Quinn quickly donned the raincoat and slipped on the rubber boots, then headed to the backyard.She was astonished when she saw the backyard.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    There was an expansive vegetable garden and numerous greenhouses-this ce was actually a farm, surrounded by mountains.


    It suddenly dawned on her why Walter was so confident letting her wander: escape seemed unlikely. With a basket in hand, she walked among the vegetables, finding a variety of pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes... Up in the farm''s loft, Walter stood by the window, his gaze on the figure in the vegetable garden.From this angle, Quinn looked particrly petite in her raincoat.


    She was wobbling with her basket, even clumsily falling several times. That familiar smirk on Walter''s lips altered slightly as he watched her, his eyes following her silhouette but appearing to drift off to a distant ce.


    A simr unsteady figure shed before his eyes, tumbling and bumbling, falling into his arms time and time again. When Quinn turned her head for a moment, her silhouette ovepped with the one in his memory, and Walter''s expression hardened.


    Theughter in his eyes reced by a trace of coldness.Quinn harvested plenty of vegetables and traipsed back through the muddy farmyard.


    Despite the size of this ce, there was no electricity or gas; cooking meant lighting a fire, and water had to be drawn from the well. It truly matched the ''organic'' ambiance.Unfamiliar with the wood-burning stove, she sat on a small stool, puffing into the stove and fumbling with washing and chopping vegetables. By the end of her cooking ordeal, her face was speckled with soot.


    Walter nced at the dishes on the table and then at Quinn.She stood before him gripping her hands tightly, her face smeared, resembling a scrappy, little alley cat. Walter let out augh.


    Quinn dreaded thatugh; she stood there, uneasy, gesturing, "I can give it another try."He shook his head, "No need, sit down, let''s eat."She shook her head vigorously.


    He raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I almost forgot, you''re not fond of eating at the table, are you?"Her heart skipped a beat. Walter gently held a bowl and piled some food into it before freeing an empty te. He rose from his seat, carrying the empty te to the side and set it down on the floor.


    Next, he poured the contents from the bowl onto the te.He then looked up at Quinn with an indulgent smile and said, "Go ahead. Eat."Quinn''s eyes flickered, a twinge of regret washing over her as she nced at a nearby stool before looking back at him with a questioning gaze.


    Walter''s eyes twinkled with amusement as he shook his head, denying her silent request."Come on, eat up. You wouldn''t want me to have to feed you, would you?"


    Quinn tensed, the memory of thest time Walter had forced her face down into a bowl made her shake her head frantically. Then she gestured, "Can I manage myself? Can I have some cutlery?"Walter lifted his chin, giving a subtle nod to her request.


    Quinn quickly ran to grab a pair of cutlery and crouched on the floor, picking up her te. She looked up at him again. The man extended a finger, and Quinn instinctively shrank back, but he didn''t strike her nor push her face into the te.Instead, he gently ruffled her hair and said, "Good girl, stay crouched like that. Don''t stand up."Her fingers tightened around the cutlery, her nose tingling oddly with a sour sensation. She thought of Alexander.A snicker sounded from above.