Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Poaching
Cough cough cough—
Ann Vaughn had just composed her thoughts and emotions, but his simple and blunt words instantly shattered them. She looked at him in disbelief with wide-open eyes.
At this moment, Cyrus Hawthorne’s narrowed eyes were cast down, an uncommonly melancholic expression on his face, almost making Ann Vaughn feel the illusion that she was a scumbag husband about to abandon his wife and child!
Ann Vaughn felt a waterfall of sweat flowing inside her heart, and it took great effort to stabilize her thoughts and not be swayed by his words.
"So what if I did? Apart from that, I have no other thoughts about you, and please do not come to pick me up or interfere in my personal affairs in the future." Ann Vaughn got out of the car, took out a brocade box and placed it on the seat, "I’ll return this to you."
Inside the brocade box, the Xianxi Diamond refracted brilliant colors under the car lights, looking extremely beautiful.
No woman could resist the charm of a diamond, especially such a unique and rare one.
After leaving the villa last time, Ann Vaughn discovered that the diamond had been lying in her coat. While doing experiments, some dirt accidentally stained the coat. Since it couldn’t be washed out, she planned to throw it away.
If she hadn’t checked, she almost wouldn’t have found this brocade box.
She didn’t know if the man was crazy or thought ten billion was burning his hands.
To just put this diamond in her coat, treating it as casually as a stray item picked up on the roadside, not as something obtained for a high price at an auction!
Ann Vaughn was not particularly passionate about diamonds, but for a rare Xianxi Diamond, she couldn’t help but be curious and fond of it.
However, she couldn’t accept such a valuable thing, thereby involving more complexities between them.
She had never forgotten what her original goal was.
Just as Ann Vaughn turned to leave, a low voice that seemed to be suppressing something came from behind her, "I can’t interfere in your personal affairs, but your fiancé can, right?"
Ann Vaughn’s back stiffened slightly. She stood still for a few seconds, then left without a word.
Watching that slender figure walk farther and farther away, as if approaching the edge of his world line step by step, Cyrus Hawthorne’s narrowed eyes flickered with light.
A volcano suppressed at the bottom of his eyes suddenly revealed slight cracks, yet just as it was about to erupt, all the light was completely overturned.
After a moment, he picked up the brocade box Ann Vaughn had left on the seat. His long fingers pinched the edge of the box, the joints turning a pale blue, restrained but unreleased.
Want to leave his world?
His little fox seemed not to have understood yet, that from the moment they reunited, she lost the right to escape.
"Heh." A light laugh spilled from his thin lips. Cyrus Hawthorne gathered the thoughts in his eyes and casually tossed the brocade box into the back seat.
As if it were not ten billion but worthless trash that did not gain Ann Vaughn’s favor.
In the apartment.
Ann Vaughn’s legs were a bit weak as she leaned against the door, her bright eyes looking at the rhomboid lamp beside the shelf, her gaze somewhat scattered.
She was scared to death.
Although she appeared very calm on the surface, facing Cyrus Hawthorne’s attitude of treating her like prey, unhurried and slow, peeling her layer by layer to swallow her whole.
It felt as if no matter how fast or far she ran, she could never escape the cage he personally wove.
Such a dangerous Cyrus Hawthorne inevitably made her uneasy, even more than before.
Too terrifying, she needed to calm down a bit.
Ann Vaughn changed into slippers and quickly went into the lab to continue her research on the OX virus.
But no matter how she tried to divert her attention, that scene kept involuntarily appearing in her mind.
Cyrus Hawthorne with a smile on his lips, only a slight chill in his brows, looking at her as if everything she said and did was just a kitten teasing around.
Only the last phrase he said was icy and bone-chilling.
"Stop thinking about it!" Ann Vaughn shook her head, chasing away all those thoughts, and continued to focus back on the experimental data.
Speaking of which, the reason why Group A has not figured out the OX virus for so long, apart from its constant mutations, is due to many special factors.
Therefore, the data Ann Vaughn obtained before couldn’t be used because if the experiments followed the previous approach, not only would it waste time, but she would end up reluctant to overturn the existing experimental results, leading to making one mistake after another.
It was not until late at night that Ann Vaughn put down the semi-finished antidote and left the lab.
Sherry had just come to deliver milk and a late-night snack. Seeing her come out, Sherry placed the items on the dining table, "Annie, how are you adapting in the research institute?"
Ann Vaughn stretched lazily and, looking at the seafood noodles in front of her, felt tempted, "It’s alright, just haven’t found any clues about their virus manufacturing."
"If they’re determined to do such things, they won’t easily reveal it to someone who just joined the institute not long ago, and you have such an influence internationally. They’ll have to weigh the consequences."
"That’s what I think too," Ann Vaughn nodded, "there’s no new information from abroad either, I can only investigate it myself."
Sherry replied, her expression inexplicably becoming a bit complicated, as if hesitating about something.
"There’s something I need to tell you first."
"What is it?"
"The eldest master’s sister, Miss Jane Sheridan, she came looking for me, seemed like she wanted me to work as her assistant to help her." Sherry sighed, "But don’t worry, I didn’t agree to it."
Stealing talent?
Ann Vaughn’s lips twitched slightly, "As expected, she’s overstepping her bounds."
Still, she couldn’t help but be curious, "Why didn’t you agree? She’s from the Sheridan Family and Elliot’s sister."
Sherry shook her head, "It’s a long story, and I don’t want to taint your ears with it. But regarding Miss Jane Sheridan, you should be careful. She’s someone who will do anything to achieve her goals."
It was Ann Vaughn’s first time hearing Sherry speak such words to her. In the past, she rarely mentioned matters related to the Sheridan Family.
"Don’t worry, she’s difficult to deal with, but I’m no pushover myself."
Sherry couldn’t help but laugh at her, "Who describes themselves like that? By the way, the owner of The Gilded Pavilion sent an invitation over, asking you to visit Silver Beach tomorrow."
Silver Beach again.
Those two words were far from pleasant.
After finishing the last sip of milk, Ann Vaughn nodded, "I figured it’d be about now, the owner of The Gilded Pavilion has been patient."
If she had proactively contacted The Gilded Pavilion these past few days, in the owner’s eyes, she’d be categorized as untrustworthy.
But letting them wait, now it’s the other side that’s growing impatient.
That’s human nature.
Those rare and invaluable medicinal herbs probably aren’t so easy to obtain either.
The next day, after dropping Sherry off at the studio, Ann Vaughn headed straight to Villa 09 at Silver Beach.