Turning Of the Tide by Diana Sander

Chapter 518

At three o’clock in the morning, in a dimly lit room, the person on the bed tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

After struggling for an hour, it was just hard to drift off. The scene that had happened downstairs invaded her mind

like a virus. It kept playing on a loop. Christina suspected that she was feeling lustful.

“Ah… Sigh, I’m going crazy.” Christina, driven to the edge by her insomnia, sat up. Her legs were bent, and her

hands were propped on her legs as she covered her face.

She turned on all the lights, getting ready to read. Actually, the night is the best time for a puzzle, but she did not

bring the unfinished palace puzzle.

Meanwhile, in the presidential suite, Joseph sat in the living room, holding a document that contained information

that Ethan had looked into two hours ago. He was seriously reading it word by word.

Previously, when Joseph was abroad and collaborating with Christina and investing money, he was curious and

casually looked into the Yamin family, focusing particularly on Christina. However, he did not investigate the reason

behind her unmarried status.

Joseph had always been meticulous. When he met Christina’s eyes in the evening, he could repeatedly detect her

deepest concerns and nervousness in her eyes. Logically speaking, a woman who was so direct at work should not

have such conflicted emotions.

Christina had mentioned that Joseph was committed to a life without marriage. Initially, he did not take her words to

heart. He thought she was just saying it casually to use it as an excuse to reject men. But in the evening, after

repeatedly noticing the sense of hesitation in Christina’s eyes, he had no choice but to delve into it and address the

issue at its core.

Ethan, who was asked to look into the matter, was puzzled. He thought, “Where am I supposed to investigate in the

middle of the night?” He could only ask Pat for help. Meanwhile, Pat, who was far away at Athana, placed his hopes

on Frank.

Pat did the right thing by placing hopes on Frank. Indeed, as it turned out, Frank, who was close to Chris, did know

the reason Christina remained unmarried. However, Frank was not completely certain. If he wanted to be certain,

he had to pull Chris out of bed and ask him.

And Frank had indeed done so. The document that Joseph currently held was the result of Frank waking up Chris

late in the night for a one-on-one interrogation. The accuracy was quite high. The information known by family

members was more accurate and reliable than what circulated as rumors in the outside world.

“As expected, these are the reasons,” Joseph said in a low voice as he looked at the document.

He thought, “All of these aren’t problems. They can be solved. The most challenging part is that Christina has a

slight fear of marriage. She is afraid that the state of marriage may decline.”

Frank was quite free, and he was quite meticulous too. In the end, he asked Ethan to make a note of the reason

behind Christina’s fear of marriage and add it in parentheses, fearing that Joseph might not fully grasp the

situation. Inside the parentheses, it was written that Angie had been giving Christina lessons on the relationship

between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law.

Joseph was left speechless. He thought, “What reason is that?”

Frank kindly gave Joseph a suggestion. At the bottom of the last piece of information, he asked Ethan to write a

message. “Treat her sincerely” was the message.

It was like seeking advice from a pastor at a church.

Meanwhile, in one of the rooms of the Roberts family’s villa in Athana, the temperature was continuously rising,

creating a stark contrast with the outdoor temperature. The highest state of deep communication was when one

forgot everything else.

An hour later, Ava lay in bed in a lethargic manner. Her hands were tired, so much so that she did not even want to

move her hands. Her eyes were unfocused, and both sides of her cheeks were flushed, as if they had been applied

with rouge. She said weakly, “I won’t be able to get up tomorrow.”

Frank sat on the edge of the bed to deal with the aftermath. He was about to go to the bathroom to get water to

help Ava wash her hands. “If you don’t want to get up, don’t get up then,” he said. “You can sleep as long as you

want.”

Upon hearing this, Ava waved. Her eyes were sparkling. Her slightly hoarse voice could be heard in the room. “Will

you sleep in with me then?” she asked.

Frank replied calmly, “Yep.”

While Frank was investigating, Ava was fully engaged throughout, and she had learned about her brother’s

strategies to pursue her beautiful future sister-in-law. She turned and lay prone on the bed, saying, “Frank, do you

think my brother can eliminate the inner fears of my beautiful future sister-in-law?”

