Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 125: Can I Ask You for a Favor?

Isaac saw Mrs. Watson’s reaction, and knew that it was his mom on the other end.

He sighed lightly, reached out and said to Mrs. Watson, "Mrs. Watson, give me the phone."

Mrs. Watson hurriedly handed him the phone.

As soon as Isaac called out "Mom," Vanessa’s complaints came through.

"Baby, where have you run off to with Mrs. Watson?"

"Didn’t we say earlier that Nat’s stomach wasn’t feeling well? I brought her to Rhovan to rest for a few days, and asked Mrs. Watson to come over to take care of her more conveniently."

"She needed to go all the way out to rest just because of a stomach issue? And you even took Mrs. Watson with you." Vanessa pursed her lips, feeling jealous. "You really do spoil Nat."

"Is it wrong for me to spoil my wife?" Isaac asked with a laugh.

"Who said it’s wrong." Vanessa gave a cold snort. "Go ahead, dote on your precious wife all you want."

"Mm, okay."

After fending her off, Isaac handed the phone back to Mrs. Watson.

Mrs. Watson patted her chest. "That scared me to death."

Isaac chuckled, "Mrs. Watson, thank you for your hard work."

"You’re too kind, sir. Oh, by the way, sir, you mentioned just now about the soup for Mrs. Vaughn tomorrow?"

*

Natalie Kendall was curled up in the covers playing with her phone. When she heard the door open, she put down her phone and looked over. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Isaac brought something in, and a thick, sweet aroma wafted in.

Natalie wrinkled her nose and asked, "What is it?"

"Sweet rice wine dumplings. Do you want some?"

After asking, Isaac added, "Oh, right. You just said you were really full after dinner, so you probably can’t eat anymore. I told Mrs. Watson just now, but she insisted I bring them up anyway."

Saying this, he sat at the bedside, amusement in his eyes. "How about I eat it for you, then?"

"No!" Natalie hurriedly grabbed Isaac’s arm, looking desperate. "I can eat!"

Isaac fought down a laugh and deliberately teased her, "Weren’t you saying your stomach was stuffed, and you barely ate half a bowl of rice? How can you suddenly eat dumplings now?"

Natalie replied seriously, "Don’t you know girls have two stomachs? One for meals, one for desserts."

"So your dessert stomach is still empty?"

"Still empty. I can eat, come on, give it to me."

"Don’t rush, it’s all yours." Isaac smiled, helped her sit up, and handed her the bowl of dumplings.

Right now it was just the two of them.

Natalie didn’t hold back; she let him hold the bowl while she just took the white porcelain spoon and scooped up the dumplings to eat.

"Is it good?"

Her cheeks puffed up from eating, looking as cute as a little hamster.

"It’s good. So sweet."

"That sweet, huh?" He stared at her pink lips, sometimes catching a glimpse of her soft, pink tongue inside.

Natalie locked eyes with him, and her doe eyes flashed with mischief. Suddenly she leaned over and gave his lips a little lick.

"Sweet?"

Isaac’s breath hitched instantly.

No man could possibly be unaffected by being teased like this.

"Little Ear, stop it."

He surrendered helplessly. "I was wrong."

She was getting payback for him teasing her earlier.

"What’s wrong?"

Natalie looked perfectly innocent.

Nothing is more seductive than seduction without awareness.

Isaac decided not to hold back.

After all, he just wanted to know if the sweet rice wine dumplings were really that sweet.

The bowl of dumplings was abandoned on the nightstand. He carefully and gently held her arm, kissed her lips, fully savoring the taste in her mouth.

The answer: Definitely sweet.

But she’s even sweeter than the dumplings.

"Still want more?" he asked in a rough voice.

Natalie’s cheeks flushed pink, looking healthy and rosy.

She shook her head. "No more."

"I’ll carry you to brush your teeth."

Isaac gathered her up and took her to the bathroom.

She was barefoot without slippers, standing on his feet, held in his arms, as he filled her cup with water and squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush. Finally, he held out the prepared toothbrush and asked, "Want me to brush for you?"

Natalie snatched the toothbrush for herself.

Isaac watched her in the mirror, wiping away the foam at the corner of her mouth.

"Little Ear."

He lowered his head, his lips close to her ear where her hearing aid sat. "Can I ask you something?"

"Mm?"

"Don’t give up on me. Okay?"

"Mm." Natalie spat the foam into the sink, looking at him through the mirror. "What if you gave up on me?"

Isaac’s chest tightened.

He didn’t dare look up.

He could only hug her tighter.

"I won’t. Little Ear, I’ll never give up on you."

At last, he plucked up the courage to look up and meet her gaze in the mirror.

"Let’s promise never to give up on each other, okay?"

After a long moment.

She cocked her head and smiled, "Alright."

He lied to her.

So she lied to him, too.

Fair’s fair.

Isaac’s eyes sparkled, and he leaned in to kiss her ear, her cheek, turning her face to kiss her lips.

This time, Natalie kissed back, opening her mouth for him, but her eyes were icy.

——

Janton.

The Vaughn Residence.

Philip Vaughn hadn’t seen Isaac, so he asked about it.

Vanessa replied that he wasn’t in Janton lately, but in Rhovan.

"Why’s he in Rhovan again?"

Vanessa was embarrassed to say he was there accompanying Natalie to nurse her stomach, so she had to lie: "He said he has work there. I didn’t ask for details."

"Alright, let’s eat."

Everyone moved to the dining room.

During dinner, conversation turned to the news coming from the government side.

"This is a government-led project, looking for companies to collaborate. The powers that be take it very seriously. It’s a juicy opportunity— everyone’s got their eyes on it."

When Philip finished, Ethan Vaughn smiled. "Don’t worry, Grandpa. They can look all they want, can only envy from the sidelines. This project is sure to be ours at Vaughn Group."

Vanessa heard this and pursed her lips.

Sure, it’d be great if the Vaughn family got the project.

But she just didn’t like seeing Ethan so pleased with himself.

Because the more successful Ethan was, the harder Isaac’s situation got.

At that point, Ansel Vaughn spoke up. "There’s still the Beckett Group."

With those words—

Ethan’s expression shifted, and his fingers tightened on his chopsticks.

Philip said, "That’s right, there’s also Beckett Group. Even though now Isaac’s married to that Beckett girl, and he himself is at Beckett, Beckett and Vaughn, in the end, aren’t the same family."

"Dad." Vanessa started to say something, but under the table, Ansel pressed on her leg to stop her.

She turned to look at her husband and could only swallow her words.

"Ethan, so you’re confident we can get the project, right?" Philip asked Ethan.

Ethan answered confidently, "Yes. Grandpa, don’t worry, this project will definitely be Vaughn Group’s."

"Good. Ethan, if you successfully win the project, I’ll personally give you another five percent of the shares."

Vanessa stared in shock, eyes wide.

Ethan’s face lit up. "Thank you, Grandpa."

"No need to thank me just yet, Ethan—let’s wait and see."

"Yes." Ethan set down his chopsticks, lifted his wine glass and took a sip, his eyes sweeping over his father, then Vanessa.

When his gaze passed over Vanessa, there was a hint of disdain in his eyes.

——

Meanwhile—

Rhovan.

Julian Beckett was also talking with Natalie and Isaac about the government project.

"At this stage, Beckett Group’s only rival is Vaughn Group."

At this, Julian looked over at Isaac.

He saw Isaac staring grimly at his phone.