Cold Indifference Confrontation

The black sedan pulled over to the side, and Lorneauxs rolled down the window, his icy face slightly furrowed. As the window cracked open, a shocking statement wafted from a street-side snack stall:

"I slept with a man last night."

The serious voice of Claire resonated clearly. Lorneauxs caught sight of her defiant words, his gaze freezing on the girl with long, disheveled black hair.

The girl was wearing the black hoodie he had given her. Judging from her tone, it seemed she harbored resentment towards him.

"Pfft—" Emma had just taken a sip of beer, and the cold alcohol went down the wrong pipe. She coughed forcefully for a long time before catching her breath, her cute round face turning red. "Say that again?"

Surely, she must have misheard.

Claire hadn't even had her first boyfriend. It was impossible for her to sleep with some random guy.

Emma sprayed beer onto the grilled meat, spitting and sputtering. Claire looked a bit disgusted, then drank even more beer under her partner's sharp and astonished gaze.

"You didn't hear wrong," she finally replied nonchalantly. "I spent the whole night with a man."

Emma blinked her eyes for a few seconds, quickly recovering from her shock. After some thought, she cautiously asked, "Was it Crispin?"

Lorneauxs' car was parked by the roadside. Although Emma spoke in a low voice, he still heard the name "Crispin" carried by the night breeze through the open window.

In the next moment, Lorneauxs' enigmatic icy gaze darkened fiercely. A lethal aura emanated from him, even sending shivers down the spine of the driver in the back seat.

Following that, the driver witnessed Lorneauxs suddenly getting out of the car.

Upon hearing Crispin's name, Claire's eyebrows twitched, her expression complex. She was about to deny it was him when she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow falling over them, emanating a terrifying force.

Instinctively looking up, Claire's body stiffened. She watched in horror as Lorneauxs approached them, his strides purposeful.

What is he doing here?

Lorneauxs glared angrily and rushed towards them. He wordlessly grabbed Claire's arm, beginning to drag her away.

"Hey—what are you doing? Let go of me!" After being forcibly taken a few steps, Claire finally thought to resist.

What on earth is Lorneauxs doing?

Emma, staring at the sudden appearance of the guy, was dumbfounded, looking at the tall and powerful Lorneauxs. Her mind was almost short-circuited.

So handsome. She recognized him from financial news—Lorneauxs, the CEO of the Hayward Group.

Also the son of her friend's stepfather.

Before Emma could react, Claire was rudely pulled into the car by Lorneauxs.

Sitting there, Claire looked both stunned and puzzled. When Lorneauxs got in the car behind her, Claire dared not resist anymore.

The intimate space in the car was filled with Saint's masculine scent. Claire didn't dare to speak.

When Lorneauxs closed the door, he noticed Claire cautiously moving away, creating some distance between them.

Her actions drew his icy gaze.

She's afraid of me.

Even with her eyes lowered, Claire could feel Lorneauxs' icy and domineering gaze drilling into her. However, she pretended as if nothing happened, keeping her head down as if she hadn't seen anything.

Seeing Claire sitting there so meek and obedient, Lorneauxs' enigmatic eyes flickered with complex emotions. "Take us to the Empire Hotel," he said to the driver in a low voice.

Upon hearing the word "hotel," Claire's body visibly tensed.

Claire panicked, and when Lorneauxs happened to glance in her direction, their eyes met. The icy sharpness of his gaze made her flinch, and she quickly lowered her eyes.

No matter how much she wanted to protest, facing Lorneauxs' cold gaze, Claire swallowed her words.

The car sped away like an arrow. Emma, who had been sitting silently, finally snapped out of it. She jumped up, slamming her hands on the table. Pointing at the disappearing vehicle, she shouted, "Claire, you jerk! You didn't even pay the bill!"

The car was long gone, disappearing into the exhaust fumes. Emma's yelling didn't reach Claire's ears.

Inside the car, the confined space felt intimidating with Lorneauxs' chilling presence. Claire sat stiffly beside him, not daring to move.

What had she done to make him suddenly drag her into the car? Claire had many questions, but she didn't dare to ask any in the face of Lorneauxs' indifferent expression.

In their tense silence, Lorneauxs suddenly pulled out a pack of gum, and Claire had a bad feeling about it.

Sure enough, under her wary gaze, Lorneauxs seized her chin and forcefully stuffed the gum into her mouth.

"You... mmm..." Claire attempted to protest.

But Lorneauxs' grip was too strong. No matter how Claire tried to turn her face away, he ruthlessly shoved the gum into her mouth.

Seeing Claire's cheeks bulging with gum, Lorneauxs coldly commanded, "Stop eating that junk."

Claire really wanted to retort, "What I eat is none of your business!" But with her mouth full, she couldn't speak. Seeing Lorneauxs' stormy gaze, she took a step back, immediately losing the courage to argue.

Unresponsive, Claire, Lorneauxs lowered his voice even further, "Didn't you hear?"

"Mm-hmm," Claire mumbled, shaking her head up and down, desperately trying to appease Lorneauxs and prevent another outburst.

At this moment, her emotions were more complicated than ever before.

Originally, Lorneauxs' dislike for her didn't matter much. After all, she lived in a boarding school, not with her stepfather's family, and their interactions were minimal, maintaining a peaceful coexistence.

But after last night, she realized she couldn't face Lorneauxs anymore.

She hoped to completely avoid him, and he should do the same, so why did he drag her into the car?

"Nodding doesn't answer my question," Lorneauxs said, narrowing his cold eyes. Nodding wasn't a direct confirmation of what he was asking.

Claire risked a quick glance at Lorneauxs and then swiftly averted her gaze. She mumbled a few words with the gum still in her mouth, saying, "I heard."

Was this question really so important?

Regardless of whether barbecue was junk food or not, what Claire ate was her own business, unrelated to Lorneauxs.

"Then what?" Lorneauxs persisted. She might have heard his words, but clearly, she didn't understand his request.

After a few seconds of inner struggle, Claire obediently said, "I won't eat barbecue again in the future."

A good warrior wouldn't cause trouble in front of him. Although she didn't understand why Lorneauxs cared about this matter so much, he couldn't monitor her 24/7. When he didn't know, she could eat whatever she wanted.

Just as the atmosphere slightly eased, her phone suddenly rang. Claire barely had time to see that it was Emma calling when Lorneauxs snatched the phone away.

He rejected Emma's call directly and turned off the phone, casually tossing it onto the car seat.

This series of domineering, authoritarian actions finally angered Claire. "Lorneauxs, what do you want to do?"