Feeling quite confused, Florence asked, “Dad, what’s Stanford busy with?”
Alexander’s hand holding the chopsticks paused, a trace of embarrassment flashing through his eyes.
Pressing his lips, he looked hesitantly. He didn’t answer.
Victoria cast him a glance and answered with a smile, “He’s busy with his business. Although we are isolated from the outworld, we still operate on a lot of businesses in secret. If there’s any bigger issue, your brother needs to take care of it by himself.”
As she spoke, Victoria picked up a piece of eggplant and put it in Florence’s bowl.
“All right, Flory, those things should be left for the men to worry. As women, we should be worry-free. Good girl, go ahead with your breakfast.”
Since Victoria said so, Florence couldn’t insist on questioning.
However, for some reason, she felt quite uneasy.
In the following three days, Ernest didn’t show up in Florence’s room at all.
He was super busy every day. He would only reply to her after receiving her messages for a long while. All his replies were quite short. He had never told her what he was busying with exactly.
Florence held the phone all day long. She couldn’t go out of the villa. She felt more and more wronged.
Tammy brought her a glass of milk in her room, only to find that Florence was sitting in front of the window in a daze. She gazed at the darkness outside it without a blink.
“Little Miss,” Tammy called her gently.
She walked to Florence. “It’s already ten. I don’t think Mr. Hawkins would come here tonight. You should go to bed now. Please don’t sit here. The wind is so strong.”
Florence sat stiffly, shaking her head weakly.
“I felt a bit hot, so I want to be cooled down by the wind. Tammy, you can go to bed now.”
She didn’t have any other things to do now. She could only sit by the window, persistently expecting Ernest who would probably appear.
Since it was this late, basically he would never show up again tonight.
Tammy heaved a sigh. She stared at Florence with complicated feelings in her eyes for a long while.
After hesitating for a while, she whispered, “Little Miss, do you think if Mr. Hawkins had given up?”
Florence was taken aback.
Tammy added, “As far as I know, Mr. Hawkins is one of the Turner family, which has more complicated relationships and interests. Although they always appoint one successor, all of them are quite ambitious. Their internal competition is quite fierce.
“Mr. Hawkins has just gone back to the family, so he has snatched the successor’s qualification from Benjamin Turner directly. Mr. Hawkins must have encountered a lot of difficulties in the Turner family.
“Now, because of his relationship with you, he can’t be accepted by the Fraser family. The Turner family must have put a lot of pressure on him. I can’t imagine how many burdens are on Mr. Hawkins’ shoulders now.”
Florence was shocked. She had known that Ernest was in a lot of difficulties, but she had never expected that he would be besieged on all sides.
She dared not to imagine how he had gone through the past few months.
How many difficulties was he facing now?
Tammy carefully studied Florence’s expression that was slightly changed. She thought that her words might have convinced Florence.
Then she continued, “In such a pressure, anyone would choose to give up, which is reasonable. Moreover…”
After a hesitation, Tammy said, “Most men abandon the old for the new. They are fond of the novelty. Mr. Hawkins has been after you all the time probably it’s just because of his persistence. For a superior man like him, he wouldn’t be reluctant if he hasn’t gained your heart yet.
“However, after he has achieved his goal, his persistence would naturally be gone.”
Without his persistence and under such pressure, it was quite natural for him to give up.
Florence shook slightly. For some reason, she found it difficult to breathe as if something was stressing her heart.
With a slightly pale face, she stubbornly shook her head.
“No way. Ernest isn’t that kind of man.”
“I do hope Mr. Hawkins isn’t that kind of man as well. However, judging from his attitude these days… Little Miss, please think about my words reasonably and get well-prepared mentally.”
Tammy heaved a sigh in a low voice. Her words were full of care for Florence from the bottom of her heart.
Florence pressed her lips tightly, feeling more flustered.
She didn’t believe that Ernest would be that kind of man. She believed that his love for her wouldn’t be so fragile.
However, since that night, Ernest gradually decreased his contact with her. He even seemed quite cold and didn’t come to her room anymore…
No matter how confident she was, Florence still felt uneasy and panicked. She wondered what was in Ernest’s mind.
Florence felt more depressed, sitting by the window until eleven o’clock.
“Ding-dong.”
She heard the message tone for the new message.
Florence pulled out her phone and saw a message from Ernest: “Go to bed early. Good night, Florence.”
So he just sent her a message suddenly, asking her to go to bed.
In the past few days, he always sent messages to greet her in the morning and at night on time. During other times, he would only send her quite short messages.
The “goodnight” that made her extremely happy now upset Florence a lot.
After sending her a “goodnight” and asking her to go to be, he would keep silent for a whole night without contacting her again.
She even had no idea what on earth he was doing.
Earlier, Florence could understand him and didn’t want to interrupt him. After receiving his “goodnight”, she would also reply to him “goodnight” and go to bed obediently.
Tonight, however, she felt so uneasy and annoyed.
She tabbed at her cell phone and sent him a message: “I can’t sleep.”
Right after the message was sent, she heard the ringing tone. It was a call from Ernest.
Looking at the incoming call, Florence felt delighted, her eyes lit up.
He was calling her, which was the first phone call from him in the past three days.
Florence immediately swiped to answer. Suppressing the joy in her voice, she asked calmly, “Why are you calling me?”
“Why can’t you sleep?”
Ernest’s voice was pretty low, sounding a bit hoarse.
Since he didn’t raise his voice, Florence didn’t notice it. She said like complaining, “I just don’t feel sleepy. Why do you have time to call me now? Aren’t you busy?”
“I’m still busy.”
His voice made Florence felt as if a basin of cold water was poured above her head, ruining the joy in her heart.
She was quite down. Ernest continued, “I can take a break. Let’s chat for a while. OK?”
Florence muffled, “You don’t have to make time purposely for me.”
“You are more important,” Ernest whispered, with a trace of doting amusement in his voice.
In an instant, the depression in Florence’s heart vanished a lot because of his words.
However, she suddenly felt aggrieved.
With a low voice, she said in a coquettish tone that she didn’t notice, “You are so good at sweet-talking. Where is my gift? It’s been three days. You haven’t given it to me yet.”
Her complaint sounded like a little girl.
She also was complaining that they hadn’t met for three days.
After a moment of silence, Ernest said jokingly with a smile, “I see, so it turns out that you miss the gift. You haven’t missed me, have you? In your heart, I’m even less than a gift.”
“I didn’t mean it,” Florence immediately retorted.
She just used the gift as an excuse. The most important was that she wanted to see him.
However, she was still angry, so she couldn’t tell him directly about the reason.
“Then, what did you mean?” Ernest continued to ask instead of letting go of her so easily.
Florence wanted to bite her tongue. If she had known that Ernest would insist on asking her, she wouldn’t have mentioned the gift.
She was wondering how she could answer.
Should she tell him that she missed him?
Florence felt so awkward, blushing deeply.
Ernest chuckled. He teased her again, “Why? Sure enough, the gift is more important, isn’t it?”
His plaintive tone sounded as if she had indeed harmed him.
Florence heard it and her heart was softened. She immediately forgot about her anger and reserve. To answer him, she whispered shyly, “It’s not true. I just want to see…” She wanted to say that she just wanted to see him.
“I’m sorry, Florence,” Ernest suddenly interrupted her words. He said seriously, “I have to go back to my work. Go to bed. Good night.”
Florence was taken aback. With the unfinished words at the tip of her tongue, she felt a bit bitter.