Chapter 240 Chapter 240
On the university campus.
Caroline waited a little over ten minutes leaning against the wall, mentally reviewing her strategy with Vox Talents, when her cell phone rang.
It was Nicholas.
She answered the call, an involuntary smile already playing on her lips, and asked in a sweetly formal voice: “Mr. Wolf, have you arrived yet?”
The man on the other end of the line had an incredibly deep, husky, and engaging voice. “Hmm. I'm here. Sweetheart, you can come down now.”
Caroline immediately corrected him, stepping away from the wall and walking toward the gates. "Mr. Wolf, you are still in your trial period of courting me.
Please pay close attention to how you address me. ‘Darling’ is a privilege reserved for lovers.“
He gave a low, affectionate chuckle that made Caroline's stomach flutter. ”Hmm. You're right. Thank you for correcting me, Miss Ford. I promise to behave better."
Caroline had to bite her lip to suppress the broad smile that threatened to break her tough-girl pose.
She hurried through the gates and spotted the imposing Bugatti parked at the curb.
A sweet, warm, cozy feeling flooded her heart as she thought of the man waiting for her inside. She continued talking to him on the phone as she approached the car. “Didn't you say it would take twenty minutes to get here from your office? Why did you arrive so early?”
She glanced at her wristwatch. Exactly fourteen minutes had passed.
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Um... I wanted to see you sooner. So... I may have ignored a few red lights to get here ahead of schedule.”
Caroline stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, completely stunned.
She frowned immediately, her “teacher” mode activated. “Nicholas Wolf, you ran red lights in the middle of São Paulo?! You can't do that! It's completely wrong!”
She pressed the phone to her ear, indignant. “How could you run a red light? Do you know how dangerous that is? I'd rather wait for you for three hours on the sidewalk than let you risk yourself in traffic like that!
And he didn't say ‘one’ light. He said ”several"! There were several!
That was terrible! Absurd!
She was an ordinary, law-abiding citizen, and she would not condone that kind of action movie recklessness, no matter if he was the most powerful CEO in the country. Much less if he was her husband.
She continued to chatter and scold him on the phone, but when she finally paused to take a breath, the man on the other end simply chuckled hoarsely.
The sound of that laugh, deep and charming, sent electric shocks straight through her veins, weakening her knees.
“What are you laughing at?” Caroline asked, trying to sound angry so as not to be carried away by his magnetism. “This is wrong, Nicholas! You can't play around in traffic, don't do it again!”
“Caroline.” His laughter ceased. When he said her name, his voice dropped an octave, laden with an affection so dense it was almost tangible.
Caroline's heart skipped a beat. “W-What...”
The man's voice became dangerously seductive through the speaker. “Are you worried about me?”
Caroline placed her free hand over her chest, feeling her heart pound wildly, and took a deep breath to maintain her composure. “Don't read too much into it, Mr. Wolf! I was concerned about innocent pedestrians. They're in danger when reckless billionaires think they own the road.”
He was in a position to chase her now. She definitely didn't want to admit out loud how terrified she was at the thought of him getting into an accident.
Otherwise, that man's ego would become unbearably conceited.
“Really?” Nicholas asked, his voice almost a drawling whisper. “You're not even a little worried about me?”
“...What's there to worry about with you in an armored car?” she retorted.
Caroline realized that the conversation had veered dangerously from a traffic lecture to blatant flirting. She stopped beside the passenger door of the Bugatti and reiterated firmly, trying not to smile, “Nicholas, don't be cheeky with me.” You heard the rules. I'm the game master now.
The man laughed again, and in that instant, his voice sounded so deep and intimate through the speaker that she felt as if his lips were brushing against her ear.
Caroline tried to calm her racing heart. She bit her lip and maintained her tough-girl pose: “Good. Don't do that again. Traffic isn't a toy.”
“My dear, why are you so adorable?” Nicholas's tone overflowed with genuine affection and amusement.
“You believe everything I say. Do you really trust my irresponsibility that much?”
Caroline froze, shocked. “...You were lying?!”
“I was just teasing you. I wanted to hear your worried voice. I didn't think my traffic cop would take it so seriously.”
Silence on the other end of the line.
So, in fact, he hadn't run any red lights? And she, in all her civic desperation, had actually believed him and lectured him like a fool?
“Nicholas Wolf, you...” She bit her lower lip in sheer frustration, feeling her face flush.
This wasn't funny at all! What an annoying, manipulative man. She was going to hit him with her purse as soon as she saw him.
“Have you thought about what you want for lunch?” he asked, changing the subject with an audible smile.
Thinking about how he had tricked her and made her heart race for no reason, Caroline decided to take revenge out of pure spite. "Yes, I've decided. I want super spicy food. That Mala Tang (spicy stew) restaurant we went to last time was really good, how about it?
“Spicy stew? Sure.” The man agreed readily, without hesitating for a millisecond. In an incredibly soft and submissive voice, he added, “Whatever you want to eat, I'll go with you.”
Caroline's heart twinged with guilt. She felt a little bad for suggesting it just to tease him. “But you don't eat spicy food...”
The last time he tried to accompany her on a spicy dish, his billionaire stomach couldn't handle it and he got sick.
“Hmm, that's true, I can't tolerate chili peppers. But if that's what makes you happy today, I'll suffer with you.” His response was simple, direct, and frighteningly devoted.
Caroline was speechless.
Now what? All her anger and desire for revenge were immediately extinguished by that absurd kindness.