James was clearly thrown off by her remark. "Why?"

Having grown up abroad, he had no understanding of how weighty Mark Twain was in the realm of literature.

Chloe had always admired Mark Twain, but she was careful not to read too much of his work. It would bring back memories of her home country from that time, leaving her feeling stifled and uncomfortable. "Because when you're sick, you should read something stirring and passionate. Once you're better, I won't stop you from reading whatever you want." James raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you want me to read?"

Chloe sat down beside him, scrolling through her phone. After a moment, she opened a book and handed it to him. "This!"

James glanced at her phone screen and immediately felt a wave of speechlessness.

"The Thousand and One Nights?"

If he wasn't mistaken, that was a children's book.

"Yeah! Don't you think the stories in The Thousand and One Nights are really inspiring?"

She thought this might be just the thing to lift James' spirits right now.

James felt like laughing but instead leaned back against the bed and listened as she began to read the stories.

Chloe's pronunciation was impeccable, and her reading was crystal clear. However, after listening to a couple of stories, James spoke up, "Why don't you try reading in Alewish?"

He remembered Chloe mentioning Alewish once.

It was during their first meeting when she and her friends had gotten into his Jeep. She had used perfectly fluent Alewish to tell him that judging people based on gender was unreliable. Though it had been an insult directed at him, he felt it had sounded quite pleasant.

Chloe's Alewish was just average. After graduating from college and marrying Michael, she learned the language of another region for his sake.

However, Michael's Aikopnish proficiency barely passed the grade.

Chloe had studied foreign languages so hard for such a long time, but she hadn't had any chance to use them at all.

Chloe cleared her throat. "If my pronunciation isn't perfect, just bear with it."

The rest of the stories she read in Alewish flowed smoothly, far from the imperfect version she had claimed.

James even thought she could easily become a broadcaster in Alewell.

Chloe read several stories in a row, her mouth dry by the end, yet James was still wide awake, eyes fixed on her. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

The way he looked so alert made her feel like she was the one being wheeled into the operating room in the morning. "I can't sleep."

Chloe was at a loss for words.

Just then, a knock came at the door. They both turned to see Maggie standing outside, looking particularly uneasy. "James... Can I come in?"

Chloe was quite surprised. She hadn't expected Maggie to suddenly show up in Mamaica, let alone at James' hospital. Sensing the need to give them some space, Chloe stood up, intending to leave.

But James grabbed her wrist, leaving Chloe in an awkward position. She glared at James, thinking he was doing this on purpose. With no other choice, she moved to the other side, watching as Maggie took the spot she had just vacated.

"James, are you in pain?"

Chloe listened to this, thinking how fitting it was for Maggie's personality. As she spoke, Maggie's eyes were already welling up.

From where Chloe was sitting, the light cast shadows on half of Maggie's face, and her tears sparkled like crystals.

James, however, remained calm, or at least that was the polite way to describe it.

His gaze fell on Chloe's phone, which she had left behind. Picking it up, he continued reading The Thousand and One Nights.

"James, please don't ignore me. I just wanted to talk to you, to keep you company before your surgery."

James glanced at her. "Where's your husband?"

Maggie flinched at his words, feeling a twinge of pain in her heart.Property © 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.

"I got divorced."