Annie had been offended by what Aaron said to her in the bathroom earlier that day. She did not want to talk to him
anymore and even considered skipping work the next day.
Perhaps he genuinely did view her with contempt. There seemed to be no other explanation for why he would say
such humiliating things to her!
“You’re not planning on going home? Where are you going, then?” Aaron asked. He was leaning against the car
window with his head jutting out slightly.
“I don’t have to report everything to you now that I’ve clocked off work,” retorted Annie without looking at him.
Aaron frowned slightly. “You came with the two of us today, so it’s considered official company business. We’ll have
to bear the responsibility if anything happens to you on the way home. Please get in the car, and stop being so
unreasonable.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAnnie insisted, “Don’t worry. Even if something happens to me, I’m not going to blame you and Miss Xante. You
should go home and get some rest! Bye!” She then turned into an alley that cars could not drive into.
She was incredibly annoyed at that moment and did not want to hear Aaron’s disruptive voice.
It was wintertime, during which the sun set much earlier. When Aaron saw Annie turning into the dark alley alone,
he narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment before asking the driver to stop the car.
Xante glanced at him and could immediately tell what Aaron was thinking. She adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses
and said, “Men are such jerks.”
Aaron shrugged. “I have no shame in admitting that.”
He got out of the car and chased Annie into the alley. Xante did not want to wait for him any longer, so she raised
her chin and signaled for the driver to leave.
The alley that Annie ran into was dark, but Aaron caught up to her in no time. In response, Annie quickened her
pace and ran out of the alley. She arrived at a lively area with many people.
Aaron rushed out after her. He was about to go up to her when he saw Annie coming up to a man.
Annie panted and said to the man, “I’m sorry, Marcus. Did I keep you waiting long?”
Marcus’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He shook his head and said, “I’m happy you’re here! I thought you wouldn’t
show up!”
Annie calmed herself and said, “I won’t stand you up after promising to watch a movie with you. I’m sorry I’m a
little late, though. I lost track of time when I was at my uncle’s place!”
Marcus had sent her another text message earlier in the afternoon. He asked if she had thought about his offer and
if she wanted to watch a movie with him. Since she was in a bad mood at the time, she thought that it would be
good to keep her mind occupied with something else. She agreed to Marcus’s invitation and sent him the location of
their meeting point.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Although she was not interested in horror movies, she might be able to forget those unhappy moments if the movie
gave her a bit of a scare.
Marcus smiled happily. “Let’s go, then!”
Annie nodded. “Okay!”
As the two of them walked in the crowd toward the nearby subway station, neither of them noticed that Aaron was
staring at the two of them away from the crowd. He had a somewhat contrived look on his face.
‘Tch. She seemed to move on pretty quickly. It seemed she already agreed to watch a movie with her colleagues.’
Men who invited women to watch horror movies would almost certainly have ulterior motives, that much Aaron was
certain. ‘What does this have to do with me, though?’
Aaron smirked nonchalantly and turned around to take a taxi home. However, he clenched his fists tightly after
barely taking a few steps and headed for the subway. No matter how he tried to wrap his head around it, he could
not bear to imagine Annie hugging her colleague at the movie theater during the jumpscares in the movie.
Back at the Holdens, Corinne had gone upstairs after dinner. Joey was playing with some toys on the bed under the
watchful eyes of maids. With her in the room, she allowed the maids to excuse themselves.
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