Chapter 76: Chapter 76

JONEA

When I came back home, I saw Daran tending to his magical plants in the yard. I approached him with a cheerful expression.

"I'm home," I greeted.

Daran left his magical plants and glanced at me briefly. He didn’t even return my greeting and walked away. It was apparent he was trying to avoid me. But I moved quickly and blocked his way.

“Daran, I have a question. It’s about my friend with the red mark on his forehead. I mean, Hunter Abraham. He sent me a message asking to meet. He wants me to write the report with him. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll decline.”

“Jonea, you don’t need my permission for that.”

I was stunned. “What?”

The smile completely disappeared from my face, replaced with worry. This wasn’t the reaction I expected from Daran Carver, who had always been possessive and overprotective of me.

“But, you were concerned about this before,” I continued.

“Because you have to work together, you can’t avoid it forever. I know you can take care of yourself and stay away from him. You’re an independent and brave girl.”

For some reason, hearing that from Daran made me feel so sad. I started to feel like I wasn’t wanted anymore.

“That’s true, but—”

Suddenly, Daran cut me off. “You don’t need to tell me everything unless it’s really important. We’re nothing more than two people who happened to get involved with each other, making a deal. You should already know what’s allowed and what’s not, based on the contract we agreed on.”

And then Daran walked away, leaving me alone in the yard. I was still in shock after hearing his cold and hurtful words. I trembled and couldn’t believe it.

I felt like I had just been rejected or even lost someone I deeply trusted and relied on. It was like losing a family that had always supported and loved me.

I walked back to my room with a blank mind. I still couldn’t accept or believe what Daran had just said.

I threw my bag onto the bed and sat down, exhausted. I didn’t know what to do in a situation like this. I just tilted my head back, trying to keep my tears from falling. I even fanned my hands to dry the tears before they could spill out.

“He used to be so sweet to me. Why did he suddenly…”

Then it hit me as if a thick fog that had clouded my mind suddenly lifted.

“Wait, could it be that Daran is acting distant because something happened? When he replaced me to meet Hunter that day?”

I quickly contacted Hunter and asked to meet. Less than half an hour after I contacted him, Hunter arrived at the park to pick me up. We drove in his always luxurious and ever-changing car, clearly meant to show off to everyone.

I snorted a bit. “At least he didn’t pick me up in a private jet.”

“What?” Hunter murmured, focused on driving. “Did you say something, Jonea?”

“Oh, no. Why did you take me so far away? We’re just supposed to meet to finish the assignment.”

We arrived at a café far from the city centre. Hunter got out of the car and quickly ran to open the door for me. Before getting out, I instinctively checked the black bone dagger I had hidden in the belt on my thigh.

“I heard the desserts here are good. I know you like sweet treats. This place…”

“Let’s just get started on the assignment!” I said impatiently. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

We chose a seat far from the noise in the new café. I immediately opened my laptop and focused on the task we needed to complete. Meanwhile, Hunter was busy ordering a variety of tempting treats. But I pretended not to be interested and ignored them.

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I ordered everything,” Hunter said confidently.

I pushed my laptop across the table, shifting some of the plates of sweets in front of me.

“Shall we finish the assignment first?” I asked, trying to hide my impatience. “First, let’s talk about what happened that day when we visited the museum and the art gallery.”

“Alright, what do you want to discuss?”

Hunter looked at me so warmly that I became flustered.

“Did I seem strange when we met that day? I mean, did I act odd?”

“Not at all,” Hunter replied casually. “You didn’t seem as cheerful as usual, but you were beautiful,” he murmured.

“What?” I asked, unsure if I heard him right.

“Oh, no, I meant the museum had a lot of beautiful ancient things, and you looked really enthusiastic.”

I paused to reflect, then asked another question. “By the way, did you say something that might have offended me that day?”

Hunter had just taken a sip of his coffee. “Why? Did I do something to upset you? I don’t think I said anything special.”

“Never mind,” I said quickly. “What did we do after that?”

“We went to the art gallery after visiting the museum. Did you forget?”

“Oh, yeah, right. I just forgot the order a bit. So how was I while we were there? Did anything happen between us?”

“Uhuk!” Hunter choked and quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin.

I started to get suspicious. Did something happen?

Hunter didn’t answer; he just stared at me thoughtfully. He crossed his legs and placed one hand on the table.

“Jonea, what’s going on? Why are you acting strange today? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten everything from the museum and gallery visit that day? Did you have an accident and lose your memory?”

“No... I just want to make sure we’re on the same page to finish our assignment today.”

I muttered, “I guess nothing major happened when they met that day. So what caused Daran’s change in behavior?”

“By the way, Jonea, you keep talking like you weren’t even there that day.” Hunter looked at me, puzzled.

“What do you mean?” I smiled, quickly grabbing my juice to hide my nervousness.

It didn’t seem like anything special happened that day, so why had Daran turned cold toward me? Since I’d already asked to meet Hunter to finish the assignment, I decided to focus on that.

Time passed until evening. I made sure not to have any physical contact with Hunter. He also dropped me off at the park, where he had picked me up.

As I got out of the car, Hunter followed me. “Why do you always want to meet and get dropped off in this park? I could take you all the way home.”

I stepped back two paces, putting some distance between us. “No need,” I said firmly. “See you!” I quickly turned and left him.

“Jonea!” Hunter called, and I turned around. “Can I ask you something?” He approached me but kept a safe distance.

“What is it?”

“The guy with you at campus that day, who was he?”

I tilted my head slightly, trying to figure out who Hunter was talking about since there were several men in my life right now.

“Oh, him…”

“Are you asking about me?” Someone suddenly stood beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder from behind.

Without even turning, just from the scent of his body, I knew exactly who it was.