Chapter 293: Absorbed Things
Give a slap in the face and then a sweet date. Now that the sweet dates have been given almost, how should the slap be given next?
Sitting on a park bench, Maggie finally thought about the question he should have thought about long ago. This kind of question actually didn't need to bother him, it had a fixed direction - what he wanted and what Hina cherished.
It’s easy to give the answer to what Hina cherishes: her sister and cousin. She probably doesn’t have any other ties in this world.
But what he wanted was that if he only regarded Hina as a Muggle, then there was nothing valuable about her to Maggie; after considering Hina's appearance and personality, Maggie couldn't think of what she wanted to gain from her.
Love between a man and a woman? Maggie was indeed a complete male, but in the past and in his memories, he had never been jealous of Abbott's intimacy, nor had he ever thought about the kind of relationship he had with Ximena.
In Maggie's opinion, the relationship between him and Jimena is more intimate than any other type of relationship, so he will not underestimate their relationship and reduce it to the clichéd relationship between men and women.
But for Hina, there was no love between man and woman, so what else could he ask for from her? Find a master to worship for himself? Maggie admitted that she had a lot of desire to have fun, but it was not to the extent of this kind of fun.
Before he could think of an answer, the figure that caught his eye appeared behind the mist. Maggie looked at the figure, sitting there, without moving.
On a cold winter morning, the park was quiet and deserted. The mist that always exists throughout the year shrouded the greenery of this cold and hard concrete area. Fortunately, the morning light was just right, and the golden light penetrated into the mist, making the mist that added to the coldness seem to become warm visually.
Xina walked in this layer of illusory warmth. In the process, mist condensed on her tweed coat, and small water droplets appeared, reflecting the golden sunlight. When she walked in front of Maggie, the golden light reflected by all the water droplets dazzled Maggie's eyes.
"Hello, Mr. Riddle," Sheena still felt nervous even though she was mentally prepared. "Miss Abend has gone to the car. She said she's waiting for your news."
"Okay, I understand." Maggie stood up after hiding her thoughts in a calm state, a smile on her handsome face, "Maggie Riddle, nice to meet you, Sheena."
Hearing this, Xina felt a little sad. She didn't think there was anything that could make her happy about meeting Mr. Riddle. She could only respond in a low voice, "Thank you for your help, sir."
"Don't be so unfamiliar. Call me Maggie." Maggie stared at Xina's drooping eyes and finally discovered a difference between her and Ximena. Xina's eyes were the same as her cousin Maxine's, pure blue, while the Clingreton family's eyes were a bit of blue-green mixed with a little depth. "Now, walk with me in the park."
"Okay...Maggie." Xina clenched her hands nervously at her side. She was too nervous to make even this inconspicuous movement. She walked beside Maggie nervously, feeling that every word Maggie said next might be a judgment on her future.
"You're scared of me, right?" Maggie said, not letting Hina answer the embarrassing question. "I completely understand. After all, the scene of our first meeting was very strange. The noisy environment, the scary relatives, and the unknown fate were too cruel for a girl who had just come of age."
Maggie's words aroused the emotions that Xina had suppressed for a month. She covered her mouth and couldn't help sobbing. "I don't understand why Dad became like that," she cried, looking at Maggie with misty tears, "He is now..."
After facing up to what happened that night, Xina regained her normal concern for her father.
"His life is not in danger, but he owes a lot of money after all. If you really let him out to pay it back, he will probably just cling to you. Personally, I believe that every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor," Maggie calmly watched the tears rolling down Hina's eyes, "so I suggested that Barrios find a place for your father to work to pay off his debts. Given his huge debts, he won't be free for the rest of his life."
"Of course," Maggie said, changing the subject, "if you—"
"I don't want to see him again," Sheena said bitterly. Knowing that her father was okay was enough to soothe the uneasiness in her heart. "Thank you, Maggie."
"You're welcome. Just like I said that night, I just couldn't bear to see a daughter being treated like this by her father." Maggie took out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Hina. "And now, I just want to take a walk in the park with you. At noon, Leah will take you to the hotel where your sisters are staying to celebrate Christmas."
Xina took the handkerchief and pressed it against her eyes to wipe away her tears. She took two breaths out of inertia. When she heard Maggie's words, she looked at him in surprise and suspicion with her eyes still covered with water. "Take a walk? I-I don't quite understand, sir..."
Many confusing thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, but she subconsciously thought that this was a vicious trick of boiling a frog in warm water. False tenderness and respect were the prelude to dragging a girl down physically and mentally.
Xina is habitually cautious about this, because when she was down and out, many people suggested jobs that paid quickly to her. Those people would speak to her in a tone that seemed to be caring for her, saying things like "It's just sitting there drinking with people, there's nothing to worry about", trying their best to get her to take the first step out of the ordinary.
While working part-time, she also met men who hinted at a relationship with her. Hina's first reaction was disgust, but when she felt overwhelmed by life, she would also think about such proposals. However, in the end, her self-esteem since childhood and her sister's always trusting gaze would bring her thoughts back on track. She wanted to live an upright life and always wanted to be Beretta's role model.
However, this morning, when she calmly accepted Leah's invitation, had she already crossed the line of holding out for so long...
No matter how gentlemanly and handsome Mr. Riddle in front of her was, that was not a legitimate reason for her to feel that giving dignity was acceptable.
Having relationships is normal, but having involuntary, illegal, and immoral relationships are all trampling on and destroying dignity.
