“Congratulations are in order then,” Wendy said and shrugged. “… seeing as you’re staying in such a nice place,”
“Are you trying to rile me up?” Henson retorted flatly.
“Duh, what else can I say?”
“The fengshui at my place is superb and can help ward off evil spirits, so it should be the best choice for you, right?”
“This’s a shame that you have no intention of putting it up for sale, and that I don’t have the funds to purchase it though,”
A smile gradually formed on his face. “She’s not taking the bait, huh,” he thought.
Alright then, time to bring out the big guns.
“It’s true that I don’t plan to put it up for sale, but what if I told you the price of the house is me?”
“What an interesting proposition, Mr. Charles. I’m sure everyone in San Diego knows that you’re the man with the highest net worth in the city. So, if I can’t even afford to buy your house, what more you?”
“What say I offer you a discount then? As long as you’re willing to buy, I don’t mind making it free for you,”
“Heavens, no. I don’t think I can manage,” she giggled.
“Rest assured, I can manage myself. All you need to do is give my brothers your continued support,” he said.
“I’m the one who bought you so how come I have to give your brothers…” she trailed off and suddenly felt something was off in what he’d just said.
She looked at him and saw that he was trying his best not to laugh.
“Would you look at how shameless Henson Charles is acting now,” she thought to herself and snorted.
“How about it then? I’ll have you know this is an excellent deal no matter how you look at it,”
“Just because it’s cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good deal. I refuse, I refuse, I refuse,” she replied with a pout, feigning anger.
He shook his head in amusement. “This is my first time meeting a woman like you, where nothing I do can get through you. I suppose I have to give that brainless jerk Gorman some props, seeing as he was able to handle such a tough nut like you back then,”
She pouted in reply. If not for the fact that Gorman was a living example, this would’ve come as a heavy blow to her self esteem.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t keep going against this man in the first place.
After all, he was really good to her.
“Just you wait, Wendy. I’m sure you’ll definitely regret not being with me sooner in the future,” he teased with an eyebrow raised.
She laughed in response and didn’t reply.
Perhaps, at least not right now, it was because she couldn’t muster up the courage to accept his feelings yet.
Or that… she wasn’t ready to move to the next phase of their relationship yet.
This time upon returning home, Henson’s mood was a complete 180 from before.
His cold demeanor was gone entirely. “Start preparing dinner. Miss Evans and I will come down for dinner ten minutes later,” he requested Donald the butler.
“Understood, Master Henson,” he obliged.
While the both of them headed up the stairs, Donald thought that the usually calm and collected Master Henson had changed a lot in terms of personality as of late.
During noon the next day, Wendy overheard in the cafeteria that Gorman didn’t come to work again.
Fast forward to afternoon, the new president was sworn into office.
The new president was a nimble-looking middle-aged man. As soon as he took office, he called each of the faculty heads for a meeting and
had left a good impression on everyone afterwards.
After the meeting ended, he personally saw to it that he greeted every professor and their assistants on campus.
Three days later, it was finally Wendy and her office mate’s turn to meet with him.
Right after Linda left the president’s office, Wendy knocked on the door to his office and entered.
She stepped forward and greeted him in a polite manner, “Good afternoon, Mr. President. I’m an assistant teacher for freshmen from the faculty of Industry and Commerce. The name’s Wendy Evans,”
“Wendy, is it? I caught wind of the grudge President Taylor held against you before this, but rest assured it’ll never happen again. Just let me know if there’s anything you need at work, alright? There’s no need to hold back from now on,” he said.
“Thank you for your understanding, Mr. President,” she replied, somewhat flustered.
“I have another personal question, however. Do you mind if I ask?”
“Of course not, sir,”
“Do you and Mr. Charles share some special relationship, if I may ask?” he probed.
“Why’s the president bringing up Henson in front of me?” she thought and frowned.
She looked at the principal with a perplexed look on her face. “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Mr. Burke. What do you mean by that?” she asked back.
“I hope you don’t misunderstand, Wendy, but it appears that Master Henson heard that I’d be posted here, so he requested me to keep a lookout for you. I was just curious, is all,” he explained.
She knitted her brows. Why was he always bringing her trouble?!
“I was a private tutor for Master Howell for a year before this, which is how we’ve developed a good tutor-student relationship then. This is also how I got to meet and know Master Henson so well,” she replied.
“I see. Master Henson also told me that Master Howell is also attending this university, and is coincidentally one of your students. Since that’s the case, what say you invite his brother out so that the three of us can have a meal sometime?” he proposed.
“I appreciate your kindness, Mr. Burke, but unfortunately I’ll have to decline your invitation right away. Howell wishes to conceal his identity and keep a low profile on campus, and he’s also not one to interact with strangers,” she replied with a polite laugh.
For the things she daren’t say herself, she used Howell’s name to convey boldly and confidently.
“He’s that careful?” he asked.
“I’m afraid so,” she said and nodded in reply.
“Then I suppose I should invite Master Henson out for a meal sometime. You can tag along by then too, though I’ll have to forget about inviting Master Howell,” he suggested.
She was taken aback by his proposal for a moment. She hated this idea even more.
It was a good thing that she left Howell out of this, but she knew she’d come across as rude if she refused a second time, so she had no choice but to oblige.
She felt depressed after leaving his office.
Before this, President Taylor had hated her because of her relationship with Gorman, and
now, the new president wanted to use her to get close to Henson.
“What a all or nothing world we live in,” she thought.
Could she ever work in peace from now on?
After clocking out in the evening, she and Linda were chatting as they walked out of the office building until
she saw Gorman, who was standing near the flower beds outside with a solemn expression on his face.
After seeing him too, Linda said her goodbyes and left first.
He stood in place without moving, and his gaze was solely fixed on her.
She walked towards him after a moment of hesitation.
His eyes were bloodshot. Along with his stubbly chin, he no longer looked like the sunshiny boy he was before.
“Are you really part of the Nicholson family?” he probed.
“Gorman,” she spat his name angrily after a short pause.
She hated this.
Last time it was Henson who’d interrogated her, now it was him.
She felt really uneasy now that more and more people knew about her relation to the Nicholson family.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” he retorted in an agitated tone. “We were together for so long, didn’t you trust me at all?” he pressed.
His anger then warped into sorrow. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I still love you as much as I did back then. I never hid anything from you, but can you say the same for me?” he said with a pained expression.
“I warned you about interrogating me, Gorman,” she said with a tinge of desolation in her voice. “We all have our secrets we want to hide from the world. Since I never brought it up, you should know how important it means to me. I don’t suppose you want me to tell the world that I, a blood heir, has been disowned by my own family, do you? Or do you also want me to tell everyone that my family hates me so much so that they can’t wait for me to kill myself?
“Do you know how it feels to know that you were destined to be abandoned by your father the moment you were born? Can you even start to imagine how it feels to long for a father’s love up until the point of disappointment and despair?” she lamented.
“You clearly know nothing about me, so what makes you think you can just stroll up to me and interrogate me like I’m the one who has problems? I suppose you’re happy now that you managed to reopen my scars and is now watching all the blood gush out everywhere in front of you, huh?” she fumed.