Chapter 129

On the third day of St. Patrick's celebrations, relatives visited the Winters estate. Thalia sat in the living room, receiving guests and chatting with older family members. In the midst of conversation, an aunt with permed hair abruptly asked Randolph, "Brother, whatever happened with that engagement between your family and the Blackwoods?"

Thalia lowered her eyes, sighing inwardly. The inevitable question had arrived. Randolph calmly replied, "The children weren't compatible, so we ended it."

Another uncle interjected, "Word is the Blackwood chap's involved with some actress. Any truth to that?"

Thalia inwardly mused, How can a grown man be such a gossip?

Randolph responded, "I wouldn't know. He and Thalia have broken their engagement; what he does now is hardly our concern."

The aunt with permed hair persisted, "Did the Blackwood boy cheat on Thalia while they were together? These privileged sons from powerful families—so many are wastrels. It's quite common for them to carry on with actresses and models, isn't it?"

Victoria smoothly changed the subject: "That's a lovely handbag. I spotted it in a magazine recently. It's a limited-edition holiday item, isn't it?"

The aunt's attention immediately shifted to her handbag, her face brightening. "Yes, I fell in love with it at first sight. Gorgeous, isn't it?"

Victoria smiled. "Absolutely stunning. I was thinking of getting one myself."

"I believe they've sold out nationwide. I only just received mine yesterday. If you're keen, I could ask my contact if any more are available."

Victoria replied, "That would be lovely, thank you."

The subject seemed successfully changed, but the gossipy aunt stubbornly steered the conversation back. "Now, where were we?" she asked with eager interest. "Was it because the Blackwood heir was carrying on behind Thalia's back that you broke off the engagement?"

As Victoria was about to speak, Thalia interjected, "That's not it, Aunt. Our relationship simply ran its course. He found someone else after we separated—he didn't cheat."

This answer clearly wasn't what the aunt wanted to hear. A naturally ending relationship and subsequent new partner were far less scandalous than infidelity.

The aunt persisted, "How could the relationship have run its course? Didn't you just have an engagement ceremony recently? The previous one was disrupted by some unfortunate incident, but I recall your father mentioning that you two were very much in love and planning another ceremony after the holiday. How did it suddenly end?"

The uncle immediately added, "Exactly! What a brilliant match it was. The Blackwoods, no less! Many would kill for such an opportunity. If you ask me, the engagement shouldn't have been broken off at all. Men will be men—a bit of fun on the side is perfectly normal. She's just an actress, after all. A family like the Blackwoods would never allow an actress into their fold. Once he'd had his fun, he would have come back to marry you. You should have simply put up with it."

Hearing this, Thalia's brows furrowed. His perspective was entirely male-oriented, weighing only advantages and disadvantages. She appreciated not a single word.

Thalia had just begun to speak, preparing to counter his argument, when Randolph, unable to bear it any longer, interjected. "I strongly disagree with that sentiment," Randolph said, his expression darkening. "The Blackwoods may have wealth and influence, and others might scramble to curry their favor, but the Winters family has no need for such connections. Thalia is my precious daughter, and I won't allow her to be mistreated."

Victoria added, "Precisely. Our daughter has no need to chase after the Blackwoods."

The permed-hair aunt turned to Thalia. "Thalia, dear, when I attended that garden party, you two seemed so in love. When you had that dispute with the Blackwood adopted daughter and the elderly Lady Blackwood, Asher stood by your side and even contradicted his grandmother, saying something about always taking his wife's side. He genuinely seemed to care for you deeply. How could the relationship have ended so soon?"

"Well, matters of the heart are unpredictable, aren't they?" Victoria intervened with a smile, then waved at a little boy playing with building blocks with Lucy nearby. "Oliver, come over here, darling."

Oliver put down his blocks and scampered over to Victoria. Victoria smiled and took a handful of sweets from the fruit platter, giving them to Oliver. She kindly asked, "Oliver, how were your end-of-term results? What's your ranking in class?"

Oliver, the permed-hair aunt's younger son, was in Year 6—a mischievous little boy with poor academic performance who constantly got into trouble, resulting in frequent calls to his parents from teachers. When the aunt heard Victoria ask about her son's grades, her incessant chatter ceased instantly, and her expression became distinctly uncomfortable.

Oliver, unconcerned about his poor performance, answered truthfully: "Auntie, I got a D in maths, an E in English, and a D in science. My class ranking…"

"That's quite enough," his mother interrupted sharply. "You might not be embarrassed, but I certainly am."

"What's embarrassing? I've improved!" Oliver protested. "Last term I was third from the bottom in my class. This term I'm fifth from the bottom. That's progress!"

"Hahaha!" The relatives all laughed in unison. "Children say the most amusing things, don't they?"

The permed-hair aunt pulled Oliver close and glared at him, scolding in a low voice: "I told you to play with Lucy. What are you doing over here, making a spectacle of yourself? Fifth from the bottom—you actually have the nerve to boast about that."

Victoria smiled silently, satisfied that she'd finally silenced the aunt. Randolph cast a concerned glance at Thalia, who smiled back and shook her head slightly, indicating she was fine.

After the meal, Thalia went for a walk in the nearby garden and unexpectedly encountered Asher, who was also out for a stroll. The biting wind howled around them, making her blood feel as though it were freezing in her veins.

They stood facing each other in the cold wind, neither speaking. Thalia looked away first, breaking the silence: "What a coincidence."

"Happy St. Patrick's Day." These were the first words Asher had spoken to her in a long time. Almost instantly, Thalia's eyes grew moist.

She lowered her wet lashes, her gaze wandering, inadvertently falling on the watch on Asher's wrist. Her breath caught. "You…" Thalia wanted to ask why he was still wearing the watch she had given him, but couldn't finish the question. Even her tone betrayed a hint of tears.

Asher followed her gaze to the watch on his wrist, feeling a sudden pain in his heart. This watch was the first gift Thalia had ever given him. It wasn't particularly expensive by his standards—about sixty thousand pounds—but he had worn it constantly, never removing it even after their breakup. On occasions when Thalia was present, he had always hidden the watch to keep it from her sight. He'd done so on New Year's Eve and at the golf course in St. Andrews. But just now, having gone out for a solitary walk, he hadn't expected the coincidence of meeting Thalia in the garden. The watch was now exposed to her view. He knew what she wanted to ask. He desperately wanted to tell her that he missed her, that he couldn't bear to remove the watch she had given him.

After a long, bitter internal struggle, Asher spoke with difficulty: "Oh, I forgot to take it off."