To Be Yours Again novel (Alec and Jenny)

"Why are you living here?" Gilbert asked, frowning.

When Marigold heard his familiar voice, she knew for sure that she wasn't hallucinating. Her first instinct wasn't joy but rather fear. She stepped back at once and looked at him warily. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

Her reaction was loud. Gilbert wasn't expecting that. "I was passing by."

Passing by? Marigold didn't believe it. She was far from the city center. Gilbert's activities would never lead him here.

"You haven't answered my question. I gave you all that money. Why are you living here?" Gilbert asked. His eyebrows were tightly knitted.

Marigold took a deep breath, maintaining some distance from him. Then, she replied, "Since you've given me the money, I can live wherever I want. Do I need your permission for that?"

"That's not what I mean. I just think that you can afford to live somewhere better." Gilbert looked at her, not understanding why Marigold hated him so much. Although he'd wanted her to abort the baby, he hadn't dragged her to the hospital and forced one on her. Besides, they had come to an agreement. He couldn't do anything to her now.

Marigold didn't know what he was thinking. She just thought that his words were hilarious. "Do I need to tell you where I live?"

"It's not like that. I was just worried about you," he said.

"Worried about me?" It was as if Marigold had heard the world's funniest joke. "Gilbert, we've already decided to have nothing to do with each other. You shouldn't even be appearing in front of me." Gilbert paled. He thought that he was a joke, too. "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'm going to leave now."

"Good." Marigold was happy to see him go.

Gilbert walked away, but before he could reach his car, he paused in his footsteps. He looked back at her. "You don't look very well. Is this too hard on you?"

Marigold was pale, and she was as thin as a reed. If not for her large bump, no one would be able to tell that she was pregnant.

"I don't need your help!" Marigold was angry.

Gilbert sighed. "If you need my help, you can call me. I don't have any other intentions. I just think—"

"I don't need it!" Marigold cut him off. She merely thought that Gilbert was hilarious. Even if she needed help, she wouldn't go to him for it. Didn't he know that all this was his doing? Gilbert murmured in response and got into his car, disappearing from her sight.

Marigold heaved a sigh of relief, seeing him go. Thank God he'd done nothing. Otherwise, she'd fight him. But was he really passing by, or did he come here on purpose? Marigold considered it for a while but then smiled.

Why was she thinking about all that?

Why did it matter if he was passing through the neighborhood or came here on purpose? They were destined to be worlds apart.

At that thought, Marigold caressed her belly and murmured, "Once you come out, baby, I'll bring you out of this place. We'll go to a place where no one knows us and start a new life."

She'd considered moving out, but her body didn't allow her to. Once her headaches acted up, she couldn't do anything. She was worried that she would collapse in a foreign world where no one knew her. Hence, she chose to stay and leave only after the baby was born. Once Jenny treated her headaches, Marigold would take the baby and leave.