CHAPTER 159: CHAPTER 159: PLEASE KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM YOUR EX-WIFE

The three of them turned around and walked towards Nymphaea Pond.

They first went to the tourist lounge to wait for Aiden Jenson to get them the fishing gear.

Holly Crowe originally sat on a chair a meter away from Blake Sinclair, but in just the moment she looked down at her phone, he shifted to sit beside her.

"Holly, your period is coming up soon, so don’t go into the water later."

"It’s none of your business."

Blake Sinclair ignored her refusal, reaching behind her to massage the spot on her lower back near the tailbone.

"At Grandpa Nash’s earlier, you were rubbing your back a lot. Let me give you a massage; it’ll feel better."

"There’s no need." Holly Crowe took a step to the side, putting some distance between them.

Blake Sinclair easily pulled her back again, "Be good. You just recovered from your illness, your body is weak. Just watch from the shore, okay?"

He gently but firmly pulled her into his arms.

Familiar scents surrounded her, and her heart skipped a beat under his gaze. "What are you up to now? I’m not falling for your tricks again."

"I’m not tricking you."

Holly pushed against his chest, using leverage to slide herself back.

Seeing him still wanting to come closer, she drew an imaginary line in the air between them. "Please keep your distance from your ex-wife."

"Holly, don’t say things like that anymore, it bothers me."

But Holly no longer paid him any attention.

Aiden Jenson returned with two sets of fishing gear.

Holly took one and went into the restroom. When she came out after changing, Blake Sinclair was nowhere to be seen.

Aiden Jenson, noticing her glance around the lounge, explained, "Looking for President Sinclair? He didn’t change his clothes. He got a call and went out."

"I wasn’t looking for him, just casually took a look." Holly denied it stubbornly, adjusting the fishing gear bag absentmindedly.

Exiting the lounge, after a short walk and a turn, there was the three hundred-acre Nymphaea Pond, divided in half by a pathway.

There were already some uncles and aunts digging for lotus roots in the pond.

Aiden Jenson was first to step into the pond, naturally reaching out his hand to help Holly Crowe down.

Blake Sinclair’s words flashed through her mind, making her hesitate. Then she heard someone call her from afar.

At the center of the Nymphaea Pond, a small train was coming along the track, and beside the driver’s seat was Blake Sinclair.

He was wearing fishing gear, with a straw hat on his head, waving towards where Holly stood.

At the edge of the pond, a few children who had been playing began to scream excitedly at the sight of the train, jumping up and down around the tracks.

The small train stopped on the tracks in front of Holly Crowe.

Blake Sinclair jumped into the mud of the pond with ease and walked toward her.

The chatter of the children filled the air:

"Mr. King, Mr. King, this train is so new and beautiful!"

"Mr. King, I want to ride the train too, I haven’t ridden it in so long."

From the driver’s seat, Mr. King pointed to Blake Sinclair, "You’ll have to ask that big brother over there; he bought this train for our village, and it was him who suggested taking it out for a test run today."

Hearing this, the children rushed over to the bank in front of Blake Sinclair, each raising their hopeful little faces, pleading:

"Brother, can we ride the train?"

"The seats on the previous small train were in bad shape, and we haven’t ridden it in so long. I want to ride it."

"Brother, please."

Blake Sinclair arrived in front of Holly Crowe, looking down at the group of little ones, "Do you want to ride the train?"

"Yes!" the children chorused.

Blake Sinclair’s gaze slowly shifted to Holly Crowe, "If you can somehow get this sister to join you on the train, I’ll have Mr. King take you for a couple more laps."

"Yay, yay!" The children swarmed around Holly Crowe, clutching her pant legs and begging.

Holly Crowe: "?"

Her?

He’s pulling this?

Using the kids to corner her?

Fine, Blake Sinclair, you’ve achieved it.

Ultimately, under their persistent pleading, Holly Crowe was half-pushed, half-pulled onto the train, sitting in the back row.

Before the train set off, Blake Sinclair placed his straw hat on her head, then turned to join Aiden Jenson in digging for lotus roots.

Midway, Aiden Jenson was called away by the village secretary for urgent matters, leaving only Blake Sinclair and a few uncles and aunts in the pond.

The small train circled the pond twice more. Most of the lotus flowers had withered, making the remaining patches of green stand out against the duller surroundings.

The autumn scenery of the pond, the gentle breeze, and the innocent sounds of children brought her back to her childhood.

She remembered, when she was very young, watching animated shows with small trains running in ponds and had once naively dreamed that it would be wonderful if Port Kallow’s Nymphaea Pond had such a train.

Eventually, Port Kallow really introduced a small train, but for various reasons, she never rode it.

Unexpectedly, today her childhood dream was realized in this way.

The small train was finishing its last lap, approaching the final stop.

A small boy in the front row, excited by a rare, unblemished lotus flower beside him, leaned halfway out to pluck it.

