CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: THIS ISN’T FAIR

Upon hearing his response, Shannon Quinn was even more puzzled. She thought he would say he just randomly picked someone, but it seemed there were hidden secrets.

Yet, she had always been just an ordinary person, and her social circle, including friends, had nothing to do with him. What was his purpose in marrying her?

They had been married for over two years, and she hadn’t noticed him gaining anything from her.

How many secrets could he be hiding?

"Don’t be curious about my affairs." As if seeing the confusion on her face, he voiced this sentence.

Shannon Quinn put away those chaotic guesses, frowned, and mumbled, "It’s not fair, why do you get to know everything about me, yet you’re full of secrets."

"This world is inherently unfair."

His reply seemed to have a deeper meaning. Shannon Quinn was speechless, looking at his legs, thinking that perhaps he meant being born disabled, so he felt the heavens were unfair to him.

"I need to rush the manuscript. Are you going back to your room?"

Vincent Rhodes shook his head, "I’ll just lie here for a while."

Shannon Quinn stood up, helped him lie down, and covered him with a thin blanket, saying, "I’ll be in the bedroom, call me if you need anything."

He seemed to mumble an "hmm", or maybe not, Shannon Quinn sighed lightly, turned, and walked to her room.

After just two steps, she heard a low, raspy voice behind her asking, "Where’s the ring?"

Shannon Quinn paused her steps, glanced back at him, and replied, "Inside."

"Wear it from now on."

Shannon Quinn didn’t understand why he suddenly cared about this matter, but she didn’t argue with him, agreeing with a simple "oh."

He had made such a big concession regarding the child, so she tried to meet these minor conditions to alleviate some of her guilt towards him.

Returning to her room, she found the ring from the drawer.

Not a particularly unique style, but it looked elegant and refined. From a designer’s perspective, it was a beautiful design.

Since the day of their wedding, she had put the ring away and never worn it.

She took the ring out of the box, put it on her left ring finger, and found the size surprisingly fitting, neither big nor small.

She held her hand in front of her, examining it, and took a deep breath.

In the afternoon, she settled down and focused on her drawings all afternoon; she also briefed her colleagues at the studio about work. Aidan Lockwood was still abroad and hadn’t returned, so in his absence, she had to manage things for him.

Having worked with him for so many years, Shannon Quinn managed this just fine.

"Bang"

Upon hearing a noise outside the room, Shannon Quinn quickly put down her pencil and stood up, running out to see Vincent Rhodes sitting in the wheelchair, seemingly having accidentally bumped into the fruit plate on the coffee table, with apples and the fruit knife all falling to the ground.

Shannon Quinn walked over, picked up the apples still rolling, and returned them to the fruit plate. She didn’t scold him, just looked at Vincent Rhodes and asked, "What do you want to do? You could just have called me. This way, your wounds won’t heal easily."

"Afraid I’ll keep depending on you?"

Shannon Quinn froze, then said, "...No, you still need to take care of your own body. What do you need? I’ll help you."

"To the bathroom."

Shannon Quinn: "..."

She pushed him to the bathroom, knowing he managed on his own last night, so he could probably manage again. She didn’t want to watch him use the bathroom, nor did he want her to watch, so after pushing him there, Shannon Quinn stepped out, closing the door behind her.

She stood outside the door waiting, worried that he might accidentally fall or something.

She heard some faint noises inside, followed by the sound of running water. Her face unknowingly turned red as she hurriedly moved away.

Looking at the clock in the living room, it was about time to make dinner.

When she went out to throw the trash, she looked at the neighboring door, still tightly closed.

If Landon Sutton had returned, he would have come to her asking for the cat. Since he hadn’t come looking, he probably hadn’t returned.

Thinking about the child inside her, she felt more confused about how to face Landon Sutton, considering he was the child’s father...

"When did you learn to cook?"

A voice came from the kitchen door. Shannon Quinn turned around to see Vincent Rhodes, who had come in unnoticed, recalling she answered, "I don’t remember. I started cooking when I was very young." After speaking, she then smiled gently, asking him, "Do you think it tastes good?"

The expression beneath Vincent Rhodes’ mask was startled, for it seemed ages since he had seen her smile.

He remembered when they first met, she was quite a cheerful girl, and that brief encounter became an unforgettable memory.

Returning to her side this time, whether in front of Landon Sutton or Vincent Rhodes, he hadn’t seen her smile, until now.

"It’s okay."

She turned back to continue washing vegetables, chatting as she washed, "Did you usually eat in restaurants? Got used to delicacies and became picky, so you can’t eat home-cooked meals anymore?"

Vincent Rhodes didn’t answer, merely thinking to himself that he hadn’t had the luxury of eating all those delicacies. If he had time, he’d rather stay and eat the meals she cooked.

Ever since he was young, he was sent to Dragonspire Training Camp, where life wasn’t so fancy, just enough to fill the stomach. In terms of flavor, not even a tenth of hers.

"My biological parents divorced. I lived with my mom, who passed away when I was two. I heard this from my current adoptive father. I think they adopted a daughter to sell for money. They didn’t take care of me much; I more or less grew up with Granny Wilde. I learned my culinary skills from Granny Wilde."

This was the first time he heard her talk about her past, or perhaps more accurately, one of their rare moments of conversation.

He had investigated her background, but knew none of these details.

"Were they unkind to you?"

Shannon Quinn shook her head without thinking, "Before they adopted me, they already had a son. I suppose when they adopted me, they never intended to treat me as a daughter. They often scolded me, and their son had a spoiled temperament and bullied me quite often. It only got quieter after he was sent abroad for studies."

"Now their purpose for adopting me is fulfilled, and I don’t have contact with them, nor do they care about me. I find it rather good this way."

She spoke lightly, but Vincent Rhodes felt increasingly heartbroken for her.

He so resolved to love and cherish the woman before him in the future.

Shannon Quinn glanced at him, as if realizing she’d perhaps spoken too much, awkwardly changing the subject, "You’d better wait outside; I’m about to stir-fry, the oil smoke is too strong."

Vincent Rhodes remained still, but just then his phone rang from his pocket, prompting him to wheel himself away.