25: Chapter 26: Would You Like to Come to My Room?
25: Chapter 26: Would You Like to Come to My Room?
Summer Thorne watched him quietly.
Only an afternoon had passed.
Yet his attitude had already done a complete one-eighty.
And he had found a very good reason.
A reason she had no choice but to accept.
After a long pause, Summer Thorne gave a soft laugh.
“You’re right.
A fever can make you delirious.
I wonder if I said or did anything embarrassing when I had my fever, Mr.
York…
If I did, then I suppose we’re even.”
After she finished, Timothy York’s expression remained unchanged.
Summer Thorne didn’t linger.
She turned and walked quickly toward the elevator.
The elevator doors opened, then closed.
A moment later, they opened again.
Summer Thorne leaned out slightly and looked at him, her voice calm and composed.
“Mr.
York, I don’t have a keycard or fingerprint access.
Could I trouble you to activate the elevator for me?”
Timothy York quickly turned, walked into the elevator, and did as she asked, pressing the button for her.
Summer Thorne looked up and smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
His gaze was calm and distant.
He only said, “It’s late.
Be careful on your way.”
Summer Thorne leaned silently against the elevator wall, still smiling at him until the doors slowly slid shut.
She saw her reflection in the elevator doors and remembered the distant look in his eyes.
‘That day on Mount Cinnar, I wasn’t lying.’
‘He really was the only person in a long time who had shown me any kindness or offered to help.’
‘That’s why I saw him as a source of hope.’
‘Hope that he could help the Sutton Group, and hope that he could help move my divorce from Mason Crawford forward.’
‘When Timothy York suddenly kissed me, I thought I had grasped that sliver of hope.’
‘But the result was like a soap bubble.’
‘It popped the moment I touched it.’
‘It was so absurd I wanted to laugh.’
‘A man’s heart is truly a needle at the bottom of the sea.’
…
When Summer Thorne returned to the Sutton Residence, it was already close to midnight.
To her surprise, both Austin Sutton and Iris Pryce were still awake, waiting for her in the living room.
Summer Thorne had been through a lot that day, and her expression was inevitably tinged with exhaustion, but she still managed a smile when she saw them.
“Why are you two still up?”
Iris Pryce frowned slightly as she looked at her.
“Your father said he had to see you with his own eyes, no matter what.
He couldn’t rest otherwise.”
“But I’m perfectly fine.” Summer Thorne spread her hands, showing herself off.
“I can walk, I can jump, and I’m not hurt.”
“Being in the middle of nowhere on a freezing cold night is a small matter to you?” Austin Sutton’s face was still grim.
“What if—”
Summer Thorne shot Iris Pryce a look, and Iris cut Austin Sutton off at the right moment.
“Alright, nothing happened, did it?
Don’t say such unlucky things.
It’s so late, letting her go up and get some rest is more important than anything.”
Summer Thorne immediately put a hand to the back of her neck and started up the stairs.
“I am sore all over.
I’m going to go take a shower and sleep.
You two should get to bed early, too.”
Austin Sutton watched her figure disappear up the stairs, his tightly furrowed brow not relaxing in the slightest.
Iris Pryce placed a hand on his chest, comforting him in a low voice, “It’ll be alright, don’t worry…”
“This can’t go on,” Austin Sutton said.
“What?”
“Ava is just a girl, all alone and powerless.
How can she possibly handle all of this?” Austin Sutton said.
“We can’t let her bear this anymore.”
“She’s grown up now.
She’s bound to face some hardships.
Do you expect her to live a carefree life forever?”
Austin Sutton didn’t respond.
A moment later, as if he’d made up his mind, he said, “Tomorrow, I plan to go see Mason Crawford.”
The color drained from Iris Pryce’s face.
“Why would you go looking for him?
A man like that…”
“It’s precisely because he’s that kind of man that I don’t want Ava trapped in this marriage any longer,” Austin Sutton said.
“As long as Ava can get out of this marriage, nothing else matters—”
…
Summer Thorne slept soundly until dawn.
When she got up and went downstairs, there was no one home.
Iris Pryce had probably accompanied Austin Sutton to the hospital for a follow-up appointment.
Summer Thorne heated a glass of milk for herself, drank it, then got ready and went to the office as usual.
When Evan Cheney saw her arrive, he quickly found a document and brought it into her office.
Summer Thorne was reading another document and simply took it, placing it beside her.
Evan Cheney couldn’t hold back in the end.
“How was Mr.
Fawley’s party?”
“Haven’t you heard?
I was left in the snow and nearly froze to death,” Summer Thorne said calmly.
Evan Cheney was suddenly startled.
“Who?
That Miss Morgan?”
Summer Thorne raised an eyebrow.
Evan Cheney was confused.
“You knew from the start she probably had bad intentions, so why did you fall for it?”
“Perhaps I wanted to use the situation to achieve some other goal.”
“And did you succeed?”
“No.” Summer Thorne looked up at him, her voice flat.
“For a moment, I thought I was going to succeed, but the final result…
was failure.”
Her answer was vague.
Evan Cheney couldn’t guess what she meant by what happened “in the middle,” but since the final result was clear, the details didn’t seem to matter.
After a long pause, he spoke again.
“Actually, Mr.
Crawford is back now.
With his help, maybe we can get through this crisis.”
He was talking about Brandon Crawford.
“Mr.
Crawford can help us, but how much can he really do?” Summer Thorne said.
“He’s still Mason Crawford’s father.
No matter how much of an asshole or an unfilial son Mason is, they’ll always be father and son.
Parents can never win against their children, especially a son like Mason Crawford.”
Summer Thorne stated this despairing fact with remarkable calm, as if she had seen through it and come to terms with it long ago.
It was only in that moment that Evan Cheney realized this “young miss” he had always somewhat underestimated was actually so clear-headed and perceptive.
“So what are your plans now?” Evan Cheney asked.
“Just keep doing what needs to be done.” Summer Thorne shrugged and smiled.
“It’s just one path blocked.
Hasn’t the Sutton Group had enough paths blocked recently?
It’s no big deal.”
Evan Cheney was at a loss for words.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, his phone suddenly rang.
He answered the call, and after hearing just a few words, his expression changed drastically.
He whipped his head around to look at Summer Thorne.
“Something’s happened to Mr.
Sutton—”
By the time Summer Thorne rushed to the hospital, Austin Sutton had already been taken into surgery.
In the empty, cold corridor, Iris Pryce sat quietly on a chair, her expression almost frozen.
Next to her, Georgia Sutton was pale, her whole body seemingly trembling uncontrollably.
“How’s Dad?” Summer Thorne hurried forward.
Iris Pryce seemed not to have heard her, showing no reaction at all.
Georgia Sutton, however, shot to her feet and gave Summer Thorne a hard shove.
“How dare you ask!
Summer Thorne, this is all your fault!
You’re the one who put Dad in the hospital!”
Summer Thorne stumbled back two steps but still looked toward Iris Pryce.
But Iris remained motionless.
“If it weren’t for you, why would Dad have gone to see Mason Crawford?
If he hadn’t gone to see Mason Crawford, would he have had a heart attack?” Georgia Sutton shouted recklessly.
A shock ran through Summer Thorne’s heart.
‘Austin Sutton went to see Mason Crawford?’