Chapter 97 – His Second Chance Love: The Freezing Silence

“Are you planning to sleep outside?” He pressed me back into the water again, still not smiling. “Why did you go into the rain?”

I yanked the towel over to cover myself and responded, “I was in a bad mood.”

“In a bad mood?” He sneered, “If everyone tried to die whenever they’re in a bad mood, the streets would be littered with corpses. Sienna, are you tormenting yourself, or are you tormenting me?”

When I tilted my head upward to look at him, I saw my reflection in his eyes. “Can I even do that?” After a pause, I laughed, “Right. You should be together with the love of your life at this time, but you had to come back here because Mrs. Eriksen asked you to. Of course, you’re tormented.”

Ignoring his dour look, I apologized half-heartedly, “I’m sorry. I guarantee that this won’t happen again. It’s getting late, so it’s best if you go back and accompany your love. I’m going to rest now.”

“Sienna Stanhope!” he gritted out. “Do you have to speak so sarcastically?”

At that, I raised my brows and derided, “You’re overthinking this. How can I possibly be sarcastic? I’m just stating the truth.”

“You-” Huffing an angry laugh, he scooped me out of the water and threw me onto the bed.

Promptly, I grabbed the blanket to cover myself, and he sneered, “I can’t believe you actually feel embarrassed.”

I ignored him again. Pursing my lips, I swept my gaze at the side of the bed but found no clothes. The next thing I saw was him taking off his soaked jacket.

Half of his dress shirt was wet, and the fabric was clinging to his muscular chest. The sight of him was tempting, but I pursed my lips into a thin line. “Anthony, I don’t want to do it with you.”

His hands that were unbuttoning his shirt paused for a second before he barked out a laugh. “I see you have confidence in my energy.” After glancing at me, he uttered, “Don’t worry. I’m not that absurd.”

Once he unbuttoned his shirt, he threw it aside before working on his belt. After he took off his pants and hunched over, I spotted a massive scar on his back, and I froze.

It seemed like the plane crash had been bad.

He then tossed his pants aside. When he noticed me staring at his scar, he frowned and said, “I’d do the same for anyone.”

I kept quiet as I averted my eyes and covered the blanket over my head.

Unfortunately, there was a price to pay for my idiotic actions. In the middle of the night, I started having a high fever. As my throat was dry, my hands fumbled around for a glass of water in my feverish daze, and I nearly flew off the bed.

Luckily for me, Anthony was swift to hold me before I fell off the bed. He seemed as if he just woke, for his voice was still hoarse. “What’s wrong?”

My head kept spinning, and my voice was hoarse. It took me ages to spit out a few words, “I am thirsty.”

Turning on the bedside lamp, he got out of bed to get me a glass of water. After drinking, some of my discomfort dissipated, but I still felt weak and dizzy.

Noticing something was amiss with me, he touched my forehead to check my temperature. Realizing it was warmer than usual, he stood up and got changed. Right then, I held the edge of his shirt and mumbled, “We can’t go to the hospital.”

Medication and injections were not good for the baby.

He frowned as sweat started beading his forehead. “If we’re not going to the hospital, I’ll call Jared for a house visit.” With that said, he called him.

After some hushed words with Jared over the phone, he entered the bathroom. When he came back out, he placed a wet towel on my forehead before he went to boil some water.

In a daze from the fever, I did not realize when Jared came. It was only when he was speaking with Anthony, then did my mind cleared a little.

“Why did she suddenly get a high fever? She’s already five months pregnant, and the baby’s body is developing at this time. Something might go wrong easily.”

Jared was the one who had a reprimanding tone.

“She was in the rain for half an hour,” came Anthony’s voice.

“You’ve been too careless. Pregnant women have mood swings, and so many things had happened lately. She kept everything to herself, and she has no way of venting her feelings other than doing this.”

My head continued to spin, so I could not continue eavesdropping on their conversation.

For the rest of the night, I alternated between feeling cold and hot, and my sleep was restless.

By the time I woke again, it was already the following night. Out of motherly instincts, I reached out to touch my stomach, relieved to find it still large.

I slowly breathed out and closed my eyes to settle my emotion. I open them again only after I felt calmer.

There was no one in the room. Feeling thirsty, I crawled up and was about to get down from the bed when I realized my legs were weak.

The moment my feet touched the ground, my entire body fell.

Shocked, I grabbed the bedside table. Fortunately, my knees were the ones to land on the floor, so I was fine. On the other hand, the things on the bedside table were not as fortunate as they all crashed to the floor.

The room door suddenly swung open, and I saw Anthony coming in with papers still in his hand. It seemed like he had rushed over after hearing the noise.

When he saw me kneeling on the ground, he furrowed his brows and carried me back up onto the bed. He asked in a low voice, “What are you doing?”

“I want to get some water,” I replied, feeling sore in my throat.

After putting some pillows behind me to support me into a sitting position, he turned and poured me a glass of water. While holding the glass to my lips, he muttered, “You have a phone by the side of the bed. Call me or Mrs. Eriksen if you need anything. Just don’t be stubborn.”

I nodded quietly.

I felt much better after drinking some water.

He then looked at me and inquired, “Are you hungry?”

I shook my head before my gaze landed on the documents in his hands. It was HiTech’s case files for the new product launch.

I stiffened before averting my eyes to stare at the wall instead.

Noticing my actions, he handed the file to me and asked, “This is HiTech’s latest proposal. Do you want to have a look?”

I shook my head again, feeling a little upset as I answered, “It’s alright.”

Since I had already left Featherstone Corporation, no matter how unhappy I felt, I could not make a fuss about it. My current priority was to give birth to the baby safely.

“Once you’ve given birth to the baby, you can go back to work if you want to. It’s my fault about Featherstone Corporation and HiTech’s audit, not yours.”

Hearing him initiate the topic himself, I knitted my brows.

Although I was unhappy, I did not know what to tell him about it, so I remained silent.

Hearing my silence, he must have thought that I was still unable to let it go. Hence, he said, “HiTech is still yours. No matter what happens from now on, it’ll always be yours. Please rest well for the baby.”

“Anthony,” I called out, my voice slightly rough. “About the accident that happened when you sent Rylee to K City and the Featherstone Corporation’s emergency. Were these all part of your plan?”

These two incidents had happened too coincidentally, and after they happened, I ruminated over all kinds of possibilities. The only possibility I dared not think about was the possibility that they were all part of Anthony’s plan.

He looked at me with a stern gaze. “Are you suspecting that I’ve used you as the scapegoat?”

My heart ached as I stared at him. “From the moment I entered the company, I’ve been in charge of the projects. I’ve never done any marketing and auditing jobs. Yet, after completing Dr. Ludwick’s case, you put me in charge of the audits for Featherstone Corporation and HiTech. Based on what I gather from how you usually work, you’d give me only one case at a time. However, you’ve given me both at the same time.”

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