Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 42: Boyfriend?

Jasmine felt a premonition the moment she heard what Anne said over the phone. It took a full thirty seconds of silence before Jasmine finally asked calmly:

"Why won’t you be coming home? Where are you right now?" Then, as those words left her mouth, an idea struck Jasmine.

Why do you always think on the negative route, Jass?

Of course, there can only be one reason she won’t come home tonight!

Jasmine’s eyes lit up at that thought.

Initially, her mind had drifted to a bad place, silently assuming that Anne was in some sort of trouble and wasn’t telling her about it, but the truth was much more simple.

"Holy mother of flying hens! You’ve gotten a boyfriend!" Jasmine exclaimed incredulously.

"What?"

Anne had just been about to reply, on the verge of telling her friend that she was currently in a manor—not just any manor, but one belonging to a certain masked stranger whose name she still didn’t know—but he’d taken her body, and he would continue to take her body until she got pregnant, because he’d paid her and he would pay her even more, and every penny from that would go into Kristen’s medical treatment until she got her brother back safe and sound.

But her confession had been cut short by Jasmine’s sudden exclamation.

"Annelise, you silly girl! How could you not tell me about that? You have a boyfriend now, and obviously, you’re with him right now! I really have been gone for too long, because my sweet little Anne has broken out of her shell and got together with a man! Quick, tell me who he is! What’s his name? Is he handsome? Does he take good care of you? Is he a sweet lover or a shy type?"

Anne facepalmed, barely able to process the constant questions Jasmine was shoving her way all at once.

When had she even confirmed that she had a boyfriend?

Of course, she still didn’t have one. She had yet to find one before she’d decided to sell herself to save her brother, and she certainly had no more hopes of finding one anymore.

In the past, she’d constantly rejected men because she didn’t feel their sincerity for her. Many of them would have eyes on her body, drooling at her outer appearance while giving insincere confessions. Somehow, she’d been able to see it in their eyes.

There had never been that look of soft affection. There had never been that warmth of genuine concern and care for her. There had only ever been a selfish desire to have her only because their eyes liked what they saw. That hadn’t been the kind of love Anne had wanted, hence she’d stayed away from men back then and kindly rejected most of them.

If she’d known back then, perhaps she shouldn’t have rejected every single one and allowed herself to experience what dating felt like, because now she would no longer be able to experience that again.

Would anyone want a woman who had lowly sold herself to a man?

Jasmine’s loud voice was still coming through the phone when Anne quickly cut her off.

"Jass, Jass, listen to me for a second."

Jasmine instantly cut her long tirade of excited chatter. "Okay, talk."

"I... don’t have a boyfriend."

"..."

When Anne heard nothing from the other side, she sighed. Lowering her head, despite being alone, her face reddened in embarrassment.

How should she say this?

She searched for words for a long time while Jasmine remained awfully quiet on the other end, waiting to hear what she would say.

"I..." Anne began, then felt another wave of shame before she steeled herself and admitted.

"I have to sleep with someone."

Jasmine’s mouth fell open in disbelief. She blinked several times as if waiting for the dream she was having to clear off, but it didn’t. She separated the phone from her ear for a while and looked at the person she’d called again.

The number was hers. The voice most certainly was hers. But why did she feel like the person she was talking to wasn’t the same friend of hers?

What did she just say?

She was going to... to sleep with someone?

"I can’t tell you the details over the phone, but I promise I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow. Let’s meet at lunch, okay?"

Jasmine nodded dazedly, then realizing a second later that Anne couldn’t see her, she somehow found her voice amidst the astonishment and replied:

"Okay."

A beep came afterward, signifying the call had ended.

Jasmine continued to sit inside Anne’s apartment, unable to fully digest what she just heard.

Anne’s eyes clung to the clock on the wall. She’d changed into the comfortable pair of pajamas Butler Jones had provided for her a long while ago; however, the person she was waiting for still hadn’t arrived yet.

Her eyes would occasionally sway to the door as if expecting it to open up and for the man to walk in with his tall figure, face covered by the mask, but he didn’t.

She sat on the long, comfortable couch, which seemed to bounce once she was on it, and waited some more.

After a long while, she laid down facing the door, waiting...

And waiting some more...

When her eyes slowly drifted closed, she didn’t know, but the next time they opened, sunlight had filled the spacious bedroom.

She immediately sat up, looking around.

Shit! When did I fall asleep?

She jumped off the couch, looking around the room for signs that he’d come last night, but there was none.

She went to the bathroom, standing outside it for a while before knocking.

Had he come in and found her sleeping?

She closed her eyes and smacked her palm over her forehead.

Why couldn’t you have waited a bit longer?

Raising her hand, she knocked on the bathroom door again, but even after knocking for a while, there was no sound from the inside.

After contemplating for a bit, she pushed the door open and went inside.

The bathroom was still the same as it was the last time she’d entered last night, with no signs of anyone having been there.

He didn’t come?

Anne stood frozen in the bathroom for a while. A trace of disappointment flickered past her eyes.

Just then, she heard the sound of someone enter the bedroom and whirled around sharply.