After His Sweetheart Moved In, He Came Home Every Night-Chapter 196: Introducing Alice York to the Hawthornes
"Don’t come in, I’m fine."
Seraphina Sheridan’s voice came from the bathroom. If you listened closely, you could tell she was gritting her teeth against the pain.
Julian Dalton had sharp ears; he heard it.
He ignored Seraphina’s "don’t come in" and instead asked Yael, "Is she dressed?"
Yael nodded.
Once he confirmed Seraphina was dressed, Julian Dalton turned and went inside. The moment he entered, he saw Seraphina crouched on the floor. It looked like a bad fall.
"Where did you fall?" Julian Dalton asked, stepping through the steam.
Seraphina hadn’t expected him to come in after all. She quickly raised a hand to cover her chest. "I just twisted my ankle. It’s nothing serious. I’ll be fine after a minute. You should go."
Her clothes were loose, and she wasn’t wearing a bra. She couldn’t bear the embarrassment of facing Julian Dalton like this.
"Fine after a minute?" Julian Dalton walked over, step by step. "It looks to me like a nasty sprain."
"Don’t come any closer!" Seraphina kept her head down. "Please, Mr. Dalton, just get someone for me."
"I’m right here. Why bother someone else?" Julian Dalton bent down to help Seraphina up.
Seraphina cried out in pain. "Gently, gently!"
"Can’t go slow. The slower I am, the more it’ll hurt." With that, Julian Dalton swept Seraphina up into his arms.
Catching a glimpse of the contours of her chest, his expression turned complicated. "Are you not wearing a..."
Seraphina covered herself. "Don’t look."
Julian Dalton scoffed. "What’s there to see? You’ve got a stumpy figure."
"..."
’If I have a stumpy figure, then the world needs a new standard for what a good body looks like!’
As they left the bathroom, Yael followed behind them like a little tail, her face etched with worry. She asked if it hurt and even offered to blow on it to make it better. Seraphina’s heart melted.
Julian Dalton placed Seraphina on the bed. His arm accidentally brushed against her chest, and it stiffened for a moment.
"Soft?"
Seraphina asked, looking up at him.
As if possessed, Julian Dalton almost uttered the word—soft.
’Like a cloud, like a puff of cotton, unbelievably soft.’
"Mr. Dalton, aren’t you going to move your hand?" Seraphina asked through gritted teeth, her patience wearing thin.
Julian Dalton feigned composure, slowly and deliberately withdrawing his hand. "That wasn’t intentional."
"I know," Seraphina replied quickly.
Julian Dalton reminded her, "Put one on."
What she should put on was self-evident.
Compared to Julian Dalton’s feigned composure, Seraphina was genuinely calm. "I do need to put one on, but are you planning to stand here and watch me, Mr. Dalton?"
"..."
Catching the shrewd glint in her eyes from the corner of his, he suddenly laughed.
Seraphina: "What’s so funny?"
Julian Dalton said, "I’ll stay right here and watch you get dressed. I’ve never witnessed such a spectacular scene before."
"Don’t you have a woman?"
The question slipped out before Seraphina could stop it.
Yael looked at Seraphina curiously. Seraphina hadn’t been embarrassed, but under Yael’s gaze, the tips of her ears suddenly turned red.
Julian Dalton assumed Seraphina was mocking him for not having a woman. "Whether I have a woman, or how many I have, do I have to report them all to you? Who do you think you are?"
Yael then looked back at her dad.
Julian Dalton’s expression suddenly froze. He regretted saying that.
"You don’t have to tell me. I already know. Mr. Dalton has a woman—in fact, he has many women." Seraphina considered her understanding of the situation to be spot on.
However, after hearing this, Julian Dalton’s face grew even darker.
He turned and walked out.
At the doorway, he turned back, pointed at Seraphina, but seemed at a loss for words.
Seraphina raised an eyebrow, a smug look on her face.
After Julian Dalton left, Seraphina let out a sigh of relief. But before she could fully exhale, her phone rang.
