CHAPTER 45: BRUCE IS NOT HER LOVE

It was difficult for Hilla to support Bruce’s body, so she said anxiously, "Bruce, you are so heavy. Could you stand steadily?"

She felt uncomfortable as if she was buried under Bruce’s body.

"I’ve tried my best, but my legs are weak."

Bruce said in a low voice. Hilla could feel his breath on her ear.

The sunlight in winter was warm, casting a soft light on them.

Although Hilla was slender, she was strong. However, she wasn’t strong enough to support Bruce.

After taking two steps with difficulty, Bruce suddenly stopped.

"We’ll be there in a few more steps. Hold on."

Hilla thought that Bruce was unable to move on, so she stopped to encourage him.

It would be okay while they came to the stone bench. Hilla would not let him stand up from the wheelchair anymore.

A few days ago, Bruce had been able to stand up and walk a few steps independently. It seemed that he got worse these days.

If Bruce still couldn’t recover, Hilla would suspect that Horton was not a skilled doctor.

"What’s wrong?"

Bruce didn’t move but stared at her. Hilla blinked her eyes, and her forehead was already wet with sweat.

Why did Bruce keep staring at her? Did she get anything on her face?

Out of curiosity, Hilla really wanted to check by a mirror, but she couldn’t; she was supporting Bruce.

She just looked at Bruce, hoping that he could move on.

"If I can’t walk anymore, what are you going to do?"

Bruce suddenly asked. Hilla propped herself up and tried hard to stand well. She forced a smile and said, "It doesn’t matter. You can sit in a wheelchair. Do you still know you were lying on the bed when I first saw you?"

It was better to have him to talk with when she was unhappy. Moreover, Bruce had bought her back the "Apple of the Eye".

She knew what Bruce had done to her, and she would try her best to repay him. Bruce thought about her words and chuckled, "Do you want me to lie on the bed or

sit on the wheelchair?"

Hilla thought to herself, "I want you to shut up and move on."

It would be more comfortable to sit down to have talks. It was really not easy for her to support Bruce, who weighed more than 110 pounds.

"Of course I hope you can recover soon. Isn’t it good to walk on your own? It’s inconvenient to sit on a wheelchair."

Hilla was always an honest person. She tried hard to prop herself up and smiled at Bruce. "Are you tired? Would you like to sit down and rest?"

Looking at the wheelchair and the stone bench respectively, Hilla thought both of them were far away.

Bruce knew what was in Hilla’s mind. He smiled and said in a low voice, "You’re tired. Why don’t we take a break?"

Of course, she was tired. Bruce was so considerate.

"Let’s take two more steps forward. The stone bench is not far from us, and we can bask in the sun there."

Hilla really hoped that Bruce could move a few steps forward.

Bruce agreed and tried to move on one of his legs.

At this, Hilla heaved a sigh of relief. However, Bruce immediately lost his balance and leaned towards Hilla.

Although Hilla thought she was a tough girl, she could not help but lean to one side when Bruce fell to her.

She did it subconsciously. Under these circumstances, people would protect themselves. Seeing that Bruce was about to fell to the ground, Hilla immediately reached her hands to support him.

But she failed to do that because she was not strong enough. Bruce pulled her, and both of them lost their balance.

Hilla had nothing to do but fell to the ground together with Bruce.

Because she could not let go of Bruce at this moment. Otherwise, she could at least keep herself safe.

As Bruce hadn’t recovered yet, she needed to protect him. Thus, she hugged him tight and closed her eyes before falling to the ground.

Probably it would not hurt badly. Hilla already got used to it when practicing martial arts in the past.

She could bear it! It didn’t matter.

She was ready to fell to the ground and got hurt. However, she didn’t fell to the ground but Bruce’s chest, and it didn’t hurt at all.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Bruce approach her. Bruce pressed his palm down onto the ground and then kissed her.

Hilla was in great shock. She stared at Bruce with her eyes wide open.

The winter breeze was cool. Hilla felt her cheeks burning hot. She breathed heavily, and her heart was beating hard.

"You..."

Why did he kiss her?

Hilla swallowed the words. Being shocked and shy, she glared at Bruce.

Hilla was at a loss. However, Bruce was looking at her with a tender gaze. His black eyes were shining like stars.

His eyes were dark and bright. Hilla was totally lost in his gaze. Bruce was indeed charming.

Bruce turned over and pressed Hilla down to the ground.

He was like a lion eager to claim its territory.

"Don’t you understand? Now I can do the things that I couldn’t do while lying on the bed before."

Bruce said these words with a smile on his face. Hilla was stunned. When she realized what Bruce meant, she immediately flushed.

"What, what, what do you want?"

Hilla kept wondering why he did that. She could not move because Bruce was on top of her body. They were still lying on the ground and saying somewhat intimate words. How could he do this to her? Hilla felt extremely embarrassed.

She could feel Bruce’s breath. He whispered to her, "You know it."

...

Hilla bit her lip, feeling her hot cheek burn in Bruce’s breath.

As she almost suffocated, the weight lifted off her. Bruce lay on the cobblestones, looked up at the clear blue sky, and chuckled, "Don’t be afraid. I can’t do anything to you in the garden during the daytime."

"W-what? I don’t understand what you are talking about."