Xina felt a soreness in her throat, and the tears she had just suppressed flowed out again. She sobbed softly and wiped them with her handkerchief, looking very embarrassed for a moment.
"Xina, I know why you are crying," Maggie, who was good at reading people's minds, easily saw what Xina was thinking. He did not feel impatient because of the girl's tears. Instead, he admired Xina's final persistence in her self-esteem at this moment. "I admire your strength very much, and I can fully guarantee your worries. I have no intention of developing an improper relationship with you."
Xina looked at Maggie with tearful eyes. Her blue eyes did not waver at all because of Maggie's words. She found it hard to trust the man in front of her who had helped her but also broke into her life.
"Maybe it's because I easily scare people, so few people ask me why my name is 'Maggie'." Maggie avoided Hina's gaze and looked up at the blurry sun behind the mist. "It's the abbreviation of 'Margaret', which is generally a name for women. It wasn't actually my name at first."
The little white snake hatched at almost the same time as Ximena was born. Before Ximena could speak, the Clingretons gave the little white snake a name - Sereno.
"My full name now is Maggie Sereno Riddle. Sereno was my former name," Maggie reached into her pocket again, "and Maggie was the name my closest friend in the past pitifully asked me to change."
A gold pendant was handed to Xina. Xina looked at the man who was in the same strange and deep sorrow as that night, and opened the pendant with curiosity and uneasiness. Inside was a slightly yellowed color photo, which was a bust of a girl. She was smiling sweetly, and the clothes on her upper body were of a very classical and gorgeous style that was almost never seen in daily life.
Xina covered her mouth with the hand holding the handkerchief in surprise, because there was almost a photo of her in it, but she was sure that she had never been to a photo studio to take photos of old-world aristocratic themes.
"She has a name that her parents carefully chose for her and is filled with love. She has a surname that carries honor, and a middle name that is given meaning but is always forgotten." Maggie looked down, observing Sheena's reaction to the photo he had just created with magic from his memory of Ximena's image. "Margaret is her middle name. She stubbornly wanted everyone to remember her middle name, so she begged me to change her name to Maggie."
Margaret means pearl. Pearl is the witness of the love between Mr. and Mrs. Clingretton. Mrs. Clingretton likes pearls. Mr. Clingretton presents his wife with precious pearl ornaments at every stage of his life and always treats his beloved wife as the most precious pearl.
They chose Pearl as their daughter's middle name, which not only showed that their daughter was the fruit of their love, but also did not overshadow her future independent life. When she was a child, Ximena felt very sorry that her parents' love was always ignored after she was born. Others paid more attention to their parents' identities and ignored the praiseworthy feelings between them, just like their middle name is always inconspicuous.
So, Ximena pestered her little white snake and asked him to voluntarily change his name from Sereno to Maggie, so that the memorable pearl could always be seen.
"She knew I couldn't refuse her. We studied together, played together, and grew up together. That kind of intimacy is incomparable to any other relationship." Maggie's lips curled up slightly, and she exuded a genuine gentleness that she had never had before. "And I'm very happy to use her middle name as my name, because it means we are connected forever."
After the little white snake was officially renamed, little Ximena held him in both hands, looked at him seriously with her blue-green eyes, and said sincerely in a thin voice, "Hai-hi-hi-sa (Maggie, this name also means that you are my most precious pearl forever)."
"Love is not enough to describe our relationship," Maggie said, her voice gradually lowering, "but it's a pity that her life, which could have been fulfilling and shining, was cruelly paused at a certain moment."
Maggie accused Aibotu of interfering with Ximena's choices and life. Ximena thought that this lady who lived a happy life had gone to heaven. She stared at the girl in the pendant, not knowing how to react.
Maggie's tone of voice was so low and slow that people were completely immersed in his past and sadness. Xina's own pain was suppressed and her doubts were eliminated, but the sympathy that arose from time to time could not be expressed at all. She inexplicably felt that her own sympathy could not be shown in front of Maggie.
"So, I've always felt sorry for not seeing the possibilities in her unlimited future." Maggie looked at Hina's face and finally understood what he wanted to learn from the girl. "Even if it's just an illusion, I want to see her back as she runs towards the future."
"I will give you a better place to live, give your cousin a decent job, take good care of your sister, and sponsor you to go to the best school. I can also provide any help related to your dream." Maggie stretched out her slender hand in front of Hina, and the pendant wrapped in his past was gently placed in the palm of her hand. He held the pendant and put it back in his pocket. "And all I want is for you to take a walk or have a meal with me, and chat about your recent life."
"If you're worried, you can decide the time and place. If you don't want to be alone with me, you can bring your friends or family." Maggie, who had never had any physical contact with Hina since they met, whether it was handing her a handkerchief or a pendant, said in a low voice, as if he was the weaker party, "I just want to see you once in a while..."
"Sir..." Xina said slowly at first, then she looked at the suppressed sadness in the man's black eyes, just like that night, and murmured, subconsciously correcting the address, "Maggie..."
At first, it was Maggie who politely asked Hina to call him "Maggie", but the courtesy in the obviously unequal relationship was actually an implicit command. Now, because of her own empathy, Hina voluntarily called him "Maggie".
Unfortunately, Xina didn't know that in addition to false tenderness and respect, deliberately showing weakness in order to make the girl invest an emotional value that is difficult to give up is also a prelude to dragging a girl down physically and mentally.
True or false, false or true, at no moment did Maggie relax his control over human nature, and he always knew the best way to achieve his goals.