Starting with A Divorce by Gloria Warren

Chapter 356 Sleep on the Floor

“I’ll go and check the kitchen a bit to see what food we have there. Stay here. Don’t move, all right?” Manuel said gently as he raised his hand, wanting to stroke Ainsley’s hair. But Ainsley dodged it,

which disappointed him a little.

Ainsley, left staring after him, whispered, “Why did he treat me like a child?”

Since the rooms here were not soundproof, after a while, Ainsley heard the click-clack of utensils

coming from the kitchen.

Curious about what Manuel was cooking in the kitchen, Ainsley pursed her lips while propping

herself up against the wall so as to get out of bed.

But the moment she was about to limp off, she lost her balance before falling onto the ground

while letting out a scream.

She grimaced at the pain from her ankle, and her thin body curled into a ball.

Having heard the noise, Manuel rushed over, only to be shocked at the scene in front of him. With

his pupils shrinking, he walked up to Ainsley with an anxious step and picked her

up

carefully

before putting her back on the bed.

And since doctors here in the village seldom made out-calls, Manuel didn’t dare to touch Ainsley in

case he made things worse.

Ainsley’s eyebrows kept furrowing for quite a while. Then she opened her eyes slowly.

Noticing that, Manuel let out a sigh of relief. But soon, his face darkened. “Didn’t I tell you not to

move around? Why did you insist on doing this?”

Ainsley said briefly in a slightly hoarse voice, “Water.”

She was too thirsty to use a full sentence.

Hearing that, Manuel, who was about to teach her à lesson, turned to fetch her a glass of water.

Then, with gentle hand movements, he fed her the water.

After gulping down some water, Ainsley took some time to chill out before lowering her head and

muttering, “I just wanted to help you a little in the kitchen.”

Manuel tapped her forehead helplessly before getting up and walking out of the room again.

And by the time he was back, he had already fixed a plate of spaghetti.

Noticing that Ainsley was looking at him, Manuel sat by the bed, arranged the spaghetti on the

plate, and explained with his head lowered, “Since you’re injured, I took the liberty of making your food

light. Just have some.”

With that, he forked some spaghetti and fed Ainsley on it.

Ainsley tried the spaghetti.

As she chewed, she thought, since when did Manuel, a wealthy young man, learn to cook? Or put it

this way, who did he learn it for?

At the thought of the possibility of him learning to cook for another woman, Ainsley felt

suffocated, so suffocated that she wanted to burst out crying.

But she could not show her feelings like this in front of him, especially those that revealed her

weakness.

Then Ainsley finished off the spaghetti silently, during which Manuel remained silent as well.

After the meal, Manuel helped Ainsley lie down. “Now get some sleep.”

After Ainsley closed her eyes, Manuel covered her with a quilt before leaving with the dishes.

Ainsley had always been a night owl. Also, the injury to her ankle had stopped her from being able.

to move around in the bed. Therefore, she simply could not fall asleep now.

By the time Manuel came back from the shower, Ainsley was still fully awake, with her eyes staring

at the ceiling.

Manuel did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Why are you still awake?”

Ainsley blinked her slightly sour eyes and shook her head. Then after putting aside all the stuff in her

mind, she asked, “Are you gonna sleep on the sofa tonight?”

Manuel didn’t want her to worry that he might climb into her bed in the middle of the night, so he

pointed to the sofa outside and said, “Yes.”

Ainsley looked in the direction of his finger. Although the sofa was a familiar item in the house,

Ainsley still found it unfit to sleep on.

Ainsley thought, I count ourselves lucky that we live in such a house. I mean, it might not stack up

against a villa, but it did outstrip all the other country cottages here in the village.

It’s just that the sofa out there is too short to hold Manuel.

Sleeping on such a small sofa should be very painful for him.

But despite feeling sorry, Ainsley remained silent.

She simply couldn’t ask Manuel to share the bed with her.

Therefore, Ainsley stopped saying anything more after muttering, “All right.”

In the middle of the night, Ainsley felt a sudden rush of chill.

Thanks to that, she woke up, only to find herself uncovered.

Then, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside, which were very light with deliberation.

She thought, is Manuel still awake?

Is it because he can’t fall asleep or because the sofa is uncomfortable?

Ainsley ventured to move her ankle a bit, only to find that it did not hurt as much as it did earlier.

Therefore, she sat up, wanting to get out of bed. But when she raised her eyes, she met Manuel’s

slightly tired gaze.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Manuel sounded concerned.

Ainsley grabbed the corner of the quilt and looked away. “I had a nightmare just now. What about

you? Why haven’t you slept yet?”

Manuel showed her the barrel in his hand. “It’s raining outside, and the roof is leaking. I am about to

put the barrel underneath where it’s leaking.”

Probably because it was just drizzling, Ainsley didn’t hear the sound of the rain.

Then she noticed that Manuel’s shoulder was wet, which made her wonder, is the leak right above

where the sofa is?

Ainsley hesitated for a long time and finally convinced herself. Then she moved to another side of

the bed while patting the empty side. “Come to the bed.”

Manuel’s eyes darkened when he shook his head as a gesture of refusal. “No, your foot is injured.”

It would be weird if Ainsley insisted. Therefore, Ainsley proposed a compromised idea, “Then, how

about you sleep on the floor in the room?”

This time, Manuel agreed.

The next day, Ainsley left the room before dawn.

She did not want to stay too close to Manuel, even though she had unknowingly owed him a lot.

But just as Ainsley was limping away with the help of the wooden stick she took from the kitchen

yesterday, Manuel, who was sleeping soundly, opened his eyes.

There was no trace of sleepiness on his face anymore, but he did not want Ainsley to find that out.

Therefore, Manuel closed his eyes so as to suppress his distress about Ainsley’s injury. Then he opened his eyes again. Now he looked once again calm.

Manuel thought, I still have Chad to deal with.

Apart from that, there are still other troubles left for her that need to be handled.

Chad walked out of the room with a face full of bruises. At the sight of Manuel, Chad gritted his teeth against his hatred for Manuel. But since his wounds still hurt faintly, also, he did not dare to curse, Chad had to hide behind the door while shouting, “Don’t come over. You are not welcome

here.”

Manuel, with a cigarette in his mouth, glanced at him nonchalantly. “What? Have you forgotten what you have done? I had to teach you a lesson for that, remember?”

Chad got worked up upon hearing that. “I wonder who that woman is? I mean, we are friends who have been through life and death together. And yet, you roughed me up for her!”

“Tsk tsk!” Manuel found it ***the way Chad mentioned their friendship and thus had a sudden impulse to beat Chad up again.

Then Manuel spat out the cigarette, which he had only just started to smoke, and ground it under

his feet, his expression elusive.

Chad had seen the look before, which suggested that Manuel was about to act in a fit of rage, and

became scared right away with his legs trembling uncontrollably.