Chapter 129: Chapter 127: Hurry Back and Have a Good ’Exchange’ (7)
A glint of amusement appeared in Marlon Marshall’s eyes. "If I retaliated, wouldn’t that make me just like him?"
"That’s true." Jean Grant rested her head on his shoulder. They talked for a while longer before she reluctantly left.
She didn’t know the real reason Marlon didn’t fight back. ’Even if I flew into a rage, cursed him out, and threw punches, what good would it do?’
’In terms of family background, I’m no match for Ethan Ellsworth. In terms of fame and popularity, I’m even further behind.’
’If we fought until we were both battered and bruised, it would only bring trouble and unknown risks to my humble family. It’s better to let him act as arrogant as he pleases. After all, isn’t his arrogance just because I have Jean Grant, the one woman he can’t have?’
’He might have money, power, and a family background. He might be popular, famous, and handsome, but he still can’t get the woman he wants, can he?’
’The woman I got so easily is someone he could work himself to death for and never have. Isn’t that tragic?’
In the blink of an eye, it was 10:30 PM, but there was still no sign that Nora Ainsworth would show up.
Even Quentin Grant, who had been so confident, was growing incredibly anxious.
His emotions became a tangled mess. ’Was it really her?’
’What if I was mistaken—’
He shook his head. ’That familiar feeling... it’s etched into my very soul. How could I be wrong?’
’But why hasn’t she come?’
’Does she think I’m safe tonight?’
The door was pushed open. His expression tensed, but it was only Ethan Ellsworth and Chloe Marshall returning.
"What’s wrong with you?" Quentin Grant asked, seeing how awful Ethan’s expression was.
Herman Hawthorne didn’t even have to think. "He must’ve gotten another earful from your sister."
A hint of helplessness colored Quentin Grant’s voice. "Ethan, you should just turn your attention to other women. She’s just a heartless girl. After all this time, she still hasn’t noticed that you treat her differently. If that’s not heartless, what is?"
Ethan Ellsworth changed the subject. "Let’s not talk about depressing things. I’m telling you, Young Master Grant, are you sure you weren’t just lovesick and had one of *those* dreams last night, which made you connect it to the woman on the surveillance footage? It was probably just someone with a similar figure."
Quentin Grant raised a hand to stop him. "I think I can tell the difference between a dream and reality. She will come."
Ethan Ellsworth thought he was possessed. "It’s already 10:30. She’s still going to come? Yeah, right. In your dreams."
Herman Hawthorne laughed. "This is just how men and women in love are—crazy. Ai, when will my love story begin?"
Ethan Ellsworth sat down next to him. "If I weren’t your friend, seriously, I would really think there were two possibilities for your sexual orientation."
"What do you mean?"
"The two possibilities are: one, you’re still into women, but you just haven’t met ’the one’ you’d give your heart to. You clearly fall into the ’haven’t met anyone’ category. The second possibility is that you’ve been completely... bent. You know what I mean."
Herman Hawthorne let out a low laugh. "If you dare bring up that second possibility again, believe me, I’ll crush you like a bag of instant noodles."
Ethan Ellsworth snorted. "I’m not the one who should be worried. What the hell are you so worked up about?"
Quentin Grant turned on the karaoke machine, casually selecting a song to listen to. "Midnight. If she doesn’t show up by midnight, I’ll have my men turn Alveria upside down and dig three feet deep if I have to, but I will find her."
The four of them stayed there, continuing their vigil, hoping she would arrive.
In Quentin Grant’s mind, if she appeared tonight, he would gladly give up twenty years of his life. He finally understood that he could not live without her.
When Nora Ainsworth looked down through her binoculars again, she saw that Quentin Grant’s and Ethan Ellsworth’s cars were still there.
’Did he get drunk again?’
She looked again more carefully. The number of people on the street had dwindled. She glanced up at the sky; it looked like it was about to rain again.
Nora Ainsworth lowered the binoculars and went back into her bedroom.
She opened her closet, which was filled with the new autumn clothes she had bought.
In the end, she changed into a blue headscarf, a long sweater, and a long trench coat over it. She pulled on a pair of black leggings and thigh-high boots, and didn’t forget to grab her phone before heading out.
As she stepped into the elevator, she was still hesitating. ’Should I go check on him or not?’
’But if I don’t go, I’ll feel uneasy. What if some other woman tries to pull a dirty trick on him and he falls for it? Wouldn’t that be even worse?’
With that thought, she steeled her resolve.
’One last time. This will be the last time I go see him.’
’I will absolutely not go again after this. If I go one more time, I’ll chop off one of my own toes!’
Just as she was leaving her residential complex, Nora Ainsworth had to stop in her tracks again.
’If I get caught, how do I explain myself?’
’Claim to be Nora Ainsworth’s long-lost twin sister?’
’Or claim I had plastic surgery to look like this just to get close to Quentin Grant?’
’Or maybe I’ll go with the cliché story about coming back from the dead with amnesia?’
Nora Ainsworth thought about it and realized her imagination was running wild. She shoved her hands into her coat pockets and stood there, hesitating.
Time waits for no one.
The seconds ticked by, one by one.
Finally, Nora Ainsworth pulled a coin from her pocket and muttered, "Heads, I go home. Tails, I go."
She tossed it into the air, her eyes fixed on the spinning coin as it landed on the ground.
She crouched next to the coin, waiting for it to stop spinning.
Finally, after several long seconds, the coin stopped. It was tails.
’Perhaps fate wanted them to meet.’ Nora Ainsworth stood up, the conflict in her heart finally vanishing.
She looked at the flashing neon lights and a smile spread across her face.
She started walking toward Lips in Motion.
The Men in Black, who had been standing guard all day and half the night, spotted the "suspicious" person but didn’t report it immediately. Only when Nora Ainsworth got closer did one of the plainclothes agents get a clear look at her eyes. He immediately spun around and quickly dialed Quentin Grant’s number.
He moved farther away to keep Nora Ainsworth from hearing him.
Once the call connected and he heard the Young Master answer, the man in black finally let out a long sigh of relief. ’Mission accomplished at last!’
The informant inside also quickly retreated to the main entrance.
Nora Ainsworth made her way to the second floor with practiced ease.
The hallway was just as quiet as before, with not a soul in sight. Her feet stopped precisely in front of the door to the room where Quentin Grant had been last night.
’It wouldn’t be right to just barge in like this.’
Nora Ainsworth thought, ’Maybe I should go find Ruby and see if he still wants me to play the piano. That way, I’d have a legitimate reason to be here.’
With that in mind, Nora Ainsworth moved away from the door and went to the private room where she had gotten paid by Ruby the night before.
"Ruby."
When Ruby saw her, she smiled. "I was starting to think you weren’t coming. It’s perfect timing. The guest from last night said he wanted you to play the piano for him again. He said listening to you play puts him in a much better mood."
Nora Ainsworth nodded. "Perfect. I came to work my part-time shift anyway."
Ruby handed her the white cloak. "The pay is the same as yesterday. Go on."
Nora Ainsworth took it. "Thank you, Ruby."
Ruby smiled. "Hurry along now."
