Chapter 400 - 380: Nervous to See Me? 2

"Huh?"

The sound had barely left Nancy Hughes’s throat when Liam Sheffield abruptly hung up. A short BEEP BEEP BEEP came from the speaker.

She flopped onto the table. ’Worse comes to worst, I’ll just turn Liam Sheffield down then.’

Work was busy, and her part-time job hours were tight. This past week, she had been practically running herself ragged.

On top of that, the weather had been unpredictable lately. On Friday, she left the art studio too late and missed the last bus.

She had the bad luck of having to walk for half an hour to a more distant bus stop, and just then, a sudden downpour started, soaking her to the bone.

She went home, took a hot shower, and went to sleep, but she woke up the next morning with a fever.

She was usually in good health, and since the fever wasn’t high, she didn’t go to the hospital. Instead, she spent the whole day in bed, feeling weak and listless.

She drifted in and out of sleep for the entire day. The curtains stayed tightly drawn, making it impossible to tell what time of day it was outside.

She would wake up, then fall back asleep, only to wake up again.

This continued until she was jolted awake by a call from Liam Sheffield. "Senior, are you on your way?"

Liam Sheffield was worried, so he had called specifically to check on her.

Nancy Hughes’s throat felt scratchy, and the moment she tried to speak, she broke into a coughing fit. "Sorry, I really can’t make it today. I have a cold!"

It wasn’t an exaggeration; she hadn’t eaten all day and didn’t even have the strength to talk.

"Oh, is that so? Well, you should get some rest, Senior!" Liam Sheffield replied, his disappointment clear.

Nancy Hughes hummed in agreement, hung up, and closed her eyes, a heavy drowsiness washing over her.

Meanwhile, Liam Sheffield finished the call, turned around, and went back into the private room.

"Sigh, I was hoping to introduce her to you guys. It’s a shame she’s sick and can’t come," Liam Sheffield said, sounding quite regretful.

Liam Sheffield was at a dinner gathering with his friends. They looked at him with mischievous grins. "So that’s why you never react to any of the girls chasing you at school. Turns out you already have someone you like!"

"Liam, I’ve been your classmate for two years, and I never realized you were such a quiet romantic!"

"Get lost, get lost! Do you even know how to talk?" Liam Sheffield waved his hand at them impatiently. ’So tactless. Can’t they see I’m heartbroken here?’

"Aw, come on! Hurry up and tell us which girl captured your heart. Let us see what she’s like!"

Liam Sheffield was considered quite good-looking at school, and plenty of girls pursued him.

But unfortunately, Liam Sheffield hadn’t been interested in a single one of them. They all thought his standards were incredibly high.

"It’s no one special, just a senior."

"A senior?"

The others’ mouths fell open in astonishment, wide enough to swallow an egg.

They really couldn’t figure out Liam Sheffield’s taste.

With Nancy Hughes not coming, the gathering suddenly felt meaningless.

"Hey, uh, I’m gonna skip the party tonight. You guys have fun!"

"Don’t do that! It won’t be as fun without you!"

Liam Sheffield shot them a glare. "Go, go, go, get out of here. Stop bothering me!"

"Alright, looks like he’s lovesick and down in the dumps."

Liam Sheffield ditched the party and sat in his dorm room, unable to even muster any interest in games.

He had just sat down when a phone call from his parents summoned him home.

Mr. Sheffield chewed him out over the phone about the trouble he’d caused by getting into a fight in Homeward recently.

Liam Sheffield went home with a long face, but when he saw Dylan Heston’s car at the entrance, his expression suddenly brightened.

’As long as Dylan is here, I’ll be fine.’

He went inside and, not spotting Mr. Sheffield, felt a sense of relief.

He was looking down, changing his shoes, when he suddenly felt a sharp rap on his head.

Liam Sheffield let out a wail. "Mom, why’d you hit me!"

"Why do you think I hit you? You were causing trouble in Homeward again, you little bastard!" Mrs. Sheffield smacked his head hard again.

Liam Sheffield yelped in pain and quickly ran off.

Mr. Sheffield and Dylan Heston came out of the study. Seeing his son was back only made Mr. Sheffield angrier. "Stop right there!"

"Dad!" Liam Sheffield’s body stiffened, and he quickly stood stock-still, on his best behavior.

He feared neither heaven nor earth, only Mr. Sheffield, who had been especially fierce with him since he was a child.

Mr. Sheffield’s gaze swept over Liam Sheffield’s face, making him even angrier. "If your grandfather hadn’t called us, were you planning on never telling us, you brat!"

"Dad, I wasn’t!"

"Don’t call me Dad!" The Sheffield Family only had one son, Liam. When he was little, Mr. Sheffield thought it was fine for a boy to be mischievous, but now, the more he looked at Liam, the bigger his headache grew.

If only Liam had a fraction of Dylan Heston’s composure, he wouldn’t have to worry so much.

"You think you’re so tough now? You have the guts to pick a fight but not the ability to clean up your own mess? You have to let others deal with it for you! You’re going to be the death of me!" Mr. Sheffield fumed at the thought.

"Dad, he started it!"

"Still talking back? Get in the study and stand in the corner! Don’t you dare come out for three hours!"

"What? I’m too old for this, Dad! You’re still making me stand in the corner?" Liam Sheffield was indignant, but one look from Mr. Sheffield was enough to make him obediently retreat to the study.

That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Sheffield had Dylan Heston stay for dinner.

