章 29: His Ploy

On the surface, Alvin looked so calm that Ean, who grew up with him and the butler who looked after him, didn't dare make a tiny noise.

Both men looked at each other and shook their heads mentioning they had no idea why Alvin was livid. Ean guessed it might be because the lady left when Alvin went out of his way to take care of her. He wanted to voice as bring her back but he stayed quiet.

The housekeeper, Sophie who was busy arranging 'Anya's room' with other maids, came in search of Alvin. She smiled at Ean who brightly smiled. He hoped she could break the intense silence and cool the bone-chillingly calm Alvin.

Sophie had no idea so she broke the silence, "Mr. Matthews, the room is prepared as per your instructions. Would you like to take a look?"

Ean's eyes widened turning to Alvin. He had forgotten. He dropped by at the mansion to deliver ladies' clothes. But it went out of his mind after seeing the young lady attack his friend. He was shocked again to know Alvin personally taking care of the lady's stay leaving all his work behind.

He couldn't hold back anymore. He questioned seriously, breaking another round of silence, "Alvin, who is she?"

Their questions just seemed to worsen his mood. He still held the same composure but his grip on the fork was enormous as if he was trying to crook it.

Sophie looked at her husband, the butler, Oliver without knowing what was going on. She fell silent. Ean was used to Alvin's silence and indifference but this time he was worried without knowing why the lady was affecting Alvin so much.

Alvin gritted his teeth and left the fork on the salad plate. He stood up and strode away briskly.

Ean breathed out loudly while Oliver kept his noise down. Sophie asked first, "Why is the Master's mood terrible?" Before they could respond, her eyes fell on another set of meals that were prepared for the lady. "Did the young lady wake up?" The doctor had told her it might take an hour or two.

Ean questioned in a dilemma, "Don't you guys know who she is?"

They had a lot of questions but no one to respond to.

----

Outside, Alvin grabbed his trench coat while exiting the mansion. He had thought he was stubborn but the woman he wanted was headstrong. He wanted to call her pigheaded for leaving in sleepwear. She would die in the cold before she leaves the estate.

He didn't take the car. Stretching his long legs, he marched at a fast pace to find the feisty, dumb woman. He had walked just a hundred meters when he caught a white frame sitting on the rock at the corner of the road. She had buried her face between her knees and her hands hugged herself.

The wind blew, rustling the branches. The colorful autumn leaves showered on her delicate frame giving a stunning view. He noticed her arms tighten and quiver with the blow of wind.

He spread the hem of the trenchcoat which he was holding in hand. Kneeling in front of her, he tried to cover her body with his coat. As her legs were folded he couldn't do it so he held the edges of the coat and hissed, "Dumb-headed." He sounded annoyed. Annoyed to see her suffering in the freezing air.

Anya knew who was there but her dizziness was in worse condition, she couldn't even keep her eyes open. She had repeatedly tried to halt and move but almost fainted twice so she had to sit down.

Alvin could hear her breathing through her mouth, deep and long. She was repeating her breathing pattern so he wildly guessed in his mind, 'Dizzy!? Why won't you be dizzy? You ate nothing for more than twenty-four hours. You even dared to attack me with your puny strength.' He berated her in his mind.

Anya lifted her head when she managed to open her eyes, "I need to go." She didn't want him to take advantage of her weak state and bring her with him. She has to reach her chief and report the situation. She needs to find out how Bernard got to know the hard disk was stolen. She had suspicions about Bernard Collins and Kyle Reynolds's actions. She won't be able to live peacefully with her son if she was labeled as a criminal.

Alvin watched her eyes barely holding up. Her face was flushed red in the cold. He clenched his teeth when he heard her ailing voice mentioning she wanted to go. A part of him wanted to drag her inside, but he lied, "Later." His voice came relaxed and distant.

He saw her purse her lips and tried to challenge him again, daring to go against him. But to his eyes, she was just a kitten that wandered off and quivering in the cold.

He was aware he could force her back to the mansion and she had no strength to fight back. However, that didn't quite sit well with him. He gave a reason, saying through his teeth, "You are weak."

His face slightly softened seeing her struggle to even utter a word, "I-I haven't e-eaten." She hadn't eaten anything from the previous day's lunch and so much drama from evening hence she was weak.

His hand unawarely reached for her hair that was fluttering in the wind and she flinched. He curled his fingers and turned into a snowy peak of the mountain, "You are trembling." He sounded like chiding her.

She countered in the same tone, "You have so many trees." His lawn was bigger than the city's park. The further she tried to look for the gates, she couldn't see those at all.

Alvin felt like he was the one to blame for her state. He pulled her up, holding her arms. Feeling her body weak, he was quick to scoop her into his arms.

Alvin: "..."

He was shocked by his smooth actions. He came out of the daze when he heard her demand, "Put me down."

He ignored and walked towards the mansion that majestically stood at little distance. "You will faint." He reminded her when she was glaring at his side profile.

Anya bit her lips. She couldn't understand why Alvin was putting up with her and taking care of her. She wanted him to throw her away but he was doing the exact opposite. She craved to get out of his life and stop him from entering into hers, but nothing was happening as she wished for.

Afraid she might faint, she chose to speak to keep herself awake, "Have you poisoned the food?"

Alvin halted. He couldn't recall which action of his gave her the idea of harming her. He found none. He shifted his gaze and glared into her softly blinking eyes. She looked damn serious.

'What caused her this misunderstanding?' She was becoming a mystery, hard to solve. Yet he felt like the solution wouldn't be as difficult as he was finding it to be.

He adjusted her in his arm that caused her face to come closer to his and she struggled to get off his arms. "Why would I save you to harm you?" He resumed his steps towards the mansion

Anya stopped struggling and looked at his calm face that had a hint of annoyance. She couldn't point out if he was testing her to hear about Zane. She didn't want to voluntarily bring up her son so she picked the recent act of his, "Y-you lied to me." She noticed his cognac eyes shrink at her words.

She continued making note of his changes, "You don't live in 309… It was your ploy." She would have believed in coincidence if he hadn't come into her life again. She would have believed in the coincidence if he had met her at her home to scold her. She wasn't a fool to believe in coincidence while being at his real place.

She didn't bring these up before because she was afraid to hear he wanted her son. She was in a hopeless situation of being labeled as a criminal and Alvin could make use of it to take her son's custody. She was selfish for her son. She was desperate to run away from Alvin.

The silence enveloped after her question. Alvin realized she had every reason to run away from him. She tried to be smart by playing dumb, finding an escape from him. He schemed and stole the hard disk, she probably viewed him as more dangerous than the kidnappers, although he saved her.

Well, Anya was only able to think of her son around Alvin and ignored the possibility of Alvin stealing the hard disk as Matthews and Johnsons were more like enemies in the business.

He turned to her as his steps slowed down. He could sense her worry while she put on a stubborn expression on her flushed face. He was determined to get her out of the political, business, and wealthy people's mess which wasn't related to her life.

He deadpanned, "Listen carefully."

Anya cautiously looked at him. Her heart raced in fear looking into his cognac eyes gazing deep into hers. She felt her heart shudder at the thought of listening to him say something about her son. She held her breath, hoping his words would be different.

He swore without a hesitation, "I would destroy the entire city if doing so meant keeping you safe."

Anya: "..."