Diana didn't know how she got to the deck; she only remembered rushing out of the suffocating room.
She ran aimlessly, finally stopping on a secluded deck in the harbor, far from the tourist area.
The humiliation made her tremble all over.
They had been married for three years, so she didn't want to break up with David just because he lost money gambling; after all, everyone makes mistakes.
What she truly couldn't stand was David's behavior after the accident—his utterly irresponsible attitude as a man.
When panicked, they want to beg for mercy from others; when pulled back, they try to get away with intimacy, as if all their mistakes can be wiped clean as long as their bodies are intertwined.
She clearly said she didn't want to, she said no, but David still forced himself on her, completely ignoring her will. In the end, they were caught red-handed by their roommates, and the shame was suffocating.
Before long, David caught up, panting, and saw Diana standing by the railing, trembling.
He stopped in his tracks, hesitant to approach. " Diana, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong! I was blinded by greed and did something wrong, please forgive me this time?"
"You're wrong, not about losing money." Diana had her back to him, gazing only at the endless, surging sea.
David stood frozen in place, his heart tightening.
"You're wrong. You don't care whether I want to or not, you don't care about my feelings." Diana slowly turned around, tears streaming down her cheeks, her eyes empty and sorrowful.
"You only care about yourself and just want to get away with things that way. You didn't consider how humiliated I would be."
"I was just thinking... we're husband and wife, after a fight, we can just coax each other and be affectionate. I didn't mean to pressure you, I really didn't do it on purpose..." David explained urgently.
"It's been three years, David. We've been together for three years, and this is the first time I've felt you're such a stranger, so frightening."
Diana's pent-up frustration erupted at this moment.
"After losing all your money, instead of thinking about how to solve the problem in a down-to-earth way, you only think about asking for help and trying to get by in this way. I told you I was disgusted by this, but you still insisted on doing it."
" Mary just caught us in the act, and I wish I'd never been here at all. David, do you know that feeling?"
"You don't understand at all. All you care about is your pride, your gambling debts, and whether you're having fun."
"I don't want to be with you right now, and I don't want to go back to that room. Can you just leave me alone? Don't bother me." Diana turned her head away, heartbroken.
Seeing her utterly humiliated and heartbroken state, David dared not press her any further. He could only soften his tone and plead softly, "Okay, I won't touch you, I promise I won't touch you again. I'll stay right here with you, okay? I promise I'll never gamble again, and I'll never treat you like this again. You believe me."
Diana didn't respond or look at him again. She simply wrapped her coat tightly around herself, stubbornly leaned against the railing, and gazed at the vast sea, not wanting to say a word.
She hadn't completely given up on the three-year relationship and still held onto a tiny sliver of hope.
But now, a rift has formed between her and the man she once deeply loved, a rift that is difficult to heal.
It was almost time for dinner when we got back to the presidential suite.
At this moment, Hermione was curled up inside, leaning against a soft cushion, with a thick book of ancient poems and songs open on her lap.
She was engrossed in watching, her neat short hair casually tied back, with a few stray strands falling beside her cheeks, gently swaying with her breath.
After standing at the door for a few seconds,
Draco's lips unconsciously curled into a smile. He then went inside, took off his coat and draped it over the back of a chair. Barefoot, like a feline ready to hunt, he tiptoed to the cradle.
Hermione was completely unaware of this.
Her fingers gently traced a line of delicate, vertically written characters on the page, her lips moving silently as if she were reciting something.
Seeing that she was completely absorbed in her book and didn't even notice him standing right in front of her, Draco's smile deepened. Then, he suddenly reached out and swiftly snatched the book from her hands.
"Ah!" Hermione jumped back in surprise, her brown eyes still lingering with a hazy afterglow from being engrossed in the words. " Draco...?"
Hermione, engrossed in her reading, suddenly felt her hand go empty. Startled, she shuddered and instinctively shrank back. She looked up sharply behind her, and upon seeing Draco, the panic in her eyes faded, replaced by a hint of reproach. " Draco..."
She had just been reading a graceful ancient poem, its words tender and its imagery profound, and was completely absorbed in it when she was suddenly interrupted, which inevitably made her feel annoyed.
But when she met Draco's smiling eyes, her tone softened, and she said, "What are you doing... I was just getting to the important part, and you interrupted me completely."
"What wonderful thing could have you so engrossed that you didn't even notice me walk in?" Draco said teasingly.
As he spoke, he casually raised the book high above his head, taking advantage of his height, which far exceeded hers, and gently shook the book in his hand.
"Give it back to me! It's full of beautiful sentences, I don't want you to see it." Hermione puffed out her cheeks and knelt up.
She reached out to reach it, but the cradle was small and her movements were restricted, so she couldn't reach his raised hand no matter what she did.
In the end, all he could do was hold his head high, fuming.
"Oh? Very beautiful?" Draco found her flustered appearance particularly amusing. Instead of retaliating, he casually sat down on the edge of the cradle, bent one long leg, and said lazily.
"I'd like to see what poem could be so captivating that Miss Granger wouldn't even notice her husband's return."
He held the book high, and Hermione caught a glimpse of the lines of love poetry filled with longing, her face instantly turning red.
The wistful excitement she felt while savoring the moment alone now transformed into an unbearable embarrassment under Draco's amused gaze.
She had no interest in arguing with him about the beauty of classical literature's imagery; her mind was preoccupied with only one thought:
That means we can't let him see it!
We absolutely mustn't let him read it aloud!
"Give it back to me! Don't look!" Hermione cried urgently, stretching out her arms and leaning forward in the cradle to reach the book, causing the cradle to shake violently with her movements.
"So nervous? Looks like you really can't stand being seen!" Draco deliberately raised the book a little higher, almost touching the ceiling.
Watching Hermione struggle futilely in the cradle, his eyes filled with a wicked smile, "How about... you read me a sentence? If you do, I'll give the book back to you."
"You!" Hermione was extremely embarrassed.
The cradle was cramped, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach it. In fact, because of her large movements, one button on her collar came undone.
A small section of delicate collarbone was exposed.