Chapter 212
Chapter 212
Chapter 212
After handling the matter concerning Annie, Chloe returned to the villa with Jordan.
As they continued on their way, she couldn’t stop replaying the scene where Joseph had tenderly wiped her hair. Her heart tightened, and her lips began to feel dry.
“I’m sorry, this is my first time doing something like this. I don’t have much experience…”
Nonsense.
You’ve been entangled with Grace for years. Even if you didn’t go all the way, you’ve probably done everything else. Don’t come in front of me acting like you’re inexperienced, pure, and innocent.
You and Vincent, these good buddies, I don’t know who’s the bad one. You two are a perfect match!
Back at home, Chloe kicked off her high heels. She didn’t rush upstairs to rest. Instead, she sat on the sofa with a gloomy expression.
Jordan prepared a cup of milk for her and handed it over with a concerned look. “Miss, it’s late in the night. After you’ve had this, you should go upstairs and rest.”
“How did Annie and Vincent run into each other tonight? Annie has always been closely watched by the Sawle family and rarely leaves the house. What happened?” Chloe, with no sleepiness in her eyes, was deeply concerned about the poor girl.
“I asked Vincent.” Jordan explained. “He said he didn’t know why Fourth Miss Sawle ended up at his venue. But he mentioned that Fourth Miss Sawle was anxiously searching for something throughout the whole place. If he hadn’t bumped into her, she might have been in danger tonight.”
Chloe furrowed her brows in confusion. “Searching for something? What was she looking for?”
“She said it was a teddy bear you gave her.”
Chloe took a sharp breath and clenched her fingers. “The teddy bear I gave to Annie, it was left at ACE?”
“I asked him if there were any abnormalities at ACE tonight, and he said there weren’t. But he unintentionally mentioned his sister, Second Miss Anderson.” Jordan, with his background as a lawyer, had a strong knack for getting information.
“Oh, I understand.”
Chloe said, her brows furrowing. Although she hadn’t witnessed it herself, the situation had become clear to her. “Skyler, you truly can’t change your ways!”
“Daring to bully my people, I see her as a lazy donkey unwilling to cooperate-owing a slap, a fallen duck egg-owing a hit, a weed at the door-owing a hug!”
Her sequence of idioms left Jordan stunned.
“I’ll make sure to avenge this for Annie!”
Vincent had been sent back home by Joseph, and it was already dawn when he arrived.
He lay in bed, closed his eyes, but his mind was filled with the mesmerizing scenes of passionate kissing with Annie.
The girl’s lips were sweet, soft, and entrancing.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of desire in his lower abdomen.
“Damn! I’m such a damn beast!”
Vincent grumbled and cursed, keeping his eyes tightly shut, hoping to fall asleep. But the discomfort downstairs made it impossible. He got up, took a cold shower for twenty minutes, and only then did his body return to normal.
By the time the sky was getting bright, he finally fell into a restless sleep.
He slept until the afternoon of the next day.
Vincent was neatly dressed and had just walked out of his room when his sister, Zoey, confronted him with a face full of
resentment.
“Big brother, you’ve gone too far!”
“Too far? Just because I told you not to go to ACE and to stay away from Skyler, and that’s too much?”
Vincent raised his hand to ruffle her hair and clicked his tongue. “Zoey, why do you become more stubborn as you grow up? Have you forgotten our sibling bond?”
“Don’t touch me with the hands that have touched Annie, I find it dirty!”
With a slap, Zoey swatted his hand away. She couldn’t contain her anger and blurted out her resentment toward Annie right in front of her big brother.
“Zoey, what are you saying?” Vincent’s eyes narrowed in disbelief as he looked at his sister.
Zoey felt humiliated after being taken away in front of everyone the previous night. Fueled by her anger and relying on her big brother’s indulgence, she decided to let out all her frustration, “I just hate Annie! Big brother is my big brother alone. Who is she to divide your affection meant for me?!”
“Zoey, what are you saying?” Vincent’s brows furrowed with concern.
“You tore ACE apart just to find a lousy toy for her! A piece of junk!” Zoey continued her emotional outburst.
Zoey’s emotional outburst intensified, and she lost control, stomping her feet hysterically. Passersby, including the servants, couldn’t help but glance at the scene, but no one dared to linger.
“I’m your real sister! When did you care for me like this? You’ve always just thrown money at me! But now, you’re giving your whole heart to that idiot, Annie! Vincent, you’ve lost your conscience! After years of studying abroad, I return only to find my position lower than that of an idiot!”
