Chapter 303
Ian personally followed them upstairs. The moment Anastasia and Cassian stepped into their room, they heard a loud “SLAM” as the door shut behind them.
From outside came lan’s panicked voice as he rattled the door handle. “Oh dear! The door must have gotten blown shut by the
wind!”
Cassian used his phone’s flashlight to check the windows. Since they rarely stayed here, the room’s windows were only opened during scheduled maintenance–they weren’t open now.
With no windows open, there was zero airflow. How could there suddenly be a mysterious gust of wind to slam the door?
This was obviously all Ian’s doing.
Just then, they heard the butler’s voice from the hallway: “Sir, everything’s set. The power won’t come back on until after
sunrise.”
Ian frantically gestured for the butler to be quiet. “Shush! Keep your voice down–they’ll hear us!”
“Oh right, my bad. I’ll whisper.”
Standing by the door, Anastasia and Cassian had to bite back laughter.
These two old guys were both half–deaf, and even their “whispering” was loud enough for everyone to hear clearly.
“Is it just me, or is it getting crazy hot in here?” Anastasia said, pulling
at
her collar.
Cassian was feeling it too.
“It shouldn’t be this warm tonight, so Grandfather definitely slipped us something,” he said.
Anastasia mumbled agreement, feeling increasingly feverish. Her face was turning bright red like she was running a fever.
“God, it’s so hot…”
As her body temperature spiked, Anastasia became hypersensitive to everything–she could practically feel Cassian’s presence through her skin. Her thoughts were getting fuzzy, making it impossible to think straight.
Cassian took a shaky breath, fighting to control himself. He swept Anastasia into his arms and stumbled toward the bed.
He couldn’t help it–his mind was flooded with X–rated images. Having Anastasia so close was driving his primal instincts wild, making him feel like a starving predator ready to completely devour her…
Anastasia lost all sense of time and space. All she knew was that tonight she felt like she had an insatiable hunger that needed to be satisfied.
When morning light filtered through the curtains, Anastasia slowly came to. She tried to stretch but felt like she’d been hit by a freight train.
:– Tomasnour My Overnight Wedding to a Tycoon
Chapter 3031
Fighting through the soreness, she reached for Cassian, but his side of the bed was empty.
She touched the sheets where he’d been–stone cold. He’d been gone for hours.
“Seriously? He couldn’t wake me up before sneaking out?” she grumbled.
That’s when she noticed a sticky note on the nightstand in Cassian’s messy handwriting: “Emergency client flew in last minute–had to handle it. Don’t be embarrassed about last night. Make yourself at home, or go hang with Grandma if you’re more comfortable. I’ll deal with the aftermath.”
His thoughtfulness made her heart flutter.
Even with urgent business, he was still looking out for her.
When Anastasia made it downstairs, Ian had conveniently disappeared for his “morning constitutional,” leaving the house empty–almost like it was all perfectly orchestrated.
She quickly said goodbye to the staff and basically fled.
Everything here still felt foreign without Cassian around, and she wasn’t about to stick around for the awkward morning–after
small talk.
Only after Anastasia’s car disappeared did Ian emerge from hiding.
“Brilliant strategy, sir,” the butler said admiringly. “You knew once the young master left, she’d feel too awkward to stay, so you made yourself scarce too.”
“Exactly. She’s a wonderful girl, just shy. Once she gets used to the family, she’ll relax,” Ian said with satisfaction.
As Anastasia was pulling out of the driveway, she nearly plowed into someone.
Heart racing, she jumped out of her car. “Oh my God, are you hurt?”
The young guy was also shaken, holding his chest. “I’m okay.”
Anastasia stayed by her car door. “Are you sure? Should I call an ambulance or something?”
She held up her phone, apparently ready to document everything.
The guy raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “Lady, you think I’m running some kind of insurance scam hère?”
Anastasia’s face went red. “Sorry! I’ve been watching way too many dashcam videos of people staging accidents. Can’t be too careful these days.”
The guy chuckled. “Fair enough. But I swear I’m not trying to con you.”
He paused, then asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know where 1002 is, would you?”
Anastasia had visited this neighborhood enough times to know her way around.
After giving him directions, the guy thanked her and walked away.
11:57
Dumped Today, Married Tomorrow: My Overnight Wedding to a Tycoon
Chapter 303
Instead of leaving immediately, Anastasia pulled out her phone and called 911, giving them a detailed report of the near–miss
incident.
The guy had realized he’d dropped something and came back to look for it, only to overhear Anastasia on the phone with the
cops.
He shook his head with a wry smile. “Fantastic. Back in the States for all of five minutes and I’m already being reported to the
police.”
He spotted his pen lying on the pavement near where Anastasia’s car had been.
After a moment’s hesitation, he walked over to retrieve it.
His sudden reappearance made Anastasia jump.
“Whoa! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I just dropped my pen back there,” he explained, pointing at the ground.
Realizing she’d completely misjudged the situation, Anastasia quickly bent down and picked up the pen for him.
“God, I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry,” the guy said.
As he took the pen from her, he added, “Thanks for this.”
“No worries.”
Having exhausted all the polite small talk, they stood there in increasingly awkward silence.
“Listen, if you’re hurt at all, just say something…” Anastasia began.
Just then, a black Cullinan SUV pulled up, and the driver/rolled down his window. “Alaric! There you are!”
Alaric’s face lit up at seeing his friend, and he waved enthusiastically.
Figuring she was no longer needed, Anastasia got back in her car and drove off.
When he heard her engine start, Alaric turned just in time to see her disappearing around the corner, his expressi slightly.
lling
Diego studied his friend’s face. “Dude, what’s wrong with you? You look like someone just ran over your puppy. Did that chick put some kind of spell on you?”
Alaric gave him a rueful smile. “I wish she had. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m a complete weirdo.”
“How’d you end up wandering around here anyway? This is Rhodes territory–richest family in New York,” Diego said.
“I haven’t been back to this neighborhood in forever, so I got turned around. Nearly got flattened by one of the Rhodes family members just now,” Alaric explained.
“That woman who just left?” Diego had only caught a glimpse of Anastasia’s silhouette and figured it was a woman, but hadn’t gotten a good look at her face.
