Chapter 509: Chapter 509: The Man from Last Night
This is probably the longest sentence Ian Vaughn has ever spoken to Brooke Ryan throughout all these years.
But barely had Brooke Ryan started to feel happy when, upon realizing the meaning behind Ian’s words, she seemed as if struck by lightning, frozen in place.
The entire Vaughn Family could be hers... What does that mean?
Could it be that Ian intends to marry that woman and make her the new mistress of the Vaughn Family?!
No, she absolutely won’t allow it!
But Ian couldn’t care less about her thoughts; he was anxious to take Ann Vaughn to the family doctor and didn’t even bother to give Brooke Ryan any further explanation.
After the room door closed, Brooke Ryan collapsed onto the floor.
This time it wasn’t an act, but genuine fear and dread.
After a while, Brooke remembered something and hurriedly picked up her bag from the floor, took out her phone, and dialed a sequence of numbers.
"Hello? Jane, please help me!"
...
The vase of water Brooke Ryan splashed was a lot, combined with Ann Vaughn tripping and not having time to handle it, no matter how comfortable the room temperature, it couldn’t counteract the cold from half-wet clothes, making one feel chilly.
Coincidentally, Ann Vaughn’s current physical condition isn’t great; she relies on herbal tonics every week to nourish her body. Even if she didn’t catch a severe cold, it would still be troubling.
After the family doctor administered fluids to Ann Vaughn and left medication, he departed.
Once the medicine took effect, Ann Vaughn fell asleep again in the temporarily prepared room, unaware of the outside world.
Naturally, she also didn’t know that Ian was ordering people to expedite the room renovation and customize new furniture to the Viridian Palace.
Both Old Mrs. Vaughn and Old Mr. Vaughn like peace and quiet, as does Ian; therefore, besides Brooke Ryan, the daughter of a friend, no guests ever stayed at the Viridian Palace.
Thus, last night when Ann Vaughn slept here, they realized that there wasn’t a suitable room for her to rest, and naturally thought of temporarily placing her in Brooke Ryan’s room.
After that, Ian had people redesign and renovate the best room on the third floor overnight, even new furniture were repeatedly selected by him, costing quite some time.
But had Ian foreseen Brooke Ryan’s rudeness of this degree, merely because Annie slept in her bed, using water to splash her deliberately—
He would’ve surely rejected the Ryan Family’s persistent pleas to send Brooke Ryan to Viridian Palace to accompany Old Mrs. Vaughn back then.
"What happened?" Old Mr. Vaughn hurried over after hearing everything from the steward in Old Mrs. Vaughn’s room, "Where is Annie? Is she alright?"
Ian slightly shook his head, "A bit cold, but she’s just had a drip and taken medicine, so she’s sleeping again."
Although Ann Vaughn had been trying to keep her spirits up earlier, she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, not even caring about the unfamiliar environment.
Old Mr. Vaughn’s tense expression relaxed, and he continued, "Recently, Brooke’s been increasingly unruly."
First, she frequently disappeared suddenly, causing the family to send people to look for her, only to find her having fun in that chaotic place called a bar.
Then, neglecting to care for Old Mrs. Vaughn doesn’t matter, but she didn’t even notice when Brooke tucked away a knife and sleeping pills.
It’s apparent Brooke Ryan’s focus is no longer on taking care of Old Mrs. Vaughn.
"She merely leaned on Mom needing her." Ian’s mouth curved in a sneer, "The Ryan Family sent her here initially with the intent of replacing my sister and Annie."
It was only because his mother was soft-hearted that she didn’t refuse her friend’s persistent pleas and left Brooke Ryan with them.
Because Old Mrs. Vaughn adored her, they treated Brooke Ryan with effort and care; though not treated as a family member, she never faced any hardship in terms of food, clothing, or accommodation.
Because of the luxurious life, when Brooke Ryan went out from Viridian Palace, she was often mistaken by others as the Vaughn family’s young lady.
But everything given to her was never intended for her to deal with the Vaughn Family’s real young miss.
In the room.
Ann Vaughn slept till the afternoon before slowly waking up, stretching lazily and yawning.
This was the first time she felt no discomfort in an unfamiliar place, falling asleep quickly.
The negative sensations from the previous chill faded with this sleep, so Ann Vaughn rubbed her eyes and took the phone beside her.
Having no idea before, now that she looked her only wish was she had never existed in the world, wanting to ascend on the spot.
Over fifty missed calls, thirty unread messages, all from the Archfiend and Kenny.
Why wasn’t her phone making any sounds!!
Ann Vaughn’s calm face suddenly collapsed, she hurriedly sent a message to Kenny assuring him she was safe, then tapped the Archfiend’s number, her heart trembling as she waited for them to answer.
It was just two seconds, and they picked up.
"Hello?" Ann Vaughn softened her voice timidly, confessing first, "Quinn, sorry, I accidentally fell asleep last night..."
The man didn’t wait for her to finish, speaking coldly, "I’m outside."
Then the sound of being on hold came from the phone.
Staring at the hung-up screen, Ann Vaughn pondered the meaning of his words, suddenly having a very bad feeling.
Can’t be?
Cyrus Hawthorne is... outside Viridian Palace?!
Fifteen minutes later.
Outside Viridian Palace, the black Maybach parked under the autumn maple tree was especially eye-catching.
Ann Vaughn gasped for breath as she rushed to the car, opening the door just about to sit inside, her wrist was gripped by a cool hand, pulling her entirely into the car, and then the car door closed.
The faint scent of tobacco mixed with the chilly scent unique to the man spread within the car pressing down on Ann Vaughn, her back forced against the car door, her whole being trapped within his arms.
The space immediately became narrow, giving her the illusion of almost suffocating.
"I can explain!" Seeing the coldness in the man’s eyes grow increasingly more rampant, Ann Vaughn raised her hands hastily, "I accidentally fell asleep at someone’s house last night, wasn’t ignoring calls or messages on purpose, I don’t know why my phone was on silent!"
Cyrus Hawthorne slightly lowered his gaze, taking in Ann Vaughn’s desperate explaining demeanor, yet the anger like a mixture of chill around him didn’t lessen a bit.
"The man from last night, who is he?"
Man?
What man?
Ann Vaughn was utterly dumbfounded for about half a minute before she vaguely guessed who Cyrus Hawthorne might be referring to, "Could it be... it’s Ian Vaughn?"
Perhaps her phone rang excessively last night when Ian returned to the living room and happened to see it, so he helped by picking up and set it to silent to avoid disturbing her rest...
For a moment, Ann Vaughn didn’t know whether to praise Ian’s thoughtfulness or find a noodle to strangle herself with.