Chapter 848
+35 BONUS
Chapter 848
Sharon turned her head and saw Thomas striding toward her, a shoe bag in hand.
When his gaze fell on Xavier beside her, his steps faltered ever so slightly.
“Mr. Cooper.”
Xavier nodded his head politely, then glanced at Johanna, who had followed behind. A faint smile tugged at his
lips.
“Sharon and I were just talking about you. She’s been waiting for you a long time. When you didn’t show, she
worried something might have happened and was about to go looking for you. I told her you were busy being a
hero, and it was better not to disturb. Only then did she relax.”
Thomas’s dark eyes narrowed faintly. He turned to Sharon.
“A man stood in my way and even pulled a knife. That’s why I was delayed.”
At the word knife, Sharon’s expression shifted.
“Are you hurt?” she asked quickly.
His eyes softened, starlight flickering in their depths as the storm within them eased.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
For the first time, Johanna-silent until now-spoke up.
“Sharon, Thomas was late because he saved me. I hope you won’t hold it against him.”
Before Sharon could reply, Xavier chuckled.
“Miss Walton, what are you saying? He did a good deed, risking himself to help others. How could Sharon
possibly blame him?”
Sharon nodded in agreement. “There’s no need to worry. Thomas has always had a warm heart. He often steps
in when others are in trouble.”
Johanna’s smile froze.
With just a few words, Xavier and Sharon had reduced Thomas’s act of saving her to a mere display of kindness
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-something he would have done for anyone.
Thomas offered no further explanation. To insist would only make it seem contrived.
“I brought the shoes,” he said instead, pulling a pair from the bag. “Try these on.”
Sharon gave a small nod and lowered herself back onto the stone bench.
“All right.”
The moment she sat, Thomas crouched before her, carefully slipping off her shoes.
She stiffened, instinctively drawing her foot back. “I can do it myself…”
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“Don’t move,” he said, his tone even yet firm. “Your foot’s a little swollen. You don’t want it to get worse.”
She opened her mouth to refuse, but he had already taken hold of her ankle. His grip wasn’t forceful, yet there
was an undeniable authority in it, leaving no room for resistance.
With so many eyes on them, Sharon could only pretend composure, though her heart raced.
Not far away, Johanna stared blankly, unable to tear her gaze away.
In that moment, Thomas looked every bit the knight kneeling at his princess’s side.
A realization struck Johanna-ever since saving her, Thomas had been restless, eager to leave. He hadn’t been
thinking of her at all. He’d been thinking only of Sharon.
A strange bitterness rose in her chest-sharp, sour, tinged with envy and something she couldn’t quite name.
Jealousy.
She had never seen Sharon-a divorced woman with a child—as a rival. Yet now, for the first time, she tasted
the sting of jealousy.
Once Sharon put on the shoes, she stood, her expression unchanged.
“It’s late. I should be heading back.”
“I’ll take you,” Thomas offered at once.
Before she could answer, Xavier’s voice cut in.
“Sharon,” he said with a smile, “it’s my birthday today. Aren’t you going to buy me dinner? I came straight here
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from the airport-didn’t even eat first.”
Sharon faltered. In her flustered hurry to escape the strange pull between the two men, she had completely
forgotten his birthday.
Xavier, sensing her unease, softened his tone.
“Matty will be joining us,” he said.
