Chapter 46: Chapter 46

I shook my head and went to Greyson's room to wake him up. After he took a bath and put on his uniform, we headed downstairs.

Surprisingly, his father is also standing at the end of the stairs. He's carrying a suitcase in his left hand.. His hair is disheveled, and he looks exhausted with his dead eyes.

"Dad!" Greyson sprinted downstairs to meet his father.

Garren discarded the look of enervation in his face and put on an energetic expression. He welcomed his son into his arms.

"Did you miss me?"

The latter nodded fervently. "I do! It's been almost a week since you've been gone. You said you'd only be away for four days," he sulked.

I just stood behind Greyson while watching them.

"Sorry, buddy. Something came up, so I had to extend my work days."

"I understand, dad. You look tired. You should get some rest now."

He chuckled. "I could still run a mile, buddy. I'll just change my clothes and drive you to school."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely. Now go eat your breakfast."

With that, his son ran to the kitchen, leaving the two of us alone together.

He stood up. A string seems to bind my body when his eyes land on me.

I greeted him jovially. "Good morning, sir!"

I was expecting him to greet me back, but he didn't. He just nodded his head in the laziest way possible and walked past me.

I was stunned on the spot.

Now I'm sure as hell that I wasn't just imagining things. That man is really ignoring me.

BUT WHY?!

That was the biggest question I have in mind.

"Or perhaps you're just once again overanalyzing things. What if he's not in the mood for conversation because of jetlag?" My internal goddess spoke.

I blew a fuse and went to the kitchen. I was packing Greyson's lunch when Garren appeared.

"Where's Greyson?" His voice is devoid of any emotions.

It ruffled my feather for reasons I don't understand.

"He's already outside, sir." I said and smiled at him.

"Okay. Hurry up," he said and left.

I blew a fuse. He's so unpredictable.

I carried Greyson's bag and followed them outside the gate. I was about to open the door in the front seat when Garren stopped me.

"Sit beside my son at the back."

My eyebrows knitted. "W-What?"

Sitting in the backseat isn't much of a deal, but I've been used to sitting beside him. He was even the one who insisted of that sitting arrangement.

What's with the sudden change?

"Are you deaf? I said go on the back seat," he repeated.

I tried to say something, but ended up getting my tongue tied.

Instead of making a fuss, I just quietly followed what he instructed. Greyson doesn't seem weirded out why I'm suddenly sitting beside him now.

I observed Garren in silence. Why do I feel like he's reverting to his old self?

All throughout the entire ride, I was reticent. Greyson was talking to his father, and the latter was responding to him enthusiastically.

But he never shot me a glance, not even once.

It's driving me insane. I don't know why he's being like this towards me.

When we reached the university, after Garren parked his car, he accompanied his son inside.

I was just trailing behind them as we walked through the pathway. I could not help but draw out a heavy sigh. You can call me paranoid for stretching things out, but you can't blame me.

When we reached his room, his father wished him luck in his classes before he ran inside their room.

I turned to Garren... but my forehead creased when I didn't see anyone standing beside me.

What the hell? Where did that man go?

I wandered my eyes around to search for him, and when I squinted my eyes ahead, I saw him already several meters from where I’m standing.

I should just let him, right? That’s what the logical part of my mind said, but then again, I followed my whim and just found myself following him.

I don’t know what I'm thinking and I’m deliberately acting like some sort of obsessed stalker.

But I merely want to clear things up. I want to know if I did something for him to give me this kind of silent treatment.

"Sir!" I screamed, not minding that there were people around.

My effort to catch his attention was futile because he didn’t hear me. As a matter of fact, he walked even faster.

"Sir Garren!" I once again called him, but for the second time, he turned a deaf ear.

So I dashed like lightning. Fortunately, I was able to catch up to him at last. I held his left arm to stop him from walking.

"W-Why didn’t you stop?" I asked, panting for breath.

"Why would I?" His response threw me into a trench of mortification.

I was taken aback. I’ve heard that kind of tone from him again… that uncaring and indifferent tone. And I feel really ashamed of myself.

"And take your hand off of me."

I hastily took my hand from him. "Sorry, sir."

