My First Love Died, Now My Step Uncle Wants Me-Chapter 132: A Natural-Born Stunner

Nina Wynn was silent for a couple of seconds before her lips moved slightly. "It’s nothing. I was just calling to check in. No need to tell him, Miss Lowell. I won’t keep you."

Ending the call, she slowly walked back toward the hotel.

The drive was only about ten minutes, but she had no idea how long she walked.

The snow fell thicker, and the hole in her chest seemed to grow wider. The cold wind, as if targeting her, howled as it rushed in.

As she reached the main gate, Nina Wynn saw a few black sedans pulling out slowly.

It was getting dark, but she could still clearly make out Caleb Rhodes’s car among them.

’Wasn’t he at the office? How did he get to the hotel so quickly?’

’So just now, when Rosalind Lowell took my call, she was in the hotel?’

’And her shower... that was in the hotel too?’

’Was their reunion after such a short absence really that urgent?’

She stood in the shadows, gazing silently through an open car window at the people inside.

The man, cool and distinguished; the woman, sweet and poised.

Truly a picture-perfect couple, the kind that could stand together in the sun forever.

While she, a lowly weed, was destined to live unseen in the shadows.

Just then, Rosalind Lowell’s gaze swept in her direction from inside the car.

It was as if she’d spotted her. A coldness emanated from her gaze as it rested on Nina for a second. Then, Rosalind leaned her body forward, blocking Caleb Rhodes from view.

The window slid shut, cutting off Nina Wynn’s view and, it seemed, separating two different worlds.

Nina Wynn stood in the wind and snow, watching the taillights shrink into the distance. It felt as if her relationship with Caleb Rhodes had all been a dream.

Given the chasm between their social statuses, if he didn’t orchestrate it, even getting a chance to see him would be next to impossible.

Only after the car had completely vanished did she dazedly make her way back to the hotel.

The lobby manager recognized her the moment she entered the hotel. She was the young woman Caleb Rhodes pampered.

He greeted her with a smile. "Welcome back, Miss Wynn. Is there anything special you’d like for dinner?"

Nina Wynn shook her head and walked past the manager.

She had only taken a few steps before she turned back to the manager and asked softly, "My uncle... I mean, President Rhodes. When did he get here?"

The manager had personally seen Caleb Rhodes carrying Nina Wynn in his arms, so he knew she was the "Crown Prince’s" little pet.

That was why he’d never dared to stare at her for too long.

Now that she was looking right at him, he got his first real look at her face, and his heart skipped a beat.

With such delicate features and eyes that were both innocent and full of deep emotion, she was a natural-born siren, meant to bewitch men.

Add to that her slender, fragile frame and her soft, gentle voice, and she could easily awaken a man’s possessive instincts.

He didn’t dare look for long and quickly averted his eyes. "President Rhodes arrived about two hours ago," he said with an obsequious smile. "He just left. You must have seen him."

Nina Wynn’s face grew even paler. She was silent for a moment before asking, "Were he and Miss Lowell in the room the whole time?"

The manager didn’t dare get too involved in the affairs of the upper crust. The official partner, the mistress, the side piece—he couldn’t afford to offend any of them.

He answered honestly, "Yes, they were in the room."

Nina Wynn’s face went a shade paler. Strands of damp hair clung to her cheeks, accentuating her delicate features and frail appearance.

The manager’s heart fluttered, and he found himself saying, "Miss Wynn, our hotel has hot springs, just behind the first floor. We offer private rooms for our esteemed guests. Since you’ve just come in from the cold, a dip in a medicinal bath would be the perfect way to warm up."

Nina Wynn nodded, thanked him, and headed upstairs.

***

Inside the Rolls-Royce, Caleb Rhodes repeatedly stared at the messages on his phone.

He focused on the last message from Nina Wynn.

’A little bear!’

’Does the little thing like bears that much?’

The cufflinks she gave him were little bears, too. Incredibly cute.

It was the first gift she had ever given him. He was reluctant to wear them, so he’d taken a photo to look at from time to time. The more he looked, the cuter he found them, so he’d ended up making it his profile picture.

The result was a massive uproar among his friends.

In the span of a single morning, even Walter Rhodes had called him personally to ask if something was wrong. Walter then made a special trip to see him when he passed through Aethelburg that afternoon.

Nathan Fletcher’s reaction was the most over-the-top. He thought Caleb had been kidnapped and called over a dozen times in a short span just to make sure nothing had happened to him.

He tapped on the profile picture to look at it again. The well-behaved little bear... the more he looked at it, the more it reminded him of Nina Wynn.

’It’s obviously cute. There must be something wrong with their heads!’

His long, slender fingers traced the image of the bear cufflinks once more. He sent a text to Willson Lawson: *Has Nina woken up?*

Willson Lawson’s reply came back quickly: *She hasn’t left her room yet. Want me to knock and check? She’s been sleeping for two or three hours.*

Caleb Rhodes thought for a moment, then replied: *Let her sleep a while longer. Have her call me when she wakes up.*

The reply came back instantly: *Yes, Third Lord Master!*

Caleb Rhodes put his phone away, glanced out the window, and said flatly, "I’ll have the driver take you back."

He was speaking to Rosalind Lowell.

Rosalind Lowell was displeased. "Can’t I even come to see you?" she said softly. "Mr. Rhodes just left, and you’re already trying to send me away?"

"Caleb, do you remember that place? When Jonah was still with us, the three of us went there all the time. We even celebrated your eighteenth birthday there."

Rosalind Lowell lowered her head, a strange look flashing in her eyes. "I dreamed about Jonah again last night... I dreamed you both fell into the sea..."

She didn’t continue. When she looked up again, her eyes were already shimmering with tears.

"Caleb, I miss Jonah, and his birthday is almost here. Let’s go to that restaurant, okay?"

At the mention of his late, dear friend, Caleb Rhodes fell unusually silent.

Jonah Fletcher had given his own life to save Caleb’s.

If not for that incident, Jonah Fletcher would still be alive, Caleb wouldn’t have stayed in Aridia for so long, and Nina Wynn wouldn’t have had to endure so much suffering alone.

He stared at the snow outside, his cool, stern face unreadable, but Rosalind Lowell knew he was grieving.

She squeezed his hand and whispered, "Don’t grieve. It wasn’t your fault. It was Jonah’s choice. He wanted you to live well—to live well on his behalf, to live his life for him, too. So, we have to live well."

Her words were extremely calculated.

At the time, she had been Jonah Fletcher’s girlfriend, and Jonah had died saving Caleb Rhodes.

So, in her mind, Caleb Rhodes should take on Jonah Fletcher’s life—and that included inheriting his girlfriend.

Caleb Rhodes, of course, had no idea what Rosalind Lowell was thinking, nor did he have any interest in finding out.

He stared out the window, his expression impassive, his cool, dark eyes unreadable.

After a long moment, he pulled his gaze back inside and said flatly, "Go to the restaurant."

Just then, a call came in from Willson Lawson. "Third Lord Master, I was reviewing the security footage. During the time you were speaking with the Chairman in your office, Miss Wynn left through the side exit and headed in the direction of the hotel."

Caleb Rhodes’s gaze turned glacial in an instant, his voice just as cold. "Call the hotel right now. Confirm whether she’s there or not."

Willson Lawson replied, "Already confirmed. Miss Wynn is at the hotel. She arrived about ten minutes ago."

’Ten minutes ago? Isn’t that right when I was leaving the hotel?’

An almost imperceptible frown creased Caleb Rhodes’s brow as he dialed Nina Wynn’s cell phone.