CHAPTER 687: CHAPTER 687: ONE KISS IS NOT ENOUGH

Who knew her wrist suddenly tightened, forcing her to halt.

Cyrus Hawthorne gave a slight tug, pulling the little woman who intended to sneak away right in front of him, his palm holding her wrist tightly, gazing at her with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"I’ve changed my mind."

"What?" Ann Vaughn looked at him in confusion, "But you just agreed with me..."

"No man would ever help his rival."

A rival?

What kind of rival is that??

Ann Vaughn was stunned, and after a long while, she finally understood under Cyrus Hawthorne’s increasingly deep gaze—

How could this man be jealous of even a pile of parts!?

"Cyrus Hawthorne, are you childish or what?" Ann Vaughn struggled with her wrist, but seeing she couldn’t free herself, she lowered her head and pecked lightly on his thin lips, "Is this okay?"

Cyrus Hawthorne’s dark eyes suddenly dimmed, and as Ann Vaughn intended to back away, he held the back of her head, his slightly cool thin lips pressed against her soft lips.

"Mmm!" Ann Vaughn’s eyes widened, before she could react, the fortress had been captured, thoroughly taken over by him.

The touching of lips brought a tingling sensation, as if electric, attacking the back of Ann Vaughn’s head, making her whole body go limp, her legs almost unable to stand steadily.

This kiss was unlike the previous dominant and aggressive ones, instead it was like constant spring rain, slowly seeping into her heart.

Ann Vaughn’s eyes became even more hazy, misty.

She remembered... weren’t they in a cold war before?

How did it end?

Until the kiss ended, Ann Vaughn couldn’t figure it out, so she simply stopped trying to think.

"Cyrus Hawthorne, you’re harder to appease than Kenny." Ann Vaughn whispered, leaning against Cyrus Hawthorne’s shoulder, her voice sweet and soft, "If it were Kenny, just a few praises would do."

But this one is different.

A kiss is probably still not enough.

Ann Vaughn silently fastened the dress buttons that had been tugged open by the wolf claws, tidied up the hem of her dress, and hurriedly escaped from his embrace.

The exquisitely carved face of the man carried a satisfied look, his slightly water-tinted thin lips lifted, narrow eyes filled with a smile, an indescribable seductive allure.

Looking at such a scene, Ann Vaughn couldn’t help but complain inwardly.

They say beautiful women are disaster-prone, but if a man reaches a level of handsomeness that angers both gods and humans, he probably brings more disaster than a beautiful woman...

"Don’t go online recently, just stay put." Cyrus Hawthorne skillfully tied the bow at Ann Vaughn’s waist, solemnly advising.

This dress was one of the pieces that Cyrus Hawthorne himself picked for Ann Vaughn when the fashion catalog was sent.

However, looking at it now, it seemed rather troublesome.

"Understood." Ann Vaughn’s face, delicate as white porcelain, flushed slightly, not even noticing his thoughtful gaze, she turned and jogged out of the study.

Not long after Ann Vaughn left, Mark Joyce knocked and entered the study with a stack of documents.

"President Hawthorne, these are the dirt on the J Country Research Institute over the years that you asked me to investigate." Mark Joyce respectfully placed the documents down, "Academic fraud, result plagiarism, experimental malfunctions... it’s all recorded here, although whether these are true or false is still under investigation."

Since J Country Research Institute did those things, they would certainly have cleaned up the traces, so finding anything wouldn’t be easy.

Domestically, the rumors have always been controlled by Hawthorne Group, preventing any negative impact on Ann Vaughn.

But international rumors need solid evidence to silence them completely.

"No need to discuss truth or falsehood with them." Cyrus Hawthorne’s thin lips lifted in a light mocking smile, "Using their own methods against them is more than enough."

Mark Joyce suddenly understood, "Whether they’ve done these things or not, once the dirt is thrown onto them, washing it off will cost them dearly... if they panic, it’ll be easier for us to look for clues."

Cyrus Hawthorne nodded slightly, his expression indifferent, "Their motives are not limited to this, keep monitoring, report immediately with any news."

"Yes, you can rest assured."

...

Though she verbally promised Cyrus Hawthorne not to go online for the next few days, there were some things that Ann Vaughn didn’t want to ignore but couldn’t avoid.

Since J Country dared to throw such a big basin of dirt at her, they certainly wouldn’t have only prepared that statement.

The next day Ann Vaughn received a call from The Imperial Capital Medical Research Institute, inquiring about the origin files in the process of developing inhibitors, to prove her innocence.

But upon learning that Ann Vaughn’s computer "just happened" to malfunction and was being repaired, there was a long silence on the other end.

"Miss Vaughn, J Country is now demanding that we stop and withdraw the use of the inhibitors, unless you can present evidence proving you did not steal or plagiarize their thesis, they will not be satisfied."

Ann Vaughn frowned, "They’ve already contacted you?"

"Yes."

"Please send me the proof documents from J Country, yesterday was so sudden, I haven’t had time to look into it properly."

"No problem, I’ll send the documents to your email. Also, we’re not doubting you, we just wish to clear your name quickly, those patients undergoing treatment can’t afford to wait."

Listening to the heavy words from the research institute’s director, Ann Vaughn pressed her red lips tight, agreeing with him.

After reading the proof documents J Country presented, Ann Vaughn only felt it was laughable and absurd.

No wonder she felt the thesis J Country mentioned yesterday seemed familiar, upon closer inspection, isn’t it just the failed version of her inhibitor thesis from those years?

The failed thesis she discarded back when she was at Speisen Medical School in K Country, how did it end up in J Country Research Institute’s hands?

Ann Vaughn frowned in confusion for a while, then found her long-uncontacted Professor Lockett’s number in her phone and called.

"Hello, mentor, long time no see."

"Annie?" Professor Lockett’s voice carried some surprise and then a bit of reproach, "Do you still remember there’s someone like me as your mentor?"

"Listen to what you’re saying, how could I forget such a prestigious mentor?" Ann Vaughn felt a bit embarrassed.

"Haha, that I naturally know. The care packages and medicinal herbs you sometimes send to me and my wife are much appreciated." Professor Lockett said, "You suddenly called because of J Country, right?"

Ann Vaughn spread out the documents beside her, speaking with frustration, "I found that the thesis J Country claims their researchers wrote is actually the one I discarded back then, the one you should have seen."

"Though it was discarded, I still remember it distinctly. But I’m certain that the failed draft was destroyed, it couldn’t have spread to J Country." Professor Lockett said confidently.

Ann Vaughn naturally believed Professor Lockett, "Mentor, I didn’t mean to doubt you, I just wondered if back then, besides you, anyone else might have seen that failed draft?"