Chapter 165

Chapter 165

"But it's not great for you to be here either. It's getting late — why not just head home instead of wasting time here?"

Serenity's voice was gentle.

"I said I don't need it. Are you deaf?"

Trent looked at her, his impatience growing.

"I don't know what you're trying to get from me, but whatever you're thinking, it's not going to work."

With that, Trent stepped back twice, putting more distance between them, his eyes full of disgust.

Serenity hadn't expected anyone to push back so hard against her advances.

She'd assumed Trent's coldness toward her before was entirely because Abigail had been around.

But now it seemed things weren't as simple as she'd thought.

The more Trent resisted her and stayed loyal to Abigail, the more of a challenge she found it.

How could such a great man not be hers?

On top of that, his company could be very useful to her.

If they got together, wouldn't that be the perfect power couple?

A flicker of possessiveness crossed Serenity's eyes. "Mr. Smith, I'm just trying to be helpful. I have no other intentions — please don't read too much into it."

"No need to read into it — just stop showing up in front of me, and I won't have to think about you at all."

Trent shot back.

He was already fed up with Serenity's behavior from before.

And after what Bianca had told him, his guard against her had gone up another level.

He had no interest in spending any more time around Serenity than necessary — the last thing he wanted was for Abigail to get the wrong idea.

"I made myself pretty clear on the phone last time. If you didn't understand, I'd suggest finding a translator."

"A translator?"

Serenity was caught off guard, not quite following what he meant.

"You need someone to translate human language for you."

Catching the sarcasm in his words, Serenity lost her composure for a moment.

Her eyes went wide. "Mr. Smith, do you really hate me that much?"

"What did you expect? Was I not being obvious enough?"

Except with Abigail, Trent had no patience for other women.

More than that, he simply didn't feel any obligation to cater to their feelings.

Serenity had come after him again and again — the fact that he was only saying these things and not going after her company was already being generous.

Right then, Trent's car arrived.

The roadside assistance crew showed up at the same time. Trent directed them to tow his car away, then got into the ride he'd called.

Watching Trent leave without so much as a glance in her direction, Serenity felt a flash of anger.

Was she really that unappealing?

How could she be completely invisible to him?

But she quickly talked herself back down.

A man with that kind of self-control was rare, and he had so much going for him on top of that.

Only a man like that would be worthy of her.

Trent had no idea what was going through Serenity's head. He simply left.

When he got home, he caught a scent drifting from the kitchen before he even stepped inside.

"Abigail, are you cooking?"

He didn't call out right away. When he walked in and saw Abigail moving around the kitchen, a look of surprise crossed his face.

At the sound of his voice, Abigail spun around.

Trent was right there, much closer than she'd expected. She startled, then patted her chest and said with a playful pout, "Why do you walk so quietly?"

"You were just too focused on cooking."

Trent gave a soft laugh, then stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

"What made you want to cook today?"

"Ava took the day off. I didn't want you coming home to nothing."

Abigail answered casually, but as she was about to dish up the food, her hand paused for just a moment.

Unless she was imagining things, there was a faint scent on Trent — a perfume she'd never worn herself, yet somehow slightly familiar.

"How come you're home so late today?"

Abigail kept her hands moving, asking as if it were just small talk.

"There was a meeting tonight. By the time it wrapped up it was already late, and then my car broke down on the way home."

Trent rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh.

He'd expected the drive home to be smooth after a long day, hoping to get back quickly and spend time with Abigail and Paxton.

Instead, he'd ended up stuck on the road for a long time.

Seeing the exhaustion on his face, Abigail nodded. "Let's just eat then."

"You haven't eaten yet, right?"

She was about to carry the dishes out when she thought to ask.

Trent nodded. "Not yet. I came straight home as soon as I was done."

Hearing that, Abigail's eyes grew thoughtful.

So where had that perfume on him come from?

Or maybe someone at the meeting had been wearing it, and Trent had just picked it up without realizing.

Abigail looked down slightly, turning it over in her mind.

The scent wasn't strong, but it wasn't the kind of thing you'd pick up from a brief encounter — it had to have come from some time in close contact.

Noticing that Abigail seemed lost in thought, Trent asked with a puzzled look.

"Abigail, what's wrong?"

His voice snapped her back.

She curved her lips into a small smile and shook her head. "Just thinking about something."

"What about?"

Trent drew her into his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I couldn't have dinner with you and Paxton tonight."

He'd planned to be there with them, but some last-minute work had come up right before he was supposed to leave, and he couldn't get away.

Meeting his apologetic gaze, Abigail shook her head.

"It's fine. I don't mind."

She knew he'd genuinely been busy at work. She was just trying to figure out whose perfume that was.

"Let's eat."

Trent raised an eyebrow slightly, and Abigail nodded, then said with a light smile:

"You don't know — this dinner wasn't just my doing."

"Who else helped?"

It clearly looked like Abigail's cooking, and there was no one else in the house.

Ava had the day off.

"Paxton and Daphne washed all the vegetables today, so they deserve some credit too."

At that, Trent's eyes moved to Paxton.

"Paxton, that's amazing."

At the praise, Paxton's cheeks flushed, but he instinctively puffed up his little chest.

"I didn't want Mom to do everything by herself."

Doing things alone was hard and tiring.

But with someone helping, it wasn't so bad.

Besides, the meal was for Trent.

As Trent's son, Paxton felt like he should do his part.