career-pursuing man like Bruce.

The house was decorated warm, cozy and a little romantic, the style Hilla would like.

Hilla blushed and quickly denied, "Of course not. Rich people like him normally buy many houses. I just live here temporarily."

Being so carefully decorated and furnished, this house was hardly possible to be temporary accommodation.

"I feel glad that he cherishes you. I didn’t mean to make fun of you." Her smiling face made Hilla feel a little shy.

She looked aside and whispered, "’Cherish’ is a too exaggerated word. And I don’t care if you want to make fun of me."

It took Halle a lot of effort not to laugh at Hilla’s bashful behavior. "When our Holt family was rich, we also owned many properties in River City. But all of them were not so well-decorated. Moreover, he made two separate floors a duplex house. It’s obvious that he intends to make this place a long-term residence. Is it because you dislike living in the Anderson’s mansion?"

Halle looked at Hilla and thought, "This house can’t be ready overnight. It must cost Bruce lots of effort and time. After living in the Anderson’s mansion for 30 years, the reason for his sudden decision of moving out can only be Hilla."

...

Hilla said with a frown, "I don’t hate to live there. But with too many people living together, I feel a lack of privacy which makes me somewhat depressed."

"That explains it furthermore. Bruce prepares this house to offer you a place completely under your control. You can be a real hostess here."

Figuring out Bruce’s purpose, Halle felt a little jealous as well as relieved for Hilla.

Having been smarter than her since childhood, it was natural that Hilla could have a better life than her.

Although the original intention of Hilla’s marriage was not good, Bruce was a worthy man to marry.

"Halle, what are you talking about? This is also my first day living here. How can I be a hostess here?"

Halle said seriously, "You’re Bruce’s wife. This identity qualifies you as a hostess here. Now that Bruce has given you a chance to live a more dignified life without being at others’ mercy, you must seize it. Although you can’t always count on him, you ought to grab every opportunity he gives you.

"If you don’t value his kindness, there will be no one else who can offer you such kindness."