CHAPTER 58: I LIKE YOU

The man sitting at the door paused. He pressed his lips together and his gaze fell on Hilla.

Hilla tilted her head and looked at the blanket on Bruce’s leg. She frowned slightly and said, "I thought I saw you stand up and walk last night."

"You were drunk!"

Bruce replied without hesitation. He looked calm and certain. Hilla didn’t know what to say for a moment.

She furrowed her eyebrows, recalled the scenes, and muttered, "Really. You stood up, right there, and you even talked to me."

He told her to be a good girl, stay still and sleep. If the other scenes from her memory were not her dream, it should be true too.

Bruce remained calm. He looked Hilla in the eyes and said, "You were drunk last night and called me Dad."

"No way! Was I so embarrassed last night?"

Bruce gave her a meaningful look in reply. He turned and said, "Change your clothes and go downstairs to have breakfast."

"Maybe I drank too much. I must be careful next time."

Hilla pursed her lips and changed her clothes. After washing up and dressing, she slowly followed Bruce downstairs.

Margaret was the only one in the living room with Cookie and Candy in her arms. She was sitting on the sofa. When she saw Hilla coming down, she ran over delightedly.

"Hilla, you’re awake. How is your headache? Do you want a bowl of soup to help with the hangover?"

"I’m fine. My headache is gone."

Hilla rubbed her head and took Cookie from Margaret’s arms. She rubbed its furry little head and said, "This little guy has gained a lot of weight."

"Of course. I bought them the best dog food, regularly took them to the veterinary clinic to check fleas and ticks and their body conditions. I’m feeding them with great care."

"Indeed, you’ve been very nice to them,"

Hilla said sincerely. Margaret blushed. She looked at Hilla and said, "Hilla, I have to thank you for what happened last time."

She was talking about the accident in a narrow alley near River University. Hilla had forgotten it long ago. No wonder she felt that Margaret had become kind to her. It turned out that Margaret was moved by her.

"Don’t mention it. It was nothing."

"No, I must thank you. Although you are my sister- in-law, I should repay you for saving me. Don’t worry. I will only treat you as my sister-in-law,"

Margaret said seriously. But Hilla was slightly confused. Was there another woman in the Anderson family who was Margaret’s sister-in-law?

"Who did you drink with last night? When you came back, I saw Bruce’s face darken. Did you drink with that man?"

Yesterday, Horton had insisted to send her back home and refused to let her go to dinner together. She had felt that the client must be unusual and had wondered if it was a special meal arranged by Bruce for Hilla.

But when Hilla came back drunk last night, Bruce looked very upset. She was not so sure about her guess.

"Man? What are you talking about?"

Looking at Hilla’s guilty look, Margaret thought that she had caught her. How clever was she! She asked in shock, "Were you with that man? The one in the photo I took last time, right?"

Hilla was surprised by her acuteness. She pursed her lips and frowned, saying in a low voice, "I don’t know what you are talking about."

The more guilty Hilla was, the more sure Margaret would be.

Margaret took a deep breath, drew Hilla to the corner, and whispered, "Don’t cheat on Bruce. He is narrow -minded and unforgiving. If he knows that you were still in contact with that man, he will probably kill you two."

"Was Bruce that powerful? Could he kill others at will?" Hilla thought.

Hilla raised her eyebrows. "He arranged the client for me and I didn’t do anything. If you consider that a betrayal, well, he asked for it."

"You’re right!"

Margaret nodded and noticed that Hilla had sat at the dining table, so she had someone served the breakfast for her.

After it, a call from the Main Courtyard came. Hilla pushed Bruce to the old house.

When they passed by the rose room, she could not help but say, "I like to stay here and it gives me a lot of inspiration for my design. But it’s cold now."

Although the rose room was warm, it was cold to walk there. Moreover, it was the closest place to the Main Courtyard. She would meet people she did not want to meet at any time here. If that happened, she would feel uncomfortable.

Hilla leaned down and adjusted the blanket that covered Bruce’s legs. She turned up his collar and whispered, "Are you cold? When will you recover? Why don’t we go to the hospital?"

She began to doubt Horton’s medical skills. Was he good at medicine or not? How could a vegetative person wake up and become paralyzed? Moreover, she had insisted on exercising with Bruce and giving him a massage every day. But it didn’t work.

Bruce glanced at the rose room and saw her little face turned pale because of the cold. He could not help but reach out and pinch it. "Do you care about me?"

"Of course. You are my husband. If I don’t care about you, who else should I care about?"

She muttered in an injured voice and sounded coquettish. Bruce’s heart skipped a beat. He regretted testing Hilla yesterday. Fortunately, he didn’t find out anything. If she liked Julian, would he let her go now?

His palm on the blanket was held by Hilla’s small cold hand. Hilla put it under the blanket and smiled at him like a child. "It will be warmer."

"Yes, much warmer."

Bruce smiled and looked at her delicate face.

He had never let go of anything that belonged to him. No one could take her away from him!

"I wonder what Grandpa wants us to do."

It snowed not long ago. Snow piled up in the corner and had not melted. There was a layer of ice on the ground, which made it difficult to pull a wheelchair.

Hilla felt that ever since she married Bruce, she had become a tomboy. She couldn’t cook, but her strength was getting bigger and bigger. If this continued, her arms would probably grow strong muscles!

She kept talking to Bruce but decided to attend a fitness class as soon as possible. What if Bruce disliked girls with muscles?

"Bruce, what kind of girl do you like?"

