Joy probably sensed the enmity between these two adults. She suddenly balled her fists and bawled loudly, causing Deirdre to panic a little. “Hush, hush. Don’t cry, Little Joy. Joy is happy, isn’t she? Aunt Deirdre is here with you.”Laura led Cillian down the stairs just in time and stepped forward, her arms outstretched. “Don’t worry, Miss McKinnon. She’s throwing another tantrum again, really.”The child’s crying seemed to have spoiled Cillian’s good mood. Irritated, he snarled, “Can you put a cork to it already? This thing doesn’t stop crying, whether it’s day or night! And now she’s throwing a stupid fit in front of my guests? Christ! Take her upstairs! You two embarrassed me enough!”Laura’s face turned pale. She hurriedly apologized and brought the kid with her upstairs. Incensed, Deirdre spoke out. “Mr. King, if I may… Every child cries. It’s a very common, natural thing to do.”“Natural?” Cillian snorted. “A boy would have been less of an emotional nuisance.”Deirdre na
“You’re talking about Joy? She’s fine…”“I’m talking about you,” Deirdre said sternly as she looked at her. “Are you all right?”Laura was stunned for a moment, and understanding soon dawned on her. While she was surprised, she gulped hard and said, “Thank you for your concern, Miss McKinnon, but I… I’m fine. He just has a short temper. But he's actually very nice to me.”“He’s nice to you?” Deirdre fell silent for a moment and asked, “Is this the answer from your heart, Ms. Smith?”Laura was stumped. Seizing the chance while she was tongue-tied, Deirdre said, “Ms. Smith, I don't know what made you give up on Declan and choose Cillian. But I really want to tell you that if you're willing to wait for Declan, he still loves you and will accept you. However, the premise is that you have to come to your senses and help him.”A surge of emotions flitted across Laura’s eyes as she couldn’t help herself and asked, “What’s your relationship to Decky, Miss McKinnon?”“I’m just his friend.
Deirdre knew how expensive this bracelet was by touching it, so she figured she could not accept it. As if he could see through her worries, Brendan wrapped his arm around her waist and collected her hair behind her ear, saying, “This is a gift from Mrs. King. You should just take it.”Deirdre had no other choice but to accept it. “Alright. Thank you very much, Mrs. King.”Mrs. King complimented Deirdre for her understanding and appearance as she guided them to the table. After all of them had taken their seats, Mr. King Sr. asked in a displeased voice, “Where is Declan?”Mrs. King sighed and said, “He probably is staying in his room.”“Nonsense!” Mr. King Sr. smacked the table and continued. “Hurry up and get him down here! We have guests today. How could he hide in his room and not show his face?”Cillian wrapped his arm around Laura and said, “Dad, you should just leave him alone. Declan prefers to stay alone. He might spoil the mood if he comes down to join us.”Laura’s face
Deirdre needed cold water to keep herself awake.She went around groping the wall frantically. Suddenly, she bumped into the cabinet and gasped in pain. Cold beads of sweat were streaming down her forehead, and she felt her head spinning as the sensation of cold and hot assaulted her.It took her a great effort to reach the bathroom. Meanwhile, Declan’s mind was a chaotic mess under the drug's effect. When he saw Deirdre, he had an illusion and stretched his arms to drag her into his embrace. “Laura… Is that you?”-Meanwhile, Cillian was introducing the upcoming projects of his office while extending an olive branch to Brendan.“What do you think, Brendan? These projects are unique to me, even in the whole country. If the two of us cooperate, our companies will be at their peak in the next ten years!”Brendan looked over the projects and memorized them in his heart. He did not answer his question directly and asked, “What time is it now?”“It’s three now.”It had been nearly
Cillian hesitated for a moment before answering, “Miss McKinnon is missing. The maid said she entered Declan’s room and hasn’t come out yet.”“What!?” Mr. King Sr.’s expression changed. Anger began to rise from the bottom of his heart, but he did not dare to make any assumptions. “Maybe the maid misidentified that woman as Miss McKinnon?”Brendan ignored him and rushed toward Declan’s room. He twisted the doorknob, but unfortunately, it did not budge. His face sank, and he growled, “Where is the key!?”They had already prepared the key in advance, and the maid handed it to Brendan. Before Brendan opened the door, Cillian spoke. “Mr. Brighthall, make sure you can keep your calm when you’re in the room. Even if you don’t trust Declan, you need to have faith in Miss McKinnon—”Before he could finish speaking, he looked at the bed and was stunned. Only one person was on the massive bed, and that person was none other than Deirdre. Her eyes were misted over with desire. Apparently, th
No one knew how long it had passed. When everything ended, Brendan draped his clothes over Deirdre.Deirdre curled herself up silently like a frozen shrimp, trying her very best to keep herself as far away as possible from Brendan.Brendan lit a cigarette, but he snubbed it out the next second. “I told you. You’re going to regret it.”Deirdre remained silent, her body shaking. Brendan heaved out a sigh and opened the door. “I need to go do something.”He got out of the car and turned around. Deirdre still remained motionless. After he closed the door, she bit her lips tightly, and tears streamed down her face.Deirdre had done something terribly wrong. She felt she was the most loathful person in the world. When she thought of Kyran, she felt so much pain that it felt like someone was pulling her heart out of her chest.However, she could not blame anyone, not even Brendan, for what had happened. After all, she was the one who had asked for it.Her head was swimming. While wip
Brendan jerked his head up, and his pupils constricted. “Why did you come out of the car?”Deirdre ignored him and continued to press on. “If someone from the outside learns that I was drugged today, it won’t do any good to any of us here. So, can you tell me what you will do about it?”Mr. King Sr. set his jaw tightly. After a short while, he took a deep breath and said, “Of course, I’ll give you a satisfactory answer and bring the proprietor to justice. After Declan returns, I’ll ask him to go to your side and kneel to apologize to you. If you’re still unhappy about it, you can just send him to prison.”Deirdre chuckled. “Things have come to this point, and you still want to protect Cillian?”“I don’t know what you are talking about, Miss McKinnon,” replied Mr. King Sr.“No, you are well aware,” Deirdre said without hesitation. “You are well aware that the one who drugged me wasn’t Declan.”Perhaps Cillian had too much confidence in the drug because his plan was full of flaws.
Deirdre waved her hand in reply to Brendan’s question. However, she still felt weak all over her body. A second earlier, she felt cold, and one more second later, she felt hot. Her head was swimming as well, and she felt like she was walking on a cloud. Brendan placed his hand on her forehead and a hint of surprise crossed his eyes. “You’re sick?”“Maybe.” She had not been feeling well from the moment she had confronted Mr. King Sr. She had just been enduring it. After all, she could not be a drag to Brendan in a situation like that. She mustered all her strength and stood up. Then, she asked, “What are you going to do about the Kings? Are you really going to fight them?”“It isn’t something you should be worried about. Let’s get in the car. We need to take you to the hospital right away,” Brendan said as he ordered Fionn to take them to the hospital.She did not say anything. She just went along with Brendan. As soon as she entered the car, she fell unconscious.By the time sh