Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Hawthorne Group, Sebastian Hawthorne: How About It?

’Which side of him was the real him?’

Cecilia Croft could no longer tell.

Jude Sheridan saw her attitude soften. He loosened his grip on her hand slightly, bent down, and affectionately tapped the tip of her nose, speaking gently.

"Even if you’re still angry, you need to get that wound bandaged first before you give me the silent treatment. I won’t let you use your own body to get back at me."

He took her hand, about to lead her toward his office.

Cecilia Croft was extremely resistant to entering his office.

It disgusted her.

The man’s grip on her wrist was too strong. Unable to break free, she spoke in a muffled voice.

"Let’s go to the infirmary."

Seeing the disgust and insistence on her face, Jude Sheridan’s heart tightened. An undeniable feeling welled up inside him. Faced with her persistence, he had no choice but to compromise and take her to the infirmary.

When they reached the infirmary door, Cecilia Croft shook off his hand and calmly walked inside.

Jude Sheridan followed behind and waited quietly to the side. When he saw her brows furrow in pain as the wound was being disinfected, he shot a warning look at the doctor and snapped.

"Be gentle."

"Of course, President Sheridan." The doctor treated Cecilia Croft’s wound with an apologetic smile.

After finishing, the doctor gave a few instructions and tactfully excused himself.

After the doctor left, only Cecilia Croft and Jude Sheridan remained in the infirmary.

Jude Sheridan frowned, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at Cecilia Croft’s bandaged hand.

His phone rang several times, still playing that gratingly sweet little love song.

Cecilia Croft’s brows knitted in an instant of pure revulsion as she looked at him.

"Aren’t you going to answer that?"

He casually pulled out his phone, switched it to silent, and moved closer to Cecilia Croft, his face a mask of nonchalance.

"It’s an unimportant call. No need to answer."

Cecilia Croft sneered. "Is that so? When you left with me earlier, Ms. Keller was still kneeling on the ground, looking all pitiful and helpless."

"Where she kneels has nothing to do with me," Jude Sheridan replied, his face expressionless, his tone betraying no anger.

Cecilia Croft smiled and spoke leisurely.

"I may not come to the office often these days, but I still have some influence here. Even if I don’t say or do anything, there will still be people who try to curry favor with me by giving Ms. Keller a hard time. She might be calling you for help. Aren’t you worried she’s in some kind of trouble?"

Jude Sheridan frowned, a flicker of irritation appearing in his deep eyes.

"Cecilia, I only kept her around because I felt sorry for her. I thought she was a lot like you when you were just starting out—always positive, no matter the difficulty. I thought you had spoken to Grandeur Enterprises and had Giselle Sullivan fire her, so I spitefully kept her at the company and had her work in your office."

"I’ve felt guilty all these years that I didn’t have the power to protect you back then, that I let you suffer the hardships of the professional world. That’s why I’ve shown her sympathy and looked after her."

’Looked after her?’

Cecilia Croft wanted to laugh.

"Well, President Sheridan, you certainly ’looked after’ her thoroughly, even taking care of her physical needs."

Jude Sheridan’s brow furrowed. "Where did you hear these rumors and gossip?"

Cecilia Croft: "From the mouth of the person involved, naturally."

Jude Sheridan’s expression turned cold, his features growing stern.

"Cecilia, we’ve been together for so many years. Back when Vantage was just starting to take off, all those people sent women to me. Which one of them wasn’t more beautiful, more alluring than her?"

Cecilia Croft remained silent.

Jude Sheridan had indeed withstood many temptations in the past, so she had naturally assumed that the man she had chosen was different from other men.

Now, watching him spin his web of well-reasoned lies, she only felt disappointment.

He said he felt bad for the person she used to be, so he sympathized with Jessica Keller.

He was compensating for his pity for her by bestowing it upon another woman.

It was both absurd and laughable.

All she had ever wanted was to give their seven-year relationship a proper burial.

But he had never once thought of confessing, content to let its corpse rot in the open.

So how could she not grant him his wish?

His cheek was red and swollen. Cecilia Croft had put her full force into that last strike.

Noticing her gaze, Jude Sheridan’s heart eased a little.

"It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt."

’She still feels sorry for me. This means the fallout from this incident won’t be too severe.’

He wrapped his left arm around Cecilia Croft’s waist and pressed himself against her.

"Cecilia, we promised each other a long time ago that we would be together forever. This is just a small hiccup in our lives. I promise you, you will never see Jessica Keller again."

He held out his right hand, his pinky finger slightly crooked, wanting to do a pinky swear with Cecilia Croft.

It was a habit from the honeymoon phase of their relationship. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As long as they locked pinkies, Cecilia Croft would forgive him.

Only this time, she didn’t extend her hand.

Jude Sheridan’s expression tightened.

Cecilia Croft rose from her seat, naturally putting some distance between them.

"Your face is so swollen. I suppose you won’t be able to sign the contract with Apex Industries tomorrow, will you?"

A flash of annoyance crossed Jude Sheridan’s eyes, all his previous worry and tenderness vanishing.

"It’s not a big deal. Apex Industries and Vantage have been partners for so many years. It won’t matter if we delay signing the renewal for a few days. They won’t just switch partners that easily."

Cecilia Croft didn’t respond, merely curling her lip into a faint smile as she walked toward the infirmary door.

He was so confident, never doubting that Apex Industries would change partners, and taking it for granted that she would never leave him.

Only this time, he had seriously miscalculated.

Seeing her leave without another word, Jude Sheridan patiently got up and followed her out.

"I’ll take you home."

Cecilia Croft shook her head, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"No need. You have a lot of work to deal with at the company, so you should stay. Besides, there’s still unfinished business upstairs, isn’t there?"

Without giving him a chance to react, Cecilia Croft walked out of the company building.

Jude Sheridan stopped in his tracks, his expression dark and unreadable.

Reaching her car, Cecilia Croft took out her phone and called Giselle Sullivan from Grandeur Enterprises.

"Go ahead and sign the termination agreement Jude Sheridan sent to Grandeur Enterprises."

Giselle Sullivan was shocked. "President Croft, if we sign the termination agreement, this project is dead..."

Cecilia Croft gripped her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"I will find you a new investor. I guarantee their qualifications and backing will be even stronger than Vantage’s."

Giselle Sullivan: "..."

"Did things fall apart between you and President Sheridan?"

Cecilia Croft didn’t answer, merely glancing back at the Vantage office building.

’Fallen apart? It’s much worse than that.’

Her silence was, without a doubt, a confirmation.

Giselle Sullivan also realized that a major upheaval was coming to Vantage. She sighed and asked softly.

"President Croft, may I know in advance which investor you plan on introducing the Grandeur Enterprises project to?"

She valued this project highly, so even with a new potential investor, she wanted to choose someone reliable.

Grandeur Enterprises couldn’t afford this kind of turmoil.

Cecilia Croft pondered for a moment, then murmured, "The Hawthorne Group. Sebastian Hawthorne. How does that sound?"