"Auntie Seraphina, you have a call." Yael came pattering over, holding the phone out to Seraphina.
Seraphina was about to say thank you, but when she saw the caller ID, her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. ’Why would Mrs. Quinn suddenly call me? She couldn’t possibly know already that I’ve been in contact with that man Dalton...’
...
「Dusk had fallen over Arden.」
The Hawthorne Residence was not receiving any guests tonight, but everyone in the Hawthorne clan knew that Evelyn Hawthorne had been brought home.
Xavier Hawthorne and his wife didn’t plan to publicly announce the return of their long-lost daughter just yet, and everyone else was tactful enough not to send people to inquire, simply waiting for the official day.
The heavy iron gates slowly swung open.
A convoy of over a dozen cars slowly drove through the grand entrance of the Hawthorne Residence.
The birds circling in the sky were a nationally protected species. Their cries at this moment seemed to be welcoming the return of the masters of this magnificent estate.
The butler stood at the very front, with bodyguards and servants lined up in neat rows, bowing their heads in a solemn welcome.
"Well? Can you see her? Can you see her?" Finn Hawthorne asked again and again.
Behind the Hawthorne Residence stood a high tower, with a few birds circling around it. Two people were standing on the tower’s observation deck.
Alice York was holding a pair of binoculars, watching the long motorcade. The lead car stopped, its door slowly opened, and someone got out.
"Hold on, I’ll be able to see in a second." Alice York tightened her grip on the binoculars.
’It wasn’t my idea to come to the Hawthorne estate, but since I’m here, I might as well get a look at the long-lost Miss Hawthorne.’
"Hasn’t she gotten out yet?" Finn Hawthorne couldn’t resist the urge to take the binoculars back. He wanted to see, too.
The tower was too far from the main gate. Even with 20/20 vision, he couldn’t see clearly.
"Someone’s out, but it’s your brother. I don’t see your sister," Alice York said.
Finn Hawthorne asked, "What about my parents?"
Alice York shook her head. "Don’t see them either."
"That’s impossible. They were all supposed to come back together," Finn Hawthorne said, puzzled.
Alice York lowered the binoculars and handed them to Finn Hawthorne. "See for yourself."
Finn Hawthorne took the binoculars and looked. Alice said from the side, "See? They’re not there."
"You’re right, I don’t see them. It’s just my brother... wait... they’re in the last car." After speaking, Finn Hawthorne immediately handed the binoculars back to Alice. "Quick, look! That’s her, my sister, Evelyn Hawthorne."
Alice York took the binoculars back. As she looked, she was surprised to meet a man’s gaze.
Xavier Hawthorne couldn’t make out the people on the tower. From this distance, he could only see two figures. One of them, judging by their build, was more or less his hapless younger son. The other was hard to tell.
"Who are you looking at?"
Gemma Garland walked over, following Xavier Hawthorne’s gaze up toward the tower.
In her fifties, Gemma Garland’s face was well-preserved. Her figure had grown slightly plump, giving her a prosperous and dignified air, and she carried herself with a powerful presence.
Beside Gemma Garland stood Xavier Hawthorne. He was tall and imposing, also in his fifties, with a straight back and not an ounce of excess fat on him. Only his temples were streaked with gray, and his expression was naturally commanding.
Xavier Hawthorne withdrew his gaze and said, "It’s Finn. I don’t know who the other person is. I can’t see clearly."
"Doesn’t Finn know what day it is? Why would he bring someone back?" Gemma Garland’s tone was clearly displeased.
"The person with Finn is probably a new friend of his."
Felix Hawthorne’s voice came from behind them.
The couple turned around at the same time.
Gemma Garland was the first to ask, "Man or woman? When did they become friends?"
Felix Hawthorne didn’t say when, simply replying, "A woman."
Gemma Garland: "A girlfriend?"
"Of course not. Finn is still young and has no interest in dating," Felix Hawthorne said in an unhurried tone. "Later, we can have Finn introduce the girl to you."
