Chapter 44 - Queenie's birthday, her ex-fiancé has a surprise gift!

Queenie stared at the stone that Monica had thrown on the ground, feeling a sudden pang in her heart as if it had been torn apart.

This stone was found by Pollard when he started working. It was legally obtained from an archaeological site, and it held great significance to Pollard.
Moreover, he was not skilled at calligraphy, but he had learned for a long time just to meticulously carve on it,’ Queenie, I want to be with you forever.’

The writing wasn't particularly beautiful, but the sentiment behind it was precious.

Monica threw the stone in front of Benoit; how could Queenie not understand the implication?

This was clearly not a kind gesture; it was an attempt to provoke their relationship as husband and wife!

Queenie took a deep breath, fully aware of what she should and shouldn't do at this moment!

She bent down to pick up the stone and threw it into the trash can in front of Benoit, then calmly prepared to tidy up the living room as if nothing had happened.

But Benoit wasn't a fool!

He saw through Queenie's forced composure, clenched his fist, and an intense chill enveloped him, "Leave it! Let Manley handle it.”

Queenie was startled by the coldness in Benoit's voice and looked at him bewildered. Benoit, realizing that he had scared his wife, softened his tone and explained, “We have a scheduled cleaning lady who comes to our house. It's so messy, and I don't want you to be too tired, so please go to your room and rest.”

Benoit was telling the truth. He was angry that she was still upset about the worthless stone, but he couldn't bear to see her overworked.

” Mr. Clancy, I...” Queenie noticed that something was off with Benoit's mood and guessed that he was concerned about the stone that Pollard had given her. She wanted to explain, but as soon as the words 'Mr. Clancy' came out of her mouth, Benoit's expression grew even colder.

Manley quickly stepped in front of Queenie and politely said, “Queenie, you should go back to your room for now. Leave this to me to handle. Trust me, I've been with Mr. Clancy for many years. I know his temperament and I know how to handle this situation. It's best for you to go back to your room now.”

Queenie understood Manley's implied message and reluctantly went back to her room. With a click, the door closed, and Benoit's face turned completely cold. The chill that he had been restraining now spread throughout his body. He pushed his wheelchair to the trash can and glanced at the annoyingly engraved stone inside. 'Want to be with Queenie forever? What a joke!' he thought.

Queenie could only be with him for her whole life. Benoit's hand holding the wheelchair's handle tightened, his veins bulged, and he closed his eyes. His mind filled with memories of the day when Queenie acted strangely in the car. It turned out that she remembered Pollard because she saw someone selling carved jade stones on the roadside that day. She remembered this damn worthless stone!

Benoit's heart ached and swelled with resentment. He wished he could smash this stone into pieces. But he couldn't; all he could do was look at Manley with a dark expression and say, “You! Get rid of everything that others have touched, except for this damn stone! Leave it for Queenie to deal with herself.”

'Okay,' Manley replied, and as soon as he finished speaking, his phone started ringing. He walked a few steps away to answer the call. Benoit sat there, staring at the closed door, his face terrifyingly gloomy.

When Manley returned to the living room, he looked up and asked, “They say it's not good for couples to spend the night mad at each other. Do I need to go in now?”

His gaze seemed to say, ‘If you dare say 'no', you're done for!’

Manley forced a smile and replied, ”Mr. Clancy, you really can't go in there.” Before he could finish his sentence, a threatening look shot his way. He quickly touched his cool neck and explained, “Just now, Zhang from the PR department called to say that the business partners we met with at noon are all currently in the hospital for observation. Their blood tests showed that they have contracted the latest strain of the flu..."

"Regarding the virus outbreak, it is suggested that Mr. Clancy should isolate himself from Queenie..." Manley's voice grew softer as he spoke.

With a dark expression, Benoit replied, "Understood," and then went to sleep in his room.

Manley sighed and resigned himself to finding the usual cleaning team to quickly tidy up the living room.

After handling everything and disinfecting, Manley closed the door and left.

Queenie waited in her room for a long time but Benoit never came.

It wasn't until nearly midnight when she finally walked out of the room, wanting to get a glass of water in the living room.

However, as soon as she turned on the light, she was startled by the scene before her.

