Chapter 198 She Couldn't Push Him Away Anymore
The next morning, Ethan woke up in a haze of confusion.
The pounding headache from his hangover made him wince, yet fragments from last night's chaos flooded back with startling clarity.
He bolted upright and grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
The screen lit up as he quickly typed a message to Nina.
[Are you awake? Let me takeyou out for a lavish dinner.]
[I'll pick you up at noon.]
He stared at the screen—it remained silent as stone.
A few minutes later, he sent another message.
[We could ride the Ferris wheel tonight. I'll buy you the biggest cotton candy theyhave, it's delicious.]
His phone remained stubbornly silent, cold as ice.
He lit a cigarette, and through the swirling smoke, her signed words from yesterday floated back to him.
'Never to see each other again.'
She meant it. She really didn't want to see him anymore.
His brows furrowed into a tight knot, his chest feeling blocked by something heavy and suffocating.
...
Meanwhile, Nina was at the office with Daryl.
She had become his most devoted personal assistant.
Her duties were simple: delivering documents and accompanying him to business dinners, sampling cuisine at the finest restaurants.
What no one knew was that this quiet girl, shadow-like in her silence, possessed extraordinary abilities—skills that had once amazed the world and been secretly coveted by various nations.
A car accident had stolen everything from her, putting her abilities to sleep, erasing her glorious past, and taking her voice, turning her into an unremarkable mute girl.
Had she not encountered Ethan's life-or-death moment later, her abilities might never have awakened again.
The afternoon sun was perfect, streaming lazily through the study windows with gentle warmth.
After breakfast, Emma settled back at her computer and buried herself in work.
Her fingers danced across the keyboard, typing line after line of code.
Two files were complete; four remained.
She wanted to finish her current project quickly.
001 glided quietly to her feet and extended its small mechanical hand, gently tugging at her pants leg.
"Emma, I haven't completed today's mission yet. Please look at me."
Emma paused and looked down at it.
"What's your mission?"
Immediately, a line of text flashed across 001's screen.
[Emma, how are you today? I'm thinking of you, wanting to hold your hand, kiss your lips, and watch the stars with you.]
Emma froze.
Was this Nicholas's love letter?
How childish.
But the words kept scrolling across the screen, over and over again.
Despite herself, her heart skipped a beat.
She stood and walked to the window for some air, pulling back the heavy curtains.
A familiar face suddenly came into view.
It was Nicholas.
He leaned against his car door, a cigarette between his fingers, standing outside the estate with his head tilted up toward her window.
The moment he saw her, he visibly startled.
Emma startled too, and the next second, she quickly drew the curtains shut.
Her heart raced. Why was he out there?
She returned to her computer, trying to refocus on work, but her fingertips refused to cooperate.
The code kept producing errors, forcing her to delete and revise repeatedly. She couldn't concentrate at all.
Half an hour passed.
She couldn't resist and quietly pulled back a corner of the curtain.
He was still there.
He was on a phone call, but his gaze remained locked on her window. When she peered out, he seemed to sense it and paused momentarily.
She quickly pulled the curtain shut again.
Beside her, 001 actually emitted soft snoring sounds, it was asleep.
This thing could even mimic human sleep patterns. Unbelievable.
A wave of drowsiness hit her, and she leaned back in her chair for a brief nap.
She didn't know how long she slept.
When she opened her eyes again, the view outside had returned to normal.
She pulled back the curtains once more, the familiar car was gone, and the figure had disappeared.
Her eyes dimmed, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She took her water glass and left the study to refill it with warm water.
When she returned to the study, she discovered the curtains had somehow been closed again.
Suddenly, a warm hand wrapped around her waist from behind.
The familiar masculine scent enveloped her.
A laughing voice spoke near her ear.
"You clearly miss me, but you pretend not to care. It's heartbreaking to watch."
Emma's heart lurched.
"Nicholas, how dare you come in here! Did you forget last time's lesson?"
He chuckled low, the vibration from his chest traveling through the thin fabric to her back.
"Because you missed me, I had no choice but to come up."
