Chapter 701: Chapter 701: Attitude Suddenly Changed
The brat didn’t do anything yet managed to get several sweet kisses from her.
It’s only fair for him to ask for a better reward after soothing her while applying medicine.
Ann Vaughn chuckled, "Cyrus Hawthorne, aren’t you being childish, competing with your son for affection?"
"Mommy belongs solely to Kenny! Kisses are for Kenny too!" Little Dumpling swiftly hugged Ann Vaughn’s waist and made a face at Cyrus Hawthorne.
However, Little Dumpling didn’t stay smug for long; once back at Villa No. 8, Cyrus Hawthorne blocked him from entering the main bedroom.
Little Dumpling was so furious he scratched at the door relentlessly; Uncle Dexter couldn’t persuade him to stop.
Inside the room.
Ann Vaughn sat on the bed, dazed, holding the quilt as she pieced together the fragments she remembered from The Platinum Palace, which indeed revealed suspicious aspects.
The day Cynthia Vaughn kidnapped her to her apartment and pushed her down the stairs leading to her miscarriage...
Why was Jane Sheridan there?
Standing right behind Cynthia Vaughn at the time...
Ann Vaughn carefully recalled the scene of her falling down the stairs; it was indeed Cynthia Vaughn who pushed her, but the panic on Cynthia Vaughn’s face due to the fall was genuine.
Given that Cynthia Vaughn wanted the ancient secret recipe in her hands, she would only act against her once she got it.
Why did Cynthia Vaughn push her, then...
The answer was already emerging.
Ann Vaughn closed her eyes, her pretty face icy cold and pale, devoid of warmth.
No wonder Jane Sheridan returned to Marinia, and they would never intersect again, yet Elias Hawthorne had to monitor her, trying to find dirt.
No wonder every time she saw Jane Sheridan, her subconscious felt like she’d forgotten something crucial.
——So it was this.
The miscarriage had been such a severe blow that she constantly avoided recalling details of that day, and thinking about it occasionally stabbed her heart.
If not for the similar circumstances of falling at The Platinum Palace, reminding her of unwanted memories, she might have continued to evade the matter.
Jane Sheridan...
Ann Vaughn clenched her hands as anger surged in her heart, and when that warm touch brushed her cheek, she reflexively slapped it away!
A crisp "snap" echoed.
And it brought Ann Vaughn back to her senses.
She looked up in a daze, seeing Cyrus Hawthorne sitting at the bed’s edge with an unreadable expression, his hand still in midair, a bright red mark on the back.
Ann Vaughn blinked rapidly, her heart quivering.
Did she just use The Archfiend as a fit venting target?!
Just as Cyrus Hawthorne was about to take action, Ann Vaughn hurriedly grabbed his hand, her tiny hand brushing over it clumsily, "I-I-I didn’t do it on purpose! I’m taking it back!"
Take it back?
Cyrus Hawthorne was almost amused by this heartless little girl.
He lifted his hand to tilt Ann Vaughn’s delicate chin, his narrow gaze intent on her eyes, "Who was the person you were lost in thought about earlier?"
She never hid much on her face.
The frustration, doubt, and pain were all written on it.
Though not pleasant emotions, they could still make him lose control in an instant.
Wanting to remove everything she thought of and destroy those who left deep impressions in her mind—
Until only he remained.
And only he could remain.
——But that’s not possible.
Doing so would only scare her into fleeing panic-stricken, never willing to open up to him with a smile again.
Compared to the thought of never seeing her sweetly reliant smile again, everything else seemed more bearable.
For Ann Vaughn, speaking out the matters troubling her heart now was akin to tearing open a barely healed wound and pouring salt on it, causing another deep-rooted pain.
Even merely opening her mouth had exhausted all her strength.
How could it not hurt?
Other than leaving it to time, she had no means to alleviate the pain.
The darkness and agony in Ann Vaughn’s eyes were too profound; Cyrus Hawthorne’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, his narrow gaze carrying an unrecognizable hint of defeat.
He raised his hand and gently pulled her into his embrace, murmuring in a tone of compromise, "I won’t force you to speak if you don’t want to."
"Don’t show such an expression."
It pained him too.
Ann Vaughn’s eyes shimmered as she returned to reality, her ears filled with the strong rhythm of his heartbeat, alongside his unique faint cedar cool scent.
Gradually, her heartbeat synced with his, returning warmth to her cheeks, inexplicably burning.
Suddenly, she felt like telling him about a secret she had buried deep for over ten years.
That secret was all about him.
...
First Hospital.
The injury on Ann Vaughn’s knee wasn’t serious; she treated it and applied medicine herself, and it was nearly healed overnight, not hindering her walking.
As Ann Vaughn entered the ward, the nurse was changing Miya Yates’s dressing; her calf wound wasn’t bleeding anymore, but the marks were deep, with flesh exposed, quite scary indeed.
The guilt that weighed on Ann Vaughn last night deepened somewhat.
"Young Madam, you’ve come." Miya Yates greeted Ann Vaughn politely with a nod.
In the ward sat another woman dressed elegantly; she saw Ann Vaughn enter, and her gaze transformed.
"I came to see how your injury was doing." Ann Vaughn handed her a bottle of medicine, "If you don’t mind, use this; it’s much more effective than ordinary medicine."
Miya Yates accepted it with a smile, "Young Madam is a renowned doctor, so naturally, it can’t be too bad."
Without asking what the medicine was, she handed it to the nurse.
The woman sitting at the bedside snorted, "Miya, you’re kind-hearted, never thinking ill of people. Who knows if someone added something to the medicine, making it so you never recover?"
The pointed comment made Ann Vaughn look up at her.
Coincidentally, the face was very familiar.
Wasn’t this the same socialite who gossiped about how she married up by leveraging her child in the dress shop the other day?
This world is indeed small.
"Beatrice Strong." Miya Yates frowned and stopped her, "I appreciate the visit, but if there’s nothing else, please leave."
Upon hearing the name, Ann Vaughn coughed lightly.
That name...what a choice.
"I’m considering you!" To lose face in front of Ann Vaughn was more embarrassing for Beatrice Strong than anyone else, feeling too ashamed to remain here, "You’re infuriating!"
After saying this, Beatrice Strong stormed out angrily.
Miya Yates ignored her and instead turned to apologize to Ann Vaughn, "I’m sorry, Young Madam. Although I haven’t known her long, she disrespected you because of me, so I apologize on her behalf."
This respectful demeanor was completely different from the hidden sharpness she showed towards Ann Vaughn in the past, despite her gentle appearance.
Ann Vaughn felt a bit uncomfortable with her being so "friendly"; was she naturally a masochist??