Since his schedule for today had been pushed back a little after running late for his afternoon appointments, Adrian ended up returning home past midnight.

At this point, only a few houseworkers, aside from the security guards, will still be awake. The only thing that will greet him as soon as he enters the mansion is the forlorn atmosphere in a dim and soulless hallway. ​ ​

It’s just his own footsteps that would keep him company as he strode further inside his home. There’s no presence that would genuinely welcome him nor would there be anything other than dull and gloomy here.

It’s something that Adrian had already gotten used to, though.

The everlastingly stretching solitude and lifelessness of an excessively luxurious place – he has been seeing it over and over again since he’s still a child. He has been living this way for all his life.

For the past five years, however, there’s one certain person who would at least wait for him – one who would genuinely and patiently look forward to his arrival, that is.

His wife would always wait for him in their bedroom. She once said that she would do so right in front of the entrance if the lights at the hallway would remain on by then.

Adrian recalled that Cassidy was trying to explain herself further when she said this but he just cut her off and turned down that idea. He reasoned that she really didn’t need to wait for him to come home all the time.

Even then, she still did – and with a candlelit dinner or late night snacks from time to time.

That said, ever since her first night at the hospital, this set of thoughts would always play in his mind for some reason.

Adrian couldn’t keep himself from pointing out the dullness and lack of colors of the place. He thought that he’s already so used to the forlorn quietude that he’d just straight up ignore it, but on the first night that Cassidy wasn’t here, he suddenly kept thinking about it – probably even bothered.

It’s as if he had unknowingly gotten used to his wife’s presence as well, causing him to pay attention to his surroundings more.

Now, as Adrian makes his way to their bedroom, he’s expecting that he’ll finally see some life in it after two whole weeks of sleeping by himself. But then, right after opening the door, he finds no one there.

“Eleanor?” he called out, taken aback by her absence.

He knows that she’s not supposed to be moving around too much since she might reopen her wounds. The doctor did advise both her and Charles about this earlier in the hospital.

“Eleanor, where are you?”

Adrian searches in the balcony, bathroom, both of their walk-in closets and perhaps, every nook and cranny in their bedroom. Even then, though, Cassidy is still nowhere in sight.

This finally urges him to leave the place and go outside. He really doesn’t know what gets to him at this very minute, but for some reason, he feels uneasy about this.

After all, knowing the present Cassidy, she can be doing anything other than sitting still and staying away from trouble.