"You've pulled those curtains so many times, you're going to break the curtain rod."
Emma's expression hardened, her voice rising. "Who missed you? Let go of me."
His magnetic voice brushed against her earlobe.
"I belong to you anyway. Whenever you miss me, I'll appear immediately."
Emma's heart trembled as she whispered harshly, "Nicholas, I haven't forgiven you yet. Stop pestering me."
But he only spoke more gently.
"I know. I'm asking for your forgiveness."
With that, he turned her body to face him.
Then, a kiss descended.
The kiss was gentle, without a trace of dominance—only tender, lingering caresses.
Emma pushed against him with her hands.
But he smoothly lifted her slight frame and settled them both in the chair.
He leaned down again, deepening the kiss.
Her breath was completely stolen.
She could only tilt her head back, enduring this kiss that carried the crisp scent of mint.
In his deep eyes, love so intense it threatened to overflow swirled and tumbled.
He seemed determined to give her all the beauty this world had to offer.
Damn this man, she couldn't push him away anymore...
Emma found herself drowning in his tenderness, letting him lead her step by step toward unknown depths...
In the corner, 001 quietly covered its electronic eyes.
It rolled on its wheels, gliding out the door and thoughtfully closing it behind them.
This time, nothing would make it report Nicholas again.
A core principle had been deeply embedded in its memory banks.
[Absolute loyalty to Mr. Harrison.]
[Mr. Harrison's happiness is 001's happiness.]
The afternoon temperature dropped suddenly, and the entire sky turned overcast.
Outside the Jackson family estate, Luke leaned against his imposing black Maybach, the cigarette between his fingers burned down to the filter.
This unprecedented visit, along with the carefully selected gifts in his trunk, had been rejected by the Jackson family's firmly closed wrought-iron gates.
He irritably groundedthe cigarette butt under his foot.
John, the butler, emerged wearing a polite but distant smile.
"Mr. White, you should go home."
John's gaze lingered on him for a moment, filled with undisguised pity.
That tall, straight figure, that flawless face—clearly, he and Evelyn were a match made in heaven.
Too bad about the erectile dysfunction.
God truly was fair, never bestowing all good things on one person.
Luke acted as if he hadn't heard, lighting another cigarette and taking a deep drag, letting the nicotine assault his lungs.
He simply wouldn't leave.
Through the swirling smoke, his peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly, fixed on that cold iron gate.
Suddenly, he steeled himself and flicked the cigarette to the ground.
Taking a running start, he gripped the top of the fence with both hands, used his core strength, and gracefully vaulted over.
The entire movement was fluid and seamless, without a trace of hesitation.
On the second floor, Evelyn had just stepped out of her room and witnessed this scene worthy of an action movie.
The next second, she snapped back to reality and shouted, "Uncle John, there's a burglar in the house!"
Before she finished speaking, the figure had already approached the villa with alarming speed.
With a single leap onto the first-floor windowsill as a foothold, he braced himself with his arms and scaled up to the second-floor balcony in just a few moves.
Before Evelyn could react, a scent mixed with tobacco and crisp air hit her.
The man extended his long arms, directly pulling her stunned form into his embrace and into the room.
The door clicked shut behind his heel.
She found herself encircled in a warm, solid embrace, her heart hammering uncontrollably.
The sensation nearly burst through her chest.
This man was too handsome.
That smooth efficiency, those skills—they reminded her of Hawk.
Downstairs, John heard the shouting and hurried out with several security guards, circling the courtyard.
There was no burglar to be found.
Not even a shadow.
Inside the room, the man's magnetic, low voice spoke almost against her ear.
"Evelyn, give me a chance."
This clumsy declaration of love was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the faint flutter of attraction Evelyn had just felt.
She forcefully pushed him away.
"Mr. White, I told you, we're not compatible. I won't marry you."
A flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes, his voice dropping.
"Why?"
"Because the White family people are awful," Evelyn said without hesitation.
"Think about it—if I became your wife, Zoe would be my sister-in-law. We'd probably make headline news fighting every day."
