Delayed Regrets: He Regretted Only After Her Death-Chapter 165: Addicted to Her Fragrant Softness

Chapter 165: Chapter 165: Addicted to Her Fragrant Softness

Holding Tiana Linden in his arms, Aiden Grant instructed the driver to start the car.

It had been such a long, long time since he last held her like this.

The Tiana he held was fragrant and soft.

The scent that filled the air was one he knew well.

She still liked the scent of gardenia in her shampoo, laundry detergent, shower gel, and perfume.

Her entire body was surrounded by this familiar gardenia fragrance.

He gently kissed her hairline and pressed his cheek against hers.

A line of tears fell down from his pinnacle-like nose and dripped onto Tiana’s pale cheeks.

Those tears were filled with his immense longing for Tiana, along with his pain and regret.

If only he hadn’t done such despicable things, Tiana wouldn’t have had to endure so much hardship, and they wouldn’t have reached a point where they were so completely estranged.

Luckily, in this moment, Tiana was finally back in his embrace.

He greedily clung to the reunion they had now.

His cheek was pressed firmly against hers, unwilling to separate.

Tears of longing flowed unchecked and powerful.

"Tiana, we’re finally together again."

But as he thought about how Hector Chaucer had occupied Tiana day and night during this time.

His jealousy caused the veins on his face and neck to protrude.

His gaze was like steel needles, and his breath carried suppressed bitterness and pain.

Fortunately, from now on, Tiana would belong to him alone forever.

"Tiana, I’ll take you away from this place that causes you so much pain, to a place where there’s snow all year round."

"Isn’t snow your favorite?"

"You’ll surely love it there."

"When we’re there, we’ll live happily together with Daisy."

"We’ll have a brother and sister for Daisy, okay?"

Holding Tiana, he spoke to himself.

As he imagined their beautiful future, the veins at his temple finally receded.

He allowed a faint smile of comfort to appear.

...

The Sovereign.

Catherine Armstrong heard the doorbell outside the villa while she was preparing dinner.

Tonight, she was preparing dinner for the whole family.

Half an hour ago, she had called Tiana and asked her to pick up the two children and come home after finishing, waiting for Hector Chaucer to arrive so they could have dinner.

She also said that from now on, this would be her family home, and the family should always be together and lively.

The doorbell rang as she was cutting pumpkin, which Tiana and the children loved to eat, "Ms. Quinn, could you see who’s at the door?"

Ms. Quinn, who was wiping the glass, stopped and wiped her hands, "Alright! I’m going right away."

In the kitchen, Gabriel Chaucer said, "Could it be Tiana and the kids coming back?"

Catherine Armstrong continued cutting pumpkin, preparing to steam a dish of sticky rice and sweet pumpkin for Tiana and the kids, "Tiana has the passcode, why would it be her."

After a short while, Ms. Quinn rushed into the living room holding the unconscious Laura, shouting loudly, "Something’s wrong, I don’t know who left Laura at the door, why didn’t Miss Linden and Daisy come back with her? This child seems to be unconscious, Chaucer, Ms. Armstrong, come quickly and see what’s going on with Laura!"

Catherine Armstrong immediately put down the knife and chased after the sound.

Gabriel Chaucer, who had already gone outside, quickly carried Laura to the sofa in the living room, patting her face, waiting for a while, but Laura still didn’t wake up.

Tiana’s phone was turned off.

"Hello, the number you have dialed is turned off."

Each repeated notification sound made everyone increasingly uneasy.

They quickly tried calling Leo Sutton.

When Leo Sutton answered the phone, Catherine Armstrong, filled with apprehension and anxiety, said, "Leo, you need to come back right away, I can’t reach Tiana, someone left the unconscious Laura on the lawn outside the villa, and there’s no sign of Tiana and Daisy coming back together. Leo, I have a bad feeling something serious is going to happen."

"Mom, don’t worry, I’ll be right back," Leo Sutton said before hanging up the phone, "For now, try calling Hector Chaucer and ask about the situation."

At that moment, Gabriel Chaucer said reassuringly, "Laura’s awake, Laura’s finally awake, tell grandpa, how did you fall asleep, and how did you end up outside the villa gate?"

Laura looked bewildered.

She seemed to forget what had happened, "Wasn’t I just on Daisy’s dad’s car with her? The principal said Daisy’s dad would take us home. Where’s Daisy?"

Gabriel Chaucer asked, "Which Daisy’s dad?"

Laura said, "It’s the uncle Daisy doesn’t like, the one who always causes trouble. Grandpa, where’s Daisy? She got in the car with me, why can’t I see Daisy now?"

Catherine Armstrong’s face fell, "Something terrible has happened, that man Aiden Grant is trying to hide Tiana and Daisy away, isn’t he?"

Upon hearing this, Laura started crying, "Grandma, did that bad uncle take Daisy away? Will I never see Daisy again?"

Wuwuwu... The little girl couldn’t see Daisy, and she started crying anxiously.

Nearby, sitting in a rocking chair, little Penelope, who had just learned to speak, was also babbling, "Sister, Sister..."

The more Penelope called out, the more Laura’s little mouth pouted.