Frank brought a basin of water over and helped her wash her slender hands. Then, he wiped them clean with a dry

towel and said calmly, “Yep. He can.”

He thought, “Joseph is such a scheming person. He has many tricks up his sleeve. There is only one outcome for

Christina. She will succumb to him. It’s only a matter of time.”

Frank thought to himself about this. He did not say it out loud.

Ava’s hands were very fair. After exerting effort for so long, the area between her thumb and index finger had

turned red. Frank felt a mild sense of sympathy. He said, “Baby Ava, let me apply some ointment for you.”

Ava lay flat on her back and raised her hand to look at it. She refused, saying, “It’s fine. It’ll disappear in a bit.”

This time, her period came a few days earlier. Her menstrual cycle lasted for six days, which was relatively long.

Adding a three-day recovery period, it amounted to nine days in total. She had to go back a few days before the

start of school. She could not let Frank suffocate to death.

“Such benefits still have to be given occasionally,” she thought. “Otherwise, it would be so pitiful.”

Frank picked up the basin and walked toward the bathroom. “Baby Ava, go ahead and sleep first,” he said. “I’m

going to take a shower.”

“Let me go to the toilet first,” Ava said. “It seems like there may have been a leak.” Ava quickly got up. Just as she

turned over, she stretched out too much while lying down. It seemed like there might have been an overflow.

Frank smiled and said, “I told you to slow down. Do you need me to help you get your close-fitting pants?”

“I’ll go check if it got dirty first,” Ava said. “You can get it for me later.” With that, she was already off to the

bathroom, wearing her slippers. She did not even close the door.

As expected, it was a little dirty. Ava, thinking that Frank was by the bed, called out loudly, “Frank, help me get a

blue one.”

“Is it the blue one?” asked Frank, who was waiting at the door.

Ava, who was in the bathroom, said with certainty, “Yes. The blue one. It’s already early in the morning. The lucky

color for today’s horoscope is blue.”

Ava had many pairs of underwear, each in a different color. She believed in horoscopes. She would match her

underwear according to the daily prediction and instructions for her horoscope.

The white underwear was thrown into the trash can. Ava mostly discarded the ones stained with blood. This was

relatively wasteful. The main reason was that bloodstains on pure cotton underwear were difficult to clean.

Ava took the underwear that Frank handed to her and said, “I’ll wash it and come out of the bathroom. Wait for

me… Wait – for me for ten minutes.”

“There’s no hurry,” Frank said. “Take your time.” Frank stepped out of the bathroom and helped close the door.

Eleven minutes later, Ava came out of the bathroom, walking carefully. As she stepped out of the bathroom, she

noticed that Frank was sending a message. “Frank, are you messaging my brother?” she asked.

“No,” Frank said. “I’m messaging Grace, asking her to buy you a white one tomorrow.” Frank put away his phone

and tossed it onto the bed.

“Oh,” Ava said. “It’s okay. How about I go shopping with my mom and Grace tomorrow, and you can go have fun

with your father and the others?”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Frank said. “Go to bed now. It’s already half

“Okay,” Ava replied.

past

four.”

The next morning, the person who had insomnia the previous night did not wake up early and was still sleeping

soundly in bed. As for Benjamin, who had made a mistake last night, he was in a worse state. He was still sweeping

the steps, hunched over with a thick coat, looking just like a snow sweeper.

His back looked a little lonely and pitiful.

Ethan felt a bit of sympathy for this young man, so he said, “The hotel warehouse has snow-melting agents and

salt. Use your brain.”

When Benjamin heard this, he immediately stopped sweeping the snow. He thought, “Jeez, what kind of people are

these people?” Then, he said, “Fuck you. There’s this stuff, but why didn’t you tell me last night? I was like a street

sweeper all night.”

Ethan said, “Are you brainless? We use those things to melt snow every year.”

8

Benjamin was left speechless in response, unable to say anything.

