My Heart Was Wounded Deep
Chapter 76's

Kikan woke up a few hours later. It was still dark, so he wasn't sure what had awakened him, until he felt the movement. After sleeping alone for seventeen years, there was now someone else beside him, and it was not an indiscriminate person. This is the man he swore he would avoid.

"What are you thinking?" roy's Mumam. Kikan did not realize Rey was awake, and he did not want to answer honestly. Instead, he smiled widely. "That you're great in bed."

"You yourself are no less great. You really underestimate your own abilities, you know? The second one was. You almost made me die."

Kikan knew what Rey meant was how naughty she was when she controlled the situation before they fell asleep, and Kikan felt her face blushing. "What are you talking about? You're fine."

"I had to hold on to save my life. I've never experienced anything like it." Rey joked.

"Stop teasing me," he said, punching Rey playfully.

Rey caught Kikan's hand. "Why? I liked it, liked it so much that I was overwhelmed. That's all I can do to survive. Imagining the expression on your face when you reach the top alone makes me tense again."

"We don't have any more protectors, don't risk remembering my misfortune, fearing that history will repeat itself."

"Isn't it ironic that I want to get you pregnant again?" Rey said, but her voice sounded more hopeful than frightened by the idea.

"At least we're older. Now it doesn't matter what people say about our choices" Kikan said.

"Being an adult is a benefit." Rey replied.

"But if I'm really pregnant, I'm gonna raise this kid." Kikan sounded resolute, as if he would never allow himself to be robbed again.

Rey stroked Kikan's hair, "You think it's like you're the only one doing it yourself."

"I don't expect anything from you, Rey. I'm stronger than you thought I was. You can take your own path, and I'll be fine."

Rey fingered the side of Kikan's face with fingers. "I'm not going anywhere" he said, then pulled Kikan back to lie next to him.

♪

It was almost eleven in the afternoon when Rey finally woke up. He was not sure how he could sleep for so long, because he usually woke up early. But when he does not see Kikan in the room, Rey is worried that the woman may have tried to leave the cottage by herself. Rey wants him to drive Kikan home. So he put on clothes without bothering to bathe first, combing his hair with his fingers to make it look rather neat and rushed out to the main house.

Luckily, Kikan was there, in the kitchen, helping to prepare breakfast while Cindy was nowhere to be seen. Is it an exaggeration if Rey hopes that she'll be the one to leave.

Rey didn't see Samantha either. It's a hopeful signal too.

" Morning." Kelly smiled cheerfully as she carried a plate of cow-eye eggs. Eva followed behind him with a sausage.

Rey looked at Kikan, who was frying potatoes. Upon hearing her voice, the woman glanced back and revealed a wry smile before returning to her work. But the unpredictability of the smile makes Rey approach her, hugging both of Kikan's shoulders and kissing the top of her head. "Hello, pretty."

Kikan turned his head towards the kitchen table, where Rey's friends were observing them. You'd better take the egg platter still hot" said the woman with a flushed face. "I'll take the potatoes there in a minute."

Simon was standing next to Kikan, making coffee. Her grin tilted and she nudged Rey while walking past her. "Are you okay sleeping on that little bed?"

" The most beautiful night I've ever had" Rey said.

Simon laughs. "It's good to hear it."

Everyone smiled broadly at him. But Rey doesn't care if they find out that she was with Kikan last night. That doesn't embarrass him at all. He got what he wanted, now he had to think about how to keep Kikan by his side. Jason has already expressed no objection if they get back together. Even so, there were still her parents, as well as Lori's family, as well as everyone else in their small town who thought Kikan was guilty of Lori's death, plus Lis's mother, as well, it was impossible to forgive him for causing Kikan to suffer.

but Rey has to make it a priority. He must begin his second chance with Kikan by asking if Cindy is gone. "Where are Cindy and Samantha?"

Kelly turned her head towards Devan, who was sitting at the table. "There are people who are kind to you and tell them that their existence here is not good."

Rey felt herself open. "You?"

Devan sips his orange juice. "Don't tell me I never did anything for you."

" Trim. But you're the one who brought them here." Rey raised her hand. "Just reminding."

Devan frowned, pretending to be angry. "That's because you can't get a date on your own."

" He already felt that you weren't so interested in him. He was packing when I knocked on his door."

" Nobody can match a cold head to look at things wisely" Rey said.

Everyone laughs.

" Then Samantha?" ask Rey. "She should have stayed."

Devan clicked his tongue. "It didn't work out too much either" he said

Rey puts down the coffee and squeezes the front shoulder. "Sorry bro."

Devan shrugged, and focused on Olivia, who had just entered the room with her husband Brandon. "It's funny how we're attracted to someone."

Devan has loved Olivia for years, but lost her. Who prefers others, who still counts Devan's brother. And Rey could only imagine how hard it was to see the two of them all the time.

" It's true." Rey has obviously not managed to get the woman she is interested in. Kikan has tried more than once, to warn that getting in touch with him will not be easy. But he's all Rey wants. And it seems Rey has a hard time changing her wishes.

" Who wants coffee?" ask Simon. But then the phone rang and he lifted the fingers to keep them quiet.

" Rey is Jason" he said a moment later.

Rey felt Kikan's attention as she approached to receive a call. But when everyone spoke again, Rey had to take the phone to another room to hear. "What's up, buddy?"

" Why didn't Papa answer the phone?" ask Jason.

Rey's phone is in the room she was supposed to be with Devan, but she won't reveal the secret to her son. "I forgot not to bring a charger," the lie. "But I'll borrow it so you can call if you need to."

" I'm glad Papa gave Tristan's parents this cottage number."

" why? Something wrong?"

Jason did not answer that question. "Is mom coming?"

Rey glanced at the other room and saw Kikan was pouring potatoes into a bowl. "Yes." Yeah."

" And is it going well?" ask Jason.

Rey smiled. Last night it was a little difficult at first. Kikan was tough and self-protective and did not let himself in, but once they got to bed, the woman started to feel comfortable with him... "I'm sure it's smooth. I'm glad he's here."

" Is Mom happy?"

Rey remembers nearly pulling Kikan into the creek the last time Jason tried to help her, then felt their smiles wider. "It looks so."

" It's a relief" Jason said.

Jason didn't sound as happy as Rey expected, he was more irritated or tense. "So what's wrong?" ask Rey.

" We stopped at the gas station and bought a little meal before leaving this morning, and..."

Rey felt herself trembling in agitation, not from what Jason said but from the way he behaved. "And? what's up?"

" Logan was there" Jason said.

While tightening the handle on the phone's handle, Rey clings one leg to the wall. "He better not say anything to you!"

" He didn't threaten me or anything. But... I don't like him any more. Not a bit. he waji***."

Rey has never liked Logan in the past, but she likes her mother's best friend and their other family. "Just ignore him."

" I want to, but he says their family found Via Astaria, and he says this Via will explain who and what my mother really looks like."