CHAPTER 453: CHAPTER 453: PRETENDING TO SLEEP

Quinn Lockwood didn’t even know how she made it back to her room. She felt completely drained, lying dazedly on the bed for a while before she heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.

Huh?

Was Elias Sinclair taking a shower?

Quinn’s thoughts instantly shifted from Mrs. Sinclair’s words to the scene that had just occurred in the bathroom. That blush, as vivid as the morning glow, once again crept up her cheeks.

Just sleep, sleep and you won’t feel embarrassed anymore.

With this thought, Quinn clutched the blanket and rushed to the sofa, sprawling there and forcing herself to fall asleep as quickly as possible.

Downstairs, Mrs. Sinclair was a bit worried.

"I...I didn’t mean it that way. Do you think Savannah overheard what we just said?"

"Why hasn’t she come to question me? That’s not like her at all. Could she really be angry?" Mrs. Sinclair paced back and forth by the couch, occasionally glancing upstairs, seemingly unsure if Quinn had heard what she said.

"You should stop mentioning Maya in front of Savannah. So much time has passed between her and Elias, and it’s good that they’re now just business partners."

Mr. Sinclair glanced at Mrs. Sinclair, sighing somewhat helplessly. He then stood up from the sofa: "Alright, it’s late. Let’s go to bed."

"While I’m a bit disappointed that Maya and Elias didn’t make it to the end, I don’t dislike Savannah..."

"Oh well, we’ll keep watching. If she really has changed, that’s for the best. If she still behaves like before, I’ll tell Elias to be cautious."

Mrs. Sinclair followed Mr. Sinclair out of the main house. At the threshold, she looked back up at the second floor, as if she had something unspoken she wanted to convey to Quinn upstairs.

Meanwhile, Quinn was curled up on the sofa, eyes closed, trying hard to drum up a sense of drowsiness.

However, she only felt more awake.

The sound of water in the bathroom was like a relentless drumbeat to her, striking rhythmically at her heartstrings, causing her mood to change incessantly with the rise and fall of the water’s volume.

Suddenly, the sound of water stopped, and Quinn’s heart skipped a beat, the erratic thumping overwhelming.

Sleep, sleep.

Quinn turned over, facing the back of the sofa and tucking her head under the blanket, trying to shut out any forthcoming sounds.

But...

The more she tried to block out disturbances, the more sensitive her senses became, her hearing magnified several times as she clearly picked up on Elias’s rustling clothes.

Just when Quinn’s heart was in a frenzy, the bathroom door opened, followed by the steady sound of a man’s footsteps.

Elias stopped merely a step away from the sofa. Seeing Quinn sleeping on it, he raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat surprised, then his face darkened slightly.

Elias didn’t do anything to Quinn but turned to the rack, picking up a towel to dry his hair.

Hearing Elias’s footsteps recede, Quinn’s taut nerves relaxed, and she let out a light sigh of relief.

But as soon as she exhaled half her breath, she realized that her reaction might have been too exaggerated. Elias was probably still watching her.

Oh no, oh no, has he realized I’m pretending to be asleep?

Quinn’s just-relaxed nerves tightened once more. Her eyelids involuntarily fluttered, and then her mind, in a sudden burst of inspiration, had her feign a sleeping turn and release the other half of her breath.

Phew, surely he wouldn’t notice now, right?

But just as Quinn was secretly rejoicing in her heart, Elias tossed the towel aside, and a faint smile curled on his lips.

The man turned toward Quinn, his long, deep eyes shimmering with crystalline brightness.

He lifted his slender fingers, unfastening the button snugly done up at his collar, then pulled it open, revealing his snow-white and alluring collarbone.

He knew Quinn wasn’t really asleep. This woman had been avoiding him from the very start.

Just when Quinn started to relax, her awareness going hazy as sleepiness began to sweep over her, her whole body was suddenly lifted off the sofa, blankets and all, by Elias, nearly causing her to scream.

Elias’s gaze landed on Quinn’s face and naturally captured the fleeting expression of surprise on her face, stirring a ripple of delight in his eyes.

He placed Quinn on the bed, leaning his body over her, one hand propping up his chin.

Quinn was a bit bewildered.

The man’s warm breath washed over her face, and at such intimate proximity, she caught that familiar faint woody scent mixed with the fragrance of the shower gel.

It’s fruity! This guy actually used my shower gel!!!

Inexplicably, Quinn’s heart raced several times faster.

The recent wild, heart-pounding scene she’d shared with Elias on this bed flashed in her mind like movie frames, each and every moment vividly replaying before her eyes, laced with those fragmented, body-trembling breaths.

No, I can’t think about it anymore.

Quinn’s face went from a tender pink to a subtle red, deepening to a vivid rose hue.

Just as she couldn’t resist the urge to cover her head with the blanket, she turned around.

Quinn wanted to turn her body to evade Elias’s heated gaze.

No, not a heated gaze; in fact, Quinn wasn’t even sure if Elias was actually looking at her right now, only guessing from her sixth sense and the breath that fell on her face.

"My lady, even in your dreams, you cannot wait to undress your lord, can you?" Elias caught Quinn’s hand that accidentally hooked onto his collar, the smile on his lips deepening significantly, carrying a hint of mockery in his tone.

"What?" Quinn felt the slick, warm sensation on the back of her hand and opened her eyes in a daze, the scene before her making her throat tighten involuntarily.

The man’s deep blue silk pajamas were entirely undone, exposing broad swathes of white, firm chest, looking all the more appetizing under the cold bedroom light.

The two prominent, sexy collarbones left shallow shadows at the chest, then lightly disappeared under the unloosened collar, while her hand, just so, clung to the hem of Elias’s pajamas, their positions suggesting Quinn was pulling at the man’s sleepwear.

It’s...so humiliating.