For a full two hours, Lena Sterling narrated with her head slightly bowed.
Adrian Vale finally understood the entire backstory. No wonder this girl hadn't given him a pleasant look from the start.
Looking at Lena, whose eyes were moist beside him, Adrian felt a pang of heartache and unconsciously pulled her into his embrace.
"I'm sorry, it's my fault!"
As Adrian finished speaking, he clearly felt Lena tremble in his arms. She then turned around, straddled him, hugged him, and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing.
At this, Adrian also started to panic a little.
In Adrian's perception, Lena had always been an unemotional, ice-like woman.
Yet, at this moment, this woman was crying in his arms, releasing eleven years of pent-up grievances all at once.
Was he ready to accept her? And what about Adeline Hart?
For a moment, Adrian felt at a loss, unsure of what to do. Even his exceptionally high intelligence and highly developed brain couldn't offer him any help at this moment.
However, Adrian asked himself, could he bear to see either of them with another man in the future?
No, absolutely not. There was no need to even consider it.
What's there to be afraid of? Only elementary school students make choices. As a transmigrator, what if I want both?
Soon, Adrian stopped agonizing. He wasn't an ordinary person, so what was there to worry about or consider?
Lena was still crying in his arms. Having figured things out, Adrian extended his hands, wrapped them around Lena's back, and hugged her.
Several minutes later, Lena's sobs gradually subsided.
Ten minutes later, Adrian found that Lena had actually fallen asleep in his arms. She must have been exhausted from crying!
Feeling Lena in his arms, Adrian again felt a pang of heartache.
He gently loosened Lena's hands, tenderly picked her up in a bridal carry, brought her into the bedroom, and then gently placed Lena on the bed.
Looking at her beautiful face, stained with tears, Adrian gently wiped away her tears.
However, just as Adrian was about to leave the bedroom, Lena's voice came from behind him.
"Don't go, don't leave me!"
Adrian paused, turned his head, and found that Lena wasn't awake. It must have been just a dream, right?
Looking at the now endearing Lena, Adrian turned around and came back to the bed, sitting directly on the floor, resting his head on the edge of the bed, just watching her.
He couldn't help but smile.
This girl was clearly not lacking in emotions; rather, her emotions were too rich, and she usually suppressed herself too much.
"Don't worry, I won't let you cry anymore in the future."
Adrian said softly and gently by the bedside.
Three hours later, Lena woke up. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Adrian sitting on the floor, his head resting near her pillow, fast asleep.
Lena was a little dazed, but soon remembered something and then smiled.
At this moment, the smile Lena had once shown on the bridge reappeared. Unfortunately, Adrian was asleep and couldn't temporarily see this smile he had always wanted to see again.
Lena gently caressed Adrian's head, just like she used to when they were children.
But before Lena could reminisce about her childhood for long, she found that Adrian had already opened his eyes, startling her into immediately retracting her hand.
"Don't stop, wife, it feels quite comfortable!"
Lena, who had pulled back her hand, heard Adrian utter such an opening line. She widened her beautiful eyes and stared at Adrian, her face filled with disbelief.
Seeing Lena's stunned face, Adrian smiled.
"Anyway, I've been calling you that for four years straight, so it's not really sudden, is it?"
"But you forgot!"
"It doesn't matter, as long as you remember!"
"No, you can't call me that in the military!"
"What does it matter? It's not during a mission. Who cares what I call you in private!"
"You..."
Adrian's demeanor made Lena feel a bit flustered.
However, Adrian didn't care at all. He raised his hand and checked the time.
"It's already dinner time, wife. Want to go to the mess hall together?"
Looking at Lena, who was still a bit flustered on the bed, Adrian stood up directly, then once again picked up Lena in a bridal carry.
"Ah! Put me down."
"Wife, say 'husband' for me?"
"Who wants to say it!"
"Then I'll just carry you to the mess hall like this!"
With that, Adrian walked out the door, carrying Lena.
"Hu... Husband, hurry up and put me down."
"That's a good girl. Let's go, it's time to eat!"
After Adrian put Lena down, he held her small hand and walked out. Lena tried to break free several times but found she couldn't, so she just let Adrian hold her hand, her face flushed.
The officers' mess hall was in the same building as Adrian's office. When Lena walked into the mess hall with Adrian holding her hand, she even heard someone drop their cutlery, which made her face even redder.
There weren't many people eating in the mess hall, perhaps only about ten. At first, they didn't think much of seeing Adrian and Lena walk in together, but the next moment, when they saw their hands clasped together, everyone froze as if under a spell.
This was huge news! Although the Federation Fleet didn't oppose romantic relationships—after all, necessary diversions were needed during long space voyages—they never prohibited dating.
But these two were prominent figures: one was the Federation's youngest colonel and fleet commander, and the other was the Fourth Fleet's most beautiful woman, and the daughter of the God of War, Admiral Marcus Sterling.
These two getting together was super big news.
After choosing a table and sitting down side by side, a waiter came over. Although it was an officers' mess hall, there wasn't really a menu to order from; it was simply Set Meal A, Set Meal B, and Set Meal C.
After they ordered, Lena looked at Adrian with a flushed face; her hand was still clasped in his.
"You can let go now, can't you!"
"No rush, let's wait until the food comes. Your little hand feels quite comfortable to hold!"
Lena was a bit speechless. The Adrian of her childhood, though he shamelessly called her 'wife' all day, wasn't this much of a rogue, was he?
Over the years, without her by his side, he had really gone astray.
Soon, the waiter came over with two set meals. Lena had ordered the vegetarian medley, while Adrian had ordered the curry chicken block meal.
Looking at Lena's meal tray, which contained no meat, Adrian frowned.
"Why don't you have any meat dishes?"
"I got used to it when I was little!"
Yes, she got used to it when she was little. Adrian had forgotten that he had heard Lena mention this when she was talking about her childhood.
The nanny Marcus Sterling hired had always embezzled the money Marcus Sterling gave her, using only a small portion to buy vegetables and cook for Lena. So, for several years, Lena had barely eaten any meat. And because she was strong-willed, she never told her father about it, so Marcus Sterling never knew.
Fortunately, in this era, there were nutrient solutions. Besides meals, drinking nutrient solutions every day could still supplement the body with various necessary elements. This was why the nanny dared to be so bold as to only give Lena vegetables; after all, with daily nutrient solution supplements, even without meat, there wouldn't be too much of a problem.
Thinking of this, Adrian felt another pang of heartache. This girl had truly suffered too much. He then picked up a piece of chicken.
"Open your mouth!"
Lena was startled. Looking at the chicken brought to her mouth, she unconsciously opened it.
"Is it good?"
Lena nodded gently, her eyes a little red.
In that instant, Lena felt a warmth she hadn't experienced in over a decade. She chewed this piece of chicken for a full minute before swallowing it.
However, what the two of them didn't know was that this scene was captured and uploaded to the Fourth Fleet's public forum.
Even more unexpectedly for the two of them, Admiral Marcus Sterling, at this very moment, happened to be browsing the public forum in his office.