Just then, Mr. King stepped on the brakes, and instinctively everyone inside was flung forward.

Seeing the boy about to fall, Holly Crowe hurriedly reached to pull him back, "Careful."

In the process, though the boy was saved, Holly Crowe lost her balance and tumbled into the pond.

"Splash!"

"Hey, who fell into the pond?"

"Josephine’s daughter fell into the pond!"

"Holly!"

Despite wearing the fishing attire, water still seeped in, mud mixed in the water blurred the vision.

She splashed around, trying to stand up, but the slippery bottom gave no footing.

Unable to find a support point, she couldn’t help but panic a little.

At that moment, a pair of hands encircled her waist and pulled her out of the pond.

Blake Sinclair ran over through the mud, with a complex expression, "Holly, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Held by him, Holly felt both embarrassed and awkward, she tapped his shoulder twice, "Put me down."

"Don’t move, I’ll carry you up." Blake Sinclair held her tighter.

"No! Carrying me like this, all the mud’s getting into my clothes, let me walk on my own."

Holly struggled, feeling the muddy water already trickling down her collar.

Blake Sinclair, helpless, gently set her down, but didn’t let go of her hand, cautiously leading her step by step to the shore.

The commotion was considerable, hearing someone fell into the pond, people rushed over with concern.

With her hair covered in mud, Holly, too ashamed to face people, instinctively hid behind Blake Sinclair.

Fortunately, everyone was kind-hearted, an old man directly drove over his electric tricycle, taking them home to change clothes.

The tricycle "put-put-put" stopped at Blake Sinclair’s house entrance, "Quickly go take a hot shower, change clothes, don’t catch a cold."

Seeing the old man not intending to leave, Holly felt awkwardly trapped, her toes curling against the ground in embarrassment.

Finally, it was Blake Sinclair who pulled her into the house.

"Let me go, I’ll go home and shower myself." Holly tried to break free.

Blake Sinclair lowered his voice, "Are you sure you want to go back like this? Aren’t you afraid that as soon as you step out, the old man will let the whole village know tomorrow?"

He directly pushed her into the first-floor bathroom, "You shower first, you must rinse off the dirt with hot water."

Standing at the bathroom door, Holly hesitated, finding an excuse, "I’ll shower at home, there are no spare clothes for me here."

Blake Sinclair chuckled softly, "Holly, this is our home, how could there be no clothes for you?"

He led her into the bathroom, adjusted the hot water for her, tested the temperature, "You shower first, I’ll get you clothes. The towels and toiletries over there are all prepared for you, feel free to use them."

Holly looked in the direction he pointed, seeing all brand new and unopened items lined up.

Had he been preparing for her arrival all along?

The bathroom door closed.

Holly took nearly an hour to wash off the mud from her hair and ears.

When she walked out of the bathroom toweling her hair, she saw Blake Sinclair in the kitchen, cooking something unknown.

The shirt he was wearing was now replaced with a casual grey short-sleeved, obviously after he had also taken a shower upstairs.

Hearing the noise, he turned back with a smile in his eyes, "All done? I made you some brown sugar ginger tea, have some first."

Sitting on the sofa while drying her hair, Holly glanced around to familiarize herself with the house layout.

On the ground floor, one enters into a large lounge room, with the bathroom and kitchen on either side.

Since she could remember, this house had always been empty.

She had never been inside, yet somehow felt very familiar with every layout here.

Blake Sinclair brought over the brown sugar ginger tea, placing it on the coffee table, "Here, drink it, I’ll help dry your hair."

To verify that strange sensation in her mind, Holly pointed towards the staircase, "Is there a room with two windows on the left upstairs?"

Blake Sinclair, just picking up the hairdryer to approach, paused at her question.

"Yes."

"Isn’t there a bathroom next to that room?"

"Yes."

He turned on the hairdryer, the buzzing sound dissipating the stagnant air.

Holly’s mind was a muddle.

Why did she know it so well?

It felt as if she’d been here numerous times.

She raised her hand to rub her forehead, wanting to clear her head, but a pair of hands grasped hers from behind.

Blake Sinclair turned off the hairdryer.

The world was silent.

He surveyed the house, staying in the hand-holding position, circled around the sofa to sit beside her.

He brought a dry towel to gently pat her hair dry.

Their closeness brought an intimate distance.

Their breaths intertwined, indistinguishable, elevating the air temperature several degrees.

In the midst of enchantment, Holly was the first to regain clarity.

She wanted to pull her hand back, feeling a bit flustered, "I... I’ll head home first..."

But Blake Sinclair didn’t give her the chance to escape.

Grasping her withdrawing hand, he used slight force to pull her back onto the sofa, "Holly, aren’t you curious why you feel so familiar with this house?"

He reached to tuck her damp hair behind her ear.

"Give me ten minutes, won’t you? I’ll tell you everything, including the meaning of the items in the safe."