Chapter 15: Chapter 15

The exposure of secrets and funny welcoming dinner ended at around 10 pm.

During the second half of the dinner, everyone's fiery attention was focused on Jayden.

Mark and Jack talked about Jayden, on how cold he was as a child and how he had racked his brains to coax and trick Xiao Anna into accepting him.

They also told them about the shady things Jayden did behind Anna's back and everything was added with spicy bits of information and was spilled out in front of Anna.

Anna smiled shyly as she listened.

She did not hide nor got angry and was graceful.

Arya felt that this girl is really lovable, beautiful and cute.

Jayden would participate from time to time banter with the two men but his hand was tightly holding on to Anna.

Very haughtily he displayed an image that he already has his wife and he does not mind whatever they say to discredit him.

In the end, the concluding speech was said by Anna.  She said.  "Don’t make a fuss anymore.  In fact, Jayden has many hidden secrets that he never told you all."

"I only just say he is cold."

"What you know are just small details."  Anna blinked and smiled sweetly.

"Is there a big secret hidden from us?  Anna dear, quickly tell us."

"No."  Anna smiled even more sweetly.  "It's late.  This meeting is over."

"What?"  Mark clutched his chest in disappointment.  "This is too poisonous.  The most poisonous is a woman's heart.  This is keeping me in suspense and also she announced the meeting is over.  We have made a mistake.  It is Anna who is the mastermind behind the scenes and our Jayden baby is innocent."

Anna laughed out loudly.  Jayden kissed her cheek and pulled her up.

Then he said loudly.  "Well, this meeting is over.  It is late and my baby is tired."

Jack smirked.  "If she follows you home, she will feel even more tired."

These words were really indecent.

As an observer, Arya blushed slightly.

But the person involved, Jayden did not move.

He retaliated by saying.  "Everyone return to your own home.  If you have a wife, you can hug your wife.  If you don’t have a wife, you can hug your pillow.  Goodnight."

Poisonous, really poisonous, ah!

Mark immediately turned around and asked Cindy.  "I don’t have to hug a pillow, do I?"

Cindy blushed and ignored him.

Jack smirked.  "When I go back, I will name my pillows.  One -- 'Jayden', One -- 'Anna' and I will sleep in the middle, hugging one pillow in each arm."

Jayden gave him a kick, then said goodbye to everyone and left with Anna.

Mark as the boss had to stay back to monitor the tidying up of the restaurant.  His sister was carrying the tired little Elizabeth who had fallen asleep and of course, Cindy had to follow them and take care of the family.

Arya was left alone.

Under such circumstances, naturally, Jack should send her back.  Jack did not say anything and from beginning to end, he acted as if he did not make that phone call last night.

It was as if he did not send any scary text messages and had nothing to do with Arya at all.

Arya felt a little embarrassed in her heart and could only stare.

She pretended nothing was amiss and followed Jack down the stairs.

In fact, she really wanted to have the guts to tell him she can go home on her own but it was so late and the buses were no longer running.

She would have to spend money taking a taxi.  For the sake of her poor purse, she decided to take the risk of sitting in Jack's car.

Originally, it was peaceful all the way.

In the beginning, Arya had wanted to thank him but after saying thank you, what should she say?  She had not decided and so she hesitated……and hesitated……and the time slipped by.

In the car, it was very quiet which made her feel nervous.

When the car was halfway through the journey, Jack suddenly asked.  "Have you called home yet?"

Arya froze and could not speak.  She did not want to lie nor dare to say 'what has it got to do with you?'

She secretly snuck a glance at him and saw Jack turned his head to look at her.

She quickly lowered her head and adjusted her glasses nervously.

Fortunately, Jack did not speak and only continued to drive quietly.

Arya sighed with relief.

In her heart, she was thinking, perhaps just now he had used up his brutal energy and is now in the process of recovering.

This is also good because, in a short while, she will reach home and maybe she can make an escape.

Just as she had finished her thoughts, she saw Jack stopped the car by the roadside.

He stared at her for a moment and suddenly said.  "I'm going to buy a pack of cigarettes.  Wait for me in the car."

