Chapter 305: Chapter 305: So Afraid of Me Seeing Him?
"Oh?" Cyrus Hawthorne’s voice lifted at the end, his narrow eyes gazing at her with a trace of amusement, "Are you that afraid of me seeing him?"
Ann Vaughn’s mind went blank, like something had exploded within her; before she could react, she saw him getting out from the other side of the car.
Damn it!
She silently cursed as she reached to grab his coattail, but it was too late.
Sutton Jennings looked calmly at Cyrus stepping out of the car, not at all surprised.
The people protecting Ann Vaughn naturally reported all her movements to him, including Cyrus’s presence in Marinia.
It’s just that he didn’t expect their relationship... seemed a bit different from before.
As he scrutinized Cyrus, the latter had walked to the other side, opened the car door, and reached out to Ann Vaughn, his narrowed eyes so intense with thoughts unreadable, "Get out."
Ann Vaughn looked at his outstretched hand, conflicted for a moment, before she gave in under his increasingly cold gaze.
Once she got out, Sutton Jennings somehow had already come over, a gentle smile in his peach blossom eyes as he handed her a bouquet of daisies.
"I used to often bring you flowers from the Isle of Flora; since returning home, I got too busy and forgot. I’ll make up for it in the future."
"Ah?" Ann Vaughn was momentarily stunned before understanding Sutton Jennings’s meaning, "There’s no need for that; it’s too troublesome for you."
The flower garden in the villa on the Isle of Flora had been cultivated by Sutton Jennings and took quite some time.
But the balcony at Azure Gardens was already filled with greenery, and adding more flowers would barely fit.
"Anything related to you isn’t trouble." Sutton Jennings’s eyes darkened, ignoring the man standing beside her, his voice deep.
Ann Vaughn’s pupils contracted, as though a realization struck a chord in her mind.
Many things became clearer.
"Let’s go." Cyrus’s expression remained bland, his ink-black eyes too cold for any light, he turned to Ann Vaughn, explaining softly, "Didn’t sleep well last night, need to catch up."
"Didn’t sleep well?" Ann Vaughn was distracted by his words, momentarily forgetting her tangled thoughts, she refuted him immediately, "You slept well last night, how could you not have slept well?"
The person who didn’t sleep well was clearly her!
All because he kissed the scar on her abdomen in the middle of the night, leaving her puzzled throughout, tossing until she slept at dawn.
But what she hadn’t noticed was Sutton Jennings’s handsome face, originally adorned with a subtle smile, changed abruptly upon hearing her words, cautiously glancing toward Cyrus.
In that moment, Sutton saw a slight mockery in Cyrus’s raised eyes, accompanied by blatant arrogance.
"Less talk; be good." Cyrus whispered into Ann Vaughn’s ear and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, forcibly leading her away.
Watching their departing figures, Sutton Jennings lowered his peach blossom eyes and let out a cool smile.
Heh.
This man truly was annoying.
Once inside the elevator, Ann Vaughn struggled to escape Cyrus’s embrace, glaring fiercely with her bright eyes, "Can you not be so tyrannical?"
"Why? Prefer his gentle care?" Cyrus’s lips curled slightly, his gaze devoid of warmth was cold, approaching step by step, "Or, do you just like him?"
Ann Vaughn was pressured to retreat continuously until her back hit the wall with no escape.
He was now akin to a caged beast, brimming with danger, enveloping her overwhelming.
"When did I ever say..." Ann Vaughn intended to refute him but suddenly recalled the argument where she impulsively claimed to like Sutton Jennings.
She choked on her words, unsure what to say.
Wasn’t this hitting herself in the foot with a stone?
Seeing Ann Vaughn suddenly silent, Cyrus’s eyes flickered with self-mockery as anger threatened to erupt from his chest uncontrollably.
But—
"How could I possibly like someone as domineering and never considering others’ feelings, treating me like a puppet!"
That day, Ann Vaughn’s angry accusation still echoed.
In her eyes, he was no longer as gentle as Sutton Jennings; if she felt anything more, she might escape even further...
Cyrus slightly closed his eyes, and upon reopening them, clarity replaced the immense fury from before.
"Ding—"
The elevator arrived at the seventeenth floor at this moment.
Ann Vaughn realized her hand was held, looking up to see Cyrus’s face, once shadowed with gloom, now appeared as if nothing had transpired.
"When do you plan to go back?" Cyrus held her hand as they exited the elevator, asking softly.
"Sherry booked me a flight for tomorrow morning; I’m leaving then." Ann Vaughn couldn’t fathom his thoughts, so she answered honestly.
The medication for Old Mrs. Sheridan’s eyes, she had taught Uncle Vance how to administer, leaving behind both prescription and extracted medicine, ensuring recovery if cared well.
However, given the affairs at the Hawthorne Corp.’s branch, Cyrus might stay a few more days.
"Hmm." Cyrus nodded slightly, saying no more before checking the time on his watch, "I have to go back to the company; I’ll pick you up for dinner before returning, be good and don’t wander off."
"I’m not a kid." Ann Vaughn muttered hearing his tone reminiscently of giving instructions to a child.
Cyrus’s gaze held a mischievous smile, "Not a kid, yet wearing a baby bib outside?"
Baby bib?
After Cyrus left the room, Ann Vaughn didn’t grasp what he meant.
Until she saw the baby bib that Kenny had used at one year old, accidentally taken along with her coat, her whole body froze.
She...she truly wasn’t such a person!!
In the evening, Cyrus indeed returned on time, personally driving Ann Vaughn to a renowned restaurant in Marinia for dinner.
Following dinner, Ann Vaughn originally intended to urge Cyrus back to the office, seeing his phone ring countless times, yet he simply ignored each call.
But Cyrus seemed intent on bringing her elsewhere; since he didn’t say, she didn’t ask.
"The shop owner is from the Isle of Flora; I think you’ll like it." After leaving the car, Cyrus casually mentioned to Ann Vaughn.
"From the Isle of Flora?" Ann Vaughn’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise, looking at the storefront with obvious tropical style, feeling nostalgic.
She hadn’t realized how long it had been since she left the Isle of Flora.
"So, you lived on the Isle of Flora during those four years?" Cyrus held her soft hand, walking through a floral archway, glancing at her and asking.
Detecting the probing in his words, Ann Vaughn felt a pang in her gut, responding ambiguously on purpose, "Lived for a while, but mainly stayed in M Country."
"Why?"
Ann Vaughn didn’t reply; she didn’t want to touch that period in M Country. If not for recovering, she wouldn’t have stayed.
If she hadn’t stayed there, she wouldn’t have met that madman.