Chapter 120 Panting

After the kiss ended, Catherine collapsed breathlessly into Manuel's arms.

It felt like all the strength in her body had been sucked away by Manuel. How could someone be so good at kissing?

Just when Catherine thought Manuel was about to take off her clothes, Manuel reached out and hugged her, just holding her without making any further moves.

He lowered his head, burying it in the crook of her neck.

Catherine could clearly feel his breath brushing against her ear, warm and gentle.

It was as if he was suppressing his desire.

After a long while, Manuel finally spoke in a low voice, "My mom used to have a lover. At that time, because of something that happened, my mom didn't like my dad, so she wanted to run away with that lover. But that man died. My mom thought it must have been my dad who did it, and since then, she hated my dad and didn't look kindly on me either. This happened a long time ago. I didn't expect my mom to still remember it."

"I see," Catherine thought to herself, feeling a bit emotional. Although Manuel had only briefly mentioned it, she knew that his childhood must have been difficult.

She patted Manuel's back sympathetically, comforting him, "It's okay. Generally, when you encounter unhappy things in childhood, you get compensated for them when you grow up."

Manuel glanced at Catherine, his expression returning to its usual indifference, "Who said my childhood was unhappy? I think compared to some people, my childhood was quite happy. After all, I had everything handed to me, and even taking an expensive piano class. While some people had to be stingy, saving their lunch money as pocket money."

Catherine suddenly felt like she had been shot in the heart.

Damn it, she had just been thinking about comforting Manuel? Manuel had clearly grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Why would he need sympathy from someone as poor as her?

Catherine immediately felt that her earlier comfort was unnecessary. Instead of comforting Manuel, she should comfort her own wounded heart.

But speaking of childhood, Catherine suddenly remembered something. "I remember in middle school, there was a boy in my class who always looked at me with a bit of malice. That boy wore a mask and glasses, and he looked weird."

"Weird how?" Manuel asked casually.

"I felt like he wanted to imprison me," Catherine said bluntly.

Manuel immediately narrowed his eyes, a mocking smile on his lips, "Aren't you a bit too confident? Do you think every man who looks at you wants to imprison you?"

Catherine spread her hands, "I'm not making it up. It turned out my feeling was right. One year on my birthday, he gave me a pair of handcuffs, and they were pink. Do you think a normal person would give a girl handcuffs as a birthday gift? Anyway, I felt that boy had bad intentions towards me. So for the next few days, I had Alison accompany me home. Sometimes I would see him waiting at the corner. Back then, he would secretly watch me with his eyes. It was really creepy."

Thinking about those memories, Catherine rubbed her shoulder, feeling a bit creeped out.

Manuel withdrew his gaze, "You made up quite an interesting story."

Catherine frowned, "I didn't make it up. I'm telling the truth. And I really was quite good-looking in middle school. The school had some kind of beauty contest, and four-fifths of the boys in my class voted for me. The remaining one-fifth were too shy to vote, and a few even wrote me love letters after the contest. I was really popular back then."

She paused, looking at Manuel, "I know you think I'm good-looking too. Otherwise, why would you choose me out of so many girls?"

Manuel just snorted coldly and didn't respond.

Catherine lay down on the bed.

After a while, when Catherine looked at him again, Manuel was already asleep.

A few days passed peacefully after that.

Until a week later, Manuel received a call from Lloyd.

Lloyd told him over the phone, "Go to that five-star hotel downtown this Sunday afternoon. I've arranged for you to meet a girl."

Manuel didn't say much, just acknowledged and hung up.

He knew this meeting was essentially a blind date, and it wasn't about his or the girl's wishes, but about the parents' wishes.

If his dad thought the girl was good in all aspects and the girl's family had no objections, then it would be settled.

When Manuel hung up the phone, Catherine had just come out of the bathroom after a shower. Seeing Manuel hang up, she didn't ask and lay down beside him.

For the past few days, Manuel had been picking her up and dropping her off at work. Over time, her colleagues and relatives knew she had a boyfriend, and that boyfriend was quite wealthy.

Catherine mentioned this with a smile, "Haha, you don't know, someone asked me yesterday if I had hooked up with a rich guy. They said you must be really rich, driving a luxury car."

Manuel glanced at Catherine and suddenly said, "I have to go on a business trip this week, to perform a surgery. I'll be gone for a day."

Catherine was taken aback, then nodded, "Okay, I got it."

She just acknowledged it, thinking it was a regular business trip. That day, Alison had also asked her to go get their nails done.

"Will you be back that night?" Catherine asked.

Manuel responded indifferently, "Yes."

That was the end of the conversation.

On the agreed Sunday, Manuel had already arrived at the five-star hotel.

Lloyd was waiting there, and when he saw Manuel, he waved, "Ms. Thomas is already upstairs waiting. Go up."

He even adjusted Manuel's tie, "Make a good impression, don't disappoint me."

Manuel nodded and turned to go upstairs.

Lloyd followed behind him.

Not long after they left, Catherine and Alison also passed by.

Coincidentally, the nail salon they had booked was near this hotel.

After getting their nails done, Alison waved at Catherine, pointing to the nearby building, "Do you see that five-star hotel?"

Catherine nodded, "What's up?"

"Do you want to go in and have a buffet?"