Arya acknowledged with an 'Oh' and was about to nod her head when Jack said.  "When I come back after buying the cigarettes, I hope you have finished your call to your family."

"Whhaaaat??????"

"I've seen a lot of people like you.  If there is no one to force you, you will shrink to the bottom.  It's still not considered too late in the night.  Are your parents asleep?  Just make a phone call and tell them you're safe.  It is not that difficult."

Arya was dumbstruck and stared at him.

"Did you quarrel with your family?"

She shook her head.

"Did you break off with your parents?"

She shook her head again.

"Then call them.  Don’t let them think you have died outside."  After speaking, he pushed the door opened and went out.

Arya's eyes followed him as he walked into a convenience store by the roadside.

Soon after he walked out and in his hand was a bottle of water.  It seems that he was holding a packet of cigarettes and then he walked to the flowerbed beside the road.

He leaned against a tree and lit up his cigarette.

She saw the cigarette light flicker and in the shadow of the streetlights, he exuded a light feeling of dispirited mystery.

Seeing that he would not be returning to the car for the time being, Arya thought for a while before she finally pulled out her phone.

In fact, he is not bad on this point.  She even thinks he is right.

If he did not force her, she does not know how long she will delay in calling home.

She dialed the phone and listened to the ringing tone. After three rings, the phone was lifted up from the other side.

Arya bit her lips and encouraged herself to go on.  "Mom, it's me."

In the beginning, the answer 'hello' sounded particularly loud and after hearing her voice the other end was silent for a moment.  Then Arya's Mother answered her daughter.  "You still remember to call home."

"I, I had gastroenteritis a while ago and was hospitalized.  Then my cell phone number was changed……"  She did not know what else to say.  She had lied to her parents and now she was looking for an excuse for herself.

"Is that true?"  Mrs Du Vin's tone was a bit harsh. "Mom, I'm very sorry.  I don’t want you to worry and so I told you I was working in a trading company."

"Is that all?  If there is nothing else, I will hang up now.  I'm playing Rummy."  Mrs Du Vin's voice was very cold and she did not wait for Arya to answer.

She just hung up the phone.

Arya froze with her phone in her hand and listening to the dead tone of the phone, her mind went blank.

Then she felt the sourness in her eyes and it seems that something was flowing out of her eyes.

Right. Those were her tears!

She bit her lips tightly, closed her eyes and forcefully blinked her eyes.

Suddenly she felt as if she could not breathe and pushed the door open and took a deep breath.

Jack was still leaning against the tree, smoking his cigarette.

He looked at Arya's actions, he did not speak nor did he come over.

Suddenly Arya felt the man was not so bad and not so annoying after all.

She was grateful that he ignored her at this time and she really needed some space alone.

The two of them, one leaning against the car and the other leaning against the tree.

The distance not too far nor too near, their figures could clearly be seen but their expressions were hazy.

The yellowish streetlights shone down on them and the occasional sounds of footsteps of passersby and cars passing by wrapped around them as if they were in a small world.

Arya looked at Jack but later did not look at her.  He was gazing at the cars on the streets as if he was counting the number of cars passing by.

This gave Arya some relief.  She stared at him in a daze and her mind was blank.

She had summoned the courage to call home and had imagined various scenes of being scolded but she did not expect to receive such a cold reception.

Arya knew her mother was angry, very angry.  She felt the sourness in her eyes and forcefully blinked her eyes.

Jack seemed to have seen enough of the passing cars and walked over.  "Like what you see?"

Arya was blank.

"You've been looking at me for a long time.  Is it because I am very handsome?"

Finally, she understood what he meant.

She cleared her throat and nodded her head innocently.  "Handsome."

"How handsome?"  Jack actually asked.

She was still a bit dazed and wanted to tell him that his handsome looks are comparable to how thick his skin is.

But before she could open her mouth, a white car hurtled towards them behind her.  It grazed the body of Jack's car, hit the left rearview mirror knocking it off and then screeched to a sudden stop.

Jack narrowed his eyes and with a dark face, he rushed towards the white car.