At 12:30 noon, the snow had already stopped falling. A ray of sunlight after the snowfall seeped through the gap in

the curtains and fell onto the snow-white blanket.

The

person in bed stretched out her smooth arms and yawned. She opened her sleepy eyes and raised her hand to

place it on her forehead, tousling her curly hair. “No wonder Stella likes to sleep in,” she said. “Naturally waking up

is indeed more comfortable than being woken up by an alarm clock. One will enjoy it.”

She straightened the blanket, sat up, and yawned again. She lifted the blanket and placed her feet on the floor,

searching for her slippers. Christina had a quirk. She could not find her slippers when she woke up in the morning,

forgetting which side of the bed she left them on before going to sleep.

She tied her hair up haphazardly, walked into the bathroom, and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She noticed

that her face appeared somewhat fatigued after staying up all night. She turned on the tap and started freshening

up, applying various skincare products from bottles and jars.

Once women reached the age of twenty-five, they would gradually start aging. Staying up late was indeed a

catalyst for aging.

Thirty minutes later, after washing up and putting on light makeup, the person in the mirror looked alluring and

captivating with delicate features. Christina felt that she was not old. She still looked quite young. It was just that

she was somewhat

more mature.

However, Joseph was not young. He was almost thirty years old. At least she was a little younger, not yet at the age

of thirty.

She was wearing an off-shoulder sweater, a long fishtail skirt, and a white down jacket. After packing up, she

wondered if Joseph had woken up.

What Christina did not realize was that the number of times she thought about Joseph was continually increasing,

but she was completely unaware.

Opening the curtains revealed a vast expanse of white below, extending to the roof as well. The white color

provided a sense of comfort but also conveyed coldness. She took a closer look down below.

This made Christina unable to resist opening the window and stuck her head out to look. She discovered that it was

the familiar and friendly driver who was sprinkling something on the steps, while one of the employees nearby was

explaining something to him.

The floor was too high, and she could not hear what they were saying.

Christina had a guess in her heart. She just wanted to go downstairs and verify her guess,

The people downstairs were still chatting enthusiastically. Ethan was supervising and directing. It could be said that

he was not helping at all. It was as if Joseph had sent him to supervise the work. He was very dedicated. “This way,

and this way,” he said. “If you want to rework, just underwork.”

Benjamin was furious. He said, “Couldn’t you help me last night? Mr. Turner is really too much. I merely interrupted

his –kiss. Is there a need to punish me like this? Can’t he just kiss Ms. Yamin again? Ms. Yamin looks pretty easy to

get along with.

She’s not a petty person who won’t let people kiss her.”

Ethan glanced at Benjamin expressionlessly and said, “Shut up. Do more work and talk less.”

“I didn’t sleep all night, and now I’m not even allowed to talk,” Benjamin said. “Why don’t you suffocate me to

death?” As he spoke, he swept the snow. After sweeping, he sprinkled snow-melting agents and salt. It could be

considered a double-layer defense.

Ethan and Benjamin did not notice the person behind them at all. “Are you guys talking about me?” Christina asked.

Christina smiled faintly, the corners of her mouth curled up, but this smile was a little meaningful. Ethan instinctively

lowered his head and prepared to leave. “Wait a moment,” Christina said.

Ethan, who had just taken a step forward, was stopped. Christina had been staring at Benjamin, who was about to

knock his head on the steps. “Lift your head for me to see,” she said. “Is your hand healed?”

Benjamin covered one side of his face and struggled. Christina made him abandon the thought of escaping. “Stop

covering it,” she said. “I’ve already seen it. Take it down. It’s quite tiring.”

“Haha, Mrs. Turner, what a coincidence,” Benjamin said as he smiled, trying to please her. He looked a bit silly.

Addressing Christina as “Mrs. Turner” was inadvertently giving oneself away. Ethan was already silently cursing this

fool. He thought, “Ms. Yamin, being such a smart person, must have guessed the reason immediately.”

Ethan muttered inwardly, “Oh no. When we face punishment shortly, I’ll definitely not be able to escape it.”