The afternoon sun shone through the blinds and onto the face of a sleeping girl on the sofa. A man, handsome as a deity, gently pinched her chin and leaned down to place a soft, reverent kiss on her cherry lips, filled with deep love and tenderness. The soft touch of his lips sent a sensation all the way to his heart, softer and sweeter than he had imagined, tempting him to delve deeper, but his rational mind pulled him back from his desire.
John withdrew his fingers gently after a light touch, moving away from her. Diana's dense eyelashes quivered slightly, perhaps sensing something unusual, and she murmured in her sleep. Did she wake up? John held his breath, watching her motionlessly. However, he saw Diana open her eyelids slightly, smack her lips, turn over and change position, and continue to sleep.
"Really... so cute and silly," John couldn't help but smile wryly.
After some time, Diana finally woke up from her slumber. She saw that it was already dark outside and smacked her forehead. Was she a pig? She slept for so long! And she had an unspeakable dream. She dreamed that... John kissed her without permission... Oh my god, why did she have such an embarrassing dream!
Diana shook her head and picked up her phone to check the time. However, she saw dozens of missed calls, all from Andrew and Colin. These two were so exaggerated! Fortunately, Ben was already busy enough, otherwise, there would be even more missed calls.
Diana was about to return a call when she suddenly heard a noise outside the study room door. Then, the door was pushed open. John's tall figure stood in the doorway, backlit like a perfectly symmetrical statue. "You're awake?"
Seeing Diana sitting dumbfounded on the sofa, with a bunch of hair sticking up like a clump of wool, John's expression softened.
"Uh, I accidentally fell asleep," Diana said as she saw John, immediately thinking of her dream, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. She hastily put on her shoes and walked towards John. They say that a person has thoughts during the day and dreams at night. Could it be that deep down inside, she actually wanted to be with John...? As soon as she thought of this, she felt her face immediately heat up. She was done for. She actually had improper thoughts about John!
"Andrew is downstairs," John suddenly said.
"Huh... ah?" Diana was taken aback. Andrew was too worried, actually coming over in person.
Observing Diana's distracted expression and rosy cheeks, John felt perplexed, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Diana shook her head, but before she could say anything, John reached out his hand and placed his palm on her forehead, "You seem to have a fever."
"I'm fine," Diana hurriedly removed his hand. She didn't want him to touch her anymore. Whenever John touched her, she felt a tingling sensation.
"I have to go see Andrew now," Diana found an excuse to bypass John and rushed downstairs in a hurry. As she fled, John furrowed his brows, wondering if he had been too abrupt and frightened the little girl.
Downstairs, Andrew was pretending to sip his coffee when he suddenly heard a rush of footsteps. He then saw Diana in a floral dress, darting into his embrace.
"Andrew, why did you come here?" Diana asked.
"To take you home," Andrew fondly pinched her nose. John, who had followed them downstairs, watched as Andrew did so, and his attractive eyebrows lightly creased. He approached them, gently pulling Diana out of Andrew's arms.
"She's sick. Don't hold her so tightly," John said.
"Sick? How did she get sick?" Andrew furrowed his brows and held Diana's face in his hands, looking worried.
Diana blushed. What sickness? She had just had a wet dream.
"I'm fine, Andrew. Let's go back now. It's getting late," Diana couldn't bear to look into John's eyes. She was too embarrassed now, and if she faced him again, she might give herself away.
Although Andrew was somewhat puzzled, he could see that Diana was in good spirits and didn't look like she was sick, so he nodded, "Then let's head back." With a brief goodbye to John, Andrew pulled Diana along. Surprisingly, John didn't try to stop them. Even after they had walked a considerable distance, John still stood at the door of the villa, not leaving.
"What are you looking at? I'm her big brother. Is there something you're worried about?" Andrew muttered to himself.
As Diana looked at the slender figure in the rearview mirror, she suddenly regretted not saying goodbye to John. But they had plenty of time to meet again in the future. With this thought, Diana relaxed and turned her attention away.
Diana turned her head and caught Andrew staring at her intensely, his eyes shining with a hint of scrutiny. "Did John do anything to you?" he asked, with his gold-rimmed glasses sliding down his nose.
"No, not at all. I just took a nap in his study room this afternoon, it was so comfortable!" Diana replied.
