Chapter 24
677words
Unexpectedly, as soon as we came home from the trip, that particular founding member of the company came to our door, condemning James for being merciless.
It did not take long for the younger members of the Blackwell family to persuade him to go home, but I still felt a little uneasy.
Thinking of that man's resentful gaze before he left, I felt worried and asked, "Would he seek revenge on you?"
"Don't worry." James smiled at me to comfort me. "I know what I'm doing."
He seemed calm and not worried at all. It was only then I gradually started to feel at ease.
On the day of my late mother's death anniversary, James brought me and my siblings back to the capital. He stayed there with me for three more days before we returned home.
It so happened that his parents had just returned from their trip and would stay in Clason City for a short while.
I liked my mother-in-law very much. We got along very well.
While chatting with her, she brought up stories about James' childhood. She even brought me to the room at the end of the hallway on the third floor to look at his photos and awards from when he was a child.
"This drawer is filled with his prized possessions. I'm his mother, yet I'm not even allowed to touch it. I only caught a glimpse of it by accident once," she said.
She found the key and unlocked the drawer, handing the box inside to me.
"These are James' possessions. It would be inappropriate for me to look through them without his permission, wouldn't it?"
My mother-in-law waved her hands casually and said, "Why would it be inappropriate? You're his wife. Husband and wife are one entity. What secrets would there be between you two?"
She opened the wooden box and said, "Just a look. You'll like it."
I lowered my head and saw a few familiar photos suddenly.
Were they not…
A smile appeared on my mother-in-law's face. "Take your time. There's something that I have to do, so I'll have to take my leave for now."
After she left, I took out the photos in the small wooden box.
They were photos of me receiving awards at drawing competitions when I was young. The dates were labeled at the back of every single image.
Among them was a photo of me winning an art exhibition in Clason City when I was 18. All the winners and the award presenter were in the photo, and the person standing next to me was James.
It turned out that James presented the first significant award I got when I was 18.
He was not a disabled person back then.
My vision suddenly became blurry.
I never expected our lives to have crossed paths in that way.
James met with an accident and became disabled in his legs after that. He gradually faded from the public's sight, and I got together with Brad.
Then, Brad dumped me, and I became the joke of the capital.
That might be why James picked the Young family to form a marriage alliance.
I was the only daughter in the Young family at a suitable age for marriage.
James had planned everything…
Tears streamed down my face as I held those photos.
I thought of what James' mother had said. Those were his prized possessions that nobody was allowed to touch.
I could not bear to think about my five years with Brad.
James had just met the accident that disabled his legs back then. How did he pull through all those years ago?
I stood in a daze momentarily before I put the photos back and locked the drawer.
I did not know how to handle something like that. All I could do was pretend I had no idea for now.
