Julian chuckled lightly, “Lift your face a bit more; there seems to be a reporter ahead. If you lift your head, he can take a clearer picture.”
Seeing Aurora’s flushed cheeks rise and then quickly duck back down, she murmured, “Julian, put me down. I can walk by myself.”
“That’s fine; I can put you down so the reporter can get a clearer shot. I always look good on camera anyway,” Julian said, about to lower her.
But Aurora clutched at his lapel, “Wait, wait a moment.” If the reporters caught her being carried into the hotel by Julian…
Wouldn’t tomorrow’s headlines feature her blown-up face and his mischievous grin?
Her plans had not even started yet, and she didn’t want to expose herself so soon.
“Do I put you down or not? My arms are getting tired,” Julian found her amusing and teased her, even though there was no one in front of them.
“Put me down when there’s no one around,” Aurora buried her face further, afraid of being photographed.
“No one around? That would only be in bed then, little bunny. It seems you too are looking forward to spending a sweet night with me, so why keep running away?”
Sometimes Aurora really questioned whether this man was just a rogue, his words bearing no sense of decency.
Knowing she couldn’t outtalk him, Aurora chose to remain silent, saying nothing.
After a short walk, she felt him stop, “Are you planning to stay in my arms indefinitely?” His teasing voice came through.
It was he who had initiated holding her, yet now he spoke as if she was clinging to him.
Aurora glared at him and quickly got down from his arms.
But in her haste, and with her heels being quite thin, she failed to stabilize herself and plunged back into Julian’s arms.
“Little bunny, can’t bear to leave me?”
“My foot slipped,” Aurora turned away coldly, thinking she had been brought to the room, only to open her eyes and find herself in the buffet restaurant.
Seeing the softness in Aurora’s eyes, Julian spoke, “You have a stomach condition; you can’t skip meals. Eat up first; you need strength to work.”
His emphasis was on the last part, indeed!
Aurora was actually hungry, having been tormented since early morning while her stomach was already upset.
She took a plate and chose her favorite breakfast items.
She didn’t eat much, filling only a third of her plate, and stood up to get some cold orange juice.
However, two hands appeared beside her, restraining her there, and without looking, she knew it was him.
Julian, who was supposed to get hot milk, reached around her instead, and Aurora had to wait until he was done.
“Drink something warm to soothe your stomach,” he said, and after he finished, he took the cold orange juice from her hands.
Aurora angrily walked to the dining table, “I like it cold; mind your own business!”
“First, you have a bad stomach, and second, it’s your menstrual period; you shouldn’t drink cold,” Julian stated matter-of-factly.
She had just made up an excuse; she wasn’t actually on her period, just a pretext to fend off Julian.
Just when she thought he was clueless about a woman’s menstrual cycle, he turned out to be considerate?
“You feel guilty, don’t you? You’re not really on your period, are you? Woman, you’re lying to me again,” Julian immediately saw through her lie.
“Of course, I am. Why would I lie about that? I was just feeling a bit thirsty,” Aurora stubbornly retorted.
“Whether you are or not, I still want you. Don’t think you can use that as a shield,” Julian shattered all her hopes with a single sentence.
Aurora looked at the front of his white shirt, stained with her lipstick marks, clearly suggesting something intimate. Julian, of course, had noticed it too, but he rather liked it, as it was a reminder of Aurora.
“Eat up, or you won’t have the energy to keep going,” he said.
Aurora glared at him. Did he always have to be so blunt? She responded by biting off a large piece of toast, stuffing her mouth so full she resembled a chipmunk, perhaps imagining the toast was Julian.
“You’re eating so much at once, aren’t you afraid of choking?” Julian handed her a cup of hot milk, just as she began hiccuping from the toast.
Feeling nearly suffocated, Aurora hastily drank a big gulp of the hot milk, only to realize too late that it was scalding hot.
“Ouch…” she felt her tongue might blister, but she was always mindful of her manners. Even in pain, she wouldn’t scream or shout, only enduring the discomfort silently.
At that moment, Julian took a sip of cold orange juice, then lifted her chin and fed her the juice, which had warmed slightly after passing through his mouth.
The juice, now lukewarm, soothed the burning in her mouth. They were in a public place, and even though it wasn’t crowded, there were still a few people dining around them. Aurora wasn’t used to such intimacy with a man in public.
Instinctively, she wanted to push him away. A trickle of orange juice spilled from the corners of their mouths, making the situation even more embarrassing.
She frowned, waiting for him to finish feeding her, and Julian finally pulled back and asked, “Still hot?”
She saw her lipstick marking his lips and couldn’t help but smile-a smile that shone like sunlight into Julian’s eyes.
The last time he had seen such a smile from her was many years ago. Indeed, that night at the manor was not their first encounter. Aurora might have forgotten their first meeting, but for him, it was vividly memorable. Why else would he have attended the birthday party of such a young girl that night?
Turning eighteen was a significant milestone for anyone. From that day, she was truly an adult. Julian genuinely wanted to congratulate her and had even brought a substantial gift. However, after the events that unfolded that night, Aurora was in no mood to open presents.
It was strange to him that over a hundred journalists had shown up. Reporters were expected at such an event, but not in such large numbers, and it seemed they weren’t there for the birthday celebration.
He had a keen sense of when something was amiss, which led him to quietly investigate the underlying scheme.
As for why Aurora ended up in the manor’s back garden encountering him, it was no coincidence but rather inevitable. Even if Aurora hadn’t run away, his people would have arrived shortly to rescue her. Seeing her collapse into his arms, he felt a sudden desire to protect her, since her so-called boyfriend had failed to appreciate her. From then on, he would take it upon himself to protect her.
She was destined to be his.
After securing her first and most important “yes,” he took care of everything for her, planning to settle her into his home and treat her like a princess.
However, he hadn’t anticipated that she would trick him and disappear without a trace-for three years.