Hilla muttered, but suddenly the smile on Bruce’s face slightly struck her.

"I must be crazy now." Hilla thought, "Why am I not myself when I look at this man? I must be seduced. Or Bruce is so good at this, and I’m too young to resist."

Although Hilla warned herself over and over again, she still turned her head and secretly settled her eyes upon his face.

Sharp jaw, high bridged nose, and deep eyes. His lips were seductive and red, which he had just moved lightly on hers.

When Hilla looked at Bruce, that familiar and wonderful taste emerged from her mind.

Hilla was startled and hurriedly got up from the ground. Pretending to clear the dust on her body in disgust, she whispered, "Wait here. I’ll get someone to help you."

With that, Hilla ran away without looking back, flustered as if she were running away from danger.

Bruce looked at her slender back as she walked away, his smile widening. "Weren’t you very bold when you kissed me?"

When Hilla received Halle’s call, she didn’t delay and drove directly to the small apartment Halle rented.

The conditions here were not as good as the Holt’s and the Tyson’s, but it was a downtown area with a lot of people, and the safety and environment were good.

Hilla tried to persuade Halle to stay with her in the Anderson’s for a while, but Halle insisted, and in the end, she had no choice.

"Halle, are you really going to start a factory?"

Hilla had mixed feelings when she heard of Halle’s decision. She knew that Halle had taken the Tyson family’s property, but a lot of it was real property. And with Titus and his mother’s manipulations, it had to be kept, instead of becoming money.

There were not many things that Halle could really get, so she was reluctant to buy a house for herself.

She gave everything she had to build the factory and was willing to settle herself in this small apartment.

Halle was very calm about Hilla’s worries. "I’ve already paid rent for this apartment for two years, so I don’t have to worry about not having a place to live in these two

years."

Even if there was a plan B, Hilla still couldn’t rest assured.

"Halle, it’s too hard to run a factory. We can find something easier."

"I believe that I can do what dad did in the past. I must revive the Holt family and get us back to our life."

After the divorce from Titus, revitalizing the Holt family seemed to be the most important thing as well as the driving force of life for Halle.

Hilla didn’t say anything. She just took out the bank card from her bag and handed it to Halle.

"Here are 500 thousand dollars. It’s the pocket money that Bruce just gave me."

"Hilla, you..."

"Don’t get me wrong. He just woke up and hasn’t recovered yet. No matter what, I am Mrs. Anderson now. They can’t treat me badly."

Afraid that Halle would doubt her, Hilla hurriedly added, "Don’t worry. I have enough money. Bruce has promised me pocket money every month and I live quite well as Mrs. Anderson."

The more Hilla acted indifferently, the more worried Halle became.

"Hilla, when things get better, you leave the Anderson family. I know Bruce woke up and you won’t have to live so hard, but I also know that marriage isn’t easy. What’s more, you and Bruce didn’t know each other before. He doesn’t like you, and you don’t like him. Your marriage is just a deal. Sooner or later, there will be dangers in this abnormal lifestyle, and I heard that Bruce... He is not a gentle guy!"

Halle changed her words. Instead of saying "cruel", she used the description "not gentle".

In the past, Bruce was known as a complete tyrant, cold-blooded and heartless, conquering the whole market. All the merchants of the River City knew his reputation.

Even when she was Titus’s wife, she had heard the name Bruce Anderson mentioned by the Tysons.

In River City, no one could mess with him.

Hilla’s marrying Bruce was an accident. It was a mistake. Bruce was in a coma, the Holt family was in ruins, and Hilla and she were in a lot of trouble.

However, it was different now. She had already divorced and was capable of creating a better life so that Hilla didn’t have to stay in the Anderson family and suffer.

"Halle, you don’t know Bruce. He’s actually... nice!"

Hilla pursed his lips, hiding the itch in her heart when she thought of Bruce.

Perhaps it was because she had been in the Anderson family so long that she felt no dissatisfaction with her life. Perhaps it was because she had never hoped for anything better when she married.

"I know the Andersons are kind to you, and I remember what his mother did for us, but love is not gratitude. You don’t need to pay the Andersons back by risking your happiness."

One misfortune Holt’s daughter was enough and Hilla must be happy!

"Halle, I shouldn’t be..."

Was she only grateful to Bruce?

When he took back the "Apple of the Eye" for her, she was indeed very moved and even thought that she could stay in the Anderson family for the rest of her life to take care of him.

It seemed that she was so moved by the kindness of the Andersons that she wanted to stay with them.

Halle was right. Before they got married, she and Bruce had no communication or feelings.

Everything she knew about Bruce came from her life in the Anderson’s house. Orlenna concerned her. She lived High on the hog at Anderson’s house and Bruce took good care of her after waking up.

Obviously, she was a down -and -out girl, but after Holt’s bankruptcy, she was not in debt and not oppressed by life. Under the protection of the Anderson family, she was much less ridiculed.

She seemed to be channeling all her gratitude towards the Anderson family into Bruce.

She was really grateful to the Andersons and Bruce, so what she felt for him was neither affection nor love. She did not even understand what love was.

"Halle, I understand. I will make the Holt family great again with you."

Nothing could be more important than the Holt family. As for her uncertain feelings for Bruce, Hilla thought that he should thank Bruce properly and then leave the Andersons with a clear conscience!