Chapter 162
Vespera tried her best to close the book on this topic.
“I’m sorry for kissing you without your consent. I sincerely apologize,” Dominic said, apologizing for what had happened the day before.
Her attempts to act as though nothing had happened were futile. She choked on her saliva as she tried to respond and coughed uncontrollably
The mention of the kiss had caught her completely off guard.
Dominic handed her a cup of water, and she drank almost half of it at once.
“Let’s pretend it never happened,” she said, still shaken.
“I’ll take responsibility for my actions,” he said.
Vespera wondered what he meant by that and suddenly had a rough idea of what he was implying.
“That won’t be necessary. It really isn’t. Truly.” She waved her arms, emphasizing her point.
Seeing her reaction, looking like she had seen a ghost, the light in his eyes dimmed like a dying star.
After a moment, he let out a soft chuckle.“And you call yourself open–minded?”
She sat there, glass in hand, saying nothing. The air hung thick for a brief moment.
As they sat in silence, her gaze dropped to the delicate glass ceramic she held. It was beautiful, but she knew how fragile it truly was.
Dominic stood up and walked outside.
Finally, she let out a deep breath and released the glass. Something had to have affected him.
Maybe it was the forest setting or the kiss that was made more intense by the influence of the drug. Whatever it was, she was sure that once they got back, everything would go back to
normal..
After collec
her thoughts, she stepped outside to join him. Sherwin had already arrived and was in the middle of giving a report to Dominic.
“Mr. Aldridge left before dawn. He said he had food poisoning. His friends left with him,” Sherwin said.
Dominic nodded.
From this, Vespera was sure that Dahlia had sent Jordan a message, which explained his sudden departure.
Thous: 162
2/2
Since Jordan left on the pretext of being sick, Dominic would be the only one attending the acceptance ceremony..
From 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, Dominic was busy with the ceremony and luncheon. He was accompanied by a group of people when he toured the grounds. Vespera was by his side the
entire time.
Once everything had wrapped up and they were ready to leave, it was already 4:30 pm.
Dominic had her sit with him in the back seat when they first arrived. She gladly accepted since the road was rough, and sitting in the backwas more comfortable. But on the way she would rather die than sit with him.
When their car had arrived, she opened the door for Dominic. He got in and scooted over, clearly wanting her to sit beside him.
back,
Without acknowledging his gesture, she shut the door. Then, she opened the door to the front passenger seat and sat down.
The driver wondered why she had chosen the front seat and concluded that there might have been a fight between them.
“We’re ready to go,” she told the driver as she buckled her seatbelt.
The driver started the car, and the ride was unnervingly silent. It felt like the calm before a storm, suffocating and tense.
Vespera sat still, not napping but not speaking either.
The driver sensed the tension between them and rolled down his side window for some air.
As dusk fell, they drove out of the woods. They could see a corner of the vibrant city in the
distance.
Dominic received a call. After hanging up, he told the driver to take them to a different address instead of the airport.
Vespera tilted her head slightly, listening to their conversation. From the tone of their exchange, she could tell Dominic was close friends with the person on the other end. But if he were meeting a friend, they wouldn’t reach Halewick tonight.
“Ms. Gildon, j ou’d like, you could return to Halewick first,” Dominic said, his tone distant.
