Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 48: Red Marks Covered Every Inch of Skin He Could Kiss.

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Red Marks Covered Every Inch of Skin He Could Kiss.

Sean Harrison thought the woman had woken up. He was about to tell her she should change, but before the words left his mouth, her eyes fluttered shut again.

The sound of her steady breathing soon followed.

Sean Harrison called her name a couple of times, just to be sure. Once he confirmed she was truly asleep again, he got up with a resigned sigh, found his phone, and made a call.

That night, Sean Harrison dreamed of Rory Linden.

They were back at the qipao shop, hiding together in a cramped fitting room.

With one hand, he easily pinned both of her hands together above her head.

She bit down on the thumb of his other hand, preventing her from crying out.

The zipper on the back of her qipao was pulled all the way down.

He leaned down and, just as he’d wanted, kissed her slender neck. His teeth grazed lightly over the knobs of her spine.

Red marks bloomed on every inch of skin he could reach with his lips.

When he woke again, the sun was shining brightly.

Sean Harrison felt for the silk summer quilt, a sense of absurdity washing over him.

A thirty-year-old man, and he’d just had a wet dream like some teenager.

-

Meanwhile, Rory Linden was jolted awake by her phone’s alarm, her head feeling like it was about to split open.

She reached out, shut off the alarm, and tried to piece together why she felt so awful...

’It was the yellow wine at Miles Harrison’s engagement party. I drank so much of it.’

’The wine was sweet and didn’t seem very strong. It went down easy, but I never expected the kick it would have. I can’t even remember when I started to get drunk.’

Rory Linden’s mind went blank for a few seconds. Then, fragments of memories—some that felt like hers, and some that didn’t—began to fill the void of the previous night...

And every one of those fragments involved Sean Harrison.

He had carried her upstairs. She had pestered him to help her with her necklace. And...

’I think... I kissed him.’

With every new detail that surfaced, the chaotic explosion of information in her mind intensified.

Once she had pieced most of it together, she finally noticed her qipao was gone. She was in pajamas!

Her makeup had been wiped off, too!

Rory Linden was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

’Please don’t let there be more I can’t remember... like what happened between me and Sean Harrison in the end...’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Are you awake?"

The knock at the door was followed by Sean Harrison’s voice.

Rory Linden yanked the blanket up to cover herself. Her mind raced for a few seconds before she finally threw herself out of bed, slipped on her slippers, and hurried to the door.

Sean Harrison was already dressed for the day, though he hadn’t put on his tie yet.

Rory Linden hesitated for a moment before asking, "Mr. Harrison, I’m so sorry, but I was drunk last night. I need to confirm... did we sleep together?"

Sean Harrison hadn’t expected her to be so direct.

The man arched an eyebrow, asking pointedly, "You don’t remember?"

"I’m sorry, my memory of after we got back is a little fuzzy. But... we were both drunk, and we’re adults. It wouldn’t be surprising if something happened." Rory Linden paused before explaining, "But if we did sleep together, I need to go buy emergency contraception right now."

’It would have been her first time.’ But as a doctor, she knew perfectly well that not every woman bleeds her first time.

She couldn’t rely on bleeding, or lack thereof, or even how her body felt to determine what had happened.

Sean Harrison found himself thinking that the young woman he was falling for was incredibly smart.

Instead of agonizing over getting drunk or dwelling on what might have happened, she had immediately jumped to finding a solution.

Rory Linden assumed that a man like Sean Harrison, with his immeasurable wealth, would never allow a woman who wasn’t his wife to bear his child.

It would be a threat to his family’s assets.

Rory Linden continued, "Of course, emergency contraception isn’t one hundred percent effective. If I do end up pregnant, I’ll get an abortion at a friend’s hospital. I can show you the papers afterward."

Sean Harrison leaned against the doorframe, his dark eyes studying the woman before him. "You don’t have to go to all that trouble," he said. "What if you just had the baby?"

"I won’t."

Rory Linden’s answer was immediate.

"Why not?"

Sean Harrison was taken aback by how firm her refusal was.

"Mr. Harrison, my situation is nothing like yours. I don’t have the luxury of being impulsive." Rory Linden cast her eyes downward. "I have no family. I spent twenty years in school, and I’ve only been working at my first real job for a year. I still owe a friend tens of thousands. If I had a baby, I couldn’t even afford a nanny."

"So you’re just assuming I wouldn’t provide for our child?" Sean Harrison’s brows drew together. "When did I ever give you that impression?"

"I know you’re a good person. If I had the baby, you probably wouldn’t abandon them, even if you got married later, but..." Rory Linden met his gaze. "I can’t pin all my hopes on you. If my child’s well-being is entirely dependent on your conscience... that would leave me in a completely powerless position."

Sean Harrison looked like he wanted to say more, but he just sighed. "Alright. Let’s get some breakfast first."

Sean Harrison had made breakfast again.

He wasn’t sure if Rory Linden had blacked out.

But he had considered it: if she’d blacked out and assumed they’d slept together, he would have gone along with it.

And then he’d marry her.

Too bad...

This woman was too perceptive; she didn’t fall for his scheme at all.

After breakfast, Rory Linden got a ride to the hospital in his car.

As they passed a pharmacy, she asked the driver to stop. But just as she reached for the door to go buy the pill, the man beside her grabbed her wrist.

Rory Linden looked down at his hand wrapped around her wrist. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes were full of questions.

"We didn’t sleep together," Sean Harrison explained again. "We didn’t go that far last night."

The suspicion in Rory Linden’s eyes didn’t fade.

Sean Harrison knew what she was thinking. He continued, "I only unzipped your dress. When I saw you’d fallen asleep, I called Henry Lancaster’s sister to come over and help you change. I can call her right now if you don’t believe me."

"No, that’s not necessary. I believe you."

Rory Linden settled back into her seat.

Based on how she felt when she woke up, she’d already suspected that nothing had happened between them.

"Rory Linden." He still hadn’t let go of her wrist. "What do you remember about last night?"

"I..."

The first image that flashed into Rory Linden’s mind was of him carrying her upstairs.

With just one arm, no less.

Then came the memory of her kissing him.

She couldn’t remember why, but she knew for a fact that she had.

’Maybe getting drunk just gives you the courage to do all the things you’d never dare to do sober.’

"Not what we did. What I *said* to you," Sean Harrison clarified, looking at her. "How much of that do you remember?"

’What he said to me...’

Rory Linden’s mind drew a complete blank. She scrambled to piece together the fragments of her drunken memories.

After a long moment, she could only shake her head.

’She couldn’t remember a thing he’d said.’

Sean Harrison sighed in resignation. "I’d love to know what exactly you *do* remember when you’re drunk. You forget the important things and let your imagination run wild with the rest."

"..." Rory Linden looked at his exasperated expression and asked tentatively, "Mr. Harrison, what did you say yesterday? Did I forget something important?"

The car was stuck in rush-hour traffic.

Sean Harrison watched her quietly, a flicker of conflict in his eyes.

Finally, he said calmly, "I told you that my mother has been pressuring me to get married for years, but I have no intention of doing so. I asked if you would pretend to be my fiancée for one year."

Rory Linden froze.

He continued, "And you agreed. You might see it as just drunk talk, but I’m taking it seriously." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Rory Linden sifted through the fragments of her memory, but she couldn’t find a single trace of that conversation.

’But...’

’If Sean Harrison said it happened, then it must have, right?’

Sean Harrison released her wrist. "It’s fine. If you’re not willing, I’ll just chalk it up to you being drunk and we can move on."