She hugged Penelope tightly and cried, "Penelope, I lost Daisy, what should I do, wuwuwu, it’s all my fault, I didn’t protect Daisy."

Gabriel Chaucer was on the side calling Hector Chaucer.

Catherine Armstrong saw how guilty Laura felt and quickly hugged the little girl, wiping her tears repeatedly, "Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find Daisy."

The three sisters have been close since childhood.

Even though they’re not biological, they are inseparable.

Catherine was comforting her granddaughter Laura, but when she thought about how Tiana Linden and Daisy might have been taken by Aiden Grant, she couldn’t help but tear up too.

"Tiana’s good days have only just started, and Aiden Grant is such a bastard."

...

The Evergreen Expressway.

A business car was speeding along.

The window suddenly opened.

The wind whooshed in.

Inside the car, Tiana Linden and Daisy remained unconscious.

The beautiful hair ties on Daisy’s braids were removed one by one by Aiden Grant and replaced with the ones he had prepared.

The hair was loose.

He held his daughter’s long hair, strand by strand, and braided it into a beautiful braid again.

Every day, his daughter would go to school with a lovely hairstyle.

Sometimes it was a bun, sometimes twin braids, and sometimes a fishtail braid.

Always different, never the same.

He knew that Hector Chaucer did his daughter’s hair.

Because when classmates complimented Daisy’s hairstyle, Daisy proudly told them that her dad braided it.

And Daisy recognized two dads, one being Hector Chaucer, the other Leo Sutton.

Daisy lived with Tiana and Hector Chaucer every day.

So Daisy’s hairstyle must have been Hector Chaucer’s handiwork.

Hector Chaucer was determined to take away the woman he loved and his adorable daughter, yet such a tough and resolute man could also deftly craft such pretty hairstyles.

Aiden Grant couldn’t accept this.

As Daisy’s biological father, he had never braided her hair.

Every quiet morning, afternoon, and late night, he practiced on a hair model, following braiding tutorials over and over again.

This was his first time braiding his daughter’s hair.

Yet his fingers moved effortlessly.

He did it carefully, afraid of hurting Daisy.

While braiding Daisy’s hair, he muttered to himself:

"Daisy, in the future, Daddy will make it up to you and Mommy, and ensure the rest of your childhood is filled with happiness."

"Daddy will also convince Mommy to give you a little brother and sister, so our family can be complete and lively."

After taking off all the hair ties from Daisy’s hair,

he also removed the safety charms from her wrist, the longevity lock from her neck, her backpack charms, and Tiana Linden’s earrings, necklace, and ring.

Anything that might contain Hector Chaucer’s satellite trackers was removed from the mother and daughter.

Then, he tossed them out of the car’s open window into the strong wind.

He knew that when Tiana, Daisy, and Daniel Linden were kidnapped by Uncle Cameron and Sharon Sullivan, Hector Chaucer was able to find them immediately because of these hidden satellite trackers on Daisy.

Without these satellite trackers, Hector Chaucer would never be able to find their family of three.

After throwing everything out, Aiden Grant checked again.

He even threw out Tiana Linden’s bag and phone.

Once he had discarded everything, he felt relieved and closed the car window.

An hour later, Hector Chaucer followed the locator and arrived at the Evergreen Expressway.

The satellite-tracking drone discovered the discarded hair ties, phone, safety charms, longevity lock, backpack, charms, earrings, and necklace on the side of the highway.

They belonged to Daisy and Tiana Linden.

Hector Chaucer got out of the car and personally picked up these items.

Louis Sutton accompanied him, looking at the difficult-to-retrieve items and worried:

"Hector Chaucer, Aiden Grant knew exactly where the satellite trackers were hidden; he seems determined to hide Tiana and Daisy forever."

"Who knows where he plans to hide the mother and daughter?"

"We need to hurry to the airport; maybe we can intercept them."

Hector Chaucer clasped Daisy and Tiana Linden’s belongings, his face dark, "Aiden Grant won’t go to the airport; he should be taking the sea route."

There’s air traffic control at the airport.

Flight paths can be traced clearly.

But once a ship is at sea, the planned route can be changed at will.

The earth is vast, the ocean wide; where Aiden intends to take Tiana and Daisy, they have no idea.

Trying to trace them would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The two stood in the greenbelt by the freeway.

Cars raced past one by one.

The winds hit relentlessly, like knives cutting into Hector Chaucer.

"Leo Sutton, let’s head to the port now."

As he spoke, he leaped across the grass alongside the guardrail, striding into the car.

Leo Sutton followed him into the car, worried, "Hector, Veridia has several ports; which one should we go to first?"

Hector didn’t respond. He called Gordon Lowell, asking him to dispatch people to intercept at every port.

Gordon’s arrangements were always executed flawlessly.

And his team worked with incredible efficiency, never having failed.

Otherwise, Gordon wouldn’t have been able to escape execution as a death-row inmate, overturn his case, and ascend to become Patriarch Chaucer.

Despite this, Hector still felt uneasy.

He feared that this time, he might lose Tiana and Daisy forever.

They had only just come together.

Last night’s sweetness and intimacy seemed like an unreal dream.