The white car's windows were down and loud music could be heard coming from the inside.

In the front seats, there were two people with confused expressions on their faces.

After they hit Jack's car, they stopped and then they started the car again, ready to continue driving.

Arya was afraid Jack would be at a disadvantage and quickly followed behind him.

The people in the car saw Jack going up and laughed loudly.

One of them even raised his middle finger at Jack.

Arya caught a wisp of strong alcohol and saw Jack furiously rushing towards them and shouting loudly for them to get down from the car.

Of course, the two people did not listen to him and in the midst of shouting out a series of profanities and loud laughter, they sped off.

Then just like the scenes in a movie, everything unfolded in front of her eyes.

The white car beat the red traffic light at the intersection in front and as it turned a corner, it nearly knocked into a car.

The white car slammed on its brakes, rotated around, swept past the side of the car and immediately, the white car knocked into the police booth located in the middle of the road with a thunderous 'bang'.

Jack rushed over to the other side and Arya without thinking also ran following behind him.

The front of the white car was wrapped around the booth with a hole in the middle.

In the car, the two people's faces were covered in blood.

The man in the passenger seat was shouting in pain and the man in the driver seat was in shock and did not move.

"Can you talk?"  Jack quickly looked at the two people and then asked the driver.

The man with an ashen face laboriously shook his head and it seems like he could not breathe.

When Arya arrived, she was not sure what was happening.

At this time, Jack shouted at her.  "Go to my trunk, bring my first-aid bag!"

She did not know how she should respond, only instinctively followed his instructions and rushed back to his car.

Frantically, she hurried to the car but she could not open the trunk.

She was anxious and did not know what to do when a passerby pointed out to her that there was a switch near the driver seat.

When the trunk was opened, she saw a big first-aid bag.

Then she picked it up and ran.

The passerby shouted again.  "Miss, you didn’t lock the car."

Arya's head became hot.

She ran back, pulled out the car key and then hugging the first-aid bag, she ran towards Jack.

When she arrived, she saw Jack had already placed the man from the passenger seat on the ground.

She handed him the first-aid and without speaking, he opened the bag and took out something like a tube.

He tore off the clothes from the man in the driver seat and stabbed the tube into his chest.

That man twisted his face in pain and soon his ashen face returned to normal.

His breathing started to become lighter and then nodded his head.

"Don’t talk.  Don’t move.  Stay still.  You're lucky, I'm a doctor."  Jack was so cool and Arya could only look on blankly.

"Call for an ambulance."  The Lord Jack gave instructions again.  Arya only remembered this now.  The passerby who had followed behind her then shouted.  "I've called.  I've called."

At this time, Jack took his first-aid bag and rushed to the side of the wounded man lying on the ground.

The man's lower leg was injured.

There were also injuries on his body and blood were flowing out of his wounds.

When Arya saw so much blood, she had a dizzy spell.

She is afraid of blood.

At this time, Jack had started his emergency treatment.  He shouted at Arya.  "Come!  Press down here!"

Both her legs weaken but she gritted her teeth.

She did as he said and pressed down on the spot he indicated.

She vaguely understood that this would slow down the rate of blood loss.

She breathed hard, closed her eyes and endured the strong feeling of discomfort.

The injured man appeared to be more spirited than Arya.  He shouted loudly.  "My leg is broken!  Don’t you dare f*** touch me, ah!......."  His cries sounded exceptionally tragic and Arya closed her eyes.

She felt even dizzier.

"My leg, don’t touch me!  I told you not to touch me!......."  The man's struggles caused Jack to give him a slap and the man immediately quieten down.

She wanted to laugh but she could not laugh.

Although her eyes were closed, she could still smell blood and coupled with the sticky feeling on her hands, she felt she was going to faint.

This time, the wounded man again shouted.

Just you wait, wait for me to break your leg!"

"You want to try?" Jack's voice sounded cold and cool.  "I don’t break people's legs but I have always used the method of amputation.  My skill is excellent."

She wanted to laugh again but she still could not laugh.  She took a deep hard breath and was unaware if she said anything.  "Dr. Jack, I'm going to faint........."