Reborn Young Miss: Phoenix Burning Red-Chapter 133: Know Thy Enemy (1)

Adrienne would be lying if she claimed she didn’t have any feelings for Lennox Qin. It was too late to deny it considering she almost bared her heart to him earlier, but to think she’d kissed him so recklessly, Adrienne knew she might regret this later.

Lennox, who was stunned in his seat, reacted upon instinct and grabbed her hand, forbidding her from leaving. Their eyes met and neither of them uttered a single word as they gauged each other. A low gasp escaped from Adrienne’s lips when Lennox pulled her closer - enough to make her fall into his embrace. When she recovered from her shock, she found herself seated on his lap.

Adrienne wanted to get up. She hadn’t sat on someone’s lap, except for her mother’s lap when she was younger, and she hated being treated like a child by Lennox. However, she hadn’t realized that Lennox saw her as a woman, his woman.

Lennox hugged her, ignoring the continuous ringing coming from his laptop. He pressed the side of his face against her head as Adrienne stopped resisting. She was the one who teased him first anyway and now she was paying the price of her mischief.

"You should answer it, Len. It must be important." She tried to coax him to let her go, but Lennox held her tighter, as if he feared she would disappear on him. Her nose then picked up his familiar masculine scent.

"You are going to leave me after doing something like that, Addie? You’re so cruel to me."

"If you know, shouldn’t you let me go?"

"Never." Lennox shook his head. Only when he held her in his arms like this could he feel at peace for the first time in ages. "You just need to take one step forward, Addie. I’ll take the rest of the thousand steps to reach you. I’ll court you forever if I have to."

Adrienne looked at his handsome face showing a faint blush. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she didn’t deserve all of this, her treacherous heart wanted him all to herself. She wanted to delude herself that he was her redemption in this cruel life.

Would Lennox still say the same words had he known what she experienced in her past life? Surely, he would find the previous Adrienne weak and repugnant. What she was now was the effect of all the sufferings she endured in the past. The cunning and vicious woman Lennox deemed her to be was once a meek and a cowardly person.

Lennox waited for her to respond, but Adrienne kept her silence. She looked distracted as if her head was somewhere else.

In this world, there was no doubt that society wasn’t lacking in beautiful women, but not many men could catch the eye of a beautiful and smart woman like Adrienne Jiang. Lennox didn’t care if Adrienne used to have feelings for Alistair Han, because he would make her forget that man’s existence to the point that she couldn’t think of anyone but him.

Adrienne had no idea of Lennox’s thoughts. She was thinking about what her marriage with Lennox would be like. She was unwilling to repeat her past mistakes, so in this life, she did her best not to get involved with Alistair Han. Now that another man was showing interest in her, Adrienne couldn’t help but be wary of it.

In truth, Adrienne didn’t dare to raise her hope for the day that she could love Lennox to ever arrive. She feared that she would only hurt him in the end. Love was a luxury she and Lennox couldn’t afford to have yet.

Every night as she laid on her bed, the scenes of her past life kept flashing before her eyes. She had the title of Madam Han as Alistair’s wife, but she never enjoyed the perks of being one. Although the title sounded nice, others were oblivious of what kind of life she had within the Han Manor. The Han family disregarded her. Her father-in-law ignored her, while Stella, Myrtle’s mother, couldn’t do much for Adrienne. Alistair’s grandmother looked down on her and was displeased at having her as Alistair’s wife.

The old woman thought she was brute and uneducated. She believed that her grandson could have married a better woman than her. She forced Adrienne to learn etiquette lessons and was homeschooled to learn things that were expected from her as Alistair’s wife. Adrienne hated it. She was already being imprisoned by her husband and he even allowed his grandmother to bully her.

This only worsened when Adrienne still didn’t bear a child after years of marriage with him. The Han family expected her to give birth to their next heir, but that never happened. Her relationship with Alistair was still good in the first two years, but when he started beating her, forcing himself on her, Adrienne’s health started to deteriorate too.

"You look sad. What are you thinking about?" Lennnox asked, his fingers lightly touching her cheek.

Adrienne forced a smile. "It’s nothing. I just remembered something depressing."

"Did I remind you of that?" Lennox frowned, but he was a little pleased that Adrienne hadn’t pulled away from him yet. "Did Alistair Han hurt you?"

Adrienne laughed, but it never reached her eyes. "What if he did? What would you do? Avenge me?"

Lennox gave her words a good thought before shaking his head. Although Adrienne sported a smile on her face, her deep eyes seemed fathomless with darkness.

"My dear, that’s your expertise. I only know how to make money. If someone offended you, then I pity them for getting on your bad side. There is no way my wife would be the one to suffer in the hands of a bully. But remember, that doesn’t mean I won’t do anything to protect you. Alistair Han had lost his chance when he let you go. I’m not that foolish to do the same, Addie. You are mine to protect and to cherish now and forever."