Chapter 32: Chapter 32: A Painful Sacrifice
The driver had put it so bluntly, Cecilia Croft had no choice but to get out of the car. She steeled herself and followed Sebastian Hawthorne into the elevator.
When they reached his floor, the man in front of her began unbuttoning his shirt as he walked toward the apartment.
Once inside, he took off his shirt and casually tossed it onto a nearby sofa.
The muscles of his back were perfectly defined, and he radiated raw, explosive masculinity.
Cecilia’s face flushed as she stared, completely mesmerized.
The man walking ahead of her suddenly stopped, and Cecilia almost crashed right into him.
She quickly halted as well.
Sebastian Hawthorne turned to face her, leaning down slightly. His voice was low and utterly captivating.
"Miss Croft, you might want to wipe your drool."
Cecilia instinctively raised a hand to her lips but found nothing there.
"..."
Realizing the man had been teasing her, her face turned beet red.
Sebastian Hawthorne let out a hearty laugh and walked into the bathroom.
The driver brought some things upstairs, set them down, and then led Cecilia to Sebastian Hawthorne’s walk-in closet.
"Miss Croft, all of Mr. Hawthorne’s daily wear is in here. You can put together any outfit you’d like."
Cecilia nodded. "Okay."
Sebastian Hawthorne’s walk-in closet was not what Cecilia had imagined. A dazzling array of clothes in every type and style hung neatly, organized into sections by color.
She had expected his wardrobe to be nothing but a monotonous collection of custom-made suits in shades of gray and black.
Among the many sections, her eyes were immediately drawn to the pinks.
A pink shirt and white dress pants. She wondered what they would look like on Sebastian Hawthorne.
Cecilia tried to picture it, but she just couldn’t imagine Sebastian wearing that outfit.
’Then again, with his face and physique, he could probably pull it off.’
Sebastian Hawthorne came out of the bathroom after a quick shower.
He walked to the closet and saw Cecilia pinching her chin, staring thoughtfully at the pink outfit hanging in the wardrobe.
"Don’t even think about it!"
He hadn’t given that outfit a second glance since Pearl Sterling had forced it on him.
Hearing this, Cecilia pouted.
"I wouldn’t dare make you wear it, but there’s no harm in just think—"
She turned to Sebastian Hawthorne with a smile, but the curve of her lips took on a mischievous edge.
"—ing about it, right?"
Sebastian Hawthorne was shirtless, drying his still-damp black hair. A droplet of water traced a path from his temple, down his jaw, and onto his well-defined pectoral muscles.
His physique was nearly flawless, and combined with his strikingly handsome face, he was the very picture of perfection.
No wonder some experts say women should look at muscular men more often.
’Research shows it can lower mortality risk. Seeing such a pleasing sight stimulates the brain’s reward system to release dopamine, making one feel happy.’
’I’m not being lecherous; I just appreciate perfect bodies and beautiful things.’
After this internal pep talk, Cecilia’s gaze on Sebastian Hawthorne was no longer shy but grew bolder.
’If he’s brave enough to walk around shirtless, he shouldn’t be afraid of me looking.’
’Look! Why shouldn’t I look?’
’If no one else is looking, I will!’
’It’s not like I’m losing anything.’
Sebastian Hawthorne started to feel a bit uncomfortable under her intense stare and covered his chest with the towel.
"Get out."
"Okay, Mr. Hawthorne." She wasn’t entirely shameless; the tips of her ears were bright red as she left the closet.
Sebastian Hawthorne lowered the towel, ready to get dressed, when Cecilia poked her head back in.
He snatched the towel up again to cover himself.
"Mr. Hawthorne, the outfit I picked for you is hanging over—"
Cecilia pointed to the clothes on a hanger.
Sebastian Hawthorne responded in a muffled voice, "I see it."
Only then did Cecilia return to the living room and sit on the sofa, feeling as though she’d finally gotten her revenge for his teasing when she’d first arrived.
In high spirits, she sat on the sofa and admired the apartment’s decor and furnishings.
The last time she was here, she had been too nervous to notice any of the decorations.
She now saw that he had an entire wall dedicated to video game merchandise.
Her eyes were drawn to it, and she unconsciously got up and walked over. In a corner, she discovered a figurine of a game skin she had once designed and submitted.
At the time, her skin design hadn’t been officially selected. Due to certain circumstances, she had missed the official feedback; they couldn’t contact her, so they ended up using someone else’s submission.
However, the company had later sent her some gifts as a token of appreciation.
Thinking back, that was about ten years ago.
Back then, her mother had just divorced Titus Croft and brought her back to Silvercrest.
She was a stranger to everything in Silvercrest and had lost herself in the internet.
This particular game had accompanied her through the most boring and difficult period of her life.
If she hadn’t seen this figurine, she would have completely forgotten that she had once submitted a design for the game.
Cecilia took the figurine from the shelf and held it in her hands.
The figurine was a perfect 1:1 replica of her original design sketch. Even some of the small details she still remembered clearly had been perfectly recreated.
This design was a perfect reflection of her naive, romantic, and somewhat gaudy ideas from when she was sixteen or seventeen.
Sebastian Hawthorne emerged from the walk-in closet, fully dressed. Cecilia, holding the figurine, excitedly asked him.
"This... how did you get this?"
Sebastian Hawthorne glanced at the figurine in her hand and replied nonchalantly.
"I forgot."
Cecilia felt a pang of disappointment.
Sebastian Hawthorne looked away, his gaze falling to his cuffs as he tried to button them. A task he could usually do easily with one hand was now taking him multiple attempts.
A hint of frustration flickered in his eyes. The next second, a slender finger reached out and fastened the cuff for him.
Sebastian Hawthorne looked up.
Cecilia gave him an eager, pleasing smile and naturally fastened the other cuff as well.
Sebastian Hawthorne watched her without a word of thanks.
Cecilia was silent for a moment. She had planned to use his "thank you" as a natural opening to ask for the figurine, but he hadn’t thanked her at all.
’Damn it!’
Cecilia tilted her head up to look at the man before her and hesitantly spoke.
"Mr. Hawthorne, could you give this figurine to me?"
Sebastian Hawthorne didn’t answer, seemingly considering it.
He didn’t reply, and she didn’t look away, continuing to gaze up at him.
’How did I not notice before how much taller he is than me?’
Just as Cecilia was about to give up, the man’s deep voice finally broke the silence.
"Why?"
Cecilia: "Because it’s a memory of my wonderful youth."
Sebastian Hawthorne: "It’s related to my youth, too."
"Uh..." Cecilia scratched her head, unsure how to respond.
She had noticed earlier that the figurines in the display case covered almost every hero from the game’s initial launch, including many in their pre-revamp designs.
’He must be a long-time player.’
’A long-time player who’s not very skilled and is actually terrible at the game.’
She really had no reason to ask him to part with something he treasured.
The main point was that her design was never officially used, so Sebastian Hawthorne couldn’t have gotten the detailed specs for her sketch. The only possibility was that the company made it and gave it to him.
Considering his status and the amount of money he must have spent on the game, it would be normal for the company to send him a figurine.
’But!’
’The company made it, but they never even thought to send one to me, the original artist!’
The more Cecilia thought about it, the angrier she got. Her face fell, and she gave up on trying to get the figurine from Sebastian Hawthorne.
’I’m going to take this up with the company.’
’If they don’t send me one, this isn’t over!’
