Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Couldn’t Bear to Leave Him
Cecilia Croft waited for about half an hour, but there was still no response from Sebastian Hawthorne. This only strengthened her suspicions.
’Then again, that makes sense.’
She didn’t message Sebastian Hawthorne again, not wanting to bother him.
She put down her phone and fell straight to sleep.
The distraction from Sebastian Hawthorne had cleared her mind of the messy thoughts about Jude Sheridan, allowing her to drift off to sleep quickly.
「The next morning.」
Cecilia Croft got up and washed.
A call came in from Jude Sheridan.
Cecilia glanced at the screen before answering.
"Cecilia, I was drunk last night. I didn’t do anything out of line, did I?"
The moment he opened his eyes that morning, he saw Jessica Keller lying beside him and broke out in a cold sweat.
He had drunk a bit too much last night, and his memory was hazy. He only remembered seeing Sebastian Hawthorne off with Cecilia; the rest was a blur.
Cecilia said, "Who knows? It’s not like I was watching you every second, was I? Why don’t you call someone else and ask?"
Jude Sheridan fell silent.
Cecilia put her phone aside and continued with what she was doing.
He didn’t speak, and neither did she.
After a long while, so long that Cecilia thought Jude had hung up, his voice finally came through again.
"Cecilia, aren’t you going to see Mr. Hawthorne to sign the contract today? Let me come with you. I’ll come pick you up right now."
Cecilia scoffed. "Didn’t you say you blacked out? How come you remember this so clearly?"
Jude was taken aback by her words for a moment before replying.
"You worked so hard to land this partnership with the Hawthorne Group; of course I wouldn’t forget. Let me go with you. You haven’t been at the company for the past six months, so you’re not that familiar with the business operations. I’m afraid that..."
Cecilia cut him off.
"You’re afraid? Funny, you didn’t seem so afraid last night when you were running your mouth in front of Mr. Hawthorne."
She couldn’t let Jude Sheridan go with her to sign the contract, so she decided to make a preemptive strike.
"Jude Sheridan, I’m the one who should be afraid. You nearly ruined everything last night. This partnership with the Hawthorne Group is a critical turning point for both of us. I don’t need your help—just stay out of my way and don’t cause any more trouble."
"Cecilia..."
Cecilia hung up on him, giving him no chance to speak.
She finished her makeup, changed her clothes, and headed out.
Before getting in the car, she glanced at her messaging app. Sebastian Hawthorne hadn’t replied to her message from last night.
’I wonder if he’s even awake yet.’
The thought that even the automated system was better than him made Cecilia want to laugh.
She drove to the Hawthorne Group’s branch office. Before she could even park, she saw Jude Sheridan’s car was also there.
Cecilia’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, her expression turning cold.
When Jude saw her, he immediately got out of his car and walked toward her.
Cecilia took a quiet, deep breath and pulled her car into a parking space.
A smile on his face, Jude stood by her car and thoughtfully opened the door for her.
"Cecilia, I’ll go up with you. I can also apologize to Mr. Hawthorne. I really did drink too much last night and have no idea what I was saying."
Cecilia glanced at the hastily prepared gift box in Jude’s hand, her eyes filled with disdain.
"Jude Sheridan, if you don’t want to land this deal, just say so. Do you have any idea who Mr. Hawthorne is? What his status is? And you bring this pathetic little gift box? Aren’t you embarrassed by how cheap this looks?"
"We’ve been together for so many years. How have you still not unlearned those bad habits you picked up from your mother?"
Stung by Cecilia’s undisguised contempt, Jude’s hand tightened around the gift box, veins popping on its back.
"Cecilia, I had to prepare this on short notice, so of course it’s not as good as something planned in advance. Besides, even if you’re not happy with it, you shouldn’t drag my mom into this. It wasn’t easy for her to raise me all by herself, so..."
Cecilia interrupted, "So? So for our wedding jewelry, you had your mom buy me gold-plated silver?"
Jude Sheridan was completely unaware of this, his expression becoming strained.
"Cecilia, it’s not..."
"So you’ve been upset recently because of this?"
His tense expression relaxed considerably.
Cecilia sneered, "Jude Sheridan, I don’t want to see you right now. Could you please stop trying to drag me down?"
With that, she strode toward the Hawthorne Group’s office building.
Jude followed behind her.
As soon as Cecilia entered the lobby, a receptionist immediately came up to greet her.
"President Croft, Mr. Hawthorne asked me to take you up."
Cecilia nodded.
Jude hurried over to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Cecilia.
"Cecilia, let’s put our problems aside for now. I’m going up with you."
Cecilia stopped and glanced sideways at him.
’To think he’d still follow me after I humiliated him like that.’
’He certainly doesn’t seem to care about his pride right now.’
The receptionist standing nearby noticed the tension between them and said in a low voice.
"President Croft, my apologies, but your appointment with Mr. Hawthorne is for one person. Only you can go up."
Cecilia let out a quiet sigh of relief and nodded slightly.
"Alright."
Jude frowned, a flash of displeasure in his eyes. Just as he was about to speak, Cecilia shot him a look, her gaze once again sweeping disdainfully over the thing he was carrying.
"Could you stop embarrassing yourself? You can’t use being drunk as an excuse today."
Everyone around them was watching.
A flicker of anger crossed Jude’s eyes, but he knew that arguing with Cecilia here would have a significant negative impact on Vantage.
His face hardened. He clenched the hand hanging at his side and had no choice but to concede.
"Then I’ll wait for you here."
Cecilia didn’t answer, simply allowing the receptionist to lead her into the executive elevator.
As she turned, she saw Jude walk out of the lobby, gift box in hand. Even his back radiated frustration.
In his circle, he had always been the one people looked up to.
Coming from a rural background and building his success from scratch, he certainly had reason to be proud.
But when faced with figures like Sebastian Hawthorne, the ugliness and inferiority complex hidden deep inside him would be triggered.
Cecilia knew him well; it was all too easy to poke his sore spots.
In the past, she had always been considerate of his feelings, not wanting to put too much pressure on him, so she never brought these things up.
But in the end, he took her for granted, thinking she had no one else to rely on and would never leave him, so he started keeping a mistress.
This was only the beginning.
There were still seven days left.
She would make him see clearly what his world was truly supposed to look like.
Jude suddenly felt a sharp gaze fixed on him. He turned and his eyes met Cecilia’s as she stood in the elevator.
In the instant the elevator doors closed, he clearly saw through the gap the cold indifference in Cecilia’s eyes and the contempt she held for him, as if he were an ant.
An inexplicable panic seized Jude. He stood frozen in place, his mind in chaos, feeling as if something important was slipping away from his life.
But after a moment of confusion, he calmed down.
’Cecilia has no family left. We’ve been together for so many years, we’re practically family ourselves. She could never bear to leave me.’
