Elysia buried her face into his chest, shaking her head, "I''m not hungry." "What do you feel like eating, then? You''ve got to eat something."
"Just wait a bit longer, let me stay like this for a while," Elysia murmured.
Hearing this, Tarquin felt his heart melt, "Alright!"
As Elysia nestled into him, she whispered,
"Imagine if we had never parted ways, I could have been there for every moment of Elijah''s childhood, and you could have been there for Elliot, Evan, Emmett as they grew up."
After watching videos of Elijah''s milestones the night before, her sense of regret deepened.
Shemented over all the moments of Elijah''s life that she had missed...
Tarquin held her close, trying to offerfort,
"Gideon tried to control me with marriage back then, setting me up with Daphne, who was supposedly ipatible with me ording to some old superstition. I didn''t care much about it, so I never paid attention. I always thought I was married to Daphne.
Aftering back home, my first intention was to get a divorce. If it weren''t for that incident at the airport, our paths might never have crossed, and we wouldn''t have our children. It''s been a series of fortunate missteps, but at least the oue is good."
Elysia, her eyes teary, said, "Let''s never part ways again!"
Tarquin tightened his embrace, "Yes, never again!"
After a while, Elysia couldn''t help but ask,
"About that marriage certificate, I didn''t know it was you because I had never seen it, never saw our picture together on it. Why didn''t you recognize me either?"
Tarquin sighed, feeling like fate had yed a strange trick on them.
"I remember catching a glimpse of it once, and it had Daphne''s name. Looking back, it might have been a dream. I truly forgot about being married, it wasn''t intentional to hide it from you. And about concealing my identity, I..."
"You don''t have to exin, I understand," Elysia interrupted.
Tarquin swallowed hard, reflecting,
"Elysia, I''m so lucky it was you! Any other name on that certificate would have been a tragedy for me! Only with you, I could be genuinely happy!" "Me too, so fortunate, it''s you!"
""
During their first three days on the ind, they alternated between moments of intimacy, sleep, and eating.
It was only on the fourth day that Elysia started to take a real interest in the vi.
The vi had a strong sense of design and was filled with artistic vibes.
Something about it felt familiar to her, yet she couldn''t quite ce where she had seen it before.
That feeling of déjà vu...
She asked Tarquin, "Who''s the mastermind behind this design?"
Tarquin replied, "My mom."
Elysia was taken aback, "Mrs. Bradford?"
Tarquin affectionately pinched her cheek, "You''re her rightful daughter-inw; you should call her mom."
Elysia blushed and corrected herself,
"Wasn''t mom gone long before? How could she have designed a vi for you?"
"This was herst project, only two-thirdsplete when she passed. I finished thest third, and that''s how we got the blueprints for this vi. Do you have any thoughts on the design?"
Elysia spoke truthfully, "It feels familiar."
Tarquin chuckled, "Mom was a renowned figure in the design world. If you search for Elizabeth''s name online, you''ll find many of her designs." Elizabeth...
Elysia frowned slightly; every time she heard that name, it felt familiar, yet she couldn''t recall when or where she hade across it before. But she was sure it wasn''t online or through Tarquin.
It felt like something from many years ago!
Meanwhile, in a corner of Jindale City, someone was scrutinizing photos of the vi''s exterior.
On the phone, a voice reported,
"We''ve confirmed Ms. Thorne and Tarquin are on the ind, but the security is tight. It''s challenging to approach, whether by sea or air. If we want to take it down, we need a better n."
The man paused for a moment before saying indifferently, "Then let it be."
Hanging up, he took off his headset and stared at the phone screen, mumbling to himself,
"It''s her design, a shame to destroy it."