As Selena had found out that Ellen lived alone, scaring her was a fatal move. She planned to continue sending people to harass Ellen at night, rendering her unable to live in peace by keeping her on high alert at all times.
In the long run, any sane person would eventually lose their mind. Selena was on the verge of insanity as well. It had been two days since she was humiliated by Charlie, and she had spent those two days living in pain and resentment. She detested Ellen. After all, she was treated like this because of Ellen, and she vowed to make her life miserable.
At dawn, Jared had already changed into his sportswear and was waiting for Ellen to arise in the living room. Recently, they’d begun jogging together, as if they had formed a tacit understanding between them. To him, jogging wasn’t important-being with Ellen was.
Usually, she would get up at half past seven, but when he waited outside her door until it was half past eight and did not hear any signs of her waking up, he couldn’t help but feel a trace of worry. Did she fall sick?
In the end, he decided to knock on her door, and he soon heard footsteps inside. Instantly, the door opened to reveal Ellen with her hair down and her forehead coated in a cold sweat, standing by the doorway with an ashen face. From the looks of it, it was clear that she had not slept well at all.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?” he asked in concern. Ellen nodded and apologized, “Yeah. I don’t think I can go jogging today. I want to rest a bit. longer. Is that all right?”
Jared reached out and placed a hand on her forehead. After seeing that she did not have a fever, he assured her in a gentle voice, “Go ahead and rest! I’ll go make some congee for you.”
Ellen gently nodded, not intending to tell him what she encountered last night as she felt that he already had enough work to deal with every day.
After she went back to sleep, she felt much more reinvigorated when she reawakened at eleven o’clock. Subsequently, she deleted the pictures from her phone.
In the afternoon, Jared headed to the company while she stayed at home, leisurely spending her time taking care of the cat and plants. Every afternoon at three, Jared would order a different set of afternoon tea desserts for her accompanied by a gift box, satisfying her taste buds while also giving her a new surprise each day.
When night fell, he took her out for dinner at a restaurant nearby. “Tell me, what nightmare did you have last night?” Jared asked worriedly, wondering what she dreamed of that sent her breaking into a cold sweat.
“Nothing, I just thought of something scary,” Ellen lied, not wanting to bring up the grotesque pictures to him on such a romantic night.
However, as she ate, she felt her stomach churning and covered her mouth with a hand, losing her appetite.
Keenly sensing that something was off about her, Jared handed her a glass of water and asked, “What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
Ellen accepted the glass and took a sip before shaking her head. “It’s nothing. I probably don’t have an appetite because I didn’t sleep well last night.”
As she had expected, she was unable to continue eating after looking at the plates of meat and ended her meal with only vegetables.
After dinner, Jared took her home, and the two watched documentaries on the couch in the living room. Ellen enjoyed watching historical documentaries, and so did Jared. But right now, he wasn’t paying attention to the television screen.
He stood up and got himself a glass of tea, and upon taking his seat again, he sat next to Ellen and naturally draped his long arm over her shoulders.
Sensing his intentions, she shifted her posture and allowed his arm to slide down her shoulder and wrap around her waist. At this, Jared did not have the guts to take a step further and was satisfied by letting her watch the documentary in his arms.
Before they realized it, it was already eleven. Recalling that he still had heaps of work to deal with the next day, Ellen decided not to take up any more of his time and said, “It’s late. Let’s head upstairs to sleep!”
“Okay.” Jared nodded before adding, “Just come to me if you have any nightmares.” Ellen blinked and asked, “Really? Any time?” “Of course!” Jared’s lips curled into a smile. He didn’t mind holding her while he slept at all.
