Chapter 510: Chapter 510: A Feast for the Eyes
As she was biting her lip in frustration, she didn’t notice the sudden dark extinguishment in Cyrus Hawthorne’s narrow eyes, and even the cold, fierce aura surrounding him gradually faded slightly.
Yet, his chiseled face remained indifferent, making it impossible to discern his emotions.
"Before you left The Imperial Capital, what did you promise me, hmm?" After a long pause, Cyrus Hawthorne asked slowly.
Ann Vaughn pressed her lips together, dropping her gaze sheepishly, "To always stay safe, call you immediately upon arrival, keep the phone with me, and never turn it off or put it on silent..."
"Did you manage that?"
"... I had a valid reason for it, it should be understood!" Ann Vaughn stubbornly pretended to be calm, looking directly at Cyrus Hawthorne, "Moreover, shouldn’t you clarify things about yourself before questioning if there’s a man by my side?"
"Hmm?" Cyrus Hawthorne gazed at her calmly with narrowed eyes.
Still playing dumb!
Ann Vaughn felt a pang of bitterness in her heart and said sullenly, "The other night when I called you, Miyi Yates was right next to you, I heard it all."
Seemingly not understanding the implication of her words, Cyrus Hawthorne raised an eyebrow, "So?"
"In the middle of the night, a man and woman alone in a room... That’s one thing, but you even sent me a ’good night’ to provoke me!"
The jealousy she’d been holding back for days surged up all at once, and Ann Vaughn, unable to bear it, tried to wriggle out of Cyrus Hawthorne’s arms, but he caught her.
"Alone, a man and a woman?" Holding the little struggling firecracker in his arms, Cyrus Hawthorne’s voice had a hint of laughter, "Besides me and her, Dragon was also in the room at the time."
"And the so-called provocation, wasn’t it because you were dissatisfied with me working late and called to check up on me?"
The little firecracker—uh, Ann Vaughn—slowly stopped struggling, and her whole body went a bit rigid.
... Meaning that the unexpected photo Cyrus Hawthorne sent that night before going to bed wasn’t to provoke her.
It was to clear up the misunderstanding that she was checking up on him, sending a report photo instead?!
Totally different from the scenario she’d imagined, damn it!
Thinking of this, Ann Vaughn was so embarrassed she buried her face in Cyrus Hawthorne’s shoulder, softly whimpering, "Whimper."
However, Cyrus Hawthorne didn’t give her a chance to escape reality, he grasped her delicate wrist in one hand while raising her small chin with the other, forcing her to look up.
In those obsidian eyes, there was a faint, teasing smile.
"Jealous?"
"Not at all!" Ann Vaughn hurriedly denied it, feeling utterly humiliated, she hastily covered his mouth, "Don’t think that just because you look good enough to eat and are my type, you can talk nonsense!"
There was an inexplicable silence in the car for about ten seconds.
Realizing the accidental slip of her mouth, Ann Vaughn: "..."
Forget about noodles, she might as well just perish.
Ann Vaughn’s small hand, which covered Cyrus Hawthorne’s thin lips, recoiled as if scorched, while she awkwardly laughed it off, "I didn’t eat anything this morning, so hungry that everything looks like food."
Implying, I didn’t mean to eat you, I was just hallucinating from hunger.
Hearing this, Cyrus Hawthorne’s eyes filled with a faint smile narrowed slightly, his thin lips curled into a light grin, "Since I’m good enough to eat, why not eat me?"
Ann Vaughn: !!!
"Knock knock."
Just then, there was a soft knock on the car window.
Ann Vaughn instinctively turned her head to look, seeing Ian Vaughn standing outside the car window at some unknown time, even knowing he couldn’t see inside, her cheeks flared with a blush.
"Get up now!" She shot Cyrus Hawthorne a sideways glance, who still had her pinned against the car door, urging him quietly.
Raising his eyes to glance at the man outside the window, Cyrus Hawthorne then released Ann Vaughn’s wrist, smoothing her slightly disheveled clothes before rolling down the car window.
"Mr. Hawthorne, just what are your intentions with my... guest?" Ian Vaughn’s sharp gaze fell on the car window, seeing Ann Vaughn apparently unharmed, his furrowed brow relaxed somewhat.
Considering that telling Ann Vaughn about her true parentage now might be hard for her to accept.
Ian Vaughn, after discussing with Old Mr. Vaughn, decided to take a gradual approach before establishing a good relationship with her.
In the face of Ian Vaughn’s questioning, Cyrus Hawthorne’s expression didn’t change, "What capacity does Professor Vaughn have to inquire into our personal affairs?"
If he were speaking as a professor, he naturally wouldn’t have the right to interfere in their private matters.
But if as Ann Vaughn’s uncle, that would be a different story.
Hearing this, Ann Vaughn felt somewhat puzzled, not really sure if her mind was clear, since Ian Vaughn’s attitude toward her...
Seemed cautious with a restrained eagerness to be close.
Very strange.
Ian Vaughn couldn’t help but look at Ann Vaughn, seeing the confusion and slight suspicion in her expression, it immediately raised an alarm in his mind.
He couldn’t let his little niece misunderstand him—
"Mr. Hawthorne abducting my niece here, am I not allowed to inquire as her uncle?"
The words that had weighed on his heart all night slipped unintentionally from Ian Vaughn’s lips.
Hoping for some explanation, Ann Vaughn was stunned when she heard those words, almost doubting her ears, staring incredulously at Ian Vaughn outside the window.
Wait, what did he just say?
His niece? Who?
Ann Vaughn glanced around the car, seeing only Cyrus Hawthorne aside from herself, a ludicrous thought suddenly sprang to her mind.
The Vaughn Family, Ian Vaughn, Shuhua Vaughn...
Was it this Vaughn Family?!
The surname Vaughn wasn’t all that uncommon, and Ann Vaughn didn’t know much about Shuhua Vaughn. As a result, while she had fleeting thoughts about Ian Vaughn’s surname, she never delved into them.
Until just before Ian Vaughn uttered those words, Ann Vaughn had thought it was mere coincidence they shared the same surname.
She never expected the truth would unfold so dramatically.
...
From beginning to end, Ann Vaughn was dazed.
Especially when Ian Vaughn took her to meet Old Mr. Vaughn and Old Mrs. Vaughn, she was completely bewildered, feeling disoriented and only able to respond instinctively to their questions.
There lingered an exceedingly unreal impression in her mind.
Along with subtle and hardly noticeable tension and... shyness.
But all this dissipated completely when Ann Vaughn was tightly embraced by the tear-stained Old Mrs. Vaughn and Old Mr. Vaughn, like water droplets under the sun.
Ann Vaughn considered herself relatively calm, having envisioned countless scenarios of accidentally meeting those relatives one day.
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