Dylan Heston didn’t have any other plans. While he was eating, the phone in his pocket started vibrating.

It was Liam Sheffield, texting him from the study, asking for help.

"Give me a reason."

Liam Sheffield was so angry he could have jumped. "Do I need a reason? I’m your only cousin! How can you be so heartless?"

"Easily."

Not giving up, Liam Sheffield typed another message. "Fine. My senior is sick, and I need to go see her!"

"Who?"

"The one we met at the hospital in Homeward! Don’t you remember?"

In the study, Liam Sheffield was about to explode with anxiety, but there was no reply from Dylan Heston outside.

Just as he was pulling out his phone for at least the tenth time to check for a message from Dylan, a furious roar erupted from the doorway. "You brat, get out here!"

Liam Sheffield was so startled his hand trembled, and his phone fell to the floor.

He trailed out behind Mr. Sheffield like a scolded puppy. "So you know how to ask Dylan for help now? I’d thank my lucky stars if you were half as well-behaved as he is!"

Liam Sheffield shot Dylan a reproachful look. Dylan said, his face expressionless, "He saw it by accident."

Fine. Liam Sheffield wanted to cry but had no tears left.

"I just remembered I have something to do, so I’ll be leaving now."

Dylan Heston gave Liam a "you’re on your own" look.

Liam was speechless.

’I could just kick myself. I never should have come home today.’

Meanwhile, after hanging up, Nancy Hughes went back to sleep for another two hours.

Then, she was woken up by a CLANGING sound from outside her room.

It was immediately followed by a piercing meow. Nancy Hughes struggled out of bed.

She hadn’t eaten all day, and she’d completely forgotten to feed Blue his cat food.

After sleeping all day, she checked her temperature with a thermometer. It seemed the fever had broken.

She fed Blue first, then opened the fridge, only to find nothing but milk left—and it was expired.

She threw it in the trash and rummaged through the cabinets, but the instant noodles were all gone too.

’So hungry.’ She rubbed her stomach, then looked down at the fat cat at her feet, who was eating with unusual gusto. She crouched down and picked him up. "Eat a little less. Look how fat you are already!"

Blue had also been hungry all day. He pawed at the ground, stretching his neck to eat.

She made a trip to the nearby supermarket and bought a lot of things all at once.

’Another expense.’ Nancy Hughes mentally calculated the cost, her heart aching a little, and wondered when she would get her pay from the art studio.

’I’m so broke. Looks like I’ll be eating dirt again this month.’

Carrying a large bag of groceries, she returned to her apartment building and suddenly saw a black car parked at the entrance.

Standing in front of the car was a familiar-looking man.

She thought her eyes might be playing tricks on her. She took two steps forward, and the handsome face came into sharper focus.

"Where did you go?"

"Huh?" Nancy Hughes was completely bewildered. ’Is he talking to me?’

"I called you, but you didn’t pick up. I’ve been waiting for ten minutes." ’I’d thought she was dead to the world,’ he mused.

"Oh." She held up her bag. "I just went to the supermarket."

"Your voice is hoarse. You have a cold?" Dylan Heston naturally took the heavy bags from Nancy Hughes’s hands and started walking into the building.

’This situation feels a bit off.’ Nancy Hughes hurried to keep up with him. "Um, you don’t have to. I can carry them myself!"

"You’re sick. It’s better for a man to handle this." Dylan Heston blocked her with one arm, keeping her from getting near his left hand.

He pressed the elevator button. As the elevator slowly descended, Nancy Hughes stood beside Dylan Heston, her gaze repeatedly drifting to his shoulder.

After a moment’s thought, she said, "Thank you."

Since Dylan Heston had personally carried her things all the way to her apartment door, she couldn’t very well not invite him in for a glass of water.

"Um, I only have plain water at home. Do you mind?" Nancy Hughes poked her head out from the kitchen.

Dylan Heston placed the bags on the dining table and carefully surveyed the modest-sized apartment.

The place was relatively tidy, and there were no signs of a man living there, which he found very satisfying.

He hummed in acknowledgment, and Nancy Hughes hurried out with a glass of water.

"Please, have a seat."

Dylan Heston had just sat down when the cat sleeping nearby suddenly cried out, its fur standing on end as it faced him. "Is that your cat?"

"No, he belongs to my roommate." Nancy Hughes gave an awkward smile, rushed over to scoop Blue up, and chided him in a low voice, "No meowing, or you won’t get any more food!"

She carried Blue out to the balcony, placed him in his special little bed, and turned back to Dylan. "Sorry, this cat is a little shy around strangers."

"You live with your roommate?"

"Not at the moment. She went to Akashima for training. It’ll be another month or two before she’s back."

A silence fell over the room. Nancy Hughes didn’t know what to say to Dylan Heston and just smiled awkwardly.

Nancy Hughes wracked her brain for a topic of conversation, but her stomach started to growl.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah." Nancy Hughes’s face flushed, and she nodded in embarrassment.

She grabbed at her hair. ’This is so mortifying.’

To be honest, her cooking skills were truly terrible; even she couldn’t stomach her own food.

So she had no intention of torturing her own stomach.

She had planned to wait until after Dylan Heston left to eat.

But the man in front of her was simply unbelievable. Acting as if he were in his own home, he walked over to the dining table and started unpacking the things she’d bought.

Seeing that the shopping bags were filled with mostly instant noodles, he pulled out a package. "You were planning to eat this?"

She nodded honestly. She had, in fact, gone out specifically to buy instant noodles.