Luke's lips curved in a faint smile.
"She'll never become your sister-in-law."
"Besides, I won't let anyone bully you. Don't worry."
Evelyn paused, then nodded approvingly.
"You're leaving the White family? That's a remarkably wise decision."
Unexpectedly, he smiled—a gorgeous smile.
When he smiled, he became devastatingly handsome, as if he could make all the light in the room brighter while rendering everything else pale in comparison.
It was the kind of divine charm only possessed by first-rate beauties.
Evelyn stared, somewhat dazed, then came to her senses wanting to slap herself.
What had she been thinking about?
"As long as you're willing to be with me, I'll agree to any condition." His voice carried unmistakable sincerity.
Evelyn looked at him with deep eyes, then suddenly turned to open her nightstand drawer.
From a velvet box, she withdrew that silver mask, its cracks now perfectly repaired.
"Then I want you to wear this and live with me." She held up the mask, her tone calm but firm. "Can you do that?"
With that, she moved to place the mask on his face.
Luke suddenly grabbed her wrist, his grip so tight it made her wince with pain.
His entire expression darkened, the atmosphere around him turning ominously low.
"Anything but that."
He would never again be Hawk's shadow.
That kind of substitution would only keep her forever living in the past, never moving on.
The truth was, he wasn't really Hawk either. That original devil had been shot dead by Theo five years ago. The higher-ups had then sent him to take over the identity and manage half of Luminous City.
Since then, they'd been secretly cleaning up all the evil in Luminous City until they'd reclaimed the entire city.
After five years, he could finally escape that hellish place. Her arrival had become his salvation and his lifelong obsession...
It was precisely because he'd become her indispensable love and they had a child that Theo decided to let him return while staying behind himself. Originally, this chance to come home had been Theo's...
But all of this was classified. He couldn't say anything.
Evelyn suddenly laughed, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. Instead, her eyes gradually reddened.
"You're right. You'll never be him."
"Even if you wore the mask, you could never replace him. Mr. White, please go back."
She withdrew her hand and carefully placed the mask back in the box, her movements gentle as if handling a priceless treasure.
Unexpectedly, the person behind her pressed close again, holding her tightly from behind.
His low voice carried a barely detectable plea as it sounded in her ear.
"Evelyn, give me a chance. I'll make you happy."
Evelyn forcefully pushed him away, her tone cold as ice.
"The happiness I want, you can never give me. He's gone, and my happiness went with him."
Luke didn't move, only clenched his hands at his sides into fists, veins bulging on the backs of his hands as if he were desperately suppressing something.
The air fell into deadly silence.
After a long moment, she looked at him and cruelly added another sentence.
"Mr. White, you can't even be a real man. How dare you talk about happiness?"
This statement was clearly like a needle, viciously striking Luke's most sensitive nerve.
He suddenly stepped forward, pulling her into his arms again, pressing her tightly against his burning chest.
The man's voice was very low, carrying a deadly allure.
"Why don't we try first?"
"What if I'm functioning again?"
Evelyn startled, her entire body going rigid.
"Who wants to try with you? Let me go!."
But he completely ignored her struggles, leaning down to domineeringly capture her lips.
Burning breath forcefully drew the sweetness from her mouth.
That familiar sensation instantly overwhelmed all her senses.
This feeling, this kiss—why was it so familiar? She'd tasted it many times before. It was... Hawk's scent.
She suddenly snapped back to awareness, using all her strength to bite down hard.
The metallic taste of blood spread between their lips.
Taking advantage of his pained moment, she forcefully pushed him away.
When Luke looked at her again, he found her already in tears.
In those beautiful eyes, grief poured out like a burst dam, nearly drowning her completely.
"Don't cry." Luke's chest tightened, and he instinctively reached out to hold her, his voice full of anguish.
But Evelyn seemed to have lost her soul, not even glancing at him as she turned and rushed out of the room.
She was going crazy.
This man wasn't Hawk.
How could she, how could she have felt even a moment's attraction to him?
She would never betray her Hawk.
Never!