CHAPTER 330: CHAPTER 330: MY HOME

The wind was so strong that it made holding her umbrella difficult, and her dress, already soaked by the rain, clung wetly to her body, leaving her shivering from the cold.

Susan Wilde stood under the eaves by the roadside, took out her phone to call for a ride, only to find it wouldn’t turn on due to water damage.

Helplessly standing in the street, she felt all her options had reached a dead end.

Standing at the intersection for a long time, she felt increasingly lightheaded.

She looked at a small motel across the street and braved the rain to walk over there with her umbrella.

Although it wasn’t a big hotel, they still required an ID card.

The staff eyed her disheveled appearance with a hint of caution, making the ID requirement all the more unavoidable.

Susan remembered that while searching for her ID card at home, she had found a business card. She lowered her head and took it out from her bag, which was also soaked with water. Fortunately, the business card wasn’t paper, and the name and number printed on it remained clear.

Susan politely asked the receptionist, "May I borrow your phone?"

The staff hesitated for a moment, then nudged the phone toward Susan, saying, "Please."

Gripping the business card tightly, Susan took a deep breath and carefully pressed the numbers onto the phone’s keypad.

"Beep... beep..." The waiting tone sounded rhythmically, and her heart rose with each one.

Worried that he might not answer a strange number, when the ringing went silent after the sixth tone, Simon Rhodes’s voice came through: "Hello?"

Susan pursed her lips, swallowed, and said, "... It’s me, Susan Wilde."

"Skylar?"

She recalled her attitude the last time she forced him to leave, and now she was calling him for help; even she felt ashamed of her behavior.

"Um... Do you have time now?"

He didn’t ask what was wrong, but directly replied, "Yes."

In fact, at that moment, he was in the midst of handling a pile of documents.

Susan cautiously spoke, "I’m at the Veldane Road hotel, can you come over?"

"Alright, it will probably take ten minutes, please wait a bit."

Throughout the call, he didn’t ask what the matter was; just her request was enough for him to agree without hesitation.

Watching the rain worsening outside, Susan added as he was preparing to hang up: "It’s okay, drive slowly... be safe."

Simon paused on the other end and simply replied, "Okay," before hanging up, grabbing his car keys, and heading out immediately.

The lobby of the motel was furnished with cloth sofas, and Susan worried her drenched attire would wet them, so she remained standing.

The bandage on her head felt uncomfortable due to the water, so she reached up and removed it.

Standing by the door of the motel, she watched the cars come and go through the rain curtain.

The traffic flow here was already sparse, made even scarcer by the rain.

Dazed and unsure how long she stood there until she saw his familiar car appear through the rain curtain.

It crossed the rain curtain, stopping slowly at the motel entrance.

The car door opened, and he first put up his umbrella before stepping out, immediately spotting Susan at the entrance.

She looked utterly miserable; short hair plastered wetly to her face, the wound on her forehead exposed, lips pale and slightly purple, and her long dress thoroughly soaked.

Before Simon could ask what was wrong, Susan voiced her request for his help; her spirits were low, and her voice sounded weak. Looking up, she said to him, "... I didn’t bring my ID card, and I can’t check in. Could you help me get a room?"

Simon furrowed his brows at her worn-out appearance, quickly deducing that her home was just across the street, yet she chose to stay at the motel rather than go home.

No need to ask; he knew it was either Shawn Rhodes bullying her or they had a fight.

Simon couldn’t bear to leave her alone in such a state at the motel, so he said, "I didn’t bring my ID card either."

Susan was stalled by helplessness, and Simon took her hand and led her out of the motel.

The cold in her palms made his brows furrow tightly; he held the umbrella over her, gently embracing her, opened the door to the passenger seat, settled her inside, shut the door promptly, and went around to his side to start the car.

Susan asked, "Where are we going?"

He didn’t answer, merely instructing gently, "Fasten your seatbelt."

Susan followed absent-mindedly, feeling uncomfortable from her soaked attire but more worried about staining the seats of his luxury car.

The car moved forward through the rain, limiting visibility; coupled with her dizziness, she couldn’t spare attention to consider the view outside.

She didn’t know whether she fell asleep or lost consciousness in the car, but the wind as he opened her door woke her up.

She looked up to see Simon holding an umbrella by the car door, shielding it from the rain as she stepped out.

Stepping off the car, she glanced around, lifting her head to ask him, "Where is this?"

Leading her inside, he answered, "My home."

The rain fell heavily, pattering loudly on the umbrella, creating an incessant noise by her ears.

Following him inside, she stood at the entrance, isolating the sound of the rain, and slowly regained her senses.

From the cabinet, he took out a pair of men’s slippers, placing them at her feet and saying, "Make do with these; I rarely have guests and didn’t prepare extra slippers."

She looked at him twice, words halted, and then he suddenly crouched down, took hold of her slender ankle, and unclasped her sandal.

Reacting, she tried to pull her foot away, but the sandal came off smoothly.

Watching the man always aloof now crouched by her side, helping remove her shoes, she couldn’t quite define her feelings; her cheeks felt like they were heating up, and her heart raced irregularly.

He reached for her other foot, but Susan quickly stepped aside to avoid him, "...I’ll do it myself."

Using the cabinet for support, she bent over, raised her leg, unclasped the sandal, and put on the slippers that were several sizes too large, feeling like a child wearing adult shoes.

Simon walked straight to the bathroom, turned on the faucet by the tub, and told her still dazed in the living room, "Go shower and change clothes first."

Susan felt she might have a fever, too ill to worry about anything; she followed his instructions, entered the bathroom, locked the door, undressed, and reclined in the tub.

The warm water enveloping her cold body brought a moment of comfort.