Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption
Chapter 73: Shopping Mall 1

Chapter 73: Shopping Mall 1

Did I hurt you?" He quickly grabbed her hand to look over it. His eyes brimming with pain. "Why didn’t you talk?"

Jessica smiled, why will she talk when he wouldn’t hear it at that time. Besides, his episode is one of his psychological weakness outsiders shouldn’t know about so as not to exploit him.

With no option, she had to bear the pain but it is okay. As long as he is back to himself. She had always expected his episode to set in at any time depending on the situation and the visit to the mall he usually frequents should cause him an episode.

"Stop the car, Ethan" he growled bitterly. He didn’t expect that despite trying his best not to hurt her, he still did. He felt pain and regret wash over him.

"Why stopping the car?" Jessica stared at him on surprise.

"Let’s get an ice pack for your hand." He muttered angrily.

"Ethan, you drive. We don’t have the whole day to spend over nothing." Jessica instructed. Davis opened his mouth to object but Jessica glare made him shut up.

"Am sorry about that." He murmured in a voice so low that if not for Jessica keen ear, it might have been lost on her.

"That’s okay. I am not that weak". She muttered.

Davis couldn’t really describe how he felt within himself. His emotion at the moment is complicated. Jessica glanced at him lightly, she didn’t need a soothsayer to tell her what is going in his brain at the moment since it is clearly written all over his face.

"You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready," she murmured, her voice so soft it was meant for him alone.

Davis exhaled slowly. Was he ready? No. But would he let that stop him?

His thumb moved over hers in return, a silent response. "If I back out now, you’ll never let me hear the end of it," he muttered, attempting a wry smile.

Jessica chuckled, her eyes finally meeting his. There was no pity in them. No sympathy. Only understanding.

"That’s true," she said playfully. "But more than that, I just want you to see that nothing has changed."

Davis arched a brow. "Nothing?"

Jessica tilted her head. "Alright, fine. Some things have changed. But not the things that matter and it may not even be the thing you thought that changed changed."

Pamela, who had been chatting lightly with Ethan in the front, turned slightly in her seat. "You know, Davis, the way you’re acting, people might think you’re going to war, not a shopping mall."

Davis let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "I think it is more easier now to go to war."

Pamela smirked. "Well, you should be prepared to met your fans after disappearing for almost a year." She winked at him. "They’ll probably be so shocked to see you, they’ll forget to breathe."

Davis rolled his eyes but found himself relaxing, even if just a little.

As Ethan pulled into the private parking area of the mall, he turned back slightly. "We’re here, boss."

Davis took a deep breath. His grip on Jessica’s hand remained firm as he exhaled.

Jessica leaned closer, whispering just for him to hear. "You’ve faced worse things than this, Davis. And besides, we are right here."

Davis glanced at her, his heart settling in his chest. He nodded.

Pamela alighted with Ethan and they both took time surveying the environment. Pamela latched on her face masks, she wouldn’t want her fans popping out of nowhere to ask for autograph.

Ethan went to the trunk to get the wheelchair for Davis. His heart beating wildly for his boss. He can still remember vividly the last tour they came was the day before the accident. The mall at that time had an issue with their import that resulted Davis coming to handle it personally.

He didn’t want to imagine what he may be feeling at this time but looking at the lady beside him. He decided to try trusting her.

Jessica made to alight but Davis held her back. In his eyes were so many emotions fear, reluctance, shame and despair. Jessica gazed at him taking notice of his complicated feelings.

"Still worried?" She asked tentatively. Davis remained silent but his hand tightened over hers in response.

Ethan stood quietly without interference, since Jessica’s arrival he has subtly withdrawn himself from Davis life and reverted to his duty as the special assistant. Jessica shut the car door with a click.

Slowly, he approached Davis while he was trying to understand what she is trying to do, he felt her soft lips on his. His breathe hitched and his interest and fear diverted.

The warmth of Jessica’s lips against his stole the air from Davis’s lungs. His mind, clouded with anxiety and reluctance, suddenly went blank. The lingering tension in his body melted as her soft scent enveloped him, the sweetness of her lips distracting him from everything else.

Jessica pulled away slightly, her forehead resting gently against his. Her eyes, deep and unwavering, held him captive. "You’re overthinking it," she whispered. "You’re Davis Allen. No one gets to decide who you are but you."

Davis’s throat tightened. He wanted to believe her—wanted to absorb her confidence and make it his own—but the weight of reality pressed against him. He had built an empire, had walked through these very halls like a king. Now, he would be seen as a shadow of who he once was. Would they respect him? Would they pity him? Or worse—would they dismiss him altogether?

He struggled to shut the mocking smirk he has always seen on the face of people from the day he woke up, their cold indifference and the scorn.

Jessica pulled back just enough to study his expression, reading him like an open book. She patted his cheek as talking to little child, the touch soft and gentle like a mother grounded him. "You don’t have to be the man you were before, Davis," she murmured. "You just have to be you."

His grip on her hand loosened slightly, his heartbeat no longer racing from fear but from something else—a feeling he dread to acknowledge... May be is dependence he thought.

"Boss," Ethan’s voice came from outside the car, steady and professional. "The wheelchair is ready."

Davis let out a slow exhale, his gaze never leaving Jessica’s. He found a sliver of courage in her eyes, in the unwavering way she looked at him—not with pity, but with admiration, with belief.

Finally, he nodded. "Let’s go."

Jessica smiled, a soft, knowing smile, before she gently helped him adjust. With a click the door opened letting a rush of air and light into the car.

Ethan and Pamela remained respectfully distant, though Pamela watched them with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

Slowly Davis settled into the wheelchair, Jessica crouched in front of him, smoothing out his sleeves. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she took his hand in hers again.

"Ready?" she asked, her voice light, her grip firm.

Davis looked at her, then at the grand entrance of the mall that awaited him. The nerves still lingered, but with Jessica by his side, they didn’t feel quite as paralyzing.

He exhaled and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Yeah. I will do it."

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