Chapter 370 Difficult to Accept
"Can you be serious for a sec? I gotta tell you something, but promise you won't freak out," Colin's voice had a pleading edge. He knew what he was about to say might upset Anna, but he decided to be upfront.
Anna finally put down her skewer and looked at Colin intently. "What's up? You seem really serious." Her tone was a mix of curiosity and nervousness, sensing something unusual about Colin.
Colin took a deep breath, preparing to spill the truth. He knew that honesty might bring some temporary pain and misunderstanding, but in the long run, it was better to be straight with her.
After several deep breaths to steady his emotions, he began cautiously, "Lily, well, I've known her for a long time. And she's actually hired by Sterling to protect Bella."
As he spoke, Colin's eyes were filled with complexity and guilt. Anna, who had been engrossed in her TV show, froze, her skewer still in hand. She turned her head in disbelief, her eyes wide as she stared at Colin, searching for answers, wondering if she had heard him correctly.
"Wait, you're saying Lily is a bodyguard? That's wild." Anna's voice was tinged with surprise.
She couldn't reconcile the image of the cold, quiet girl with the role of a bodyguard. In her mind, bodyguards were usually burly, stern men, not someone like Lily, who seemed so ordinary, even a bit fragile.
Colin's mouth twitched slightly. He had expected Anna to be surprised or curious about his long-standing acquaintance with Lily, but her focus was entirely different.
He smiled wryly and said, "Shouldn't you be more interested in the fact that I've known her for a long time? Why is her job more intriguing to you?"
Anna blinked and answered honestly, "Well, it's not surprising that you know her. Since Sterling hired her, it's not odd that you know her. I'm just curious how such a pretty girl ended up as a bodyguard. She must be really skilled, right? Does Bella know? If Bella knew, she probably wouldn't let her stay, given how sensitive Bella is."
Colin sighed, knowing Anna's personality. Once she became interested in something, she would keep asking until she got to the bottom of it.
He patiently explained, "Actually, Lily may look delicate, but she's had professional training and is quite capable. As for Bella, she probably knows Lily's true identity. Right now, I'm trying to be serious with you, to be honest. You have to promise you won't get mad."
He lowered his head, his hands tightly clasped together, his tone carrying a hint of melancholy and helplessness.
"Lily was homeless and helpless when I first saw her. I decided to take her in and give her a stable life. I contacted a bodyguard academy, hoping she could learn a skill and become self-sufficient."
"When she turned eighteen, I was twenty-three. I don't know what went wrong, maybe because I was her support when she was most vulnerable, she misunderstood. She was determined to be with me, and on her eighteenth birthday, she drugged me with something that made me lose control. I was disoriented and did something I regret."
Colin's voice grew somber, unable to meet Anna's eyes, fearing he would see disappointment and anger in them.
"After that, I didn't see her for seven years. Until recently, Sterling needed a reliable bodyguard for Bella, and I thought of Lily. She had completed her training and was capable of the job. So, I introduced her to Sterling."
Looking up, Colin's eyes were filled with sincerity and longing. "Anna, believe me, I didn't intend for anything to happen with Lily. I was disoriented and didn't know what I was doing. I haven't seen her in seven years."
Anna's eyes were filled with complexity and conflict as she listened to Colin's story. She looked at him, trying to gauge the truth in his words.
After a long pause, she finally spoke, "I need time to think. This is too sudden for me, I need time to process it."
After a moment of silence, Anna said softly, "I'm going home now, I'm a bit tired."
But Colin pulled her into his arms, resting his chin gently on her head, as if he could sense every subtle emotion within her.
"I know you're upset, but right now, I don't want to let you go. Who knows if you'll leave and never come back, ignoring me forever? I need to make sure that when your anger has truly dissipated, and you've completely forgiven me, then I'll let you out of my sight. Only then can I be at ease."
Anna gently struggled, pushing against his chest with a hint of helplessness and fatigue in her eyes. She forced a faint smile, trying to make her tone sound lighter, "I'm really not upset, just genuinely tired."
But Colin was determined not to let her go, his arms still tightly around her, his eyes filled with resolve and reluctance. "If you're tired, sleep here. My bed is soft and comfortable. Don't leave tonight, don't even think about it."
Colin's tone wasn't particularly domineering, instead, it carried a childlike plea and dependence, as if he was begging his favorite toy not to leave him.
Anna glanced at the only bed behind him, but her heart was filled with hesitation and resistance. Perhaps she wasn't ready yet. She shook her head decisively, "No, I'll go home and sleep in my own bed."
But Colin's mood shifted like a summer storm, calm one moment, turbulent the next, changing faster than flipping a page.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Anna's wrist, using his height advantage to easily pin her down on the soft bed, like an immovable mountain, rendering her struggles futile.
He leaned down, looking at her with complex emotions in his eyes, "Don't push me, really, don't push me. My patience is limited, and if you push me too far, I can't guarantee what I'll do."
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