Chapter 9
My heart raced. I lowered my head to avoid Jason's gaze, desperately praying he hadn't seen me.
He wouldn't come over, would he?
He hated me so much. Anything related to me, he couldn't wait to bully me hard.
Right now it was just a chance encounter. He wouldn't come looking for me on purpose.
I kept reassuring myself, holding Jessica's hand and turning to leave.
"Ms. Wilson."
Jason's deep, cold voice was like a chain, firmly binding me in place.
The contract between DT Corp and Glacier Corp wasn't fully signed yet. I didn't dare upset him.
With no choice, I steeled myself and turned around. Quick as lightning, I hid Jessica behind me, blocking her face, and put on a smile. "Mr. Cooper, what a coincidence. I didn't expect to run into you here."
Jason was wearing a light gray casual outfit today, making him look much softer.
Like this, he looked even more like Kean from my memories.
Even with just a slight resemblance, my heartbeat still sped up uncontrollably.
I turned my head and looked around, trying to divert Jason's attention.
"Mr. Cooper, are you here to buy a car?"
If I remembered correctly, this was a used car sales show.
With Jason's wealth, did he need to buy a used car?
Perhaps because it was outside of work, Jason was much calmer than when working.
He shook his head and explained, "No, I'm here with a friend."
With his girlfriend?
No, wait. If it was his girlfriend, how could Jason possibly buy her a used car?
I avoided Jason's gaze, warning myself not to overthink things.
Jason and I had no future, no relationship at all!
Jessica, behind me wanted to poke her little head out, but I blocked her with my hand.
Sorry, Jessica. I can't let you meet your dad.
You both have identical red moles under your right eyes. If Jason saw it, with how alert he is, he'd definitely get suspicious.
Jason's probing gaze fell behind me, his voice tightening. "Is this your child?"
"No!" My heart jumped violently as I loudly denied it.
Meeting Jason's suspicious eyes, I realized my reaction had been too intense.
I let out a breath, forcing myself to calm down, and said quietly, "This is my brother's child."
"Why is your brother's child with you?" Jason clearly didn't believe me.
I quickly said, "He's not in a good situation right now, so I'm taking care of her for a while."
Jessica behind me went still.
My heart ached like a knife was cutting through it.
I'm sorry, Jessica. It's Mom's fault. You must be so hurt, especially since you've been looking forward to meeting your dad so much.
A sound came from behind me, and then Jessica actually took advantage of my distraction to slip out from behind me, saying, "Yeah, my dad is sick and can't get out of bed, and my mom was in a car accident. Now only my aunt is taking care of me."
She gripped my hand tightly, her soft touch silently comforting me.
I hadn't expected Jessica to react so quickly and even help me lie.
Looking down, I saw she was wearing an exaggerated pair of star-framed sunglasses that covered half her little face.
These glasses were from when I took her to the park during our last vacation.
I hadn't expected them to come in handy here.
Jessica looked up at Jason's face and said seriously, "My aunt is really good. I like being with my aunt!"
Jason's sharp gaze swept over Jessica.
As if thinking of something, his eyes softened.
He looked up at me and asked, "Are you here to buy a car?"
"Yeah, planning to buy a cheap used car to get around." I answered honestly.
The subway during rush hour in Seaside City really wasn't fit for humans.
"Good idea. There are lots of cars here. You can look around."
I was a bit surprised that Jason was being so reasonable today.
Before I could answer, he asked again, "What's your budget?"
I lowered my head and answered, "Ten or twenty thousand. Used."
When I wasn't working, I still wore clothes from years ago.
Expensive clothes had to be saved for work, where they could provide the most value.
I wanted to give Jessica the best life, so all money had to be planned carefully.
But saying this in front of Jason made me feel a shameful sense of inadequacy.
I felt very uncomfortable.
Just as I was thinking about how to find an excuse to leave, Lily came over.
"Sue, I asked the readers and fans, there should be what you want over there... Who's this?" She looked at Jason in surprise.
"Hello, I'm Jason." Before I could introduce them, Jason spoke up first.
His approachable attitude made me wonder if this person in front of me was really Jason.
Lily's pupils dilated slightly as she gasped, "You're Jason?!"
She looked Jason up and down.
Although she'd heard me say that the Kean I was looking for was Jason, this was her first time seeing him in person.
"You know me?"
Jason frowned slightly, his gaze turning sharp as it shifted to me.
My heart trembled hard. I forced myself to explain, "Mr. Cooper, you're very famous. My friend has always admired you, so she's a bit excited to see you in person."
"Yes, yes, that's right!" Lily caught on and quickly agreed.
She apologized to Jason, then grabbed me and quickly walked to a corner, lowering her voice. "He is pretty handsome, I'll give you that! But you can't be foolish again! Back then he could hide his identity and be with you for so many years, which means he was never sincere! If he finds out about Jessica..."
Lily's words stopped abruptly. "Wait, where's Jessica?"
"Jessica didn't follow us!" I looked around and panicked too.
I rushed back to get Jessica, but before I got close, I saw Jessica standing in front of Jason, looking up at him, completely still.
I slowly stopped, watching from a distance.
The two seemed to say something, and Jason reached forward to pat Jessica's little head.
Jessica stood still, but I clearly saw her clenched fists.
My heart felt suffocated, as if someone was squeezing it.
Jessica must really want to throw herself into Jason's arms, after all, this was the dad she'd been thinking about day and night.
But what surprised me was that Jessica asked something, Jason remained silent, and Jessica just turned and walked away.
Jessica saw me and immediately ran toward me. "Auntie! Let's go look at cars!"
"Okay." My lips moved, but I held back my curiosity and didn't ask more here.
Although Jessica kept talking, I could clearly feel her emotions were different now.
Did Jason say something that made her unhappy?
After thinking it over, I couldn't bear to let Jessica keep it bottled up. I crouched down to her eye level and asked, "Just now, did that man say something that made you unhappy?"
Jessica shook her head hard, denying it. "No, he didn't say anything!"
She hugged me on her own and said, "Let's not talk about him, okay? Today should be happy."
I gently rubbed Jessica's back and nodded. "Okay, let's go look at cars."
After comforting Jessica, I looked up and met Lily's indignant gaze again.