“Zoey, Annie isn’t an idiot, and I won’t let you talk about her like that!” Vincent rebuked with fury in his phoenix-like eyes.
The two words “idiot” spoken by his own sister felt unbearably harsh and heart-wrenching.
In his eyes, his sister had always been like an angel from their childhood, a kind-hearted and soft- hearted presence, even though she was a bit willful and spoiled.
However, the current Zoey, with her eyes red and filled with anger, seemed to hold a deep-seated grudge against Annie, as if she wanted to devour her alive for some reason.
All just because he had been with her last night?
Over the years, he had been quite the ladies’ man, with numerous relationships, and he had never seen Zoey so hostile. Why did she resent Annie so much when he was treating her so well?
“Big brother… You, you actually yelled at me for that idiot…” Zoey was terrified, her face changing from red to pale. She felt a chilling sensation on her forehead from his icy glare, and her whole body was drenched in cold sweat.
“Annie isn’t an idiot, I don’t want to hear those two words from you again.” Vincent declared, his voice deep. “If it happens again, I’ll be truly angry, Zoey.”
Vincent took a deep breath, his eyes darkening. “When we were young, you were too young to remember. Our father passed away suddenly, and our mother was too busy with family affairs to care for us.”
“It was me who took care of you, fed you, and even changed your diapers.”
“You say I don’t treat you well and don’t care for you, but I have taken care of you all these years. I’ve been through everything for twenty years, and nothing has been as painful as this.”
“Big brother…” Zoey was completely taken aback, her voice trembling.
“I don’t treat you poorly, but the way I care for you has changed as we both grew up, and you haven’t felt it.”
Vincent’s gaze darkened suddenly, and he continued, “I don’t understand why you have such hostility toward Annie. What has she done to you?”
“I… I don’t like her. She’s not worthy of being with my big brother!” Zoey stammered, trying to come up with a reason.
Vincent’s jaw tightened, and his gaze turned stern and dark. “Zoey, you have no right to look down on Annie. She is the fourth young miss of the Sawle family, and her status is not lower than yours or mine.”
“Even if she came from a humble background, so what? As long as I like a woman, who can stop me?”
With a parting statement that sounded like a confession, Vincent turned and walked away.
leaving Zoey standing in place, feeling humiliated and gnashing her teeth.
*
A week had passed since the termination of the contract with Ada and KS WORLD.
This week, Jordan had closely tracked the members of the planning team, but they had not yielded any results.
“Miss, it’s been a week, and our people haven’t found any leads. What if… we’re heading in the wrong direction with the investigation?” Jordan looked frustrated. Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
Jordan scratched his head in frustration. “Perhaps there isn’t a mole within the team?”
“Has anyone contacted Shelby?” Chloe asked as she played a video game.
“No, everything seems quiet.”
“Well, under a calm surface, there might be hidden tides. It seems that without a little act, the fish won’t take the bait.”
Chloe hummed a tune while dispatching the last survivor in her game. The bloody scene forced Jordan to close his eyes, and he said, “Let’s gather the project team members and hold a meeting.”
Half an hour later, the eight hotel staff members responsible for Ada’s wedding planning arrived at the meeting room.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Chloe entered the room with a beaming smile.
Even though there had been a contract termination, her mood didn’t seem to be affected at all.
“Ha-ha, I apologize, everyone. I was late because of some important business.”
Chloe took a seat at the head of the conference table with a confident smile. After casting her eyes around at the eight people present, she confidently pulled her red lips into a smile and said, “I’ve already come up with a new wedding planning proposal. I’m preparing to approach Ada again and persuade her to reconsider cooperating with our KS Hotel!”
The crowd reacted with astonishment and excitement. “Is that true, President Thorp? This is fantastic!”
Chloe nodded with a smile, her sharp gaze shifting from one of the eight employees to the next.
At that moment, she noticed that one of the employees, named Justin, had a slightly strained expression, which piqued her curiosity.
Just then, Justin, perhaps unfortunately, raised his hand to ask a question.
“President Thorp, hasn’t Ada already chosen to work with the Sawle Group? Considering the circumstances… can we still win her back?”
Chloe tapped her fingers on the table’s surface, her keen eyes narrowing, and she asked with a faint smile, “Oh? Ada has already partnered with Sawle Group? It’s such a significant development, but how is it that you know, and I don’t?”