CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 80: CARING

The scene was awkward.

Poppy Hale sighed and said, "Sean, this is the big boss of my company. I really have work to do later, so I’ll leave now."

After saying this, she pulled Declan Hawthorne away.

If she stayed there any longer, she feared she’d have trouble breathing.

She also feared she’d lose her temper and let all the hidden aggression inside her explode.

Watching the departing figures of Poppy Hale and Declan Hawthorne, Sean Lynch’s chest heaved.

Poppy Hale’s company’s big boss also had the surname Hawthorne.

Isn’t that the president parachuted in by the Hawthorne Group?

For a moment, Sean Lynch’s breath burned hotter, and he turned to slap Stella Hollis on the face!

He had long had enough of those relatives from the Hollis Family.

Let alone, Stella had just insulted his sister in front of the president of the Hawthorne Group.

"I gave you face today."

"If you weren’t pregnant, I’d be less friendly."

Sean Lynch didn’t even glance at Stella, turning to head upstairs.

The Lynch Family relatives looked at Stella’s family with undisguised disdain, their faces openly expressing contempt.

"That’s what you get from a poor place."

"Poppy’s the one with potential, look at that young man, he’s got good prospects."

"No matter what, Poppy is a good girl who came from our family, how can she be the same as country folk?"

Passing by Stella, the Lynch Family made no attempt to hide their mocking voices.

With Sean Lynch gone, who cared about this bride who insisted on clinging on?

Stella held her face in grievance, feeling ashamed and humiliated, her inner aversion and resentment towards Poppy Hale reaching a peak.

She wanted to leave, but was blocked by her parents, who twisted her ear.

"What are you doing? Go up and get married, don’t make a scene!"

"Finish the wedding and quickly transfer the bride price to my card, you hear me?"

Stella had no choice but to swallow her pride and go upstairs to continue the wedding.

Out of the hotel.

The valet had already brought Declan Hawthorne’s car around, with the air conditioning set just right inside.

Once inside, Poppy Hale looked over at the man in the driver’s seat.

"Thank you for helping me out earlier."

She didn’t dare dwell on those words.

Declan Hawthorne’s gaze was deep.

No one knew.

The words he spoke earlier were all from his heart.

No matter if she deceived him or wanted the child to take his surname Hawthorne.

As long as she was willing, even if she was deceiving him, he was willing to accept it.

The car started moving.

Declan Hawthorne’s tone was very light.

"But when you kissed me, you didn’t say thank you."

Poppy Hale ground her teeth in anger.

Wasn’t it her who made the first move?

And were they even talking about the same thing?

This person was so good at twisting the truth!

Declan Hawthorne laughed with reckless abandon.

"It doesn’t really count as helping out, after all, earlier when I asked if Sean was your husband, you didn’t deny it."

She had deceived him on many things.

Her eyes shimmered.

"It’s not like I asked you to think that way. Is President Hawthorne so interested in my ex-husband? Shall I introduce you two someday?"

The smile on the man’s face faded gradually as the shadows of passing trees flickered over him in the traffic.

His tongue pressed against his palate, his molars ground together with a creaking sound, and a sourness spread through his jaw.

He laughed in anger.

"Sure, no time like the present, how about meeting today?"

Now, it was Poppy Hale’s turn to be at a loss for words.

Declan Hawthorne’s eyebrows and eyes were frosty with coldness.

She couldn’t understand, nor did she want to bother trying to understand.

Poppy Hale leaned back, resting against the leather seat.

Watching the traffic ahead somehow eased her mild car sickness.

The vast city of Arvum, filled with bustling activity and people coming and going.

Poppy Hale was a local of Arvum.

But after her father passed away, aside from now, she hadn’t seen the Lynch Family relatives again.

No matter how close relatives are, they’re just bystanders.

Life, after all, was hers to live.

Poppy Hale said slowly, "Declan Hawthorne, I once read a saying: thinking about someone means involving yourself in their karma."

"Do you care a lot about my ex-husband?"

She knew Declan Hawthorne could catch the subtext of her words.

But he said, "Don’t you know what I care about?"

Poppy Hale didn’t know.

Was it because after they broke up, she married someone else and had a child, which dented his male pride?

Or, did he care about her daughter?

She looked at him.

"Should I know?"

Those clear eyes showed ignorance, confusion, bewilderment, and wariness.

To him, these emotions were foreign.

In the past, they never appeared in her eyes.

Yet they were also familiar; at least recently, whenever she looked at him, it was always with this expression.

Poppy Hale’s phone rang.

It was Sean Lynch calling.

"Poppy, I’m sorry about earlier. Don’t be mad."

The car wasn’t big, and the voice from the earpiece also reached Declan Hawthorne’s ears.

Poppy Hale responded coldly, "You’re newly married, I don’t want to verbally thrash you as well."

"Hey, Poppy..."

"Have some decency, will you?"

With a few cold words, Sean Lynch immediately surrendered, "Okay, okay, I’ll go visit Florence soon and make it up to you then."

"No need, bye."

A few concise words.

Like a little hedgehog, aiming its sharp quills outward.

Declan Hawthorne suddenly noticed.

Every time he felt Poppy Hale, she was soft.

Whether she greeted with a smile or hid timidly, at least she showed her gentle and soft side.

Just like her body.

"You’re quite fierce to your family. As expected of the Eldest Miss Hale. Why are you not like that with me?"

Poppy Hale held her phone.

"What employee dares to throw a tantrum at their boss?"

With a hint of jest.

Declan Hawthorne also curved his lips, "And before? Back then, I wasn’t your boss."

Back then, she couldn’t bear it.

How could she bear to throw a tantrum at someone she liked so much?

She liked Declan Hawthorne.

She liked him so much that when she was shopping with Mr. Hale and saw a very smart-looking trench coat, she bought it on the spot.

Imagining how good Declan Hawthorne would look wearing it, how suitable it would be.

But he never wore that coat even once afterward.

Because she gave too many clothes, or perhaps he didn’t really like that one.

Essentially, he just didn’t like her.

Thinking of the past, a sourness churned in Poppy Hale’s eyes.

All the dislike he voiced, she remembered clearly.

Each time, like a thorn, it pricked and stayed lodged, ever present.

Reminding her.

Not to fall again.

Poppy Hale propped her chin and watched the scenery outside the window.

She said lightly, "I’ve forgotten."

-

After finishing work, it was already three in the afternoon.

Poppy Hale stood in front of Declan Hawthorne’s car, not getting in.

"President Hawthorne, I’m off work now."

Being on a field assignment allowed her to leave work early, and now it was reasonable for her to leave.

After saying this, Poppy Hale turned to walk into the nearby metro station.

This metro line seemed like the route to the hospital to visit her mother.

Would rather take the metro than let him drop her off?

Is she eager to see her mother or eager to see the blind date her mother set up for her?

Declan Hawthorne picked up his phone.

"I’m going out of town this weekend, do you have time today to paint for me?"