Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Old Wound
Kenneth Yates pulled out the chair beside her and sat down angrily, his face close to hers.
"What are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat?" Summer Lancaster wasn’t surprised. Instead, she was surprisingly calm.
"What are you sulking about now?" Kenneth Yates stared into Summer Lancaster’s eyes, but she didn’t dare to meet his gaze. Her mouth was already full, yet she just kept shoveling more food in.
When Summer Lancaster said nothing, Kenneth Yates grew even more irritated. He snatched her utensils and threw them on the floor.
"What are you doing?!" Summer Lancaster glared at Kenneth Yates. She reached for the utensils on the floor, but before she could touch them, he pulled her forcefully into his arms.
"Tell me. Tell me what’s bothering you. I’ll always be here to listen." Kenneth Yates’s deep eyes were as clear as a river, yet they seemed to stretch on into an unreachable distance.
"But what if you’re the reason I’m upset, Kenneth Yates?" His words struck a chord in Summer Lancaster’s heart, leaving her conflicted and unsure.
"Then that’s all the more reason you need to tell me." Kenneth Yates had no intention of letting Summer Lancaster go. In fact, he held her even tighter.
Summer Lancaster steeled herself. She hadn’t wanted to ask about Eleanor Grant, but since he was insisting, she had to get a straight answer.
"Did you and Eleanor Grant ever date?" Summer Lancaster asked, her heart in her throat. She couldn’t be sure his answer would be the one she wanted to hear. ’Even if they did date, it wouldn’t be a big deal in itself... but I can’t stand her continuing to work by his side.’
Kenneth Yates let go of Summer Lancaster. He gazed into her sorrowful eyes and reached out to stroke her hair.
"Of course not. What are you thinking? Are you giving me the cold shoulder because of her? She was my classmate, that’s all. Just a classmate."
"Then why did she join the Yates Group right after graduation? With her talent, a secretarial role is far beneath her. She’s only humbling herself to work at the Yates Group because of you, isn’t she?" Summer Lancaster’s relentless gaze silenced Kenneth Yates.
Kenneth Yates stepped away from Summer Lancaster, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling window and taking a deep breath. He didn’t want to remember that incident—that painful Chapter of his past.
"You’re right. It is because of me. That year... I saved her younger brother. That’s also when... something happened to my eyes. These glasses," Kenneth Yates paused, turning to face Summer Lancaster, "they’re made from a special material. She’s been by my side helping me ever since. You could say she feels guilty and wants to help me move past that dark time."
Tears streamed down Summer Lancaster’s face. ’How dark that time must have been for him. Why wasn’t I by his side back then?’
Kenneth felt a pair of slender, cold arms wrap around his waist. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t know! I’m so sorry!" Summer Lancaster sobbed uncontrollably in his embrace. She finally understood what Eleanor Grant had said. ’Yes, we are on the same team. We both just want to protect Kenneth Yates.’
Kenneth Yates didn’t say a word, simply holding Summer Lancaster tightly in his arms. He hadn’t wanted to burden her with the darkness in his past. It would only cause her more pain, just as it was now.
Summer Lancaster cried for a long time before finally pulling away from Kenneth’s embrace. Her tear-filled eyes were enough to make anyone’s heart ache.
"I’m sorry, I got your shirt all wet." The front of Kenneth Yates’s shirt was completely soaked with her tears.
Kenneth Yates smiled and patted her head. "Silly girl. No more letting your imagination run wild, okay?"
"Okay, I know." A smile finally broke through on Summer Lancaster’s face too. "And I’m hungry!"
