CHAPTER 113: CHAPTER 113: HE REPLIED

Lazily, she went through her morning routine, brushing her teeth, changing clothes, and placing her breakfast in the microwave.

Erin Bishop had learned to make sandwiches from her. Although the appearance was not quite up to the mark, they were still edible.

Women who are just learning to cook are usually quite diligent. Erin Bishop was still in the honeymoon phase of cooking enthusiasm, especially enjoying cooking for herself. Shannon Quinn simply ate what was readily available, though she had her fair share of dishes with too much salt and not enough sauce. Since Erin Bishop was eager to learn, Shannon didn’t want to dampen her spirits. Learning is a process, she had gone through it too.

She intended to watch the morning news, only to realize it was nearly noon, so she settled for a random variety show. After finishing her breakfast, she nestled on the sofa for a while and then remembered to ask Erin Bishop if she would be back for lunch before grabbing her phone from the bedroom.

Sliding down the notification bar on the lock screen revealed no message from Vincent Rhodes, as it was filled with notifications from new messages on WeChat. She first checked the WeChat messages, unlocking the phone and going straight to the WeChat page.

Most of them were messages from Erin Bishop.

The first was a voice message sent when she left for work, saying she noticed Shannon was sleeping soundly and didn’t wake her up, and breakfast was in the microwave.

The next few messages inquired whether she had gotten up.

The last few were sent about ten minutes ago, asking if she’d be home for lunch, offering to buy groceries for the meal.

Shannon thought for a long time, saying she craved the sour plum juice from the shop opposite Erin’s office and told her to just grab anything random along with some fruits.

After replying, she browsed the work group chat, skimming through the hundred or so messages from the morning.

After that, she aimlessly scrolled through some official accounts, seemingly just to kill time.

When she finally exited the WeChat page, she saw the red circle indicating a new message on the top right of the message icon on the home screen.

She instinctively felt her heart racing and clicked on it immediately.

The anticipation lasted only a fraction of a second, as she had experienced this scenario countless times in the past couple of days, thinking messages were from him but only receiving unwanted ads.

Thus, she was mentally prepared for disappointment.

But seeing the long number without an ad format underneath it, Shannon Quinn suddenly sat up, feeling as if she had come to life.

It was indeed a reply from him!

She rubbed her eyes and pinched her cheek.

Upon confirmation, it really was a reply from him.

However, the message content didn’t respond to her last words but simply provided an address, asking her to be there at ten o’clock tomorrow night.

The address seemed unfamiliar to Shannon Quinn, not looking like a local address or a place she had ever heard of.

She even went online to search and seemed to find it near an uninhabited area in the west.

Researching a bit online, she found that not many people lived there, mostly adventurers who liked exploring went there, giving an impression of a place where nature remained undeveloped.

Regardless of the location, he mentioned meeting, and she was overly eager to go.

At noon, Shannon Quinn didn’t tell Erin Bishop the truth, only saying she had plans for tomorrow and would be staying out overnight.

Erin Bishop didn’t suspect anything, lounging on the sofa, playing games on her tablet, occasionally reminding her not to forget to bring certain things.

Upon receiving the message, Shannon Quinn checked the route to get there—no direct flights, needing a train transfer for the latter part of the journey.

She booked the tickets in the evening and departed first thing the next morning.

A strange place, but just because of one message from Vincent Rhodes, she went without hesitation.

On the plane, Shannon Quinn still felt quite excited.

On one hand, she finally contacted Vincent Rhodes; on the other, she wondered if she could learn more about Vincent Rhodes’s matters once she arrived at that place, or perhaps this was where Vincent usually lived?

The journey wasn’t short, requiring over three hours by plane and more than four hours by train.

Not knowing if it was due to pregnancy, Shannon Quinn felt a bit exhausted.

Stepping out of the train station, the surroundings were fairly lively, with many tourists in the area.

But it was still some distance from the address Vincent provided.

She felt a subtle grievance, knowing she was pregnant. Why didn’t he come to her, instead making her go through such a winding journey?

But then she thought about how travel might be inconvenient for him in a wheelchair, so maybe it’s more convenient for her.

"Sir, does this place go?"

The taxi driver glanced at the address she gave, nodded, and said, "Yes, it does, but the fare will be high; the latter part is mountainous and fuel-consuming."

"It’s alright, charge accordingly, but don’t try to rip me off. I’m here visiting a friend who knows the local rates."

"Miss, rest assured, I often drive passengers in this area. Let’s agree on the fare first, four hundred eighty; if you find someone cheaper, I’ll lower the price."

The quoted price wasn’t exorbitant; Shannon Quinn thought she could afford it, mainly due to being too tired to haggle, so she got into the car. The driver kindly stowed her luggage in the trunk for her.

Once the car started, the driver casually chatted with her, speaking Mandarin with an accent somewhat understandable: "Miss, why are you heading there alone? It’s quite deserted, not really safe for you."

Shannon Quinn was fairly nervous about encountering trouble, especially as a girl in such a foreign place and getting further away from populated areas, but felt Vincent Rhodes wouldn’t harm her.

"I’m meeting my friend there. He’s waiting for me."

"Meeting a boyfriend, huh? It’s better to have a boyfriend accompany you. That place often sees trekking tourists, mostly outsiders, different kinds of people. If you, a girl, hit a snag, you might struggle to handle it, right?"

Shannon Quinn nodded, smiling, a bit worried but continually reassuring herself Vincent Rhodes wouldn’t let her get into trouble.

Chatting with the driver a bit, he seemed honest, mentioning his wife and kids with a smiling face. After hearing about cases where solo female travelers ran into trouble, Shannon’s heart was uneasy, but she was indeed too tired after the long journey and drifted off to sleep leaning against the car window.

Later came a jostle; not deeply asleep, she awoke, and the driver explained, "We’ve hit a mountain road, should be about another hour."

The day was nearly dark; after a whole day of travel, seeing Vincent Rhodes, she still didn’t know how he would respond.