Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 37: Same Person?

Andrew couldn’t believe the woman’s audacity.

She had stood in his office like a mouse caught in a cage being appraised by a deadly cat.

"I said... come here." He’d said, and it wasn’t a request—it was a damn order. So how dare she...

He still couldn’t believe it.

The audacious girl had actually confidently said to his face, "Why should I?"

And before he knew it, she was running right out of his office.

A curse slipped out of his mouth.

She dared to run away from him again? She actually dared?

Before he could stop himself, he was out of his seat, going towards her with long strides.

Those short legs of hers trying to run away from him were making a pathetic attempt because he was soon closing in on her, but then she unexpectedly rushed in another direction.

He stopped with a small smirk hanging on his lips.

She must have thought she’d escaped, but she’d fallen right into the palm of his hands.

He took a very familiar shortcut, and he emerged in the darkness where the girl was actually waiting in the dark for him to show up, unexpecting him to suddenly come from behind her instead.

He grabbed her then. Hearing her gasp, he made sure she was trapped against him with no way of escaping.

"How dare you? Who gave you the idea that you could leave while I’m still talking to you?"

Her large eyes were wide open, staring at his shadow in the darkness searchingly as if her brain was working to figure out something.

"I asked you a damn question. Do not make me repeat myself."

Anne broke out of her riveting thoughts at the edge of anger in his voice. But the idea had implanted in her mind, and it couldn’t be discarded.

This man... Andrew Sterling... and that man... the one whose name she didn’t even know, the one whose face she couldn’t recognize... the one who’d kissed her and even... touched her.

These two people—why did they feel so similar?

This wasn’t a sudden idea that came to her mind abruptly, it was a suspicion she’d had the other day when she’d seen Andrew Sterling in the elevator and his eyes seemed to have captivated her, but she’d dismissed it then. However, right now... the feeling was so strong she couldn’t shake it off.

It felt like she’d returned to that particular night, and that man was the one standing in front of her. But she knew it wasn’t—the person in front of her was clearly Andrew Sterling.

Andrew Sterling was a domineering man who was full of himself. He couldn’t possibly be the masked person she was currently contracted to.

Obviously, this man was obsessed with himself. Did he think he was some respectable ruler no one should dare to walk away from? To think he’d actually taken his time to come all the way after her just because she walked out on him was hilarious.

His hands, which had grabbed both her wrists against the wall, tightened at the annoyance that she hadn’t answered his question.

When the pain of his grip registered, Anne sucked in a painful breath and pushed her way free. The man’s grip had suddenly loosened, which was the reason she managed to escape that easily.

Without a word to reply, she turned to leave. Why should she bother answering someone who’d mercilessly cornered her against a wall? His respect for women was at an all-time low.

Whenever she was around this man, she was made to remember why she disliked tyrannical men.

Anne’s intention to walk away again was, however, stopped by her elbow being suddenly grabbed again by the man, who tugged her against him harshly.

"I told you not to fucking turn your back on me again."

"What exactly do you want from me?" she suddenly questioned, still trying to free her elbow from his grip.

"One second, you tell me not to show my face to you, and the next you’re telling me I have no right to walk out on you."

She suddenly felt her arm being freed. The man released her as if he’d been scorched, but something prompted her to continue talking.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Sterling, I had no idea that you were the modern standard of monarchy. What rights do you think I have exactly? Please do tell me so I don’t make the blunder of disobeying your wishes ever again. Oh, and please do specify when I should show myself to you or not, because you seem to change your mind a lot."

Anne was surprised that he’d suddenly become quiet. Had she rendered him speechless?

She expected another burst of rage, but the man didn’t say a word. He just suddenly walked past her and strode away.

As he brushed past her to leave, Anne felt that sudden sense of familiarity again, and it caused her blood to run cold.

She stood stiff in her spot for a long time before she was able to recover, and when she did, a nagging suspicion had fixed itself in her mind.

Even when she returned to the department, she wasn’t able to focus on anything.

Everything kept piecing itself together in her mind.

Questions birthed more questions, and even more questions the more she thought about them.

Andrew Sterling... couldn’t possibly be that man, right?

Why would he do something like contracting a woman for a child?

He was a man who could get absolutely everything and anything he wanted. He could get a thousand women lining up at his feet. Why would he need to hire a contracted surrogate?

But then again, that nameless masked person was well off too. What was his reason for hiring her?

The mask... could that be the purpose of the mask?

She’d always thought that the reason he wore the mask was because he was hiding something. Perhaps he wasn’t too confident in his looks—or the more plausible reason: he wanted to keep his identity hidden. Hence, she knew nothing about him—not even his name. But...

Anne’s mind was completely clouded by these thoughts that she didn’t notice someone standing next to her desk.

Why did Andrew Sterling seem to despise her right from the beginning?

She recounted her very first encounter with him. That had happened after she’d signed the surrogacy contract, which meant she already knew the masked person by then. But when she met Andrew Sterling, she’d accidentally spilled coffee on him, and she naturally assumed that was the reason he disliked her. But these days... his dislike was becoming something more serious.

’...you have no right to be anywhere around me and you have no right to breathe the same air I do.’

He hated her, without a doubt. But why?

She knew this suspicion in her mind was absolutely ridiculous, but that nagging feeling was like an instinct she couldn’t ignore.

Bang!

Anne was jolted out of her thoughts when someone suddenly banged a fist over her desk. She immediately looked up, only to find Rebecca standing over her.

"I’ve been talking to you for so long. Why the hell were you ignoring me?" Rebecca asked in that haughty tone of hers.

Seeing that Anne didn’t reply, she continued, "Come, let’s have a meeting since the two of us are in charge of the event and... hey, where do you think you’re going?"

Before Rebecca had completed her sentence, Anne had immediately grabbed her bag, rushing out of her spot and out of the office.

No matter how she thought about this, she couldn’t find an answer. The only solution was to confront the answer right in the face.

Anne noticed that it had gotten dark outside and everyone else had left except her and Rebecca, so Anne didn’t even bother to stay and listen to what Rebecca was telling her. She rushed away with one goal in mind.

Finding a cab outside the building, she quickly entered till the cab drove her to her destination. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

She emerged in front of the gigantic manor in the hills with determination in her eyes.

She would make sure to find out if her suspicion was right or not.

Andrew Sterling, and the masked person...were they the same person?