Chapter 26 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

“Four years ago, I brought Grandpa to the southwest border to meet his old comrade-in-arms. On the road, we ran into a group of outlaws.” As he hugged me and spoke, I could hear the melancholy and sorrow in his voice, surprising me quite a bit.

I didn’t know where he was going with this, so I remained silent and allowed him to hug me while I listened to him. “The border was poor and supplies were scarce there. At that time, several border countries were at war with each other. Those outlaws sought asylum and broke into the home of Grandpa’s comrade, trying to threaten us into taking them in. The situation was urgent then. Undocumented individuals were not allowed to sneak into the country. Grandpa was a veteran who guarded the country for decades and would never violate the laws, so he immediately declared that he wouldn’t comply. They were outlaws, so when Grandpa disagreed, they were going to kill him. Grandpa’s comrade died to protect us.”

When he suddenly stopped speaking, I looked up at him and asked curiously, “Then what happened?” My voice was severely hoarse from all the crying just now.

Seeing me take the initiative to ask him, the corners of his mouth rose slightly and he dropped a kiss on my forehead.

With that, he continued, “Then, Grandpa and I fled all the way back into the country. We were running for our lives, so we looked the worse for wear. Halfway, we met a pair of siblings, a boy and a girl. They traveled from D City to abroad for business. Grandpa and I had basically lost all our money and identification documents while we were on the run, so we could only borrow money from the brother and sister for our return back home, but we never expected the outlaws to follow us all the way there, so we ended up dragging the pair of siblings into our mess…”

By then, I had already made a few guesses of my own.

I looked at him and asked, “The pair of siblings were Rylee and her brother?”

He nodded. “Parker sustained a heart injury, so I took him back here to recuperate. He could be cured, but something happened later on. Before he died, he entrusted me to take care of Rylee.”

“They rescued you, so why didn’t Grandpa approve of you and Rylee?” If Grandpa approved of my marriage to Anthony, why not Rylee? After all, she showed up earlier than me, and she and her brother had even saved their lives.

When he saw me staring at him with big round eyes, his lips stretched into a broad smile. “Feeling better now?”

This was the first time he was smiling at me. His smile was gentle, angelic even. There was no coldness or ferocity in sight, only joy.

My breath hitched and I felt shy all of a sudden, trying to squirm out of his arms. “You haven’t answered my question!”

“Those aren’t important anymore. It’s getting late. We should sleep now!” He pulled me against his chest and pressed my hand to his crotch, rasping out in a deep voice, “Sienna, you have to finish what you started.”

My eyes widened as I stared at him with incredulity, and my cheeks flushed crimson red. This man…

“I’m not fully recovered yet!” I protested in a tiny voice.

His breathing grew heavy.

I…

This night was going to be a long one.

It finally ended in the middle of the night. He carried me into the bathroom and helped me wash up before cuddling me to sleep.

In the morning, sunlight seeped through the gaps in the floor-to-ceiling windows. The dappled beams of light on the ground looked like candle lights.

Anthony left for work early, while I lazed in bed for a long time, feeling tired from sleeping so late. When I finally got up, I swept my gaze around the messy bedroom. The air still had a sensual quality to it, hinting of the events that unfurled in here.

Scenes from last night flooded my mind, making me blush furiously.

I never knew that Anthony had such a side!

I was supposed to go to the company today. By the time I got ready, it was already almost ten. Skipping breakfast, I drove directly to the company.

After I parked my car in the parking lot, I was unfortunate to run into Joe at the elevator. Both he and his secretary were holding a stack of papers. Upon seeing me, he released a cold sneer and mocked, “Ms. Stanhope, you’re not even the CEO yet, but here you are, acting like you’re the president. Is Featherstone Corporation going to be changed to Stanhope Corporation?”

Featherstone Corporation started as a real estate company, but in the past few years, it had also began to venture into other markets. Joe had previously started his own company, but after Featherstone Corporation was listed and needed capital flow support, Quinn Corporation merged with Featherstone Corporation.

Joe was a shareholder and managed the company as well. Even though I was also a shareholder, I didn’t own many shares, and these shares were left by Grandpa George for me. Hence, even though the shares were under my name, my right to use them was in Anthony’s hands.

I wasn’t given the position of director right from the start, but had worked my a** off these two years to earn it. But of course, to outsiders, I was someone who used my title as Mrs. Featherstone to climb through the ranks.

That was especially the case for Joe, who assumed I relied on Anthony to gain the position of director. Hence, he greatly looked down on me.

I shot a fleeting glance at the documents in his hands, noting that it was a plan about electronic technology. It seemed like there was going to be a new product launch soon.

“Mr. Quinn, you’re taking it a little too far with your jokes. How could Featherstone Corporation ever become something else? I simply took two days off from work because I wasn’t feeling well, so I’m very touched that you’re so concerned about a mere director like me, Mr. Quinn. Though, it looks like you’re quite busy with work, so it’s better if you focus on getting it done. If you have too many things on your mind, you’d inevitably make mistakes, don’t you agree?”

There were only three of us in the elevator, and I didn’t intend to let him trample on me. However, his secretary was present after all, so I felt quite awkward getting into an argument with him here.

Just as he was about to respond, the elevator doors opened, causing him to bite back his retort. In the end, he only shot me a cold glare and stepped out.

Back in my own office, before I could even settle down, Stacey came in. “Ms. Stanhope, Mr. Featherstone wants to see you in his office.”

My butt hasn’t even warmed my seat. How did Anthony know that I’ve arrived at the company?

Shaking off my bewilderment, I nodded and replied, “Alright. I’ll head up in a bit.”

In Anthony’s office.

Without a single soul here, the large and spacious office area was quiet and empty. I pursed my lips, thinking that only Anthony could stand working in such an environment.

After scanning the area, I spotted Joseph in the secretary’s office with his eyes fixated on his computer, busy with something. I walked over and knocked on his door.

He raised his head and looked over, slightly taken aback when he saw that it was me. “Ms. Stanhope, Mr. Featherstone is in Mr. Quinn’s office. He’ll be back soon.”

I nodded. “Alright. Don’t mind me.”

Then, I went into Anthony’s office and took a book from the shelf before sitting in the lounging area to read it. After the project with Dr. Ludwick was completed, a lot of things had cropped up, so the company hadn’t yet arranged any more projects for me.

I assumed that Anthony called me here to assign me work for the days ahead.

---