Chapter 54

Chapter 54

"You really want me to go to bed early that badly?"

The familiar scent of body wash hit me, and I realized in a daze that we used the same one.

My heart suddenly raced the moment I realized this.

James was here to mess with me!

No way!

I gritted my teeth, steeled myself, and bent down to try to slip past James.

"Early to bed, early to rise keeps you healthy. You sleep first, I still have something to talk to Victoria about."

James grabbed my wrist and yanked hard, pulling me straight into his arms.

His slightly rapid breathing sprayed against my ear.

My body instantly stiffened.

Having spent years together day and night, I knew exactly what James was thinking right now.

Don't do anything, just stand quietly.

I kept repeating this in my head, trying not to give James any opportunity.

After a long silence, I suddenly heard a low chuckle from above.

I looked up and caught James's meaningful gaze.

"Being so obedient—are you throwing yourself at me?"

"You're talking nonsense, it was clearly you!"

I pressed both hands against James's chest, my cheeks burning hot.

James's eyes grew even deeper.

He lowered his head and whispered hoarsely in my ear, "If you keep this up, I can't promise I won't do anything."

I instantly behaved.

No way, I couldn't handle him at all.

Fortunately, James didn't do anything more, just held me quietly.

The previously frozen atmosphere actually became warm at this moment.

I blinked in a daze.

Wasn't James angry and fierce earlier?

How did he become like a different person after just taking a shower?

James looked down at me with burning eyes.

Feeling his arms gradually tightening around my waist, I quickly changed the subject, "You should drink the warm milk, or it'll get cold."

James looked at me deeply, and just when I was getting nervous, he finally let go.

The moment I was free, I rushed out of the room!

My cheeks were burning, and my heart was pounding hard.

I ran to the kitchen and gulped down two large glasses of ice water before gradually calming down.

James was terrifying!

The way he looked just now, I had no doubt that if I hadn't run, he would have completely devoured me!

Actually, we were legally married now, and he had spent a hundred million dollars to buy me back from the Andrew family. If he wanted to do something to me, I didn't really have grounds to refuse.

But I didn't want to.

Maybe because the misunderstanding between us still hadn't been cleared up, I didn't dare get too close to James.

I was afraid that all the good things between us were just illusions that would vanish in the blink of an eye.

A dense, bitter feeling rose in my heart.

I rubbed my face, forcing myself to perk up.

I chatted with Victoria for over an hour about nothing in particular.

Thankfully Victoria didn't ask anything, just went along with the conversation, which made me breathe easier.

Figuring James should be asleep by now, I tiptoed upstairs.

Standing at the bedroom door, I took several deep breaths before gathering the courage to push it open.

The room was completely empty, with no sound of breathing.

I turned on the light and looked around the room, finding that James wasn't there.

My nervous feelings instantly relaxed, but were replaced by an indescribable awful feeling.

Why wasn't James in the room?

Did he want to avoid me too?

Or did he simply not want to sleep in the same bed with me?

Was the intimacy and ambiguity from earlier just him teasing me?

Disappointment spread through my heart.

I went to the bathroom to wash up in a daze, then came back and flopped onto the soft bed.

I clearly wanted to fall asleep quickly, but as soon as I closed my eyes, James's face filled my mind.

Angry, cold, disgusted, sneering...

Whichever expression it was, they all seemed directed at me.

My heart felt like it was being pricked by a fine needle.

Did he really hate me that much?

I irritably scratched my hair and rolled around on the bed hugging the blanket.

Sleep, sleep, I need to sleep!

"Stomachache?"

James's voice suddenly rang out.

I instantly froze, my movements stopping abruptly as I lay rigid on the bed.

Fortunately, I had just covered my head with the blanket, so he couldn't see my expression.

Why was James back now?

Did he want to continue what he hadn't finished earlier?

His reaction earlier was dangerous—if he needed release now, I definitely couldn't escape.

I secretly swallowed and gritted my teeth, deciding to just close my eyes and pretend to sleep.

I was already asleep, so James wouldn't be perverted enough to wake me up to do it, right?

The footsteps got closer and closer. The bed beside me sank down as James lay down next to me, and the familiar scent of body wash hit me.

My heart immediately started racing uncontrollably.

Suddenly, a warm large hand appeared on my waist.

My body stiffened.

The large hand wandered slowly and deliberately on my waist, the movement ambiguous and heated.

My brow twitched as I tried to inch toward the edge of the bed as naturally as possible.

The next moment, James actually pressed against me, holding me tightly.

His breathing gradually quickened, his hot breath puffing against my ear.

I was incredibly nervous and gathered the courage to press down on his wandering hand.

"James..."

My voice trembled uncontrollably, "I... I'm so sleepy, let's sleep."

James's soft laughter came from behind me.

He held me in his arms, his arms tightly confining me.

I didn't dare move, could only hear the pounding of my own accelerated heartbeat.

As long as I didn't move, James definitely wouldn't do anything to me, right?

My heart was all over the place.

"If only you'd been this obedient earlier, how nice would that be?"

James lowered his head and nuzzled my neck.

Fortunately, after saying this, he just held me without doing anything else.

I gradually calmed down, my body unconsciously curling up in James's arms.

His warm body temperature was exactly the same as what I had longed for in my memories—warm and reassuring.

James's embrace was still what I liked best.

Gradually, overwhelming drowsiness swept over me, suppressing all those messy thoughts in my head.

I drifted off to sleep in a daze.

Naturally, I also missed James's almost murmured whisper as he held me.

"Anna..."

For the next month, I got along surprisingly well with James.

After work, James would sometimes even come pick me up and accompany me to the hospital to see Mom.

The days passed peacefully and sweetly.

This kind of life even gave me the illusion that the misunderstanding between James and me had been cleared up, that we had reconciled, and that we could be together properly from now on.

But the more peaceful it was, the more panicked I felt inside, though I couldn't say exactly what felt wrong.

At noon, I had just finished my work and was about to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

As soon as I left the work area, I sensed something was off.

Many employees' eyes were on me.

When I first came to the company, they had all looked at me too.

But it was different from now.

At first they looked at me out of curiosity, but now there was more mockery and disdain.

Why?

I pressed my lips together, thinking about what I had done recently.

No answers came.

Whatever, if I couldn't figure it out, I wouldn't think about it.