Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 54: All I Wanted Was Money...

"What happened to the lights?" Anne’s panicked voice echoed in the office.

Andrew blew out a sigh and fell quiet.

Anne wasn’t very good at seeing in the dark. Without the lights, she could barely see anything. If it weren’t for the windows from where a faint trace of illumination was coming, she wouldn’t even be able to see herself.

Despite what Andrew had said, she continued to look for a signal with her phone. Could the cause of the signal’s disappearance have anything to do with the lights that had suddenly gone off in the whole company? 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Unless the signal in the whole building had been cut off, Anne saw no reason why...

She suddenly stopped short, realizing something.

Could the signal in the whole building really be cut off?

Was that why he’d said...

Anne looked towards the man currently with her in the room, but she could only see his shadow. Once again, the faint feeling of familiarity hit her.

She frowned.

Why was it that whenever she was with this man in the dark, she would get a feeling that he felt familiar? And not just that, it felt like she was with the masked person.

In a bid to fully confirm this weird feeling, Anne began to approach him, staring at him intently as if that would provide the answer to her question.

But in this darkness, she didn’t pay attention to the fact that she couldn’t see where she was walking towards.

This led her feet to stumble over the slightly raised carpet on the floor,

"Ah!"

The man’s resting eyes immediately snapped open when he heard a small yelp from the girl, followed by a thud that indicated someone had fallen.

Without realizing what he was doing, he got on his feet and crossed over to her in long strides.

He heard her suck in a breath in pain.

"What’s wrong?"

Anne didn’t realize when the man had stood up from where he was seated. When she heard the low deep voice next to her, she gasped and scooted backwards, then realized it was him from his scent and let out a sigh in relief.

"It’s nothing," she said and began to stand up. Who would have thought an unbearable pain would shoot through her ankle the minute she stepped on her left foot, which caused her to lose her footing?

But unexpectedly, she didn’t reach the floor when someone caught her.

All Anne felt was a pair of arms wide enough to catch her while she was falling.

She held her breath, realizing how extremely close she was to him. She wanted to move, but something about how the man held onto her tightly made her go stiff.

This clumsy little...

Andrew was just on the verge of scolding her again when her sweet scent overcame his senses and it made him fall silent. Hers wasn’t an expensive-smelling perfume but a sweet natural floral scent. He wasn’t well-versed with flowers, but if he thought hard about it, her scent reminded him of a fresh fragrance he’d once smelled in the back garden their grandfather tended to. Magnolias.

Yes, it was those light pink flowers with petals that bloom abundantly. This soft fragrance mixed with her sweet femininity seemed to usually entrance him whenever she was near.

He didn’t realize he’d held her like that for quite a while until she went stiff in his arms and he heard her small voice croak out.

"Uhm... can you let me go now?"

Upon hearing what she said, he instantly stood up, dropping her as if she were a bag of ants.

"Ouch!"

Though Anne felt pain, she couldn’t complain. Wasn’t it this bipolar man? What else could she expect from him?

Clearly no one had asked him to, but he’d caught her of his own accord and he’d also roughly dropped her at the switch of his mood. She shouldn’t be surprised.

"Get up!" came his hard voice.

"I would if I could. My ankle hurts, and you still dropped me."

Immediately her voice fell, a shadow suddenly appeared in her view. It took a few seconds of squinting before she realized he’d extended his hand to help her up.

By now, his help didn’t thrill her at all. This man could save one across the sea one second and be drowning one in the very same sea the next second. Nevertheless, she grumbled something inaudible under her breath before putting her hand in his.

She suddenly went still for a second.

A single touch of her hand in his made something unknown thrill through her veins. It was a sharp feeling akin to electricity running through her. That familiarity erupted inside her again and she raised her head to look up at him. He seemed to have gone still as well, but a moment later he tugged her up. In a bid not to put weight on her painful foot, she staggered a bit, causing her to land against the man’s chest.

Her hand which settled against his neck could feel his pulse racing. The frantic beat seemed to mirror her own.

Was this the effect of darkness?

The man’s face was a shadow. However, the more she looked, the more she felt a familiar stir in her chest.

Though she’d confirmed to herself that it was a mere assumption, or an illusion her mind was choosing to see whenever she was with someone in the dark, she couldn’t shake off the familiarity of this man’s touch, the familiarity of his musky scent.

This nagging feeling couldn’t be dispelled from her mind, hence, her lips moved to speak. "Mr. Sterling..."

The man’s breathing was laboured, and his skin felt hot to the touch. "Hmm?"

Hearing her call him, he seemed to have hummed in answer instinctively.

"Are you... are you the owner of The Black Thorn Manor?"

Every inch of Andrew stiffened.

A moment ago, he’d been caught in that inescapable spell—the spell of a single touch from a woman he swore to keep distance from. This very touch that drove him insane with uncontrollable desire.

A moment ago, she was held against his body. He could feel every inch of her soft feminine curves against himself, and the heat that trailed through him had been blazing.

A moment ago, he’d almost lost control and let himself get a taste of her again. His rationality had become just a tiny voice warning him, and he’d promised that voice he’d get nothing but a taste. However, her voice had suddenly sounded, and the question instantly awakened him.

