Chapter 11 Cheering up My Fiancée
Chapter 11 Cheering up My Fiancée
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Austin rushed Sydney to the hospital, leaving Dawn standing in the doorway. Even after a long while, her limbs still felt numb.
The assistant carefully approached. “Ms. Porter, do you want to go to the hospital and check on her?”
“I … ” Dawn pressed her dry lips together as she croaked, “I’m fine.”
The assistant didn’t know what had happened. By the time she arrived, all she saw was a disheveled Sydney being carried out by Austin, while the lounge was left inplete chaos.
Dawn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’ll head back first if there’s nothing else. Once Sydney finishes her check–up, please let me know,” she said with a low voice.
She didn’t even know how she made it home.
Slumping onto the couch, Dawn rubbed her still–numb hands.
How?
How <i>did </i><i>Sydney </i><i>have </i><i>that </i><i>Virgin </i><i>Mary </i><i>pendant</i><i>? </i>
A sudden thought struck her and she shot up from the couch. She rushed into Austin’s study and began rifling through drawers and cabs, searching frantically. <fnc986> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? find?novel</fnc986>
<i>Nothing</i><i>… </i><i>nothing </i><i>at </i><i>all</i><i>. </i>
She searched everypartment, even the safe, but the familiar jewelry box was nowhere to be found.
Dawn sat on the floor in a daze when the study door was suddenly flung open with force.
Austin stood in the doorway, his already smoldering anger ring at the sight of the mess she had made. Without hesitation, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up roughly.
“How dare you throw a tantrum here? Why don’t you go and see what you’ve done instead?”
His grip was painfully tight, but Dawn didn’t struggle at all. Her reddish eyes locked onto him as she demanded, “Where is the Virgin Mary pendant my mother left me?”
Austin froze and instinctively loosened his grip.
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Chapter 11 Cheering up My Fiancée
“I’m asking you–where is my mother’s Virgin Mary pendant?” Dawn shouted.
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Her sweat–dampened hair clung to her face, making her look almost deranged–like a wild animal ready to bite.
Austin hadn’t expected her to lose her temper like this. His gaze flickered uneasily muttered, “Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“Suddenly?”
Dawn let out a coldugh.
“That pendant belongs to me. I left it with you because you said you were afraid I’d lose it. That was fine. But Austin, why did you give my pendant to Sydney? Why?”
Her mother hadn’t left her much, and that pendant was the only thing she could always carry with her. It was the most important keepsake.
Austin had always kept it safe for her.
Yet today, she had seen it with Sydney.
Looking at Dawn’s pale face, Austin felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.
He took a deep breath but his tone was still impatient. “Sydney only borrowed it to take some pictures. She’s not keeping it.”
“Even if she wanted to borrow it, shouldn’t you have asked for my permission first?”
Dawn thought back to the way Sydney had provocatively looked at her earlier. Sydney had known exactly what the pendant meant to her. She had unted it, waiting for Dawn to explode and for Austin to witness the outburst.
She had seeded.
The one thing she hadn’t ounted for was that Dawn no longer cared how Austin saw her.
“I don’t care whether you lent it or gave it away. You’d better bring it back the same way as how it left the house, Mr. Osborne. Uncle Austin, I hope you’ll show me at least a little respect.”
As the final word left her lips, a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye. She didn’t blink as she red at Austin for a few seconds before turning away.
She had only taken one step when Austin grabbed her wrist.
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Chapter 11 Cheering up My Fiancée
“Dawn!
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“It’s just a pendant. Is it worth all this fuss? If you like it so much, I can buy you an entire collection.
“Sydney said she was only borrowing it and would return it soon. Besides, I was the one who agreed to lend it to her. And you–how could you be so rude as to hit her over something <i>so </i>trivial? Do you have no manners at all?”
His words felt like an inescapable, tightening around her.
Dawn thought she would be heartbroken, but strangely, all she felt was numb. Apart from a brief moment of shock, there was nothing.
She turned back around and pried open his fingers one by one.
Her voice was steady.
“My mother’s belongings are irreceable. No amount of wealth can make up for them. And I certainly don’t want them in the hands of someone I despise.
“As for manners … Uncle Austin, aren’t you the one who knows best whether I have any?”
Austin’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he couldn’t find a single word to retort.
The indifferent expression on her face was like a thorn, digging into his chest.
Dawn smirked and continued, “Since Ms. Peay is injured, you should go back and take care of her, Uncle Austin. But I expect my mother’s Virgin Mary pendant to be returned to me tonight. If not, I’ll go and get it myself.”
A vein throbbed at Austin’s temple as he stared at her retreating figure.
<i>Is </i><i>she </i><i>threatening </i><i>me</i><i>? </i>
He tugged at his cor as an inexplicable irritation crept over him.
Back in her room, Dawn tossed her coat aside and flopped onto the bed. She rolled over and buried her face in the nkets. For a while, she remained motionless, but then the overwhelming feeling of injustice washed over her.
“Austin! You bastard!”
<i>How </i><i>dare </i><i>you </i><i>give </i><i>my </i><i>things </i><i>away</i>?
21:58 Sun, Sep 14 <b>d</b>…
Chapter 11 Cheering up My Fiancée
<i>To </i>Sydney<i>, </i><i>of </i>all <i>people</i><i>! </i>
:
She bit down on the nket angrily just as her phone vibrated beside her.
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Dawn hesitated before reaching for it. Seeing Ethan’s name on the screen, she sniffled and picked up.
“Ethan.”
The man on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, “Are you upset?”
Dawn had been holding herself together, but the simple question made her nose sting again. She swallowed her emotions. “It’s just a small matter. Nothing to make a fuss about.”
She wasn’t just telling Ethan that–she was telling herself, too.
It really wasn’t a big deal.
She would be leaving in just a week.
Ethan had just finished a meeting and was walking through the corridor. A blonde woman from the business delegation caught up with him, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. She batted hershes flirtatiously. “Mr. Jackson, do you have time for dinner tonight?”
Ethan offered a polite smile and gestured to his phone, signaling that he was in the middle of a call.
“Sorry, my fiancée is upset. I need to find a way to cheer her up.”
Dawn heard every word. Her cheeks flushed, and she buried her face in the nket, mumbling, “What are you talking about, Ethan? I don’t need you to cheer me up.”