After the driver got back on the car, Henson gave Wendy a call.
Initially, he thought of picking her up at the shopping mall, but she informed him that she had already returned to Big City.
Turns out that they had a meal together, and Bain kept insisting on driving her home afterwards.
And since she couldn’t possibly ask him to drive her back to the Charles family villa, she had no choice but to return to Big City with him.
When Henson arrived
at her place, he saw that she was busy washing the bedsheets they used two nights ago.
Henson started sulking after seeing what a good mood she was in. “Seems like your meeting with Bain went splendidly,” he commented sarcastically.
One look at him and she instantly knew that he was jealous again. “My brother has nothing to do with my mood,” she giggled.
“Then who does it have to do with?” he asked.
“Well, I just feel happy when I’m doing things in my own apartment,” she answered and gave the washing machine a few pats. “Don’t you feel accomplished when you get to do your laundry?”
Her amused expression was so infectious it caused him to break out into a smirk. “You are one special lady, I tell you,” he joked.
This made her giggle. “How come you’re back so early?” she asked later.
“Am I not allowed to spend more time with you on the weekends?” he asked.
“But it’s your friend who’s been gone for a long while we’re talking about here,” she gasped.
“Who cares about him. What’s there to talk about between two men anyways? Which is why we’ve already made plans to play ball tomorrow afternoon,” he said.
“I don’t suppose we can do much either,” she giggled.
“I don’t need to do anything when I’m with you. Just staying by your side is enough to lift my spirits,” he teased.
This made her stare at him. “Such a sweet talker,” she thought. “He must say that to every girl he meets,”
The way he teased her made her feel like he was a true expert at romance at times.
He was too good at this for his own good.
Peter could only stay in San Diego for three days before he was recalled into the army again to attend to a few urgent matters. And thus, Henson’s life returned to normal once more.
Henson felt that being able to see Wendy everyday after work was one of the best things in life.
When Wednesday afternoon came, just as Wendy was about to return to her office, she overheard Carmen gossiping on the other side.
“… and that’s why rich men can be unreliable sometimes,” she said.
The moment Wendy shut the door, Carmen heard it and immediately put her phone down to end the conversation.
She then got up and hurriedly said, “I just remembered I had something to do. Excuse me while I swing by my class,”
“Let’s head there together then, Carmen. I have an announcement to make,” Ian chirped in as well.
“Let’s go then,” she said anxiously.
When the two of them left, Wendy sat down at her desk and turned to face Linda with a puzzled look on her face. “Why do I feel like Carmen’s acting really weird today, Linda?” she asked.
“Oh, really?” Linda probed.
“Yeah, she darted her gaze from mine just now,” Wendy said.
Linda bit her lip, and hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “I feel like you’re still in the dark about this, Miss Evans. You might want to check the news today first,” she said sheepishly.
Wendy fished out her phone and started scrolling through the news of the day.
A headline immediately caught her eye –
‘Breaking News! Charles Group CEO Solidifies his Engagement with the Daughter of the Nicholson’s!”
The article then went on to say that their marriage would make them the top business magnates in San Diego as the alliance between the two families would allow both the biggest enterprises in the city to join forces, making it the most successful merger in recent years.
Her heart grew cold when she finished reading the article.
She was aware that the news had nothing to do with Henson,
but the fact that the Nicholson’s implicated General Burke into their schemes was enough to make her fear that even Henson would find it hard to get out of this whole mess.
After all, if Henson denied agreeing to the engagement, it’d be equivalent to slapping General Burke on the face.
She could only stare at the article in silence for a while after that.
“Everything alright, Wendy?” Linda asked, worried.
When she returned to her senses, she looked at Linda, shook her head and gave her a smile. “I’m fine,” she muttered.
“But the article-”
“Everything written here is untrue. It’s the reporters who wrote the article, so it hasn’t been verified by Henson or the Nicholson’s yet,” Wendy deduced.
“It’s nice that you think that, but I feel that you may have misunderstood the motives behind the incident. It was just a vague romantic gesture that he made towards you last week, after all. I firmly believe that Master Henson’s the responsible type, and that his principles prevent him from cheating on you,”
“I believe him too,” Wendy giggled.
“Alrighty then. By the way, were you the one who made the faculty announcement just now?” Linda probed.
“Yep. I just came back from the teaching building,” Wendy answered.
Linda got up from her seat and quipped, “Then, I suppose I’m the only one who hasn’t made the announcement yet. Guess I should get going. In the meanwhile, don’t go letting your thoughts run wild now,”
“I won’t,” Wendy said.
Linda then got up and left the room. When she walked past the other offices, she overheard a few people discussing the matter of how Wendy got cheated on.
After leaning against the door for a while, she knocked on it a few times.
This made a few heads turn her way. “Fellow educators, if I may, I’d advise you to keep your doors shut whenever you gossip about the affairs of others next time. I’ll have you all know that fake news is everywhere, so don’t talk about it as if it’s the gospel. Don’t forget what happened last Tuesday,” Linda lectured sternly
then shut the door behind her and went on her way.
She wasn’t wrong. A girl was really taken away by Henson’s men when she scolded Wendy in public last Tuesday. When the student returned to campus two hours later, it turned out that they’d decided to drop out of the university entirely.
Everyone in the office could only look at one another without saying anything
as they were fully aware that Linda and Wendy were on pretty good terms. They didn’t want to get on Linda’s bad side if the news turned out to be fake.
Not more than fifteen minutes later, she received a call from Henson.
She picked up the call in a flash and greeted him.
“How come you answered your phone so quickly today?” he asked, amused.
“Was that quick though?” she said and feigned innocence.
“Yes, it was. Don’t tell me you were just waiting for me to call you?” he teased.
“Absolutely not,” she pouted.
“Why do you sound so low in spirits then? Did you catch the news?” he asked.
“The moment the news broke out, it caused quite a stir on campus, so it’d be pretty hard for me to avoid it,” she joked. “I wonder what the newly approved groom of the Nicholson’s wants from me?”
“Euch, what a disgusting nickname you came up for me,” he said and smirked. “It reeks of the sour taste of jealousy,”
“Don’t act coy with me now, Henson,” she said, mildly frustrated. “Also, you better not say I’m someone who attracts all the boys to my yard anymore in the future. It’s clear that YOU’RE the one who attracts all the girls to YOUR yard, like what Commander Burke said,”
“How can you say that when I’m the one who’s been wronged? I promise you I had nothing to do whatsoever with the news today,” he whined.
“I know, but on the other hand, I’m the one who feels like I’ve been terribly wronged. It was only last Friday when you made that vaguely romantic gesture to me on campus, saying things like you have my back… and now you’re telling me that you’re engaged to someone else? Can you even begin to understand how hard things are for me on campus right now? I’m not one to care about what people say about me on campus, but… to think that I’d get a slap in the face so quickly by you, it’s kind of hurtful, you know,” she ranted.
Hearing her say that, besides the ache he felt in his heart, he also felt secretly happy.
His heart ached because he’d made her go through all that, and yet he was also glad that she finally opening up to him.
To him, it was a sign that he was gradually growing on her.