He slowly pushed himself away from her and turned his back on her, taking that chance to catch his breath and calm the storm of desire that had been awakened inside him.

"What are you talking about? What Manor?" He knew exactly what she was asking him.

So she had actually become suspicious of him. This was the first time any of his contracted women had come close to finding out his identity. Yet because he always wore the mask that concealed his face and changed his voice, he was assured she would never piece his identity together. Hence, he could only play clueless until her suspicion would fade.

This damn woman... it seemed she was quite astute after all.

But no matter what, his contracted women should not know of his real identity.

"Is it really not you?" Anne found herself asking again. She really wanted to know if he truly was the masked person. She knew that knowledge wouldn’t change anything. She would still be contracted to him, and she would still need to fulfill her part of the contract, but for some reason, she really wanted to know.

"If you want to ask me a fucking question, do it straight. I don’t know what you’re talking about," came his cold reply.

She stared at the man’s rigid shadow, and somehow, she couldn’t seem to connect this emotionless person to the one who had been so gentle with her the other night. This person was just too cold, just too unfeeling...

It wasn’t him.

After thinking about it once more, Anne shook her head.

The atmosphere was the same. That night, it had also been dark like this, that was why she was mistaking both people.

"Never mind," she said softly, not realizing the cold sigh that left the man’s lips.

Andrew made his way back to the couch and took his seat.

He managed to dispel her suspicion. It seemed he really needed to stay away from this woman. Otherwise, she might truly end up finding out that it truly was him.

He would have to wait until the light was back on again. That would mean the electrical team was done with the inspection, then he would call someone to come open the doors. But for now... he not only had to endure an unbearable headache that had almost rendered him unconscious a while ago, but he would also have to endure a certain frustration that had to do with arousal.

Till now, he couldn’t figure out how this woman could effortlessly put him in this state.

There was only one seat in the office. Anne also navigated her way to the couch and sat far on the other side of the couch with a big distance between them.

Silence reigned and nothing could be heard in the room for a long time.

At some point, Anne heard the breathing of the man grow steady.

Only then could she turn to take a peek at him.

Had he fallen asleep?

The moon had now risen to a point where it was shining straight into the office through the windows. The brightness illuminated the hard lines of the man’s handsome face.

The frown on his face seemed to have relaxed a bit.

Anne couldn’t help but shake her head.

This man—even in his sleep he still maintained a frown on his face.

Sometimes it would seem like the whole world owed him something and he were at odds with it.

Seeing that the man had fallen asleep, Anne let herself relax a bit.

She didn’t know if she’d have to stay in the office with this man for the whole night before someone could come help open the doors. Though she was the one who caused it, she didn’t regret it since it was something she had to do to keep her job.

In a normal situation, a woman would feel nervous if she were trapped with a man in an office for a whole night, but for some reason, Anne didn’t feel nervous being with this man here. It could be that underlying familiarity, and it could also be the fact she knew this man wouldn’t even entertain the thought of doing anything bad to her or try to take advantage of her body. He disliked her too much. If he could, he would kick her to be far away from him.

But then... Anne stared at the man’s face.

She wondered, if this frown were wiped off this man’s face, and in its place there was a smile, would he look less scary? Would he look friendlier?

"You don’t smile much, do you?" Anne whispered to the sleeping man.

She was used to talking to Kristen, knowing she couldn’t be heard. Perhaps that was why she was doing that right now as well.

"All you know is saying mean things to people... no, you only say it to me, am I right?

But... the truth is, you aren’t all that wrong."

As Anne spoke, her mind drifted off that she didn’t realize she was opening up her deepest thoughts at this moment.

"You said... all I wanted was money. You said girls like me will do anything for money. You were not wrong. I was ready to do anything for money, and I don’t regret it..." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she spoke.

That time she’d decided to sell her body to the masked person, she hadn’t cried, she hadn’t shed a tear, she hadn’t mourned her innocence.

But realizing she had been here today trying to prove her purity to someone made her realize she was indeed what he said she was. He wasn’t wrong at all.

She was indeed the type of girl who sold her body for money.

"...But if I could save Kristen, if I could have him back. I will be that girl who sells her virtue for money and even more. If it means I could have my brother back."

Anne assumed she was speaking to the darkness. She didn’t realize that the man’s closed eyes trembled slightly upon hearing her words.

She didn’t realize that someone was listening intently.

"If only... I could have him back." Her words this time were a softer sob, filled with pain kept hidden from anyone’s eyes to see.

When she thought it was only her, drowning in her sorrows, letting herself cry... tears she hadn’t spilled all this while, she didn’t know someone was keenly listening to her every sob, her every heart-wrenching cry she was silently letting out.

And this person didn’t move at all until her breathing had eventually settled.

When Andrew opened his eyes, he looked at the girl who’d curled into herself on the couch, sleeping with tear stains still on her face.

His brows drew together in contemplation as every word she’d thought she was whispering to herself replayed in his head.

"You said... all I wanted was money. You said girls like me will do anything for money. You were not wrong. I was ready to do anything for money, and I don’t regret it...

But if I could save Kristen, if I could have him back. I will be that girl who sells her virtue for money and even more. If... I could have my brother back..."