CHAPTER 81: CHAPTER 81: THE SAME SCENT OF COLOGNE

"Are you married?" Erin Bishop asked these four words casually, but only she knew the tension in her heart.

Even though she knew she had no chance, she still didn’t want to hear that he was already married.

She selfishly didn’t want to be the only one trapped in the past, thinking that if he had a bit of a hard time without her, she’d feel a bit more at ease.

Upon the mention of marriage, Zoe Whitman’s smile also froze for a moment, but only briefly, then she replied with a beaming smile, "Not yet, but soon."

"You’ve been together for so many years, and still not married?"

"Men, they all want a bit of career achievement. He wanted to wait until his career was more stable to consider marriage."

Erin Bishop smiled faintly and nodded, never considering herself a kind woman, just like now, when she was maliciously cursing Zoe and Zane Rhodes to not end well.

"Miss Quinn!" Ronan Rhodes came over quickly, as if he had been looking for her for a long time, "Finally found you, come with me for a moment."

Shannon Quinn asked puzzled, "What’s wrong?"

"Just come with me."

Shannon Quinn turned her head worriedly to look at Erin Bishop, who just smiled and said, "It’s fine, you go ahead, just call me later."

Thinking that Erin Bishop wasn’t someone easily bullied, and even if she did get into a fight with Zoe Whitman, Zoe would probably be at a disadvantage, and besides, the two of them seemed to be chatting happily, Shannon Quinn followed Ronan Rhodes.

"What does he want with me?"

Ronan Rhodes smiled, vaguely saying, "I don’t know either, just told me to take you to the dressing room to find him."

Shannon Quinn didn’t suspect much, thinking it was something about the exhibition’s processes needing her input, and followed Ronan Rhodes to the dressing room at the back.

"Miss Quinn, go in, Master Nate should be waiting for you in there." Having said that, Ronan Rhodes hurriedly left.

Instead, Shannon Quinn found it a bit strange, reaching for the door handle, instinctively glancing around.

There weren’t many people in the hallway, mostly staff in groups of three or two, and her appearance in a gown here was quite noticeable.

Opening the dressing room door, it was pitch black inside with no lights on. She reached out along the wall to find the light switch, but instead of finding the switch, her wrist was suddenly gripped by a force, pulling her into the room.

With a "bang," the door closed.

The dressing room seemed to be an enclosed space without windows, with no light seeping in, so in the darkness, not even fingers could be seen.

"Landon Sutton?!" Shannon Quinn called out his name tentatively in the darkness.

She knew there was someone else in the room, right in front of her, but she wasn’t sure if that person was Landon Sutton.

Because she had just seen June Yardley and her sister in the hall, she feared she had fallen into another of June’s traps.

"Speak!" Not getting a response from Landon Sutton, Shannon Quinn grew a bit anxious.

But then thinking it was Ronan Rhodes who brought her, Ronan and June shouldn’t be in cahoots.

Sure enough, the next second, she heard a man’s soft laughter, mocking, "Scaredy-cat?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Shannon Quinn immediately relaxed, somewhat annoyed, she raised her hand to hit the person in front of her, not knowing where exactly she hit him, and scolded, "Are you sick?! Turn on the light!"

"Turn it on yourself."

"What nonsense are you up to? Didn’t Ronan say you had something to tell me?"

"Yes."

"What is it, just tell me!"

"It’s nothing, I..."

"If it’s nothing, I’m leaving." In this pitch-black room, he seemed to be up to no good, and in case any staff came in and saw the two of them alone in this dark little room, she’d find it hard to explain.

She turned, intending to open the door, but Landon Sutton pulled her back, pulling her a few steps forward.

Not being able to see made it easy to lose the sense of security. Following him with unsteady steps, Shannon Quinn tripped over something, losing her balance...

Landon Sutton could have supported her, but he forgot that his foot was injured.

Thinking about the child she carried, as they fell, he held her tightly, and Shannon instinctively protected her belly with her hands, landing in his arms.

Landon Sutton didn’t fall to the ground either, seeming to tumble into a large box filled with clothes.

After stabilizing herself, Shannon Quinn’s first reaction was to prop herself up and try to get away from him.

As she got up, her hand inadvertently pressed on his abdomen where there was a not yet healed wound, and Landon Sutton gasped in pain.

Shannon Quinn thought she had accidentally touched the injury on his foot, pausing momentarily, but in the darkness, she couldn’t see anything.

"Don’t move." Landon Sutton moved her hand away, pressing another hand on her waist, drawing her tightly into his arms, preventing her from getting up.

"Let go!"

"Shh,"

"Stop pretending to be mysterious, you..."

"Someone’s coming, keep quiet. You don’t want to be caught having a secret rendezvous here, do you?"

Shannon Quinn glared at him in the darkness, about to curse him, when she heard voices at the doorway and immediately went silent.

In that instant, her ears filled with his strong, powerful heartbeat, feeling the temperature of his body, a familiar scent in her nose...

It was the scent of cologne.

Just like that night when she leaned against Vincent Rhodes’ chest, it was the same cologne scent.

Shannon Quinn didn’t think much of it because this cologne was quite popular among men’s fragrances, so finding a similar fragrance wasn’t really surprising.

The door was opened from the outside, letting the corridor light in, and only then did Shannon Quinn realize her situation.

She and Landon Sutton were lying in a big cardboard box filled with scattered clothes. Fortunately, there was a row of hanging clothes in front of them as a cover. Afraid of being discovered, Shannon quickly tucked her feet into the box and reached out to move Landon’s feet further in.

The next second, the lights in the room were turned on, and Shannon Quinn heard the puzzled voice of a female staff member, "Why is it such a mess?"

"Yeah, I remember when I left, everything was neat and tidy."

"Did anyone come in?"

"Probably not, everyone’s busy outside, and they wouldn’t have turned this place upside down."

The two of them, puzzled, worked together to lift up a row of clothes that had fallen to the ground. As they pushed the racks over, Shannon Quinn’s heart raced to her throat.

"Forget it, let’s tidy up later. Let’s just take the few sets the manager mentioned first."

"Do you think someone was trying to steal something?"

"Probably not."

"Still, let’s lock the door just in case something goes missing; we can’t afford to be responsible. Let’s come back later to check if anything’s missing."