Chapter 9

Upon hearing John’s words, Tina gasped, unable to believe what she just heard. “You…”

“Let’s go!” John took Kathleen’s hand in his, turned around and walked out of the office.

Just then, Michael Groff, the president of Hillford University, tottered toward the office and was shocked when he spotted John. “Mr. Lambert, what brings you here? You should’ve told me in advance so that I could properly prepare to receive you!”

John let out a sneer. “Ask her why I’m here!”

Upon saying that, he disregarded everybody else and left the university together with Kathleen.

There was a silence lingering in the air. Michael looked at Tina and asked, “Ms. Jennings, what is going on?”

Tina quickly told him the whole story, causing the latter’s face to turn pale with fright.

He pointed his finger at Tina and said with a quivering voice, “How foolish of you! Kathleen is associated with John Lambert. You’d just beard the lion in his den… This is bad! Go clean the toilets right now, or we’ll all be doomed!”

“Why?”

“How dare you ask why?” The president’s face had flushed red with fury and scrunched up like an enraged tiger. “He’s the largest shareholder of the university and gave us all seven laboratories here! Offending him won’t do you any good!”

Mad Tina was dumbfounded. She stared blankly at the president as if a thunderbolt had struck her out of a clear sky. At the same time, she felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water over her. Her entire body had gone completely numb.

It was already evening when Kathleen and John reached home.

The afterglow of the setting sun made a beautiful red glow in the sky, and a cool, comfortable evening breeze wafted through the air.

After walking into the living room, John threw Kathleen’s bag on the sofa and glared coldly at her. “Tell me, what’s gotten into you? Why did you sleep during class?”

Kathleen just stared at him and remained silent.

John’s attractive face was covered in a layer of frost. “You have one minute to justify yourself, or you’ll have to face the consequences!”

Kathleen took a deep breath and muttered, “Because I didn’t sleep well last night!”

John paused for a moment as he recalled what had happened last night. Then, he raised his eyebrows and asked, “You didn’t sleep well because I was sleeping on your bed?”

Kathleen did not say anything, but the answer was clear as day.

John cast a glance at her and said coldly, “Go to bed early after dinner.”

Although his tone was terse, there was no more anger in his voice.

Kathleen stared thoughtfully at John as she recalled what he said earlier in the morning.

“So what if I slept in your room? You might as well sleep in the same room with me after this! It’ll be more convenient for you to take care of my leg!”

‘Was he telling me to sleep in the same room with him in the future?’

Kathleen bit her lips and nodded her head. “Okay!”

After having dinner, Kathleen took a bath and went to John’s room.

She looked up and saw that John was cleaning his prosthetic leg, so she quickly walked over to him.

John was a germaphobe. His prosthetic leg had to go through a cleaning-disinfection process after each usage.

Kathleen was familiar with this job, so she picked up a wet wipe and began wiping the prosthetic leg.

John bent over as he observed her. From this angle, he could clearly see her delicate features and exquisite jaw.

Perhaps because she had just taken a bath, her cheeks were glowing red, making her look even fairer.

John remained silent as he watched her.

After disinfecting the prosthetic leg, Kathleen unconsciously looked toward John’s residual limb.

It had been very long since the amputation. Although the wound had healed, a ghastly, frightful-looking scar remained.

Since John wore his prosthetic leg every day, the residual limb would become red and swollen due to the constant friction with the prosthetic leg.

Without realizing it, Kathleen put her hand on the residual limb. The feel of her smooth hand made John shudder.

“Go sleep in your own room tonight. If you fall asleep in class again, I’ll pull you out of university!”

Kathleen looked up at him and answered in a low voice, “Okay.”

After going back to her room, she noticed that rain had started pattering down outside the window.

She closed the window and lay on her bed.

She fell asleep almost immediately as she had not gotten enough rest the night before. On top of that, it had been a long day at school.

Thunder rumbled in the distance sometime in the middle of the night. The torrential rain poured down.

A fierce wind whipped torrential rain like whips against the windows, making a loud pattering sound.

Kathleen jolted out of her sleep, covered her ears, and huddled into a ball beneath her blanket.

Kathleen was most scared of the stormy night.

The thick darkness of the night was like countless invisible hands, pulling out the most horrific event of her past.

She could still remember that thunder was rumbling through the night ten years ago, coupling with the torrential rain pouring down from the sky.

Kathleen had been waiting for almost a month at home for her dad to come home, but he never returned.

She could not cook, so she only ate one bun every day.

The bun was given by the neighbor’s son, Kurt.

The neighbors told her that her dad had killed someone and would never return, but she still believed that her dad would come back.

Kathleen’s dad did come home one rainy night, but two people carried him into the house.