He huffed. "What do you need from me? Make it quick, I’m in a hurry."

I faked a cough. "I just want to tell you to drive safe."

His brows snapped together. "That’s it?"

I nodded hesitantly.

He hissed and turned his back. "Nonsense."

I watched him as he disappeared into the crowd, while I was glued to my spot. I can’t name the emotions surging inside my chest.

I feel dumb.

Seriously, I don’t know what I have done to him why he's behaving like a big time jerk.

I blew a fuse and turned away.

I spent the entire day stressing over Garren. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I should not get so worked up over that, I couldn't help it. It's like I have no choice but to have my mind engrossed with thoughts about him.

At first I was still deluding myself into the notion that I'm just overanalyzing things. But when days turned into weeks of Garren indirectly ignoring me, that's when I perceived that something is really off.

He acts as if I don't exist in his world. We're living under the same roof, meeting each other almost every day, yet he barely talks to me. Every time I try to initiate a conversation with him, he either cuts me dead or gives me snide replies.

What irks me the most is that he's like that only to me. He treats everyone in that mansion properly aside from me. He doesn't talk to them as if he's talking to a lowly bore.

Then a realization struck me. He's not reverting to his old self. He has some personal issues with me. Whatever that is... I don't have any idea.

Goodness. I don't know how I can crack that mystifying person.

"Cleo."

From the clothes that I'm folding, I turned my attention to Cynthia who's squinting her eyes at me.

She crossed her hands in front of her chest. "Will you be honest with me? What is really going on with you and Sir Garren?"

I frowned. "What do you mean? If this is one of your ridiculous capers about pairing us up, just keep it to yourself. I don't want to hear it."

She huffed. "It's not like that. But I notice something really odd."

I gave her a questioning look.

"Ever since you guys came back from that vacation, he became more kind to all of us here. But I notice that these past few days, he's been peevish to you. It really bothers me why you're being targeted by his bad temper all of a sudden."

This time, she bereft me of speech. See? I wasn't merely hallucinating. Even Cynthia observes Garren's peculiar behavior lately.

"So... What's going on? Hmmm?" she queried like a detective interrogating a suspect.

I shook my head. "You're imagining things, Cynthia. Sir Garren and I are on good terms. We're civil with each other."

I genuinely deserve an award for being a big, fat liar.

She huffed. "You can't fool me. I was silent, but I've been observing the two of you. Every time you talk to him, he always spurns you."

I pursed my lips. I guess denying it is pointless because this woman has an eyes of an eagle.

I puffed a sigh of defeat. "Fine. You're right. Garren is deliberately avoiding me. And if you'll ask me why, you won't get any answers because I myself am clueless. We were fine last week, then I just woke up one day dealing with a monster that I thought was already gone."

She chortled. "That's funny. But what could be the reason?" She strokes her chin, pondering. "Did you perhaps do something bad that pissed him off?"

I shook my head. Although I don't know the exact reason why he's being so snobby and a jackass, I know for a fact that I didn't do anything wrong that might have triggered him.

The corner of Cynthia's lips tugged upward. "Maybe you did something that made him jealous."

I looked at her flatly. "You're hopeless and unhinged."

I stacked the clothes and put them in the laundry basket.

"I gotta put these in Greyson's room. Fix the loose ends in your head."

She just laughed off my mockery.

I climbed upstairs. While I'm walking through Greyson's room, I halted on my tracks and looked up. From where I'm standing, I can see Garren's office. He's probably inside that silent and cold room, working his ass off.

It's Sunday, and he didn't go to work because he promised his son that this will be their father-son day, unless there is an urgent problem in their company. As a matter of fact, earlier this morning, he took him for a stroll through the city.

And guess what? For the first time ever, I didn't come with them. Garren told me that he wanted some personal time with his son, so I shouldn't come, and the latter agreed.

While I understand that, my instinct is telling me to not buy his excuse. I feel like he purposely didn't want me to come with them because he doesn't want my presence.

I might sound obtuse, but you can't blame me. With how he has been acting, every word that comes out of his mouth appears like a lie to me.

This is taking a toll on my sanity.