Chapter 422: Were You Just Using the Handsome Man Ploy? (2)

Chapter 422: Chapter 395: Were You Just Using the Handsome Man Ploy? (2)

She even felt like every word Dylan Heston said to her was a sweet whisper.

Nancy Hughes had to go back to work; she couldn’t stay by Zoey Zane’s bedside all day.

Before she left, she said to Lana Caldwell, “No matter what, my mom is practically a second mother to you. She’s looked after you for over ten years. For the sake of those years, please take good care of her while I’m gone.”

Lana Caldwell turned her head away and snorted. “Didn’t you already hire a private nurse? What do you need me for?”

Lana Caldwell detested Nancy Hughes and loved to bicker with her, leaving Nancy speechless.

But then Dylan Heston walked over. “Miss Caldwell, we’ll be counting on you to look after Nancy’s mother.”

Dylan Heston’s voice was soft, his expression gentle.

Lana Caldwell was flustered. No matter how upset she was, she couldn’t get angry at her dreamboat. She smiled brightly and said, “Of course, I will!”

This was the first time Dylan Heston had ever spoken to her on his own initiative. Every other time she’d tried to start a conversation, he had ignored her.

Lana Caldwell was beaming, so happy she was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t until they were on the high-speed train home that Nancy Hughes looked at him. “Were you just turning on the charm for Lana Caldwell?”

Dylan Heston frowned, apparently displeased with her phrasing. “You could call it personal charisma.”

‘Tch, that’s not the point.’

She started to get worked up. ‘Lana Caldwell has a crush on him. What if she gets completely swept off her feet by all that ‘charisma’?’

Dylan Heston smiled, trying to placate her. “If it makes you unhappy, I’ll save my personal charisma for you and you alone.”

“No, don’t. Use it on whoever you want. I don’t care!”

“You say you don’t care, but you’re practically dripping with jealousy.”

Back in Portmire, the first thing they did was get a replacement SIM card and buy a new phone.

When it was time to pay, she insisted on paying for it herself.

He had already paid for Zoey Zane’s hospital stay, which made her feel very awkward.

On the way back, she had tried to bring up the money. She couldn’t come up with that much right now, but she could pay him back slowly.

But the moment she started to speak, Dylan Heston’s expression turned serious, and he cut the conversation short.

As soon as she got home, she immediately called Zoey Zane.

Zoey Zane told her to focus on work in Portmire and not to worry about her. Then, she asked to speak with Dylan Heston.

Zoey Zane truly saw Dylan Heston as her future son-in-law. She talked to him more than she did to her own daughter.

Nancy Hughes handed him the phone. “My mom wants to talk to you.”

Dylan Heston took the phone, his replies consisting mostly of “Mm-hm,” and “I know.”

After he hung up, Nancy asked, “What did my mom say to you?”

“Your mom told me to take good care of you. And to be patient with you, even when you get grumpy.”

She puffed out her cheeks. ‘That sounded just like something Zoey Zane would say.’

Dylan Heston had arranged for her to have two days off. She returned to work on Wednesday.

She felt inexplicably anxious, especially about seeing Gwen Gunn.

‘Gwen Gunn must know that I stole his prospective son-in-law. He’s got to be angry with me.’

She had just sat down at her desk for a moment, not yet having settled in, when Gwen Gunn entered the office.

But Gwen Gunn acted no different than usual, greeting her just as he always did.

“Dylan Heston said you had a family emergency. How is everything?”

“It’s not a major issue anymore. Thank you for asking, Mr. Gunn,” Nancy Hughes replied apprehensively.

“That’s good to hear. Get back to work, then. We have a meeting later to kick off a new project.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Thankfully, she had finished her last big task before she left, so after two days away, she didn’t have much work piled up.

After finishing up a few small things, she followed Gwen Gunn to the conference room for the meeting.

The topic of the meeting was a new project being launched with an international company.

Every team member, including interns, was required to contribute a piece of their own work.

She was graduating soon, so the quality of her submission for this project was directly tied to her future at the company.

If she did well and earned her superiors’ approval, she could stay on as a full-time employee.

The lengthy meeting ended just in time for lunch.

She went downstairs for lunch with Gwen Gunn. She had just taken a sip of water when she heard him ask, “So, are you and that kid Dylan Heston really together?”

Gwen Gunn’s question startled her so much she choked, nearly spraying water everywhere as she broke into a fit of coughing.

She frantically grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth, nodded, and gave a reserved “mm-hm.”

“No wonder. I was saying how Zachary Stone is actually a great guy, but you weren’t interested. So it turns out…” He paused for a moment before adding, “Dylan Heston is a really good man.”

It felt strange for the two of them to be discussing Dylan Heston. Nancy Hughes gave an awkward smile. “He really is a great person.”

Gwen Gunn let out a short sigh. “I’m just afraid that when my girl finds out, she’s going to raise hell again.”

Hearing this, Nancy’s scalp prickled. ‘Hannah Gunn already knows.’

Before the end of the workday, she got a text from Dylan Heston saying he was already waiting downstairs.

