CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 120: HE IS HER BLESSING AND HER CALAMITY

"I always told you that you need to change your careless nature." Laura Quinn tapped Bella Hawthorne’s forehead in a somewhat exasperated manner, then sighed, "I’ll talk to your brother about this. The person helped our family so much, we must thank them properly."

But as for what Bella Hawthorne said about the woman making the trafficker fall with just a wave of her hand, Laura dismissed it as a hallucination caused by her being scared out of her wits at the time.

How could such an outrageous thing happen in this world?

Bella Hawthorne immediately beamed with a bright smile and leaned on Laura’s arm teasingly, "Mom, you’re the best!"

Laura’s face was almost overflowing with a smile as she patted Bella’s hand, saying, "If you have time, go visit your sister Cynthia. She was injured recently and is still lying in the hospital. She’s having surgery tomorrow."

The name was a bit vague in Bella Hawthorne’s head, and she felt puzzled, "What does that have to do with me?"

"You silly child, Cynthia is the one your brother likes, your future sister-in-law. How is it not related?"

"But hasn’t my brother already gotten married? I already have a sister-in-law." Bella’s eyes widened in shock as she gasped, "Mom, you can’t just watch my brother make mistakes. Bigamy is illegal!"

"..." This foolish daughter.

-

Ann Vaughn, unaware that she had saved her future sister-in-law with just a casual rescue, immediately called Susie Sommers once the signal blockage in the manor was lifted.

Hearing that Susie was fine and should not have been bullied by Silas Master Moore, Ann felt relieved and went on to ask her about another matter.

"Although the distance was quite far at the time, I later went to Cynthia Vaughn’s ward to confirm that the woman was definitely Cynthia, but I didn’t see the man’s face clearly."

"Did the man have any distinctive features?" Ann paused, feeling that something was a bit off.

There were Cyrus Hawthorne’s people guarding both inside and outside Cynthia Vaughn’s ward. If Cynthia was coming and going from the ward, there would definitely be someone accompanying her.

Moreover, her relationship with that man was a bit too bizarre.

Ann did not think that Cynthia Vaughn would do such a self-destructive thing unless she had another motive.

"He was about 1.8 meters tall, I just saw his back. They walked too fast for me to even take a photo..." Susie pondered, yet heard no response from Ann for a long time, "Hello? Annie? What are you thinking about?"

Ann pursed her red lips and muttered quietly, "Cyrus Hawthorne is 1.92 meters. Just by height alone, he could crush that wild man."

Hearing this, Susie almost burst into laughter, wishing she could reach through the phone and knock some sense into Ann, "Miss Ann Vaughn, what’s the matter with you? That’s your husband, and yet you’re speaking up for the rival. You’ve really had enough!"

"I’m just stating facts, and without evidence, we can’t do anything to her." Ann rubbed her earlobe, feeling that she might be going insane. "Not going to talk anymore, I have things to do, goodbye."

"Alright, alright, considering that you took me home last night, I won’t lecture you. But you should be cautious, no matter what entanglements The great President Hawthorne had with Cynthia Vaughn, he is your legal husband now."

"If you don’t like him, then there’s nothing to say, but you’ve been waiting for him for fifteen years, are you going to keep waiting?"

After hanging up the phone, Ann leaned her head against the side of the swing chair, feeling the gentle sway, as her expression gradually turned bewildered.

Between her and Cyrus Hawthorne was an incredibly resilient sheet of paper, impossible to tear no matter which side. That paper clearly and unmistakably reminded her.

Do not entertain delusions, do not cross the line, do not harbor greed.

But whenever she faced Cyrus Hawthorne’s unconventional actions, all her defenses and boundaries crumbled.

He was both her blessing and her tribulation.

The night breeze flowed like water, the sky thick and dark like ink.

The dim and quiet living room in the villa suddenly lit up, highlighting a tall, refined silhouette in the foyer.

"Sir, you’re back." Auntie Golding hurriedly stopped what she was doing and greeted him respectfully yet cautiously.

Cyrus Hawthorne nodded slightly, his narrow black eyes scanning the living room, not seeing Ann Vaughn, who would usually be sitting on the sofa watching some unedifying cartoons.

Auntie Golding reported Ann Vaughn’s condition to him every day, so he was well aware of everything she did in the manor.

"Where is she?"

"Miss Vaughn hasn’t come out of her room since the afternoon, and she hasn’t had dinner either," Auntie Golding replied.

Cyrus Hawthorne glanced at the quartz clock in the living room, his handsome brows slowly furrowing, then he headed towards the elevator.

On the fifth floor, the master bedroom was locked from the inside, preventing even those with a key from opening it.

Cyrus paused briefly in front of the door, then entered the adjacent room, heading towards the terrace, casually tossing his suit jacket from his arm, and then unbuttoning his shirt cuffs.

He casually rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, revealing a section of well-defined, aesthetically pleasing arm.

Squinting towards the master bedroom’s terrace, which was unlit inside, he recalled Auntie Golding’s earlier words, his gaze growing dark and deep.

The next second, he braced himself with one hand on the terrace railing, effortlessly leaping over a distance of more than two meters, landing steadily on the master bedroom’s terrace floor.

The sliding glass door was unlocked.

The room was deathly silent, as if no one was there.

Ann Vaughn was curled up into a ball at the foot of the bed, and suddenly she felt a blinding light in front of her eyes, compelling her to open them slightly.

Then, she saw Cyrus Hawthorne, with his arms crossed and a stern face, standing in front of her, looking at her with an unclear gaze.

Ann’s shoulders shuddered instinctively, and her mind suddenly cleared, as if a cool breeze had blown through.

"When did you get back?"

Cyrus, with his dark eyes lowered, looked down at the curled-up figure from above, releasing a cold laugh through thin lips, "Ann Vaughn, do you plan to suffocate yourself here?"

"I wasn’t," Ann pursed her red lips, suppressing the frustration in her heart, and then stood up from the floor.

But who would have thought that the entire blanket was wrapped around her, and as she got up suddenly, she accidentally stepped on its corner, losing her balance and falling forward.

Cyrus was standing right in front of her, and with her fall, she ended up collapsing onto him.

With a dull thud, both of them fell to the ground.

If it had just been a simple fall, it wouldn’t have mattered, but unfortunately, Ann’s lips accidentally landed right on a certain spot on Cyrus’s shirt at his chest.

The pressure was so strong, it felt as if she had bitten him.

Ann’s pretty face instantly turned beet red, burning hot, unsure whether to release her lips or subtly move away and pretend nothing had happened, her mind in a whirl.

Cyrus, usually cold and composed, for the first time showed a look of surprise on his unperturbed face, as a jolt of electricity surged from the point her red lips touched.