Our Love Buried in Early Winter

Wilhemina knelt down and inserted the silver needle into the acupuncture point on the old woman's knee.

"Seven more times, your legs will be better and you'll be able to walk."

"And, I'll leave as soon as your legs are healed, Grandma."

The old woman asked her, her eyes were teary and her face was gloomy, "Are you really not going to wait for Leon?"

She shook her head and smiled. "I've waited enough."

Leon Pieterson pushed the door open and stepped in.

"Tessa will be back from Grenada tomorrow." He paused and looked at Wilhelmina. "She's been recuperating and studying medicine for three years to help our family. You move to the guest room!"

Wilhelmina's fingertips trembled and the silver needle almost missed the acupoint.

She lowered her head and tidy up the medicine box as he walked away.

Then, she heard the servants gossiping outside. "You heard it? Ms. Holsteyn is probably coming back this time to marry Mr. Leon, right?"

"I heard, Mr. Leon was sent and raised at an educational institution for three years when he was a child and that's when Ms. Holsteyn met him."

"Yeah, a few years ago, the Pietersons had a quite serious internal conflict and Ms. Sophie sent Mr. Leon to the educational institution to avoid more serious problems, while the one who managed the educational institution is the Holsteyns."

"No wonder Ms. Holsteyn went to Grenada to recuperate and study medicine as soon as she came of age. She's fulfilling the Pietersons' wish."

The old woman, Sophie Pieterson, suddenly grabbed her hand and said, "Wilhelm, you're the only daughter-in-law of the Pietersons I recognize."

Wilhelmina said nothing. She had been with Leon for three years and always chasing after him.

But too bad, the only thing on his mind was Tessa Holsteyn, his first love who had gone away to recuperate and study medicine.

In his eyes, Wilhelmina was just a useful tool.

Every time Leon got drunk, she was always the first person whom was anxious to make sobering soup for him and give him acupuncture to relieve his headache.

But he always called Tessa's name when he got drunk.

And every time he injured his stomach from drinking at social gatherings, she was also the one whom delivered a health-preserving soup to his company.

But what she heard from him was that the soup wasn't as delicious as Tessa's.

Too harsh, too heartless, Wilhelmina still felt a stabbing pain in her heart every time she thought about them.

Until she quickly shook her head and locked all the memories into the deepest part of her mind, trying not to drown in heartache.

It was already late at night when she returned to the bedroom.

Normally, at this time, she should be in the kitchen, heating up sobering soup and midnight snacks for Leon who came back from overtime work and social events.

But now, she didn't want to do it anymore.

She just wanted to have a good night's rest and have nothing to think about.

So, when Leon pushed open the door, no soup in the insulated cabinet, no midnight snack on the dining table and normally at this hour, Wilhemina would be waiting for him, making a casserole.

He loosened his tie and called out. "Wilhelm?" And no one answered.

Leon stood in front of the closed bedroom door, his knuckles hanging in the air.

He felt inexplicably irritated and before he could knock on the door, it suddenly opened.

Wilhelmina stood in the warm yellow light, holding a cup of water, with the collar of her pajamas slightly open.

"Leon? Do you need something at this late hour?"

His Adam's apple moved and he suddenly realized that his gaze was on her collarbone.

"Tessa will be back from Grenada tomorrow."

He heard his own voice was as cold as ice.

"You'll move to the guest room tonight."

Wilehlmina's fingertips clenched the glass tightly, causing ripples on the water, reflecting her suddenly pale face.

"Okay."

She lowered her head and took a step aside to make way for him in the corridor, her hair hanging down to hide her expression.

Just as the man strode past her, he smelled a hint of bitter medicinal fragrance.

"By the way~"

He suddenly turned back at the end of the corridor to see her thin and frail figure standing still.

"She's been recuperating and studying medicine for three years to help the Pietersons."

"So?" Her voice was too low to hear.

"When she comes back, you can check on her often and take care of her."

In just a few seconds, the glass in her hand fell to the floor when Leon had already turned around and gone downstairs.

Wilhelmina slumped to the floor, her legs and hands bleeding from hitting glass shards without her realizing it.

She was no longer sleepy. She looked around her bedroom and to be honest, she didn't have many things she could packed up.

In these three years, she never took the initiative to ask Leon for anything.

She only had a few hanging plain dresses given to her by Leon's grandmother, Sophia.

Leon had never accompanied her shopping and the luxury paper bags he occasionally brought back always had the name "gift" written on the label.

In the drawer lay a pair of pearl earrings, which he had casually thrown to her the first year they met, saying, "They go with your white dress."

She later found out that Tessa returned the item because she thought the style was old-fashioned.

At the bottom layer were a few yellowed prescriptions, which were the prescriptions for treating his headaches that she had recorded and revised countless times and the edges were already frayed.

She squatted down, gently stroked the handwriting with her fingertips and suddenly smiled.

For the past three years, she had lived like a wandering soul staying in the Pieterson Family.

So then, she put the pearl earrings back in the drawer and took only the stack of prescriptions.

She packed her suitcase and walked to the guest room in the corner of the corridor.