Still You Still Me Still Falling novel Chapter 119

"Taking care of you is just what I do," Cecil replied effortlessly, barely touching his own food. "Just eat."

Watching her enjoy the meal filled him with a deep sense of contentment.

He hadn't exactly had a happy childhood.

His mother despised him because of his father, only keeping him around out of sheer legal obligation so she wouldn't be accused of abandonment.

It wasn't until he became neighbors with Sheila that things changed. He had watched her grow from a tiny infant into a babbling, adorable little toddler.

For over a decade, that bright little girl had been his only source of warmth.

But once he was dragged back into the Rhodes family, simply surviving had consumed every ounce of his energy. He hadn't had the luxury of seeking her out.

More than anything, he had been terrified that the vipers in his family would figure out she was his only weakness.

When it came to crushing his own relatives, he wouldn't blink.

But he would rather die than see her get hurt.

So, no matter how brutal his life in the Rhodes family became, he never once tried to insert himself back into her life.

Even now, there were still factions within the family plotting against him.

He had merely forced those voices into submission.

His inner circle wasn't completely secure yet.

And he absolutely refused to give anyone an opening to use her against him.

His devotion to her stemmed from genuine, deep-rooted affection.

But more than that, she was the only piece of pure, untainted goodness left in his world.

He would never let anyone defile that.

Especially not Edmond Halley.

There wasn't a man alive who was good enough for his Sheila.

"Why are you zoning out?" She waved a hand in front of his face. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just thinking about when we were kids." He dropped another piece of lobster into her bowl. "Whenever we got shrimp for the holidays, I used to eat the heads and give you all the meat."

She smiled, looking a bit sheepish. "Back then, you told me you actually liked eating the heads, and I believed you."

She had been too young to understand how the world worked.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify