13 Chapter 13: Kylie Is My Wife (1/2)

On leaving the Finch house, Kylie casually took a stick of gum from her bag and stuffed it into her mouth.

There was a black car parked on the side of the road, about two hundred meters from the Finch house.

When she walked closer, Elliot got out of the car and opened the door. ”Ma'am, Lord Ethan sent me to drive you home.”

”Was he stalking me?” Kylie asked, a little ill at ease.

Elliot didn't explain any further, but simply opened the door, and gestured inside. ”Please get in the car.”

Kylie didn't think too much of it and bent over to get inside the vehicle.

As soon as she sat down, Pupu jumped towards her and sat beside her, wagging his tail. ”Pupu, do you want some gum?”

Pupu barked in response, and Elliot didn't say anything.

Of course, Kylie didn't actually feed Pupu her gum, but the dog kept moving closer and closer to her mouth, smelling the sweet aroma.

The car switched to the fast lane. As Kylie stared into the rearview mirror and watched the Finch house becoming vaguer and vaguer, her heart began to ache. Every time she returned to her old home, she had to put up a fierce fight. It made her exhausted.

”Handsome, please slow down a little—I'm getting somewhat dizzy.”

Although it helped that Ethan wasn't in the car, Kylie felt more at ease, and Pupu was more active. Kylie kicked off her shoes and lay down, taking over the whole backseat. Pupu was happy to be used as a pillow.

”Ma'am, you can just call me Elliot.”

”Ok,” Kylie hummed, her eyes closed. She wasn't exactly car-sick, but she felt a little dizzy due to the smell of smoke.

Actually, she had lied to Ethan about smoking. She never smoked; she just felt obligated to do things her father hated. Hence, every time she went home, she had to smoke one in front of him.

If Laurence were to pay the slightest bit of attention, he would discover that she exhales all the smoke, and barely inhales. However, in his mind, his daughter was addicted to nicotine and alcohol.

Elliot slowed down to 50 mph, glancing at Kylie and Pupu in the mirror. Though labradors were usually docile and faithful dogs, Pupu was the exception—he wasn't usually a friendly dog.

He was an old dog who had lived for years at the villa. Ethan was the only one who'd been able to gain his trust. So, when he left home, he'd taken Pupu with him.

Elliot was confused and thought: the driver who picked Pupu up yesterday said he was alert the entire way, and that nobody could approach him. But he was so docile when he was with this woman. There was a feeling of apprehension in Elliot's heart.

He saw Kylie reach over and stroke Pupu. Knowing that she was still awake, he asked tentatively: ”Ma'am, have you ever had a dog?”

Kylie opened her eyes and stared at the roof of the car. After a while, she answered: ”I had one when I was young. But we lost it.”

Pupu whimpered and turned to look at her. He pawed her head, as though trying to comfort her.

Kylie gently pinched his paws, then his ears. She snuggled against Pupu's belly and remembered something.

The night she had left home, she had met a stray dog on the street. They had both been homeless, so she had kept it. Her father had cut her off financially, to try and force her to return home and apologize. But Kylie had decided that she would rather be a child laborer, than return home.

At that time, so long as she had enough food, the dog would not go hungry. But as the year progressed, she couldn't even support herself, let alone her new dog.

She didn't have a friend to help her look after the dog, so she had been forced to chase it away with a stick. The dog had finally left, and she had cried for a long time.

It was around that time that Star had first contacted her.

She had wept, and told him what happened, after which Star had offered to help her with her school and living expenses. With this backing, she had gone out in search of her dog but had been unable to find it.

If her dog was still alive, it would be about the same age as Pupu.