The coffee table, sofa, carpet, speakers, and some decorations were all replaced with new ones?

At first glance, everything looked the same, with the same style, but they were all new.

Queenie remembered that Pollard had mentioned Mr. Clancy before – that he was paranoid, possessive, and territorial, disliking others touching his things.

As long as someone touched them, he would throw everything away and replace them, because he liked things that belonged completely to him!

Queenie suddenly seemed to understand why Benoit was upset.

She had spoken to Pollard. Did her touching the stone offend him?

Full of doubts, Queenie's gaze caught sight of a faint light coming from the crack in the door to the guest room, leaving her stunned.

Benoit hadn't left, he was sleeping in the guest room.

Did he want to sleep separately from her?

No, she couldn't agree with Monica.

They had just recently gotten married, and it wouldn't be good for them to sleep separately. She instinctively walked towards the guest room, about to knock on the door, but suddenly didn't know what to say to Benoit, nor how to coax him back to sleep.

After all, Pollard was her past, and she couldn't change that.

Feeling defeated, Queenie turned back, and as she passed the trash can, she couldn't resist the curiosity and took a look inside, only to find that the stone was still there.

It seemed that Benoit had Manley handle the other garbage, but chose to leave this stone for her to handle.

Staring at the words on the stone, Queenie ultimately did nothing and returned to her room.

The long night stretched out, and she couldn't sleep.

What she didn't know was that Benoit, in the guest room,, knew everything.

He first brought up the surveillance footage from the living room today, to understand what had happened throughout the day.

When he heard Queenie say that she couldn't bring herself to buy clothes that cost over five hundred dollars, he felt a strong pang of sympathy and immediately had Manley recommend the brands worn by the local socialites in Coast City.

He went through each brand one by one, picking out clothes that suited Queenie's style.

After placing orders for all of them, he requested that these brands deliver the clothes tomorrow.

After finishing all of this, he checked the live surveillance footage and noticed that Queenie was about to knock on his door.

His heart was slightly filled with anticipation.

But when Queenie didn't say anything, and then just glanced at the trash can as she walked past it, he felt a strong twist in his chest.

The more he had anticipated earlier, the lower his emotions became now.

In the long night, Queenie was not the only one suffering from insomnia.

It wasn't until nearly dawn that Benoit finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Queenie woke up early to make breakfast, wanting to make peace with her husband.

She lightly knocked on Benoit's door, but no one answered, so she had no choice but to leave for work.

On the way, Queenie had a distracted look.

When she arrived at the school gate, Macy ran over and bumped into her, handing her a gift. "Queenie, happy birthday!"

Queenie paused for a moment before realizing that it was her Lunar calendar birthday today. She accepted the gift and said, "Thank you."

"What's wrong? Queenie, you don't seem to be in high spirits today," Macy asked.

Queenie sighed and proceeded to recount what had happened the previous day.

After listening, Macy became angry and annoyed. "Your mother and your sister are shameless!"

Queenie seemed to be accustomed to it and furrowed her eyebrows. "That's not what I'm worried about right now."

Macy immediately understood and asked seriously, "Queenie, you're not still holding feelings for Pollard, are you?"

"It's not that I don’t want to; it's that I can't," Queenie smiled helplessly. "I'm well aware that I can't go back to the past with Pollard, but I’m also very well aware that I am Benoit's wife now. But, Macy, I've been trying so hard to not think about Pollard. However, we were together for three years, and those memories keep resurfacing. I can't control it."

"But, Queenie, Pollard is not worth it. He's been away for ten days, and has he even bothered to call and check on you? After you accidentally dialed the wrong number last time and that junior answered, he didn't respond either. In my opinion, Pollard is just a cold and violent scumbag! Also, today is your birthday, did he send you any blessings?"

Queenie paused for a moment before suddenly feeling enlightened. "Macy, thank you for waking me up! Pollard has been quite terrible on this business trip! I think I just lack a sense of closure after breaking up with him. Once we break up, everything should be better."

Seeing that Queenie was no longer dwelling on Pollard, Macy walked with her into the school, chatting and laughing along the way.

However, no one could have expected that on Queenie's birthday, Pollard would suddenly give her such a huge surprise!