Chapter 49 - Stormy Night

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

After a while, Jake brought a lot of groceries to Shannon’s house. Shannon busied herself in the kitchen for almost two hours before she finally whipped up a whole table of dishes.

Finally, she called Max over to eat, “Max, let’s agree on this. After this meal, we won’t owe each other anything else. Don’t ever come to my place again.”

‘When she walked into the living room, she realized that he was sound asleep. She frowned and wanted to wake him up, but she stopped herself. What he hated the most was being disturbed when he was sleeping.

On the account that he had helped her obtain the documents she needed, Shannon didn’t wake him, but sat aside and waited.

Max slept especially soundly, without any signs of waking up.

It was late at night when it started raining.

Shannon, who was sleeping at the dining table, heard the sound of thunder and suddenly woke up with a scream as she recalled one of her nights in New York.

‘Max was jolted awake by her scream, “What’s wrong? Did you cut your hand again?” He got up and approached Shannon, a trace of nervousness appearing in his eyes.

Shannon subconsciously shielded herself. She only relaxed when she saw that the person in front of her was Max.

The booming sounds of thunder outside got louder and louder. Shannon was brought back to her memories of life in law school. She thought that Allie and her were best friends.

However, in their dorm on one stormy night, Allie attempted to stab her.

She tried her best to escape, and eventually, she only managed to escape by jumping out of the window. Fortunately, their room was on the fourth floor, so she wasn’t seriously injured.

Tears streamed down her face. The claps from the thunder outside made her extremely anxious.

A trace of doubt appeared in Max’s eyes. She wasn’t afraid of thunderstorms in the past, so why was she so afraid now?

“I’s just a thunderstorm. It’ll pass soon.” Max subconsciously held Shannon’s hand, wanting to comfort her.

However, Shannon pushed him away. It will pass soon?! How? These things would probably never be over!

“It won’t be over! It will never be over. Those people and those incidents are like burns that were ruthlessly marked on my heart by a branding iron. Even if I recover, there will still be deep scars! I won’t be able to forget them for the rest of my life! Never!” Shannon couldn’t control her emotions.

All these years, whenever she thought about the moments when she escaped death, she felt like a mental patient.

Max looked at Shannon, and the doubts in his heart deepened. Didn’t she leave to further her studies? Moreover, she had money with her, so she shouldn’t have met with any danger.

“It’s alright. You’re safe now.” Max looked at the panicked and terrified Shannon and pulled her into his arms.

Shannon’s tears fell on his expensive shirt, and her emotions gradually calmed down as she smelled his scent.

It was still pouring outside, but fortunately, the thunder stopped, and Shannon gradually snapped out of her nightmare.

“Let’s eat.” Shannon pushed Max away after calming down.

She turned around to heat up the dishes that she had prepared, then placed them on the table again.

“Was life in New York so bad? I remember that you weren’t afraid of stormy weather in the past.” Max sat opposite Shannon, staring at her intently.

Shannon didn’t look up at him. Her lips curled into a cold smile. Was life in New York bad? His question sounded so ironic. She had barely survived those days.

But what did he know? He was probably in Janice’s arms when she was trying her best to stay alive in New York.

“Let’s eat. I made this meal to thank you. After this meal, we won’t have anything to do with each other anymore. I hope we won’t meet again.” Shannon turned around and poured out two glasses of wine, looking as though she was saying goodbye.

Max put the wine glass aside. His intuition told him that she must have experienced many bad things in New York.

“Tve told you before, I don’t like women drinking.” Max’s voice was very cold.

A bitter smile appeared on Shannon’s lips. Was he joking?

“Tm not the woman you like. Anyway, we won’t meet again in the future, so why do you care?” Shannon turned around, picked up her wine glass, and downed it in one gulp.

Max frowned. How did she change so much?

“Why? Do you think that I’ve changed? This is me. I have emotions, and there are also times when I’m sad. Now that I think about it, it’s ridiculous. When I was with you, I had to show you every single day that my emotions were stable, as I tried my best to be the perfect Mrs. Wenley. It’s really

ridiculous…” Shannon’s gaze was extremely sad.

Those painful memories were like a parasite that wormed its way into her body, slowly eating away the last bit of her soul.

“Do you hate me?” Max couldn’t help but feel frustrated when he saw her like this.

Shannon leaned back into her chair and smiled bitterly. What he was saying now was really laughable!

“Shouldn’t I hate you? You destroyed me, my love, my faith, and my spiritual support. You don’t know this, but you left me with only darkness in my life. Do I hate you? I hate you so much that I wished that I could kill you. And Janice too!” Shannon stood up abruptly and walked upstairs.

Max’s body stiffened, and his eyes darkened. Her love? They had only met a few times before they got married. When did she treat him as her one and only?

“Max, leave after dinner. Don’t come here anymore. I don’t want to die. If you still have a shred of conscience, stay away from me.” Shannon stood upstairs and finished her sentence. She then went back to her bedroom and locked the door.

Max held his phone and spun it around on the dining table. Shannon’s words made him suspicious.

His intuition told him that the bad things that Shannon had experienced were related to him.

That was why she became like this. But why didn’t she return to New Jersey? Why didn’t she look for him?

“Jake, go and investigate everything that happened to Shannon in New York. Find out what she experienced, and who tried to harm her.” Max had always been rational and calm, but at this moment, his mind was ina mess.

He didn’t want to link this to Janice, but the truth seemed to be pointing towards the woman he once loved deeply.

‘Max turned around and walked towards the sofa. He hadn’t taken a single drop of food or water for the entire day, yet the table of food appeared tasteless.

He lay on the sofa for a long time, unable to close his eyes. He was always the one scheming against others, and no one had ever dared to treat him as a pawn.

Shannon sat on the carpet in the bedroom, and all the lights in the room were turned on. Ever since she escaped from Allie, she had to tum on all the lights in the house on rainy days before she could feel at ease.

It was probably another sleepless night for her. However, for a long time, she didn’t hear the sound of her front door opening.

She turned around and walked towards her bedroom door, opening it a little. Max hadn’t eaten, and he was just lying on the sofa..