CHAPTER 321: CHAPTER 321: BROTHER

As he undid his belt, Erin Bishop’s charming smile froze for half a second. As he approached her, she reached out to press against his chest, keeping some distance between them, and asked, "In what capacity are you doing these things with me?"

"What do you think?"

"I don’t know what you’re thinking."

"You’ve already ignited the fire, and now that it’s burning, you don’t want to put it out first and talk to me about the cause of the fire?"

"I don’t understand your sudden return to propose marriage. Let’s make things clear tonight. If you’re just here to play around, then I’ll play the game with you. But if you’re genuinely serious about us, I..."

He interrupted her, "We’ll talk after the fire’s out."

With that, he silenced her mouthful of reasoning.

His passion erupted like a volcano, leaving Erin Bishop somewhat overwhelmed. Her emotions gradually collapsed, and tears instantly rolled down her cheeks.

Zane Rhodes halted his actions, reached out to wipe away the warm, clear liquid at the corner of her eye. Erin looked at him with misty eyes, her voice turning into a sob, "Do you love me?"

In a deep voice, he said three words, "So foolish."

She wanted a definite answer, but he just wouldn’t say those words.

Even when the intense emotions subsided, she still didn’t get the words she longed for.

She lay powerlessly in his arms, her eyes continually moist, and even though he held her tightly at that moment, she still felt very uneasy.

Zane could not understand why she kept crying. The emotions interwoven between them were too numerous, and his own heart was equally complex, wanting to comfort her but unsure of what to say.

"Go downstairs and buy me some medicine." She pushed him away, sat up, and picked up the thin blanket on the sofa to wrap herself.

"What medicine?"

"Contraceptive pills!"

Zane frowned slightly, "Are you afraid I can’t support you and the child?"

With her back to him, Erin said in a muffled voice, "Just go."

"How can you just tell someone to leave after getting what you want?"

"If you don’t leave, are you waiting for me to pay you a service fee?"

Zane, buttoning up his belt, asked her in a serious tone, "What do you think I should charge?"

Erin, angry, retorted with "Worthless" and slammed the door into her bedroom.

All she wanted was to hear him say, "I like you," "I love you," was it that difficult?

Even when they were together in school, he never said those things to her.

When she came out of the shower, he had already left, and Erin’s expression dimmed.

Before leaving, he had tidied the messy sofa, making it seem as if nothing had happened.

Erin slumped on the sofa, picked up the unfinished bottle of wine, and drank directly from the bottle.

The taste didn’t seem as good as before, the bitterness spreading in her mouth. She lay back on the sofa, staring blankly at the crystal chandelier above.

Suddenly, there was a sound at the door again. Before she could listen carefully, the door was opened from the outside. He walked in, carrying a bag with a supermarket logo.

Through the transparent bag, one could see that it was full of household items.

Sitting on the sofa, Erin frowned as she watched him place her keychain, which had a small toy, on the table in the entrance. He naturally swapped into his slippers before looking at her with her displeased face.

He could sense her mood but did not bring it up, just said, "Done with your shower? Can I use your bathroom?"

"I thought you left?"

"Just went to the supermarket downstairs," he said, giving the bag a little shake.

Erin stared at him without speaking, trying to see what trick he was up to.

He showered quickly, emerging in ten minutes, wrapped in a towel around his waist, loose as if it might fall at any moment, wiping his wet hair with one hand, he looked at Erin sitting on the sofa and asked, "Not going to bed yet?"

"What’s it to you? You’re planning on not leaving?"

"Leaving? To where?"

"Stop playing dumb!" Erin stood up, looked up at him, and angrily said, "Zane, what do you mean by all this? You slept with me, you’ve taken all the advantage you could, yet you won’t admit you like me. What else do you want?"

Zane immediately replied, "Having slept with you, I should take responsibility."

Erin froze for a moment. What she wanted wasn’t responsibility, but his affection.

"I don’t need your responsibility. You can leave, get out now! I don’t want to see you!"

Zane seemed not to hear her, continued saying, "Do you have work at your company tomorrow? If not, let’s go see our parents."

"Whose parents? You better explain yourself."

"Aren’t your parents my parents too?"

"I definitely don’t have a brother like you!" It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his meaning; she just wanted to compel him into acknowledging his feelings.

Zane chuckled, "Is it trendy now to call your husband ’brother’?"

Erin rolled her eyes, "It’s also trendy to call your wife ’daddy’ now!"

"Enough with the wordplay, it’s time for bed."

"There’s no place for you to sleep, so go."

Zane stepped forward, picked her up from the sofa without a word, and kicked open her bedroom door.

"What are you doing?! Put me down!" Erin struggled, thinking he was about to go another round, but unexpectedly, he just placed her on the bed, wrapped her in the blanket, and said, "Goodnight."

A forced goodnight.

Erin frowned, kicked the blanket away, and before her temper could flare, the room’s light was switched off with a "click," and he closed the door as he left.

A few seconds later, she yelled angrily at the door, "Zane, you jerk!"

From outside came his moderate response, "Don’t disturb the neighbors."

Erin kicked the blanket in frustration, wanting nothing more than to go out and tear him apart.

How stupid she must have been to offer herself on a platter for him, leaving her with a belly full of anger after he was done!

Outside, after a rustling of noises, silence returned quickly, and Erin lay sideways on her bed, strategizing in her mind.

"Ding dong—"

In the dark, the phone lit up with a notification sound. She turned over and grabbed it, seeing a voice message from Zane.

Frowning, she pressed play, wondering what trick he was playing this time.

In the voice message, his voice was tender and clear, like a late-night radio host, saying simply, "Goodnight, I love you."

Erin listened to it again, feeling as if he had whispered it right into her ear, making her go weak inside.

She grabbed her phone, immediately threw off the blanket, and dashed out of the room. In the moonlight streaming in from the living room window, she jumped onto the couch where Zane lay, "Say it again! Say it to my face again!"

Zane looked at her lovingly, chuckling as he feigned ignorance, "Say what?"

Erin played the voice message for him, and after hearing it, he said, "Didn’t I just say that?"

"That doesn’t count! Say it in front of me! Hurry up!"

"Hurry up! Are you shy? A real man doesn’t get shy! Hurry up and say it!"

Zane placed a hand on her head, pulling her down gently, and whispered in her ear so only they could hear, "I love you."