CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 56: DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?

The next day, the thunderstorm showed no sign of improvement.

Audrey Sutton took Stephen Sutton’s car to school together.

During breakfast, Shane Warner called to say he would bring her textbooks to the school.

So she originally thought she could see him in front of the teaching building like last time.

But to her surprise, the person standing in the rain with a big black umbrella was Faye Xavier.

"Sister-in-law."

Audrey didn’t say anything because she still had to pretend she had amnesia.

Stephen Sutton took the documents from Faye’s hand and asked him, "Why didn’t Shane come?"

"Master Shane went to the hospital last night. The old man got sick. I heard it was an emergency, and we still don’t know how the situation is."

Stephen Sutton nodded slightly to express his apology, "Then you go ahead and get busy, bring him my regards when you can."

...

In class, Audrey Sutton sat at the desk by the wall, staring at the willow trees by the lake beaten down by the rain.

He’s at the hospital now, surely hoping for someone to be by his side, right?

Yet, instead of soothing his worries, she’s caused him trouble and added to his frustrations.

Now that things have come to this, she doesn’t know how to wrap them up.

The rain continued to pour. Audrey, who always liked rainy weather, found it irritating for the first time.

The midday sky was as dark as six or seven in the evening.

After eating lunch at the school cafeteria, Audrey lay on the bed in her dorm, scrolling through many new WhatsApp messages that had none from him, which immediately dimmed her gaze.

Suddenly, she regretted her prank at the hospital, otherwise she could call now to ask about his grandfather’s condition.

...

Hospital.

Shane Warner didn’t even manage to eat lunch.

He sat alone in the hospital cafeteria and took out his phone while waiting for his food.

Not expecting her to text or call him, he opened WhatsApp and scrolled to his comments in the reward section of a post he supported.

Unlike last time, there was no "love you, love you, love you" reply from her underneath.

Could it be her cold hasn’t improved much, so she’s not in the mood to check the comments and rewards section?

Thinking it over, he still dialed her number.

She might not remember him now, but he certainly hasn’t forgotten her.

When Audrey heard the phone ring, she sprung from the bed as if electrified.

Seraphina Vaughn, watching a show, and Barry Barrett, playing a game, exchanged a smile, and Flora Lane, chatting with her boyfriend on the bed, said, "It must be her husband calling."

Audrey was stunned for two seconds, realized, got up, and went outside to the balcony to answer the phone without speaking.

"Feeling any better from the cold?" his low, gentle voice came through the earphones, making Audrey feel confused again.

Earlier, while lying in bed, countless things she wanted to say to him filled her mind, but now it was blank, and she simply mumbled, "Mm."

He seemed to chuckle softly and then said, "As long as you’re better."

Audrey paused for two seconds, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "...I heard your grandfather was sick? Is he okay?"

There was silence for two seconds on the other end, and then Shane Warner seemed to ask with a smile, "Do you remember me?"

Audrey swallowed, hesitated, and said, "Aren’t you our family’s driver? My brother told me, so I thought I’d ask."

Shane found her reason a bit far-fetched, but it seemed plausible.

"Grandfather has been moved to a regular ward, no life-threatening issues. He can be discharged in two days after observation."

"...Oh, that’s good." After saying this, Audrey added stubbornly, "I’m just worried you’d miss your work as a driver."

Shane laughed softly and said, "It won’t affect my work. What time does the young lady finish school today? I’ll come pick you up."

Audrey pouted and said, "I don’t have classes in the afternoon, you can come anytime."

"Then shall I come over right after lunch?"

The first thought that crossed Audrey’s mind was wondering why he was having lunch so late, but she didn’t want to appear overly concerned, so she didn’t mention it.

Although she wanted to see him, the rain was heavy, and she didn’t know if things at the hospital had been settled or not.

Audrey thought it over and said, "Don’t come now, I need a nap, pick me up before dinner."

Just from his voice, you could hear Shane’s doting tone: "Alright, I won’t disturb the young lady’s rest then, good afternoon."

Whether it was his "good afternoon" that had some magical power, the troubled Audrey, curled up in the quilt earlier, felt relaxed and happy when she lay back down.

Placing the phone beside the pillow, she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

...

In the afternoon, the rain lessened significantly.

The sky was still dark and overcast.

Ever since receiving the call that Shane Warner had set off, Audrey was ready to go, checking outside the dorm hallway several times.

Finally, she saw his car parked under her dorm through the rain.

At the same time, her phone started to ring in her pocket.

Audrey answered the call while walking downstairs.

The most understated Jeep in his garage was parked by the roadside. When Audrey walked out the dorm doors, he went over to greet her with a large black umbrella.

Audrey held her own umbrella and didn’t shelter under his.

Shane only shielded her from the rain when she got into the car, making sure not a single drop touched her.

As the car started and drove out of the school gates, Audrey looked up and asked him, "Where are we going?"

Shane continued to play the role of the driver and said, "Taking Miss home for dinner."

Audrey paused for two seconds and then said, "I don’t want to go home for dinner."

"Then what would Miss like to eat?"

"Anything is fine, I just don’t want to eat at home." She wanted more alone time with him but didn’t want to make it too obvious.

Although Shane didn’t understand why she didn’t want to go home, he didn’t question it, only suggesting, "How about I cook for you?"

Audrey raised her eyebrows and put on an act of being a young lady: "Sure, I’d like to see what you can whip up."

Having lived under the same roof with him for so long, she usually did the cooking and hadn’t really tried his culinary skills.

The car pulled into The Heritage Manor, and Audrey followed him inside, taking the elevator upstairs.

When Shane opened the door, Audrey skillfully found her pair of pink slippers from the shoe cabinet.

"Seems you’re quite familiar with this place."

Audrey’s action of changing shoes paused for a moment, realizing that her reflexive action gave her away.

But she continued her act, calmly changing shoes and looking at him, continuing to cover her tracks, saying, "Aren’t shoes usually kept in the shoe cabinet? But I didn’t expect you to have girls’ slippers here; do you have a girlfriend?"