Chapter 31: Chapter 31: His Mouth Is So Vicious
Jude Sheridan slammed on the brakes.
Jessica Keller’s whole body lurched forward with the momentum before the seatbelt yanked her back hard against the seat.
Her head spun, the fruit in her hands scattering all over the floor as she instinctively moved to protect her stomach.
In the back seat, Mrs. Sheridan was also startled by the sudden jolt.
"What’s going on?"
Jude Sheridan didn’t answer, his face grim as he fumbled for the phone he’d left on the center console.
A moment ago, while feeding Jude a piece of fruit, Jessica had caught a glimpse of Cecilia Croft in a car with a man, but she hadn’t been certain.
"Jude, that person just now..."
Seeing his reaction, she knew.
"That was probably Cecilia, wasn’t it?"
Jude Sheridan still didn’t speak. He grabbed his phone to call Cecilia Croft while simultaneously turning the steering wheel with one hand to chase after the other car.
Meanwhile, in the other vehicle, Cecilia Croft felt a wave of disgust from the scene she had just witnessed and had no desire to look out the window again. She glanced over at Sebastian Hawthorne playing a mobile game and watched as the man’s skills became increasingly abysmal. She couldn’t help but let out a "tsk."
The man, wearing headphones, seemed to hear her and looked up.
Their eyes met.
Cecilia Croft didn’t have time to wipe the look of disdain from her face before he caught it.
"You think you’re so good?" Sebastian Hawthorne asked.
Cecilia Croft smiled. "I wouldn’t say I’m *so* good."
She showed a bit of appropriate modesty, but then felt she shouldn’t be *too* modest, so she added in a low voice,
"But I’m probably a little better than you."
’After all, this man was an absolute master at putting her in her place. She still remembered the last time she’d boasted, only for the game to end in defeat the moment it was in her hands.’
Sebastian Hawthorne looked at her without speaking.
The atmosphere was quiet for only a moment before Cecilia Croft’s phone suddenly rang. She quickly glanced at the screen and, seeing it was a call from Jude Sheridan, hit the volume key to silence it.
A flash of irritation crossed Cecilia Croft’s eyes. ’What a hassle.’
’Jude must have seen me.’
Just as she was wondering how to deal with it, a phone was thrust into her hands.
"Let’s see just how much ’a little better’ really is."
The man beside her was eyeing her with a look of disbelief, and Cecilia Croft’s competitive spirit was instantly ignited.
Her character in the game revived. Now too preoccupied to worry about Jude’s calls, Cecilia immediately started playing.
They were in a losing position, so she played with intense focus, afraid that a single mistake would let the opponent destroy their nexus.
The driver noticed a car was following them and glanced in the rearview mirror.
"Mr. Hawthorne..."
Sebastian Hawthorne said, "Lose him."
"Okay!" Cecilia Croft exclaimed before the driver could respond to Sebastian. Her skilled fingers maneuvered her character, expertly dodging an ambush from the enemy jungler.
Sebastian Hawthorne watched her gameplay, raising an eyebrow as the corner of his mouth curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
The driver saw this in the rearview mirror and smiled as well, silently accelerating to shake the car behind them.
Seeing the car ahead speed up, Jude Sheridan sped up too, running several red lights in the process.
Jessica Keller, terrified, clutched her seatbelt. The stress was making her stomach ache with a dull pain.
Already showing symptoms of a threatened miscarriage, her face was now deathly pale.
"Jude, my stomach..."
"Shut up!" Jude Sheridan was extremely agitated.
’If I didn’t see wrong,’ he thought, ’the man sitting next to Cecilia Croft was Sebastian Hawthorne.’
’How does she know Sebastian Hawthorne?’
’And why won’t she answer my calls?’
Jude Sheridan felt a surge of rage, the kind that comes when a situation spirals completely out of one’s control.
He stomped on the gas again and again. Just as he was about to catch up, the other car made a sharp turn and sped off down a side road.
By the time he turned around to follow, the car was gone.
Jude Sheridan gritted his teeth. After driving around aimlessly for a few minutes like a headless chicken, he slammed on the brakes in frustration and yanked at his tie.
Mrs. Sheridan had been too scared by Jude’s frantic behavior to say anything. Now that the car had stopped, she finally spoke up cautiously.
"Jude, Jessica has a baby in her belly. You can’t be scaring her like this."
Jessica Keller’s face was pale as she looked at Jude Sheridan, her expression a mixture of hurt and pity.
"I’m fine. It’s just... about Cecilia..."
Mrs. Sheridan gnashed her teeth and said to Jude, "If she dares to cheat on you, you just..."
Jude Sheridan cut her off sharply. "She wouldn’t!"
’Cecilia Croft loves me so much. How could she possibly cheat on me?’
Jessica Keller’s eyes reddened. She bit her lip and looked at Jude Sheridan with a pleading gaze.
"Jude, please don’t be angry. Your mother didn’t mean it like that. She’s just worried about you."
Jude Sheridan ran a hand through his hair in frustration and picked up his phone again. He tried calling Cecilia Croft once more, but she still didn’t answer.
Jessica Keller sat silently in the passenger seat, unable to hide the gleam of triumph in her eyes.
’As long as the seed of doubt about Cecilia Croft is planted in Jude Sheridan’s mind, their relationship will start to crack.’
’Sooner or later, Jude Sheridan would give up on Cecilia Croft.’
Mrs. Sheridan was about to say more, but Jessica Keller quickly shook her head at her.
Their eyes met, a silent, calculating understanding passing between them.
By the time the car reached the underground garage, Cecilia Croft had ended the long, drawn-out battle by destroying the enemy’s nexus.
When the word "VICTORY" flashed in large letters across the game screen, a triumphant smile spread across Cecilia Croft’s face. She waved the phone at Sebastian Hawthorne.
"Bingo. Nailed it."
"So, Mr. Hawthorne, how much ’a little better’ than you would you say my skills are?"
Sebastian Hawthorne took the phone back from her, his tone leisurely.
"Just that ’little bit,’ I suppose. And it was all thanks to me laying the groundwork for victory."
Cecilia Croft: "..."
’The nerve of this guy!’
After the driver parked the car securely, he got out to open their doors.
Cecilia Croft glanced outside and froze.
She had been so focused on the game that she hadn’t noticed they hadn’t arrived at their agreed-upon destination.
"Mr. Hawthorne, we’re in the wrong place. This isn’t Grandeur Enterprises."
Sebastian Hawthorne ducked out of the car, then turned and looked down at her from beside it.
"You expect me to meet a client like this?"
Cecilia Croft’s gaze fell on his chest. The coffee stain on his black shirt had dried, leaving behind a few mottled marks.
She looked away sheepishly. "Sorry."
’After all, he only got dragged into this because of me.’
Sebastian Hawthorne withdrew his gaze from her and walked toward the elevators.
The driver respectfully invited Cecilia Croft to exit the vehicle.
"Miss Croft, if you please."
Cecilia Croft hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice,
"I’ll just wait for you down here. I don’t need to go up."
The driver said nothing, nor did he close the car door.
Sebastian Hawthorne’s voice echoed back from the direction of the elevators, a hollow quality to it in the open space.
"You keep saying you’re sorry, but you show no intention of actually making up for it. So, what exactly are you sorry for, Miss Croft?"
Cecilia Croft’s ears instantly turned red.
’That mouth of his! He always knows exactly how to put me in an impossible position.’
The driver offered a friendly smile and said quietly,
"Assistant Scott isn’t here today. He’s usually the one who prepares Mr. Hawthorne’s attire. I don’t know the first thing about it, so I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you, Miss Croft."