Andrew's eyes twitched at her response, his expression turning instantly serious. "You slept in his study room?!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, so what's wrong with that?" Diana asked.
Andrew thought to himself, 'Uh-oh, the ice-cold man must have done something to his little sister, maybe something terrible.' He felt a surge of anger rise within him.
Seeing the worry on Andrew's face, Diana reached out and nudged his arm. "Don't worry, John might seem a little scary, but he's actually very honest," she reassured him.
Andrew didn't believe that for a second. His little sister had no idea who John really was or what he was capable of. People in Cloud City called him the "King of the Underworld" behind his back, and even though he had changed somewhat recently, he was still a far cry from being honest.
Diana pulled out her phone and said, "Let me call Colin first... Andrew, trust me, John wouldn't do anything bad while I was asleep. He's not that kind of person."
Meanwhile, John, who was called honest by Diana, had just returned to his study room and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, causing him to sneeze several times in a row. He was confused, as he didn't feel sick at all.
"Anyway, just be careful. Do you remember the self-defense items I recommended for you?" Andrew trailed off, trying to offer some protection for his little sister.
Diana rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, I got it. Please just drive the car and let us go home," she said impatiently.
"Don't worry about it, sis. If you want, I can buy some self-defense items for you," Andrew suggested.
"If you keep acting like this, I'm not going to talk to you," Diana warned him.
"Okay, okay, let's go home," Andrew relented.
After their brief conversation ended, Andrew drove Diana back to the Thompson family's villa. Upon arriving, Diana waved goodbye to Andrew and prepared to go back to her room for a nap. However, she was surprised to hear some arguing upstairs. Curious, she went up to investigate and discovered that it was Ms. Taylor and June.
"Ms. Taylor, you're back from the hospital?" Diana exclaimed happily. "Is everything okay with your health?"
"I'm fine, Miss... Ms. Diana," replied Ms. Taylor. "Thanks to your reminder, I found out that I had a minor stomach problem. The doctor said that it was caught early, or else there would have been a risk of cancer."
"That's great news!" After Diana heard this, it seemed that Ms. Taylor's physical condition should be better than she thought. Diana breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to ask a few more questions, she noticed that her room's door was open and there was a long white dress lying on the bed. It was the one John had given her at their engagement party.
Diana was confused as she walked over to examine the dress. Her expression instantly changed upon seeing that there was a large tear beside the waistline. This dress held a special meaning for her since it was a gift from John.
"What happened!?" Diana turned around, her eyes filled with anger.
Before Ms. Taylor could speak, June immediately said, "Ms. Thompson, it was Ms. Taylor! When she came back today, she said she wanted to help you tidy up your room, so I let her in. But when she was cleaning out your closet, she accidentally ripped this dress!"
Ms. Taylor did it? Diana frowned at the damaged dress. She looked at Ms. Taylor and asked, "Ms. Taylor, can you explain what happened to this dress?"
Ms. Taylor appeared uneasy, and spoke softly, "I don't know what happened, but I was very careful when I was tidying up your clothes. However, the dress still tore apart. I'm sorry, I don't know if it got caught on something."
"Ms. Thompson, you see, she admits it!" June said, feeling even more triumphant.
Diana didn't speak, only looked at June calmly, making June inexplicably feel uneasy under her gaze.
Diana thought to herself calmly, "Ms. Taylor ruined my dress, such an important dress? This never happened in my previous life, but... do you think I would believe her? And luckily, I made some preparations just in case."
At that moment, Serena and James walked down the stairs. Seeing the scene, Serena frowned in disapproval. "What's going on here? Why are you all making such a fuss?"
Upon seeing Serena, June's eyes immediately lit up. She hurried over and exaggeratedly recounted the situation to the two of them. After listening, James frowned in dissatisfaction, "Ms. Taylor, you've been working in our household for such a long time, how could you make such a mistake? If it were any other garment, it would be alright, but it just had to be this one."
"Master, I'm sorry. It was my negligence this time," Ms. Taylor lowered her head nervously.
Seeing this, Serena took the opportunity to say, "Hunsband, I think Ms. Taylor is getting old and is not as sharp as she used to be. I heard she had a grandson last year. Why don't we let her go back and enjoy her retirement?"