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Chapter 412 Pretense
The lights in the room were dim, but the atmosphere within was certainly heating up.
Leah took one look at Shawn's hungry expression of desire and retreated from him in a panic. "That
won't do! Please leave!"
Her rejection of his advances and evident disgust effectively dampened Shawn's ardor, and his earlier
pleasure vanished entirely. He immediately strode right up to her and grabbed hold of her chin, twisting
her face so she was forced to look at him. "Sarah, we're all adults now. Anyway, it's been over two
years; you should be used to me by now!"
This cutting remark immediately stirred up all of Leah's painful memories, especially the unsavory,
unpleasant ones she wanted so badly to forget. Those would be the incidents that had led to her
breaking off her relationship with Han.
All color left her face, and she sat bonelessly down on the floor. Tears glistened in her eyes, and a
wave of despair overwhelmed her, causing her deep anguish. If this continued, the darkness would
swallow her up again.
No, she had to keep a clear head!
"Shawn Ford, you're always forcing me to do things I don't want to do. That's why I can't love you."
Abruptly, she looked up and locked eyes with Shawn.
Her blunt, honest response stopped Shawn in his tracks as he was stripping off her clothes. He stared
down coldly at her. "So tell me, how is Han Howard a better man than me? Why do you love him so
much, then?" One single sentence from her had totally destroyed his mood and his enthusiasm.
Leah surreptitiously pinched her thigh hard; the sharp pain helped her to remain clear-headed and
calm. After a moment, she replied, "It's not that I like him. It's just that I had to stay with him due to
some unavoidable circumstances." The truth would only further enrage the man looming over her.
Shawn's mood improved slightly at this, but his face still betrayed his displeasure. "Alright, Sarah, I
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtwon't force you to do anything you don't want. But I hope you won't make me wait too long. My
patience has its limits, after all." He bent down, scooped Leah up from the floor, and carried her to bed,
where he climbed in beside her.
The sensation of his cool skin against her gave Leah chills, and she tried to push him away. "You said
you weren't going to force me…"
Shawn caught hold of her hands, amused. A frosty gleam glittered in his eyes as he answered, "We're
just going to sleep, that's all. If you want a little more excitement, though, that's possible too."
Leah immediately fell silent. She turned her back to him, her entire body tense as a bowstring. She
really wanted to escape, but she did not want to anger him either.
She did not dare fall asleep the entire night now that Shawn was next to her, unlike when she had been
with Han.
…
Anna listened to her assistant's report and gave a scornful laugh. "I honestly didn't think Shawn Ford
would be able to succeed so well in separating that b*tch from Ethan! He ought to be extremely happy
now that he's managed to obtain the woman of his dreams, right?"
The assistant nodded. "Yes, according to my sources, he's very pleased. The only thing is, Ms.
Lancaster, the employee we managed to buy off at Dream Designs is probably going to have her
employment terminated soon. Hendrik found out about her."
A venomous look glinted in Anna's eyes. "They keep flocking around that woman as if she's the sun! If
she suffers even a little bit of humiliation, they'll exact constant retribution!" She gnashed her teeth,
then asked sharply, "We won't get dragged into this, will we?"
"As long as they don't have any concrete proof or more substantial evidence, we'll be fine if we deny
everything."
Anna's manner mellowed significantly at that. "Alright. Even though we managed to poison that b*tch
the other day at the auction, and she won't live that much longer, we still need to be vigilant. She must
not be allowed to ruin what I have with Ethan right now!"
"Yes, Ms. Lancaster."
The next day, Leah waited till Shawn had left before she hurried to search the other rooms, but she
was not able to discover anything else. When he returned in the evening, he showed that he was
aware of what she had been up to, of course.
"Sarah, what were you hunting for in the store room today?"
Leah was prepared this time, however. "You won't get me a new phone, and I was bored, so I went
poking around the place."
Her casual tone gave Shawn a start, and he stared at her. Under the glinting light of the chandelier, her
expression appeared tranquil and gentle. His heart skipped a beat.
A pleasant wave of well-being enveloped him, and his attitude mellowed as well. He reached out and
tugged Leah into his arms, then handed her his phone. "If you want to play any games or purchase
anything, you can use this. The password on all my accounts is your date of birth."
Leah felt like screaming and shoving him away, but she forced herself to control her feelings. Taking
the phone, she looked at it and nodded. "Oh, I see. Alright."
The phone might well be fitted with a monitoring device, but regardless, she now had a means of
contacting any outside party and could use it in an emergency.
Shawn had not expected her to actually accept his phone; a tingling sensation filled him from head to
toe. He could not help wanting more of the soft-voiced, alluring woman in his arms. Tightly, he enfolded
her hand in his and murmured in her ear, "Sarah, I want you."
Leah's face paled. She very nearly pushed him away so she could run out of the room. However, if she
did that, her plans would be ruined. "No, Shawn," she replied, firmly rejecting his proposition outright.
Before his mood could change, she continued, "I know my daughter is older now, but I'm a bit more
conservative. We're not clear about what our relationship is at the moment, so I don't want to give
myself to you yet."
This cleverly defused Shawn's initial angry reaction. Frowning, he said slowly, "I can marry you, and we
could get acquainted after that. I'll give you whatever you want."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
However, Leah pretended to be annoyed. "You always say that, but you should know that what I hate
most is people lying to me. You've got so much still that you're keeping from me; I don't feel secure at
all around you."
Shawn was taken aback; he looked rather conflicted but continued to hold her. "What do you want to
know?"
Leah's tension relaxed slightly when he said this. "Nothing in particular. If you really want to tell me,
you'll tell me without me asking." She gave a little sigh and pulled away from his embrace.
Shawn was normally very shrewd, but Leah's words overset all his common sense, and he did not
realize that she had very carefully laid a trap for him. He pursed his lips slightly. "I'll slowly let you in on
my secrets after we get married."
The two of them went to sleep in the same bed; as usual, nothing happened between them.
Once the lights were out, the conflicting emotions in Leah's eyes were even harder to conceal. Was he
truly going to wait until after they were married before he told her everything…?
The next day, Shawn had breakfast with Leah, then left the house. However, he did not go to work as
usual but instructed his assistant to choose a good venue for a marriage proposal and make some
preliminary wedding preparations.
An irate Jackson managed to locate him at a bridal shop. "What are you doing? I know marrying this
woman is what's going to make us rich, but you don't need to go to such lengths for it! You're nothing
like what you were before; at the moment your lovey-dovey brain has turned to mush!" He stared in
burning resentment at Shawn, who was acting like a lovesick puppy, and felt a sense of utter loathing
and disappointment.
If this idiot were not so constantly irresolute about that woman, their plans would not have failed time
and time again!
Shawn shot Jackson a cold glance of dislike, then turned back to admire the wedding veil he was
fingering. "Yes, I know. As long as our scheme goes ahead as planned, that's the important thing,
right?"
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