chapter35
He lied so smoothly, not even blinking an eye.
How had she never noticed before that this man was such a
skilled liar?
“Sorry, I drank too much last night and really didn’t hear you
knocking.”
Romina’s tone was calm, her face showing little emotion.
Jericho raised his voice. “No matter how much you drank, it’s
impossible to sleep that soundly! You just didn’t want to let me
in and now you’re making excuses!”
“It’s getting late, let’s just sit down and have breakfast! Don’t you
still have to take Kash to school?”
Joaquin, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke,
breaking the tense atmosphere.
After Joaquin spoke, Jericho didn’t say anything more.
As Jericho was about to pull out a chair to sit down, Kashton
had already put on his backpack and looked at him anxiously.
“Dad, I’m going to be late for school! Don’t eat breakfast, can you
take me to school first?”
“Alright, I’ll take you to school first.”
Jericho pushed the chair back into place.
After all, they were still at the Bowman’s mansion, and with so
many elders present, she naturally had to fulfill her duties as a
mother.
“Mom will go with you too!”
She had barely finished speaking when the child beside her
interrupted. “No need, Dad can take me.”
Lenora picked up an egg and a bottle of milk, handing them to
the child. “Take these and eat on the way.”
“Thank you, Grandma.”
After Jericho left with Kashton, Lenora and Hayden, claiming
they had already eaten, turned and went for a walk in the back
garden.
With everyone gone, only Joaquin and Romina were left in the
dining room.
Now that everyone had left, the atmosphere made her feel a bit
uneasy.
“Since you’re already down here, have some breakfast before
you go!”
When the man’s deep voice reached her ears, Romina
instinctively turned her head and met his profound gaze.
Those eyes were as dark and unfathomable as a winter lake,
impossible to read.
Romina nodded lightly and finally pulled out the chair across
from him.
This breakfast was, without a doubt, the most agonizing one
she had ever had.
It wasn’t because the man across from her was too imposing,
but because they had spent the night together, and she still
hadn’t given him a reasonable explanation.
That subtle tension lingered between them.
It was like a fishbone stuck in her throat-neither up nor down,
unbearably uncomfortable.
The two of them ate breakfast in almost complete silence.
It wasn’t until she finished eating and stood up that the man across from her spoke softly. “Do you want me to give you a
ride?”
She still hadn’t given him a reasonable explanation for what
happened last night.
She actually wanted to take this opportunity to explain things
clearly to him, so as to avoid any unnecessary
misunderstandings.
She nodded without hesitation. “Thank you, Mr. Bowman.”
“Mm.”
The man glanced at her with an indifferent expression, then
strode toward the main entrance.
Yesterday, Joaquin hadn’t brought the driver back, so today he
had to drive himself to the company.
Romina reached for the back door of the car, and just as she
opened it, the man’s deep voice came from the driver’s side: “Sit
in the front.”
Romina’s hand, resting on the car door handle, paused for a
moment.
She looked up in disbelief at the man’s handsome profile.
Apart from indifference, there was no other expression on his
face.
In the end, Romina closed the car door and went to the front
passenger seat, getting in directly.
The car slowly drove down the winding mountain road.
Romina gazed out the window at the scenery, and the hand
resting in front of her suddenly clenched tightly for a moment.
Then, gritting her teeth, she blurted out, “Mr. Bowman, it was
my hair tie yesterday. It accidentally fell onto the balcony of
your room. I was just climbing over to get it, but after I picked it
up, I didn’t have the strength to climb back.”
Joaquin’s hand gripping the steering wheel suddenly tightened
for a moment.
The corners of his lips curved into a cold, faint smile. “So you
just slept in my room?”
“I didn’t know it was your room.” Romina immediately turned her head and waved her hand at him. “I thought it was just a guest room, because the row of rooms behind yours are all guest rooms, so that’s why I stayed there.”
The man glanced at her, his tone casual. “You really are quite
bold.”
When their eyes met, she saw a hint of a half-smile in the
depths of his gaze.
“If I had known it was your room, I definitely wouldn’t have…”
24