The atmosphere in the car was anxious and stuffy.

The air felt thin.

Leo didn’t know how to comfort Hector, seeing him tightly clenching his fists, his face dark as if under oppressive clouds. Leo chose silence.

After hours of searching.

Hector’s people found nothing at any major docks.

By now, it was already late at night.

On the docks, the sea breeze was gusty, cutting like knives.

Gordon approached Hector, looking quite dejected:

"Patriarch, we found no other clues."

"But Aiden did buy a ship."

"That cruise ship left the port six hours ago."

"Here’s the route applied for that ship."

Hector shredded the route map into pieces.

Because he knew Aiden wouldn’t follow the course he’d applied for.

In the thick darkness, far away on the coastline, were endless waves crashing and rolling.

The surging waves crashed over and over, onto the rocks by the shore, as if into Hector’s chest, making it hard to breathe.

The sea breeze scattered the shredded paper everywhere but couldn’t ease Hector’s furrowed brow.

The only one who might know now was Christopher Grant.

Hector inhaled deeply; the fishy sea breeze filled his chest, making him feel suffocated, "Let’s go to Star River Bay."

Gordon guessed, "Patriarch, are you going to find Christopher? But in the middle of the night, will Christopher see us?"

Hector didn’t answer Gordon.

He turned and left the raging winds and waves crashing at the port.

As he walked, he pulled out his phone, personally calling Christopher repeatedly.

Being out of town, Christopher didn’t answer Hector’s calls promptly.

While Hector hastened to Harmony Villa in Star River Bay.

The doorbell at Harmony Villa sounded repeatedly, yet no one answered.

Looking up, the light was clearly on in the upstairs bedroom.

In a rush to see Christopher, Hector disregarded propriety and directly entered the door’s password.

Once, Hector, Aiden, and Christopher were sworn brothers, exchanging each other’s door codes.

The three brothers freely moved in and out of each other’s homes.

After inputting the lock password, Hector barged in.

Strangely today, not a single servant was in Christopher’s house.

Upstairs, Jane Summers was engaged in an exhilarating and intense affair.

On the bed meant only for Jane and Christopher, the man wasn’t Christopher.

Hearing the doorbell, Jane hurriedly got off the man, dressing while instructing him:

"Not good, someone’s here. Quickly, hide outside on the air conditioner ledge."

Quickly wrapping her clothes on, she fastened her belt while walking out the door.

At this moment, urgent knocking echoed outside.

"Who is it? Acting so impolitely?"

Christopher was away on a business trip today.

Jane had found an excuse to give all the household servants a holiday.

Who else could open their door?

If she found out which insolent servant it was, she’d dismiss them immediately.

The moment the door opened, Jane was startled, "Hector, Hector Chaucer, why you? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Hector didn’t even look at Jane.

Naturally, he missed Jane’s flushed face and the post-coital glow.

He glanced inside, "Where’s Christopher?"

"Christopher went on a business trip."

Hector found Christopher absent, while on Jane’s bedside table sat a box of condoms.

The box was opened.

He withdrew his gaze, "Sorry to bother you."

"Hey!" When Hector turned to leave, Jane leaned into him, "Hector, I’m sick. Christopher is away, can you stay and take me to the hospital?"

If Hector could take her to the hospital, she’d have more time alone with him.

Opportunities like this meant she could make Hector, a man who haunted her dreams, hers.

Even compared to Christopher, Hector excelled in every way.

Not to mention her casual lovers.

If she could spend a night with Hector, Jane was willing to sacrifice five or ten years of her life.

As her soft body touched Hector, he pulled back harshly.

Considering his personality, he’d surely retort incisively.

But at this moment, Hector’s mind was entirely occupied with Tiana and Daisy. He had no time to reprimand the licentious woman.

"Call 911 yourself if you’re sick."

Before the words settled, Hector had already left.

Leaving Jane slumping against the doorframe, stomping in anger: How infuriating!

At that time, Jane’s lover climbed back from the window air conditioner, grabbing her slender waist, "Sis, who was that guy? I’m quite jealous."

Jude Summers caressed the man’s chest, a charming smile on her face, "Forget about him, let’s continue."

...

Outside the villa.

Once outside, the air seemed noticeably fresher to Hector.

Where Jane was, the air always felt murky.

The cool night breeze brushed past, and Hector took a deep breath, yet his chest remained tight.

Without leads on Tiana and Daisy, his heart grew increasingly anxious.

Yet recalling Jane’s response earlier, he sensed something amiss and instructed Gordon beside him, "Assign someone to keep an eye here, watch Jane’s moves."

Gordon was puzzled, "Patriarch, what’s the connection between Miss Linden and Daisy’s situation and Jane?"

Hector: "That woman is very likely unfaithful."

...

In the vast ocean, a giant luxury liner bobbed like a small boat on the water’s surface.

In one of its opulent suites, Tiana awoke groggily from dizziness.

Her eyes met only darkness.

After adjusting to the dim surroundings, she saw moonlight shining through the window.

Outside, she could hear the sound of waves.

Where was this?

She hurried to get up.

A familiar voice suddenly arose beside her, "You’re awake?"