From the day Adaline found out that Genevieve was attacked, she became a completely different person. It's like I lost myself. She wandered restlessly back and forth, as if she was looking for someone... or running away from an invisible pursuer.
[Once upon a time, Adaline already looked like her current self. She seemed about to escape again, but there were no signs of preparations for escape. On the contrary, she became much more obedient. It was as if she had come to terms with the fact that she was being watched and didn’t even try to resist.]
[Shane pretended not to notice the change, but remained alert. Why did she become so submissive? Maybe she really felt sorry for him?]
Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night, clutching her to him with such force, as if he was afraid that she would disappear as soon as he closed his eyes. At such moments, Adaline, half asleep, reached out to him and gently, barely touching, stroked his head.
[Damn it.]
[This light, almost weightless gesture broke Shane every time.]
[She was so fragile, so defenseless... He could have killed her with one movement, and yet he loved her so much that every night he tossed and turned without sleep, hoping that one day the sleeping Adaline would hug him first.]
[He no longer hoped for love.]
But every time Adaline closed her eyes and allowed him to hold her, as if she had given up, every time she quietly pressed herself against him, hope sprouted within him again. Stubborn as a weed.
[Maybe in time...she will pity him enough to love him. At least a little.]
"Hic...hic..."
Adaline sobbed, holding back sobs, and her wet eyes rubbed against his shoulder. Every breath she took felt pain in Shane’s chest, it became difficult to breathe.
[You don’t even recognize yourself when you cry like that.]
[When they were children, she cried differently - loudly, sincerely, as if she was expressing both her feelings and his. Then she did not bite her lips until they bled, did not hold back the pain as she does now, as if she carried an unhealed wound within herself.]
Shane, seeing this for the first time, felt his heart clench. He didn't know what to do and could only hug her tightly.
He didn't even dare to say, "Don't cry."
[What happened to you? What makes you suffer so much?]
[My colors, my feelings, my soul...]
[If she had just said it, just asked...] Shane would have done anything.
[But Adaline never asked for help.]
[Even five years ago, when she was feeling really bad, she didn’t complain.]
[But if some unfortunate, pathetic person crawled up to her, for whom she had neither love nor affection, she still extended her hand.]
[Even with a face as white as a sheet, if he cried and begged, she could not be cruel.]
[She did not understand that one of her compassionate gestures could give a person hope.]
[You probably cried alone then too, right?]
Shane gently patted her on the back, trying to calm her down a little.
---Having finished crying, Adaline fell fast asleep.
Shane laid her on the bed, and Lloyd, with his usual dexterity, took care of the rest: straightened the pillow, covered her with a blanket. Then he looked straight at Shane.
At first glance, Lloyd's face seemed ordinary, but if you look closely, his features were very neat. He studied Shane carefully, and then sighed with a slight chuckle.
“Your face... is downright murderous.”
"..."
“The owner would look at this.”
Shane said nothing to the impudent attack and just ran his hand through his hair. He didn't need a mirror; he already knew what his face was like.
“If she saw you now, she would definitely believe that you are crazy.”
"I'm still sane."
“Well, maybe you just have a different bar for normalcy.”
“As always, I can’t argue with you. Did you learn this from Adaline?”
"Likely. She is the only one I can follow as an example.”
Either way, Adaline was everything to Lloyd.