Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 25: Sean Harrison Asks, "Do You Really Not Need My Help?

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Sean Harrison Asks, "Do You Really Not Need My Help?

Rory Linden’s heart skipped a beat. She instinctively covered her face and shook her head. "No, I... I just fell yesterday."

She wasn’t good at lying.

Even she could tell how unconvincing the lie sounded.

"So, Miles Harrison really did hit you, didn’t he?"

Sean Harrison asked again.

His expression was grave, his dark eyes filled with visible anger.

"It really wasn’t him. He... How could he possibly hit me?"

Rory didn’t want to mention Gary Sinclair finding her. She didn’t want to cause any trouble for Sean Harrison.

Other than denying it, she didn’t know what else to say.

"He hit you, and you’re still defending him?"

Sean Harrison’s voice rose.

The anger he had been suppressing all day finally began to boil over.

"It’s not..."

"Then who was it?"

"I really did fall..."

"Fine. You don’t have to say anything else. I know how to handle this."

Sean Harrison was convinced Rory would continue to defend Miles Harrison, so he decided not to ask her any more questions.

But he wasn’t about to let this go.

’The Harrington Family’s company should have gone bankrupt years ago. He had only taken it over because he was afraid Rory would have to live a hard life.’

’Now that Rory was determined to break up with Miles, he no longer wanted to deal with the burden of the Harrington Family.’

Sean Harrison was thinking about his investments.

Rory, thinking he was going to find someone to beat up, had no choice but to continue, "Mr. Harrison, it really wasn’t Miles who hit me. I have no reason to defend him."

"You have two choices. The first is you tell me who injured you." Sean Harrison paused, then added, "The second is we go to the lobby and have a doctor examine your injury. Once they confirm you were hit, you can tell me who did it."

His tone was grave, leaving no room for doubt that he was serious.

He was determined to get to the bottom of this.

"I..."

"Just tell me your choice."

His tone was non-negotiable.

Covering her face, Rory finally sagged like a deflated balloon and mumbled, "I saw Gary Sinclair yesterday... my biological father..."

"He’s stalking you?"

Sean Harrison immediately figured it out.

Rory nodded slowly. "He’s probably been following me for a long time. He found me suddenly yesterday. When he learned I’d changed my last name, he lost control and... hit me..."

That was all she said.

She didn’t dare mention anything about Gary Sinclair mistakenly thinking she was marrying Miles Harrison, or his outrageous demand for a thirty-million-dollar bride price.

It was, of course, just his own delusion.

She was afraid that if she said anything, Sean Harrison would read too much into it and think she was hinting for him to pay her way out of trouble.

As Sean Harrison listened to her story, his hands, hanging at his sides, clenched into fists.

He stared at Rory’s face for a dozen seconds before speaking. "Take off your mask. Let me see how bad it is."

"It’s fine. He... he didn’t hit me that hard." Rory quickly added an excuse. "Besides, I’m the doctor here. I can check it myself."

’Her right cheek was almost completely swollen, and it hurt to the touch.’

’The corner of her mouth was split, too. It even hurt to eat.’

When Rory had woken up that morning after a short, fitful sleep, she’d looked at her injured face in the mirror and felt like she was about to fall apart.

She wanted to tell someone that her face was injured, that it hurt so much.

But she didn’t know who to tell.

The only person she could think of was Sherry Walsh.

But she couldn’t tell Sherry; it would only make her worry.

And now that Sean Harrison was asking, she didn’t want to tell him either.

She had already moved out of the Harrington residence. If she told him now, he would definitely insist on helping her again.

She’d end up looking two-faced—wanting to cut all ties with the Harrington Family when things were fine, only to come running back for help when she was in trouble.

Sean Harrison watched Rory quietly for a long time before finally saying, "Help me change my dressing first."

"Okay."

Rory silently breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t press the issue.

Once the dressing was changed, she helped him put his shirt back on and instructed him carefully, "The wound is healing well. You can come back the day after tomorrow."

Watching her bend over to clean up, Sean Harrison asked again, "Are you sure you don’t need my help?"

"I’m fine." Rory’s eyes crinkled above her mask in a forced smile. "Even a tiger won’t eat its own cubs. My father won’t do anything to me."

’Even as she said it, she didn’t believe it herself.’

’She had been separated from Gary Sinclair since before she even started school.’

’In all her memories from that time, she couldn’t find a single piece of evidence that the man had ever shown her any fatherly love.’

’The man was utterly selfish.’

’Gambling and drinking.’

’If he won at gambling, he’d go drinking. When he came home drunk, he’d beat her mom.’

’If he lost at gambling and had no money to drink, he’d come straight home and beat her mom.’

’He would hit her, too, calling her a useless money pit.’

’When she cried from the beatings, it would only earn her a more vicious one.’

’The more she cried, the more he hit her.’

’He would only stop if she didn’t cry, no matter how much he hit her.’

So, from a young age, Rory learned not to cry when she was in pain.

’Because besides her mom, no one would feel sorry for her.’

’Her dad would just hit her more.’

’Now her mom was dead.’

’Who was there to see her cry?’

If they hadn’t been desperate back then, her mom never would have brought her to the city to find work.

Sean Harrison said nothing, got up, and left.

Watching his retreating back, Rory had the distinct feeling that he was...

Angry.

But Rory didn’t have the luxury of worrying about anyone else.

The moment she walked out of the inpatient building after her shift, she felt a persistent sense that someone was watching her.

After leaving through the main gates of Elysian Hospital, she was too afraid to go home. Instead, she ran to a bus stop, hopped on the first bus that came, and rode away.

She sat down in a seat in the back row.

She had no destination.

She just rode.

Having only slept for two hours the previous night, the slow, lumbering bus was the perfect sleep aid.

And just like that, she fell asleep against the window.

The bus driver had to wake her, telling her they’d reached the end of the line.

Rory got off the bus and was about to pull out her phone to check the time.

But then she saw a text from an unknown number. It read:

"Where are you going? Aren’t you going home?"

Rory shuddered, her eyes darting around.

It was already dark. Aside from a dozen or so parked buses, she saw nothing.

And yet, Rory could feel someone’s eyes on her.

Terrified, she didn’t even think. She saw a bus about to pull away and scrambled aboard.

Once on the bus, she blocked the number.

Then she opened WeChat and saw a new friend request.

The profile picture was just a black square.

Terrified, Rory immediately blocked the account.

She kept transferring from one bus to another, losing all track of time.

Only when she was fairly certain that no one was following her did she get off at a familiar stop, intending to take a bus home.

As she stood at the bus stop, she realized...

It was too late. The last bus had run long ago.

Rory sat on the empty bench at the bus stop. Her stomach GROWLED, and she realized she hadn’t eaten dinner...

She rummaged through her bag, found a chocolate bar, unwrapped it, pulled down her mask, and took a bite.

A wave of misery washed over her, and tears began to stream down her face.

As she raised the chocolate bar for another bite...

A handkerchief appeared in her line of sight.

It was dark blue, with a cute panda head embroidered on the corner.