The moment the clock struck five, she grabbed her bag and rushed downstairs.

“Where should we go for dinner?” Dylan Heston asked as he fastened her seatbelt.

Nancy Hughes said hesitantly, “I have to teach at the art studio. I might not have time for dinner.”

“The same studio as last time?”

Dylan Heston hit the gas and pulled away from the company. Nancy thought for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry. Maybe you should go eat without me.”

Suddenly, he reached over, his hand covering hers, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She turned to look at him as he said, “What’s there to be sorry about?”

Dylan Heston drove her to the art studio. They arrived much earlier than usual, so Nancy apologized to Ms. Chandler.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Chandler. I had a family emergency the past couple of days.”

“It’s fine, I was just worried you weren’t coming back!” Ms. Chandler poured them both a glass of water, then pulled Nancy aside and whispered, “He’s your boyfriend, isn’t he?”

Nancy glanced back at Dylan Heston and nodded shyly. Ms. Chandler smiled knowingly. “You wouldn’t admit it last time!”

“That was last time!”

Parents began dropping off their children one by one, and the studio grew lively.

Nancy got busy, moving between the children, teaching one and then another.

She finally got a chance to catch her breath and saw Dylan Heston sitting by himself. “If you’re bored just sitting here, you can go for a walk. I’ve got about another hour to go.”

Worried he was getting impatient, she added, “There are plenty of fun places around here!”

“It’s okay. I’m fine just sitting here.”

“…Okay.”

A child behind her shouted, “Teacher Hughes!” and with a quick “Coming!” Nancy turned and hurried over.

While Nancy was busy, she would sneak glances at Dylan Heston from time to time.

He didn’t seem to have anything to do, just stared blankly at his phone.

She scratched her head, then felt a tug on her shirt. “Teacher Hughes, look! Isn’t my drawing great?”

Nancy bent down and looked seriously at the drawing. “It’s amazing!”

Another hour passed. Class was finally over, and the parents returned to pick up their children.

Nancy smiled as she said goodbye to the last parent, then let out a sigh of relief.

Back inside the studio, she saw Dylan Heston looking at his phone.

“What are you looking at?” She leaned over curiously to see his screen.

Dylan didn’t hide it, just showed her the phone. “Who’s the guy in this picture?”

Nancy liked to document things and post them on her personal page.

But her page was always private; no one could see it but her.

On the train ride back a couple of days ago, after losing her phone, she had borrowed Dylan’s for a bit. She’d logged into her account to message Ms. Chandler about her leave of absence but had forgotten to log out.

‘Don’t tell me… has he been browsing my page for the last two hours?’

Her page didn’t just have photos. It was full of her old diary-like entries, and now he had seen all of them.

It felt as if Dylan Heston had seen the deepest secrets she kept hidden in her heart. Her face instantly turned beet red. “Hey, stop looking at that!”

She reached out to snatch the phone, but Dylan was quicker and pulled it away.

“I’ve already seen everything,” Dylan Heston said, putting the phone away where Nancy couldn’t reach it.

Nancy felt like she could die of embarrassment. Not only was her face burning, but the tips of her ears were red-hot, and her heart was pounding. “Then just forget it all, quickly!”

‘My page has so many photos of Zane Lennox… all about my secret crush on him. If he saw all of that, then he knows I used to like Zane!’

Dylan Heston pulled her into his arms. “Nancy, do you like me, even a little bit, now?”

He called her Nancy. He rarely used her name so affectionately. Nancy looked at him, her face flushed, and opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“I’m not going to force you to like me now, but I hope that one day, you’ll be able to truly give me your heart.” When she didn’t answer, Dylan Heston sighed and held her even tighter.

Nancy leaned into his embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She found it hard to say the words, but she hoped Dylan Heston could understand how she felt.

It was already very late when they headed back, so they stopped at a restaurant and ordered some food.

Feeling a bit bolder, Nancy ordered two bottles of beer.

She poured herself a glass and raised it to toast Dylan, but he reached across the table and took it from her. “You can’t hold your liquor. Don’t drink.”

“No, I want to drink today,” Nancy said, taking the glass back from him. “I’m in a good mood.”

Dylan Heston chuckled. ‘It seems like she’s already drunk, and she hasn’t even had a sip yet.’

Nancy really couldn’t hold her liquor. After just two glasses, her head was already starting to spin.

On the way back, she was incredibly chatty, rambling on and on while draped over Dylan Heston’s back.

“Hey, Dylan… why do you like me?” Her chin rested on his shoulder as she tilted her head to look at him.

The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. ‘I’m not that pretty, I don’t have a perfect family background, and we’d only met a few times. I don’t get why he’d fall for me.’

Dylan carried her on his back. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know either?” Nancy blinked at him in confusion.

“Mm-hm, I don’t know.”

Dylan Heston settled Nancy into the car seat. As he fastened her seatbelt, he heard her mumble, “That’s weird. How come you don’t know either…”

After talking so much, she grew drowsy and fell asleep against the seat.