CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 83: WE’RE EVEN!

Serena Sinclair had a good sleep.

She didn’t dream.

When she opened her eyes, she found the cabin eerily quiet.

She couldn’t even hear the engine.

She pulled back the small window shade, and it was pitch black outside.

Checking her phone again, it was half-past eight.

The plane had landed at eight.

Serena: ...

"Awake?"

Wyatt Hawthorne’s voice sounded beside her, and Serena turned her head to see Wyatt putting away his tablet and getting up, "Let’s go."

As the car drove out of the airport, Wyatt asked Serena, "Want to grab something to eat?"

"I..."

Desperate to forget last night’s experience and that unforgettable dream.

Serena shook her head, "I don’t want to eat anything. I’d like to go home first."

"But I’m hungry."

Wyatt didn’t ask further and instructed the driver, "Old Town Lane."

The moment the light and refreshing old wontons were served, Serena felt hungry.

A spoonful of soup and a wonton, the exhaustion from her business trip was dispelled by this bowl of wontons.

That night was indeed just a dream.

Heaven knows, earth knows, only she knows.

As for last night...

She had returned to Aethelgard, and for a long time to come, she wouldn’t go back to Syburg.

That encounter was known only to heaven, earth, herself, and the man involved.

But the man knows nothing about her.

Just consider it as a little detour during a business trip.

That’s all.

By the end of the bowl of wontons, Serena had finished her self-reflection.

When stepping out of Old Town Lane, she could calmly accept even Wyatt’s insistence to drive her home.

The car stopped below her apartment building, and Serena turned to Wyatt, "The other day I was on a business trip, now I’m back. I’m keeping my word! If there’s no dinner party in the future, come to my place for dinner!"

"Okay!"

Wyatt responded.

Serena waved her hand and turned to go upstairs.

Watching Serena’s silhouette disappear in the elevator, Wyatt drove and went directly into the underground garage.

He sent a WeChat message to Una Hutton, telling her he was home and she didn’t have to come over daily to feed the cat starting tomorrow.

The next instant, the video call rang ding-dong.

As soon as he answered, Una squinted her eyes, "Confess honestly!!! Don’t make me speculate, or else..."

Just a second ago, she was excitedly sharing the captivating sight of a handsome man with a wet look with her.

The next second, she went quiet.

Having seen the first half, not the second, Una was so anxious she almost flew to Syburg.

WeChat went unanswered.

Calls were not picked up.

Una immediately knew something had happened.

Waking early and seeing Serena’s message "We’ll talk when I get back."

Una knew, steady!

But she didn’t know if the male lead was the one she thought or some ab-flaunting guy from last night’s video.

"At least wait until I get inside, I just got home to report..."

The elevator doors opened.

Serena walked out, and as she turned, her steps halted, "I won’t talk to you now."

At the doorway, Adrian Lockwood stood tall, leaning casually by the window.

Who knows how long he’d been there?

Hearing the sound, Adrian looked over, his gaze pausing.

With her phone in one hand and suitcase in the other, Serena looked travel-worn as if just back from a trip.

But she displayed no trace of fatigue from the trip.

Her eyes were bright.

Her cheeks were flushed.

Standing there, she was the very picture of.

Radiant.

This was the Serena that Adrian was very familiar with.

As long as he came home early the previous night, ate dinner, watched TV, and slept early together as a family of three.

Waking up the next day, this was the Serena he’d see.

It was the best embodiment of marital intimacy.

Serena...had she been with a man?

The next second, Adrian’s suspicions were confirmed.

Serena walked closer.

Adrian saw the varying purple marks on her neck.

She had tried to cover them with concealer.

But after a day of travel, the concealer smudged.

The marks turned from red to purple, appearing even more suggestive against her pale skin.

More irritatingly, Serena’s expression turned from a smile to indifference, radiating dislike and impatience, "Adrian, what do you want now?"

"Serena, we need to talk!"

"Talk about what?"

"Our son."

Serena paused her action of opening the door.

Behind her, Adrian spoke in a low voice, "Since Miles returned from your place, he’s been in low spirits. Tina talked to me twice, hoping the issues between us adults wouldn’t affect the child’s mood."

"Serena, I know you hate me right now and don’t want to see him, but he is your son, the child you carried and gave birth to for ten months; you’re his mother, and even if we divorce, that won’t change."

"So you’re here to tell me what?"

Serena looked back at Adrian, "Adrian, Miles is just a kid, but you’re an adult, right? You should know better?"

"If he’s not feeling well, as his father, take him out more, spend more time with him. Haven’t I been doing that for these past years? If I can do it, why can’t you?"

"I just hope we..."

Adrian wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, feeling an overwhelming frustration.

Logic told him that since they were divorced, Serena dating someone or being with a man was her business, none of his.

But emotionally, he couldn’t accept it.

The thought of another man being close to her.

The thought of those various intimate gestures being shared with another man someday.

Adrian couldn’t accept it.

Miles was just an excuse, Adrian only knew that these past few days, the only time he felt at peace was during those minutes standing outside Serena’s door.

Once back home.

Facing Chloe Lynch’s sulking.

Facing Miles’ silence.

A fire wasn’t uncontrollably lit inside him.

And didn’t know who to talk to.

"Serena, I have a business trip to Brackton tomorrow and won’t be back until next Friday..."

Adrian said in a low voice, "I know you don’t want to see me, so...while I’m not in Aethelgard this week, could you go to the kindergarten..."

"No way!"

Serena refused decisively, "If he wants to, Ms. Warren can call me, and we can meet at a playground, KFC, or somewhere else."

Kindergarten.

The Lockwood Villa.

She wouldn’t return, not even once.

Adrian breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright!"

"You can go now!"

Serena said coldly, turning to open the door.

The door, about to close, was held back by Adrian’s raised hand.

Meeting his angry gaze, Serena was about to shout.

Adrian said in a low voice, "Serena, we’re even!"

Even?

Not understanding, Serena paused.

She saw Adrian’s dark gaze.

Looking down in its direction, she saw the red marks now visible beneath her necklace.

Serena suddenly understood.

He was trying to say that he wronged her because of Chloe Lynch.

And now, she had done the same thing he did.

Does that mean they were even, and it’s time to move on?

"Adrian, are you insane?"

Serena slammed the door shut with a curse.

Outside, Adrian’s expression was grim.

Yet, he felt a strange sense of relief.

Perhaps because she agreed to see their son.

Or maybe because the bit of guilt and unease in his heart was finally eased.

The air still carried a faint scent, so uniquely Serena’s.

Adrian stood silent for a moment before turning to leave.

Upon returning to The Lockwood Villa, Adrian was immediately embraced by Chloe Lynch.

Adrian instinctively pushed away, turning towards the children’s room, "I’ll go check on Miles..."

Chloe Lynch was taken aback.