Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 169: Lost Contact

"..."

Rachel Lancaster caved in less than three seconds. "Mr. Harrison, I was just kidding! I just think a wedding is about two people, so I was hoping you’d come!"

After saying her piece, she immediately ended the voice call.

Rory Linden looked at Sean Harrison, a little curious. "Rachel Lancaster seems to be really afraid of you."

Sean Harrison kept his hands on the steering wheel. "Probably because she did some outrageous things in the past. No one in her family could control her, so her brother eventually came to me."

"Like what?"

"Like eloping with a male model, or stealing her family’s household register to go get a marriage license."

Sean Harrison mentioned it nonchalantly.

Rory Linden was completely baffled.

She had previously thought of Rachel Lancaster as a very smart and sharp young woman.

She never imagined she would have done something so ridiculous.

"Did you find them before they could go through with it?"

Rory Linden couldn’t help but ask.

Sean Harrison explained, "No. It was only after they got to the Civil Affairs Bureau that they discovered the legal age for a woman to marry is twenty, not eighteen like in the novels she’d read."

Rory Linden was truly speechless.

Afraid she might be overthinking it, Sean Harrison added, "But she did study fashion design at a prestigious university abroad. If you don’t like her designs, we don’t have to use them. I can be the one to tell her."

"It’s fine, let’s see them first," Rory Linden said. "But next week won’t work. On Tuesday, I’m going with Director Hawthorne to an end-of-year forum and won’t be back until the weekend. Let’s wait until December."

Sean Harrison was relieved the topic of Rachel Lancaster’s rebellious phase ended there.

The rest of the story was that when they finally found the two, the male model had tried to drive off with Rachel Lancaster, even injuring Henry Lancaster in the process.

After stopping the car, he had dragged the model out and given him a savage beating.

Afterward, the Lancaster Family didn’t press charges. Instead, they had the man sent directly to the Amber Isles.

His fate remains unknown.

"Alright, December it is." Sean Harrison thought for a moment, then asked, "What city is your forum in?"

"It’s in..." Rory Linden started to answer, but then a thought struck her. "You’re not thinking of going, are you?"

"..."

"This is just a normal work trip with Director Hawthorne. I’ll be gone for about four or five days, and I’ll call you to check in every day when I get back to the hotel. The moment I book my return ticket, I’ll let you know. If you have time, you can pick me up. If not, I can get back on my own."

Rory Linden laid out her plan earnestly.

Sean Harrison had followed her to her last conference.

She didn’t want him finding excuses to tag along on every business trip she took from now on.

A brief silence filled the car.

Rory Linden looked at him and asked very seriously, "Sean Harrison, can you trust me? Trust that I only love you. I’m just going to a conference. I won’t—and I have no desire to—be romantic with anyone but you."

She guessed that he felt insecure.

So, she would give him that sense of security.

Starting now.

A much longer silence descended in the car.

Sean Harrison drove, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, but he could clearly feel a signal screaming in his brain.

’Go with her. Be with her.’

But Rory Linden had already laid her cards on the table.

He had his own work to do.

He shouldn’t go.

They had a long future ahead of them.

He couldn’t watch over her like this forever.

Only when the car was almost at their front door did Sean Harrison finally say, "Alright, I won’t go. I’ll pick you up when you get back."

"Okay. The moment I book my return flight, I’ll let you know," Rory Linden said earnestly. "I’d really like you to pick me up."

’This little issue between them isn’t a big deal,’ she thought. ’Their relationship would soon get back to normal.’

-

Rory Linden’s forum was scheduled from Wednesday to Friday in the southern city of Nimbosa City.

She and Keith Hawthorne departed on Tuesday afternoon.

Sean Harrison saw her off at the airport before she boarded.

The moment her plane landed, Rory Linden messaged him.

Once she got to her hotel, she video-called him.

On Wednesday and Thursday, they communicated as usual.

Until Friday...

During the afternoon tea break, Rory Linden took a photo and sent it to Sean Harrison.

An hour passed.

Then two.

By a little after seven in the evening, Sean Harrison still hadn’t replied.

Rory Linden finally sent another WeChat message: [Are you busy?]

By eleven o’clock that night, he still hadn’t responded.

Rory Linden decided to call him.

After a minute of ringing, a cold, automated voice came through the receiver. "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later..."

Outside the window, the night was ink-black, with a crescent moon hanging in the sky.

Rory Linden called again.

As the automated "unavailable" message played in her ear once more, a strange sense of unease began to creep in.

’Could it be... that something happened to him?’

But Rory Linden quickly dismissed the thought.

’How could anything have happened?’

’Sean Harrison has so many assets and runs such a huge company. He must just be busy with work, with no time to reply.’

’Maybe tomorrow. I’ll be able to reach him tomorrow.’

Rory Linden repeated these reassurances to herself over and over.

It wasn’t until three or four in the morning, when the sky began to lighten at the horizon, that she finally started to feel a little sleepy...

There was one last session on Saturday morning.

She and Keith Hawthorne had booked an afternoon flight.

Sitting in the conference hall that morning, Keith Hawthorne noticed Rory Linden’s bloodshot eyes and asked, "What’s wrong? Did you have trouble sleeping last night? Or were you up late watching TV shows?"

At Keith Hawthorne’s age, those were basically the only two reasons he could think of for a young person to stay up all night.

Even now, Rory Linden still hadn’t received any word from Sean Harrison.

She had tried calling his number again.

The response was still the automated "currently unavailable" message.

But Rory Linden didn’t want to share these private matters with Keith Hawthorne, so she just said, "I had a bit of insomnia."

"Is it because you’ve seen so many talented people here these past couple of days?" Keith Hawthorne said, thinking he understood. "You’re already incredibly accomplished. At your age, I hadn’t even been a chief surgeon yet."

"Mhm..."

Rory Linden’s mind was a mess, and she wasn’t really listening to what Keith Hawthorne was saying, so she just gave a noncommittal response.

She couldn’t focus on the meeting at all that morning.

It continued like that until the conference ended and the two of them were in a car on the way to the airport...

Rory Linden couldn’t stand it any longer and placed a voice call to Rachel Lancaster.

She tried calling several times, but Rachel Lancaster didn’t pick up.

Once they reached the airport, she tried one more time.

This time, Rachel Lancaster finally answered the call. "Miss Linden, is... is something wrong?"

Her tone was completely different from before, laced with a certain reluctance.

It was as if...

...she really didn’t want to be taking this call.