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but ask. Bruce in the wheelchair smiled and replied, "She could be any kind of girl as long as I like her!"

"So easy?" She thought.

Hilla furrowed her eyebrows, feeling that Bruce was annoying, like a playboy who had a lot of mistresses!

...

"Do men care more about women’s looks and bodies than their personalities?" Hilla hadn’t expected that she would cater to men’s aesthetics.

Bruce looked at the peach tree not far away that had lost all its leaves and chuckled, "We will care nothing if we like the woman."

"You are good at skirting the question.

"At least one matters among the family background, personality, looks, and body. Or do you like the woman who’s sweet, cute, smart, or mature?"

"I like you!"

The ice on the branches of the tree fell on her face.

She saw him say it calmly and seriously.

Hilla blinked and looked at Bruce. Her mind had gone blank.

The bitterly cold wind was biting.

She seemed to have no feelings for everything except for the beating of her heart and the blushes on her cheeks.

She had felt cold just now, but his words had excited her. She felt sweaty and she could not breathe now.

"I was wondering who was standing here on such a cold day. It’s you."

Beside Lysa was Rudi. He dressed in gorgeous clothes. The necklace with gems around his neck was to fulfill his vanity.

As they came closer, Lysa wore a bigger smile.

When Hilla saw Rudi, her face hardened. Fortunately, Rudi didn’t do anything to her today. He stood obediently beside Lysa and occasionally glanced at Hilla and Bruce.

"Bruce, you’re getting better."

Rudi chuckled with flattery.

However, ever since Bruce woke up, he had never come to the East Courtyard, nor had he come to visit Bruce.

Hilla had thought that Rudi was too guilty to visit Bruce. She had been happy that he hadn’t come. Now it seemed that he was afraid of Bruce.

They were cousins. Normally, when brothers met, they would greet each other. However, Bruce did not even take a look at them. He said to Hilla, "It’s cold. Let’s go back to the room."

"Okay!"

Since Bruce had ignored them, she didn’t have to greet them. She was also indifferent to them. Hilla turned and pushed Bruce towards the main room.

Lysa and Rudi gritted their teeth.

"She’s too arrogant. She’s just a poor girl. How could she ignore me? Was she looking down on me?"

Lysa was infuriated by Hilla’s attitude just now. She stomped in anger and almost tripped over her own feet.

Rudi was also dissatisfied with her attitude, but he hid his grievance.

Ever since Hilla married Bruce, he had been hospitalized continuously, but he had never expected that Bruce, who had been lying harmlessly on the bed, would also wake up.

Thinking about the dart on his thigh, he could still feel the pain.

He had worked so hard, and soon the Anderson family would be his. How could he sit and watch Bruce steal everything from him?

Rudi would have the property of the Anderson family and the woman he liked, even though she was Bruce’s wife.

Hilla pushed Bruce into the main room and saw Tyree, Orlenna, and Lucas.

She didn’t know if she had gotten it wrong, but the atmosphere in the room was tense as if the two brothers were going to divide the assets and the father would be the judge.

After greeting everyone, she stood obediently behind Bruce.

Rudi and Lysa soon went into the as well. Lysa smiled and tried to please Tyree.

"Dad, here we come."

Tyree didn’t take a look at them and only said, "Sit down if everyone is here. We’ll have a discussion."

Hilla looked around and found that Margaret was not there. Was Margaret excluded from the family meeting?

Hilla was still wondering when she saw Margaret coming out of the kitchen with some cups of tea. She brought everyone tea. She handed it to Hilla and gave her a roguish wink.

So the Anderson family had treated the girls equally.

Some little things would be discussed today. Bruce was going back to the Anderson Group. Rudi and Lucas knew that they could not stop it, but they could not give him the projects they had now.

"Dad, Rudi has been managing this project for some time. It is a big project and there are many things to decide. I have no doubt about Bruce’s ability, but he has just waked up and felt better now. It’s too tiring for him to take over such a

complicated project. It’s not good for his recovery."

Lucas hadn’t expected that Tyree would ask him to hand over the new airport project. He had spent half a year on it. Whether he could win a position in the family all depended on it.

If he handed over this project now, he would have to live under Bruce for the rest of his life.

After enduring all things for so many years as an illegitimate child, he was recognized as a member of the Anderson family. His son was the eldest grandson of Tyree, who was as good as Bruce. He would not live under Bruce again.

"That’s right, grandpa. Bruce’s legs haven’t healed yet. It’s very inconvenient for him to move now. If he wants to go back to the company, I have some smaller projects. I can help him get familiar with the business as soon as possible."

Rudi said anxiously, afraid that Bruce would have his share of the property. Tyree took a deep breath, looked at Bruce, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Bruce had been in the power of the Anderson family five years ago. Although Tyree had been in charge of the Anderson family for half a year when Bruce was in a coma, he was old after all and there were some things he could not help. He was happy to see Bruce wake up.

He had never changed his mind that the Anderson family belonged to Bruce. After Bruce had married Hilla, he and Orlenna had thought of asking them to artificially inseminate and have babies.

Fortunately, it was nipped in the bud by Bruce’s waking. It was only a matter of time before Hilla got pregnant. What they could do now was to push it earlier.

"I do need to rest for a while. Besides, Hilla and I have more important tasks to do."

Bruce seemed to be able to read Tyree’s mind. His gaze fell on Hilla’s face and his smile gave Hilla shivers. She thought that he might be thinking something dirty.