Chapter 37 Open-minded

Jacob looked up from his cell phone. He smiled as he shook his head. “Young ladies nowadays are really open-minded, haha…”

It was only until he turned to face Jon that he realized the latter’s face was overcast with surprise.

Before Jacob could figure out what was going on, Jon grabbed his coat and left the room quickly without uttering a word.

Baffled, Zayn pointed to the direction of the door. “What’s wrong with Jon again? How could his mood change in a matter of seconds?”

Morgan extended his phone to Zayn and gestured to the latter. “There, this is the person that Jon’s been keeping in his Xijing Villa…”

Everyone present in the room was shocked.

……

Jon made a phone call to Xijing Villa as soon as he left the building.

His enraged voice rang in Aunt Wren’s ears the second she picked up the call. “Where’s Sarah?”

Surprised, the woman took a couple of seconds before replying, “Miss Grove went out.”

“Where?” Aunt Wren could discern the boiling anger in the man’s low voice.

“Um, I’m not sure either. She didn’t say anything when she left…”

Jon hung up the call before Aunt Wren’s voice trailed off.

——————

Sarah was trying to bite a small tear off a bag of chips when Whitney returned from the washroom.

Her cell phone on the coffee table rang with an incoming text. She only glanced at it nonchalantly before returning to her efforts in defeating the chips’ packaging.

Whitney grabbed Sarah’s phone lazily and a shriek of joy escaped her. “Someone passed the verification process!”

“Oh…” Sarah mumbled simply as she was not too bothered about it. Finally, she succeeded in tasting the chips.

On behalf of her friend, Whitney added several strangers to Sarah’s WeChat contact list. Her finger danced across the screen of the phone swiftly to craft a text message. Soon, the other person replied.

“Yes!” She gestured the victory sign and delivered another message without wasting any time. [Meet up?]

The other person also replied curtly. [Sure!]

Immediately, Whitney grabbed the bag of chips away from her friend’s hand. “Stop thinking about food. Come on, I’ve already sorted it out for you!”

With that, she dragged Sarah toward the door.

Confusion was written all over Sarah’s face when she looked at her neurotic friend. “Sort out what?”

Whitney slapped Sarah playfully on the back of her head. “What else? A friend with benefits of course!”

“…”

Before taking their leave, Whitney forced Sarah to drink an entire glass of wine to get her courage up.

The muddle-headed Sarah was dragged to the hotel entrance. It was only until then that warning bells began to ring in her head. Regretted, she turned around quickly intending to flee.

Whitney grabbed her by the arm immediately. “You’ve already come so far. What else are you afraid of?”

The alcohol had gone into her head. Sarah shook off her worries after being challenged by her friend. Henry had already cheated on her. Why was she still being so timid?

……

Junhao Hotel Room 1407. Sarah gulped back her fear as she studied the sign.

Whitney nudged her from behind. “Stop dawdling. I’ll take on the man myself if you change your mind. It’s not every day you get to meet a great man like this…”

Sarah looked over her shoulder. “How do you know the person’s great if you haven’t seen him before?”

A cheeky smile that revealed her teeth spread across Whitney’s face. Her hand flew to her mouth as she said mysteriously, “How terrible could a man be if he’s 185cm tall? It’s exciting just to think about it…”

Soon, they heard footsteps shuffling behind them.

Sarah turned to face the wall intentionally for fear of bumping into acquaintances.

The footsteps approached nearer and a pair of men's leather shoes entered her sight.

The man stopped abruptly in front of her. Sarah’s face was already burning red with embarrassment.

Whitney, who was standing next to her, inhaled sharply. She kept tugging at the corner of Sarah’s sleeve as if hinting the latter to raise her head.

However, the terrifying voice rang in Sarah’s ears before she could lift her eyes.

The person’s tone was laced with intense sarcasm…

Sarah thought this voice sounded extremely familiar and she shot her head up immediately.

Her entire body froze when their eyes met.

Jon was standing right in front of her eyes, his face overcast. The man was dressed in a black tailored suit and he was fidgeting the cell phone in his hand. He appeared matured and elegant, unbelievably handsome and stylish…

His presence confused Sarah greatly. The girl felt her head swimming and she could not help but staggered several steps backward. She tugged at the corner of Whitney’s sleeve and attempted a ridiculing smile at Jon’s direction. “Um, I… I’m busy with something else…”

Whitney did not even have the time to consider the change on Sarah’s face. Her attention was focused solely on the man and she could not shift her eyes away from him even if her life depended on it. Her cheeks flushed subconsciously as she regarded the perfect man. Had something gotten into Sarah’s eyes or what?

Staying here for another second longer was the last thing that Sarah wanted to do but there was no way she could convince Whitney, who had already rooted herself to the ground. Eventually, Sarah relaxed her grip and headed to the elevator quickly with her head hung low.

Whitney cleared her throat and fluttered her eyelashes. “Hey, my name is…”

Jon turned to leave before she could finish her words.

In the next second, Sarah felt her arm being grabbed by someone from behind.

She let out a shriek and turned to find Jon behind her.

She had never seen this terrifying expression on his face before. She was dragged away by the man forcefully without a chance to resist.

Jon fished out the key to Room 1407 from his pocket.

“Bang.” The door slammed shut in front of Whitney’s eyes before she could make sense of what was going on.

……

The door was shut firmly. Nothing could be heard coming from the other side of the door.

Sarah intended to open the door but Jon grabbed her arm abruptly again, pinning her back against the door. His scent filled the air around her.

The lights were not turned on hence she could not discern Jon’s expression in the dark.

Both of them regarded each other intently in silence.

Jon’s face was only inches away from hers. He lowered his head and the tips of their nose were about to touch.

Sarah inhaled deeply, not knowing what was currently playing on the man’s mind. She wanted to move but he quickly pressed her down on the waist.

“Are you really that lonely?” Jon’s husky voice rang in her ears.

Sarah could hear her heart pounding in her chest as she did not know how to respond to the question. The nervousness that filled her entire body affected her ability to think.

She misinterpreted the meaning behind his words. “I’m alone at home… It’s really a little bit… Yeah…” she mumbled.

Jon’s lips that suddenly pressed down against hers took away her instinctive reaction to breathe. She felt as if her brain had exploded all of a sudden.

A faint tobacco taste filled her mouth. Sarah widened her eyes in surprise and something that Maddy once told her kept ringing in her ears.

“He’s just messing around with you. He’ll cast you aside after he achieved what he wants. All men his age are the same…”

Sarah became rather annoyed. She had never been kissed so forcefully by another man apart from Henry.