Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 184: "Even If We Meet, Let’s Pretend We Don’t Know Each Other.
’A twisted fate.’
Rory Linden thought Sherry Walsh’s summary was pretty spot-on.
She and Sean Harrison had been separated for five years, and for a long time, she’d had no plans to return to the country.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to come back. It was the pressures of life: the money she had to pay back to Sean Harrison, Leo Linden being so young, the cost of doctor’s visits when he got sick, the potential for him to get restless on such a long flight, and the exorbitant price of first-class tickets.
All of these things forced Rory Linden to postpone her plans to return again and again.
Sherry Walsh was always the one who came to visit them.
This time, she had been invited back to the country for work and had thought of it as a company-paid trip to see Sherry Walsh.
But she never expected the person who invited her was actually Charlotte Rhodes.
In other words, the money was, in a way, coming from Sean Harrison.
’If this isn’t a twisted fate, what is?’
"A twisted fate it is, then. In any case, I’m heading back abroad as soon as I finish the surgery. From the looks of it, Auntie Rhodes and Sean Harrison aren’t on good terms." Rory Linden lowered her gaze. "We probably won’t run into each other."
"You can’t be so sure about that."
"Even if we do, I’ll just pretend I don’t know him."
Rory Linden kept her gaze downcast.
She had a feeling she and Sean Harrison would meet again.
But it didn’t matter. After so many years, she had long since let him go from her heart.
The two of them walked into the restaurant where they had reservations, chatting as they went.
They got a booster seat for Leo Linden.
He sat there by himself, quietly playing with a Rubik’s Cube, not participating in their conversation.
The two women ordered their food first.
Then, Sherry Walsh glanced at Leo Linden beside her and lowered her voice. "What if he sees Leo? With that face, no one would believe he isn’t Sean Harrison’s son."
Rory Linden looked at Leo Linden, too.
’My son’s face really is...’
He was a miniature version of Sean Harrison.
As a doctor, she knew a little about genetics, and she knew that heredity was a rather random thing.
Normally, even if children inherited certain genes from their parents—like double eyelids, dimples, or a high nose bridge—it was rare for a son’s facial features to be so similar to his father’s.
But Leo Linden...
He really was a bit too similar to Sean Harrison in both his features and his aura.
"...Even then, I won’t admit the child is his."
Rory Linden said it plainly.
Leo Linden had asked about his origins when he was very young.
Rory Linden didn’t know how to lie, so she simply told her son outright that she had given birth to him without his father’s knowledge.
She had thought Leo might be resentful of her actions, of not having a father. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
But to her surprise, her son had just hugged her and said in his small, sweet voice, "Even without a dad, I’m a big boy, and I can protect Mom."
"Exactly! Don’t tell him. You absolutely can’t let him get a son this big for nothing!"
Sherry Walsh couldn’t help but bring up the past. "You know, I still don’t get why he suddenly broke up with you back then."
"His company is huge now, his net worth has skyrocketed. Even my dad says his status among Veridia’s entrepreneurs is absolutely unquestionable."
"Do you think maybe... he was afraid he’d have to split his assets with you if you got married?"
"That’s a real possibility. He regretted what he said but couldn’t take it back, so he pretended he had some tragic reason."
Rory Linden had been listening quietly to Sherry Walsh’s rant, but at this, she couldn’t help but correct her. "I don’t think that’s it..."
Sherry scoffed, "Are you still defending him? He’s not exactly squeaky clean. I saw him in the news last year, caught up in a scandal with some actress. Men are all the same in the end."
Rory Linden listened in silence.
Ever since going abroad, even when she browsed Chinese social media, she never dared to search for news about Sean Harrison.
The algorithms these days were frighteningly good.
If she searched for him just once, it would remember her preference.
So she never dared to search for the man’s name, wanting the algorithm to think she had absolutely no interest in him.
Even so, she had still stumbled across news about him a few times.
She would close the app immediately, without even reading the headline.
Despite all that, Rory Linden still felt Sean Harrison wasn’t the type of man who was careless with relationships.
She didn’t want to argue with Sherry Walsh about it.
"Anyway, how are things with you? Did you ever win over that intern?"
Rory Linden changed the subject, asking Sherry Walsh.
For the past few years, Sherry’s family had been pressuring her to get married, and she’d been stressing about her love life.
Last year, she had mentioned being interested in a new, six-foot-one intern at her law firm.
"Ugh, don’t even mention it. That intern was just an empty suit. He couldn’t do anything right and ended up quitting and running off on his own."
When Sherry Walsh talked about the intern, the disdain on her face was impossible to hide.
Rory Linden thought for a moment, then asked, "Oh, right, I remember you mentioned that Lawyer Sterling a few times. Are you still in touch with him?"
In the past, Rory Linden hadn’t paid much attention to Sherry’s love life.
She felt her own romantic failure disqualified her from asking about others’.
"Him? We lost touch a long time ago." Sherry Walsh rested her chin in her hand. "Other than that time I gave him money for you, we haven’t spoken. Besides, didn’t Sean Harrison say he had a fiancée?"
"Is it confirmed?"
"Who knows? Anyway, he’s Sean Harrison’s friend, so it’s impossible between us." Sherry looked at Rory. "As far as I’m concerned, friends come first!"
Soon, the waiter started bringing their dishes.
Rory Linden loved spicy food, so she had ordered all spicy dishes.
Seeing the dishes arrive, their spicy aroma stinging her nose, Rory Linden was already getting her chopsticks ready.
She would eat in Chinatown when she was abroad.
But in the end, nothing hit the spot quite like the food back home.
The restaurant was on a pedestrian street the two of them used to frequent.
After lunch, the two women took Leo Linden shopping.
There were many street food vendors along the way.
Leo Linden looked like he wanted to eat everything he saw.
So Rory Linden chose a few things and bought them for him.
Sherry Walsh had already looked up places to go and took Leo Linden to a kids’ escape room in a nearby mall.
This escape room was designed mainly for elementary school-aged children.
Before the three of them entered the room, a staff member kindly advised them, "The puzzles might be a bit difficult for children. Adults can offer hints, but we suggest not getting too involved."
Rory Linden and Sherry Walsh had originally planned to do just one escape room that afternoon.
To their surprise, Leo Linden was incredibly smart and solved the first room in just over half an hour.
In one afternoon, he managed to get through all three of the shop’s escape rooms.
As they were going downstairs, they saw a giant play castle on the first floor.
Leo Linden only glanced at it, but Sherry Walsh immediately asked, "Want to play? If you do, your godmom will treat you!"
Leo Linden looked at Rory Linden.
"If you want to play, you can play for a while."
Rory Linden agreed.
These kinds of play castles were all timed.
You paid one fee for two hours of play.
During those two hours, Rory Linden and Sherry Walsh went shopping in the mall.
Rory Linden saw an eyewear store and turned to go inside.
"Are you buying sunglasses?"
Sherry Walsh asked her.
Rory Linden casually picked up a pair of children’s black-framed glasses. "I’m buying a pair of non-prescription glasses for Leo. He can wear them for the few days he’s here."
As soon as she said that, Sherry Walsh understood. "Got it. To keep his own father from recognizing him!"
