Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 35: She Asked What Isaac Vaughn Was Doing, Isaac Vaughn Said He Was at a Hotel with Someone
Natalie quickly moved her chin away from his hand and rummaged through her backpack for the shareholder proxy agreement Vanessa had given her that morning.
She laid the two documents side by side.
Just as she was about to sign the proxy agreement, Isaac snatched the pen away.
"What’s wrong?"
Isaac flicked her forehead with his finger, "Are you really sure about this?"
"I’m sure." Natalie grabbed the pen back and spoke as she signed, "I’ve got something even better now."
When she finished, she handed the proxy agreement to Isaac, "When are you sending it over to The Grant family?"
Isaac looked at her with a complicated expression.
He took the agreement, tossed it on the table, and cupped her ass to lift her up.
"The paperwork’s done anyway, let them wait."
Natalie was pinned under him on the bed and gently tried to push his head away as he kissed her neck.
"But aren’t they in a hurry?"
"Who cares, let them panic."
Natalie heard the irritated note in his voice, but she was secretly delighted.
So this is what it feels like to have someone care about you.
But it’s still his grandpa and little uncle on the other end.
"Isaac, I really don’t mind."
"Mm, maybe you don’t mind, but I do." Isaac pushed himself up and guided her hand to touch him.
Natalie wanted to curse him out.
*
Natalie had an 8 a.m. class today. When she got up for school, Isaac was still asleep.
She leaned over the bed, sneakily like a little thief, and kissed his lips once—then again because it wasn’t enough.
She pecked him like a woodpecker, several kisses in a row, before tiptoeing quietly out the door.
And just as she closed the door behind her, Isaac opened his eyes and sat up.
Jason called while he was chewing on the dry cracker Natalie had bought.
"Hey, uncle."
"Isaac, did Natalie see the agreement?"
"Yeah."
"Did she sign?"
While Jason was anxiously asking, Isaac was checking the expiry date on the dry crackers, suspecting they were stale because they felt so tough.
"Isaac?" When there was no reply, Jason called his name, puzzled.
Isaac tossed the cracker onto the coffee table. Miraculously, it wasn’t expired.
He leaned back against the sofa, eyes dark as he stared ahead, tone casual: "Yeah, she signed."
"Good!" Jason let out a sigh of relief, thrilled. "Isaac, when are you coming back to Janton?"
"We’ll see. I’ve still got a few things to deal with here."
Jason heard that and felt bad making him do a special delivery run.
Didn’t want to use express delivery either—too risky.
Anyway, Natalie already signed.
Then Jason remembered something else.
"Isaac, that thing I asked you to check out—about getting Natalie’s age changed. Any leads?"
"Oh, that. Franklin Finch’s uncle got reassigned, so..."
"Shit! Just our luck!" Jason cursed, frustrated.
He really wanted Natalie married ASAP—it’d solve a lot of his problems.
Where Jason couldn’t see, Isaac’s face was cold as he replied, "Uncle, if you really need the money, I can lend you some."
"I can’t take your money." Jason immediately objected.
But when Isaac said, "It’s no big deal," Jason caved, asking sheepishly, "Isaac, would you really lend it to your uncle? How much can you give?"
Isaac named a number.
"It’s all from holidays, my birthdays, stuff Grandpa gave me over the years. Giving it to you, it’s basically just going back where it started."
"That’s not really the way to look at it." Jason said it that way, but inside, he was jealous.
He never realized the old man had given Isaac so much money.
"This money you give Uncle, it counts as a loan, and once I’m on my feet again, I’ll pay you back—principal and interest."
"Uncle, we’re family. Forget the interest talk."
Once he hung up, Isaac had someone wire the money to his uncle.
With that cash in hand and his immediate crisis solved, his uncle wouldn’t be breathing down Natalie’s neck about marrying.
——
Natalie hadn’t been feeling great lately, always sleepy in class.
Nina bought her an iced Americano and watched her chug over half of it in one go.
"Nat, if you’re not up for it, just tell the professor—get an extension for your paper. Look at you, she’s driving the poor child half dead."
Natalie shook her head, "It’s not the paper."
She’d already submitted it last week.
It was Isaac.
He wouldn’t stop dragging her into bed every day, so she was always sleep-deprived—aching in the back and legs.
*
Not even an hour after dinner, Isaac’s hands started wandering, trying to get Natalie back onto the bed.
Natalie flipped around to sit on his lap, all excited: "Let’s watch a movie!"
She was so enthusiastic he didn’t have the heart to shut her down.
Natalie pulled up the movie she’d picked out ahead of time and cuddled up with him on the sofa once it started.
Isaac didn’t expect her choice to be a nineteen-plus, explicit film.
While holding her close through the movie’s steamy scenes, he whispered into her ear commentary about the actress’s body.
"Her boobs aren’t as perky as yours, her waist’s not as slim, and her legs... definitely not as long."
Natalie’s ears felt like they were on fire. She barely resisted the urge to slap a hand over his mouth, anxiously enduring.
Finally, the movie’s climax arrived.
Just as the male lead was lost in bliss, the female lead pulled out her hairpin and stabbed it into his heart.
The guy was coughing up blood, staring at her in shock and dying in her arms.
Natalie asked Isaac, "So, what do you think?"
Isaac’s face was unreadable; he couldn’t get a word out.
The hero gets murdered mid-romance—her letting him watch this meant—
That night, Isaac didn’t bother Natalie for sex; they just shared the covers and went to sleep.
The next morning, Natalie was refreshed, and when she heard Isaac was heading back to Janton soon, she lit up—barely a hint of reluctance as she saw him off.
Isaac was gone for three days. Natalie ate well, slept well, no iced Americano required. Her projects and homework were suddenly getting done at record speed.
Nina even complimented her: "You look rosy, totally recharged!"
Isaac stayed away for a week.
One evening, Natalie used an app to check high-speed train tickets from Seaharbor to Janton.
She stopped at the payment screen and called Isaac.
He took a while to answer.
"Mm?"
His deep voice buzzed against her ear through the phone, tingling half her face.
Natalie rolled over and buried her face in her pillow and quilt, sounding a little muffled: "What are you up to?" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
"Hanging with someone at a hotel."
As soon as Isaac finished, he hung up.
He snorted with laughter, then called back.
As soon as it picked up, he asked, "Why’d you hang up?"
Natalie said, "I shouldn’t interrupt you."
Isaac laughed, "Missed me, huh?"
"..."
"Did you miss me?"
"No... Are you coming back?" She couldn’t hide the careful hope in her voice.
Isaac’s heart thumped, brow furrowing.
After a few seconds, he replied quietly, "When I’m done, I’ll come back."
Clicked off.
He stared out of the giant hotel window at the neon-lit nightlife just ramping up.
But he wasn’t feeling it at all.
He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked.
"I’m leaving."
He said it and took a step to go.
Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open.
A slender hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.
