Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 101: "Miss Willow kissed you at the banquet, didn’t she?
Everyone in the Harrington family knew about the relationship between Sean Harrison and the Harrison Group.
Years ago, the Harrison Group was on the verge of bankruptcy and liquidation. It was Sean who, like a fool with too much money, spent hundreds of millions to forcibly save it.
Although it was profitable now, the money it earned still wasn’t enough to cover what he had spent back then.
It was no exaggeration to say that Sean was the one providing Miles Harrison with his current lifestyle.
He didn’t need any reason to take back everything he had given the Harrington family out of charity.
Miles Harrison instantly regretted his impulsiveness.
He hated Sean for scheming against his engagement, hated him for taking the opportunity to steal Rory Linden away.
But he couldn’t bear to give up the good life he had now.
Sean Harrison never had any affection for the Harrington family.
In his eyes, Miles Harrison was just a useless freeloader.
If Miles dropped dead on the street one day, Sean wouldn’t even spare him a second glance.
He wanted to say something even harsher.
But.
Rory Linden was here. He couldn’t.
"The rain’s getting heavier. Let’s go back."
Sean put his arm around Rory and walked toward the restaurant entrance.
Miles Harrison stood there, unable to say a word.
If Rory’s boyfriend were anyone else, he might have thrown caution to the wind and tried to win her back.
But not Sean Harrison.
Everything he had now was given to him by Sean.
He couldn’t let it go.
-
Sean’s car was parked right at the restaurant entrance.
After they got in the car, he asked her first, "How did it go?"
"Sigh..." Rory let out a long sigh, her head hanging. "It was a disaster."
"What happened? Tell me."
Sean said as he started the car.
There was an unmistakable hint of amusement in his tone.
"Miles and I had been to this restaurant a few times before. The young master was insistent on reminiscing with me, but unfortunately, what he considers fond memories are the complete opposite for me."
Rory felt a little guilty. "It’s my fault, too. I couldn’t hold back and snapped at him a few times. I must have made him angry."
"Don’t worry, I’ll look into it for you."
Sean had been more than willing to help from the very beginning.
"No, it’s fine. I’ll contact Uncle Lowell again when I have time."
Rory felt there was still some room for negotiation with Ivan Lowell.
She wanted to rely on herself more for this matter.
The car drove through the downpour and soon arrived back home.
As she entered the house, Rory made a point to peek into the guest bedroom.
The mattress had been taken away a few days ago.
And it still hadn’t been delivered.
"Sean, when is the mattress supposed to be delivered...?"
Rory asked the man sitting on the living room sofa, looking at a tablet.
"Probably... in a while." Sean shifted his gaze from the screen to her. "In a hurry to go back to sleeping in the guest room?"
Rory sauntered over and sat down next to him. "Well, you are getting on in years. It’s not good for your health if we keep sleeping together."
Exactly one week had passed since the first time they slept together.
During that time, they had done it about four times.
And each of those times was more than just once.
Sean put his tablet down. "We’ve only been together for a week, and you’re already tired of me?"
As he spoke, he scooted closer to her.
The sofa was wide.
But Rory was still squeezed into a corner.
"I never said it was bad for *your* health. I meant it’s bad for *my* health," Rory quickly explained. "And I’m severely sleep-deprived."
Sean suggested earnestly, "Next time you’re tired, just tell me. I won’t force you. I can take care of it myself."
Rory looked into his dark, ink-black eyes.
She suddenly remembered the video she had seen during dinner.
Although the video was shot from behind them, there was a brief moment where Sean’s side profile was captured.
Just from that quick glance, his emotional state was completely different from how he was now.
"Sean, during dinner, Miles showed me a video," Rory said deliberately. "Miss Willow kissed you at the banquet, didn’t she?"
Sean’s brows furrowed slightly. "Did you believe it?"
"I don’t know. In the video, the two of you were standing there talking, and then suddenly, Miss Willow kissed you. I’m not sure what happened."
There was no trace of anger in Rory’s tone as she spoke.
She trusted Sean unconditionally not to betray her.
Sean lowered his eyes, seeming to recall the incident carefully, before saying, "She probably had someone film it. No wonder she suddenly leaned in while we were talking. I didn’t react in time."
The man explained the situation.
As for what they were talking about, he couldn’t possibly say.
Sean never used to think he had any weaknesses. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
Not until he was with Rory Linden.
At first, it might have just been a long-held fantasy.
As their relationship grew closer.
The woman’s strength, kindness, optimism, integrity—so many shining qualities.
He found himself unconsciously drawn to her.
Just like fifteen years ago, he only wanted to hide his unbearable side, to hide it even better.
’It would be best...’
’...if she never found out.’
-
「That night.」
Sean Harrison saw himself.
His younger self.
As a teenager, he had long suffered from various mental health issues, unable to eat or sleep for extended periods.
He was so thin it was as if there were no flesh and blood beneath his skin, only bones.
The boy was kneeling on the ground, his arms, back, his entire body covered in injuries.
His body and hands were stained with layers of fresh blood.
It was impossible to tell whose it was.
The boy held a small knife—a very small one, like a utility knife.
He was dragging it across the arm of a man lying in front of him, again and again.
He couldn’t see who was lying there, only that the arm had pale skin and was covered in thick hair.
In the dream, the world was on mute.
He couldn’t hear a single sound.
He couldn’t feel the other person’s pain.
The man on the floor was like a corpse, completely still.
He let the sharp little knife carve one bloody gash after another into his arm.
A fear unlike anything he had ever known welled up inside Sean.
He wanted to go over and stop "himself," but his legs felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds, unable to move.
He struggled desperately.
When he came to his senses again, the small knife was suddenly in his own hand, and the person lying before him was a mangled mess of flesh and blood.
There were no signs of life.
"Sean Harrison."
Sean heard someone calling his name.
When he turned around.
He saw Nadia Willow standing beside him.
She was holding an old-fashioned video camera, its dark lens aimed right at him...
"Delete it!"
Realizing what was happening, Sean shot up to snatch the camera from her hands.
The woman was very close to him.
He reached out and easily grabbed the hand she was using to hold the camera.
He tried to take the camera, but it was as if the device were fused to her hand.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t take it away.
"Sean Harrison."
"Sean Harrison, wake up..."
"It hurts, wake up..."
As Sean struggled to wrest the camera away, a woman’s pleas echoed in his ears again and again.
When he opened his eyes...
He was met with the face of Rory Linden.
His hand was gripping Rory’s wrist tightly, while his other hand clutched her fingers.
The woman’s face was contorted in pain, streaked with tears.
Rory had already gotten out of bed. The moment she saw his eyes open, she felt his grip loosen.
She didn’t hesitate to pull her hand back, taking a step away from him.
Completely out of the man’s reach.
She tucked her wrist behind her back and looked at the motionless man on the bed, asking cautiously, "Are you awake?"
"I’m sorry." Sean sat up and reached out his hand. "Is your wrist okay? Let me see."
Rory looked down at the large hand he extended toward her.
The fear from moments ago was still fresh.
She stood frozen in place and simply asked, "What were you dreaming about?"
