Chapter 434: Dinner Party 2

Chapter 434: Chapter 407: Dinner Party 2

‘He really is the perfect man. He works hard and makes good money, he does chores, and he’s so gentle and considerate.’

She was incredibly lucky to have met him.

“Nancy, I’m not as perfect as you imagine. I have flaws, too.” ‘He had plenty of them, and he was afraid of her seeing them.’

Nancy didn’t believe him. “Even if you have flaws, I’ll still like you.”

After they finished shopping and were waiting in line to pay, they unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

Nancy Hughes was snuggling up to Dylan Heston, her face buried in his chest, her back turned to Rose Everett.

Rose Everett could call out her name, but it surely wasn’t because she’d recognized Nancy. It was because she had spotted Dylan Heston in the crowd.

Dylan Heston was strikingly handsome and carried himself with a noble air, so quite a few women nearby were sneaking glances at him.

And they were even more envious of the woman in this exceptional man’s arms.

Rose Everett had seen the doting way Dylan Heston looked at Nancy Hughes before, so she called out Nancy’s name without a second thought.

When Nancy Hughes heard someone call her name, she shyly lifted her head from Dylan Heston’s chest and looked toward the voice.

‘Who’s calling me? To think I’d run into someone I know here.’

“It’s me.” Rose Everett stepped forward to greet them with a self-assured smile.

‘It’s Rose Everett!’

Nancy Hughes abruptly pushed Dylan Heston away and greeted Rose Everett. “Hello.”

Dylan grabbed her hand behind her back, and she couldn’t shake it loose. She furrowed her brow slightly, then smiled at Rose Everett. “What a coincidence. Do you live around here too?”

“Yes, I just moved to this area. I didn’t expect to run into you two.” Rose Everett’s gaze shifted to Dylan Heston. “Mr. Heston, it’s been a while.”

Dylan Heston gave a perfunctory response, his fingers toying with Nancy Hughes’s. ‘What a shy little girl.’

Nancy Hughes rarely spoke to Rose Everett at the office. Rose was always surrounded by men trying to curry favor with her, and Nancy felt too awkward to squeeze in.

Now, however, it seemed they suddenly had plenty to talk about.

The time they’d interacted most was probably during their school days.

It was rather humiliating to think about; Rose Everett had seemingly witnessed the entire phase of her secret crush on Zane Lennox.

And right now, Rose Everett was bringing up events from their school days, with some topics touching upon Zane Lennox, making Nancy feel extremely awkward.

‘Dylan Heston is standing right beside me. He got angry last time when he saw those posts on my social media page. Isn’t he going to be even more furious now?’

Rose Everett was clever, too. She didn’t directly mention Nancy Hughes’s crush on Zane Lennox. She didn’t want Dylan Heston to think she was trying to drive a wedge between them and come to despise her for it.

Instead, Rose brought up some “amusing” incidents, like how Nancy used to foolishly trail behind Zane Lennox every day when she had a crush on him.

Nancy replied awkwardly, “That was all a long time ago!”

Her words were meant for Rose Everett, but they were directed even more so at Dylan Heston.

‘I hope he doesn’t take it to heart.’

She snuck a glance at Dylan Heston. He was listening expressionlessly, seemingly uninterested in what Rose Everett was saying.

‘But her heart pounded with anxiety. The more emotionless he appeared on the surface, the greater his inner turmoil usually was.’

‘He was probably already fuming.’

Rose Everett had bought a lot of groceries. After paying, the seemingly delicate woman couldn’t carry everything, so Nancy Hughes offered to help.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing! This isn’t that heavy!” she said heartily, lifting a ten-kilogram bag.

After walking for a while, she started to feel the weight. The handles dug painfully into her palms.

She was walking very slowly, but Dylan Heston, up ahead, didn’t even turn to look back at her. He was walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Rose Everett.

‘The two of them actually look like a couple.’

Growing more and more irritated, her pace slowed to a crawl.

By the time she sluggishly reached the door to Rose Everett’s apartment, she discovered a new coincidence: they lived right next door to each other.

Rose Everett took the bags from her, her face a mask of apology. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s fine, really!” she said, waving her hands and forcing a smile.

“Would you like to come up and sit for a while?”

“No need, we have other things to do.”

Nancy Hughes was about to speak when Dylan Heston cut her off. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “We’ll get going, then.”

“Okay, goodbye,” Rose Everett replied with a gentle smile.

Back in their apartment, Dylan Heston took her red palm and led her to the living room to sit down.

“How did they get so red?” Dylan Heston frowned, thinking her hands were too delicate.

“You have the nerve to ask?” she grumbled. “You saw me carrying all that heavy stuff and didn’t even think to turn back and help!” ‘All he cared about was walking quickly with Rose Everett.’

“Did I ask you to help her carry her things?”

“Well… that’s not the point. She’s a woman, you know? Seeing her with so many bags, it would have been rude not to help!” She scratched her head. ‘Besides, we all know each other. We’ll be seeing her at the office constantly, so it’s good to help each other out.’

Dylan Heston scoffed. “Nancy Hughes, I’m starting to think you’re a real idiot.”

“How am I an idiot!” she retorted indignantly.

Dylan Heston poked her forehead. “Right here.”

‘Even he, an outsider in that conversation, could hear Rose Everett’s condescension, yet here she was, happily helping her.’

“If I’m an idiot, you still like me!” she said, her eyes narrowing as she finally found a retort.

He raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued by her response.

He let out a quiet sigh and admitted, “Maybe there’s something wrong with my eyes. All they can seem to see is one pretty little girl.”

He leaned his head toward Nancy Hughes, resting it against her chest.

Nancy Hughes couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. “You old lecher!”

The words had barely left her lips when he suddenly pushed her down onto the sofa. They were inches apart; she could feel his breath on her skin.

His cool breath washed over her as he whispered, “This old lecher wants to get fresh. Are you going to let me?”

“…”

At the most inopportune time, right in the middle of this perfect, romantic moment, Nancy Hughes’s stomach suddenly growled twice.

The sound shattered the beautiful atmosphere, and her face instantly turned beet red.

“Forget it. I’ll feed your stomach first, and then you can feed me,” Dylan Heston said with a gentle smile, getting up off her.

“Okay.”

Something huge happened. Georgia Thorne suddenly announced she was marrying Zane Lennox, and they were taking their wedding photos in just a few days.

The news came out of nowhere, hitting her like a bolt of lightning.

Nancy Hughes was stunned for a long moment before she could ask Georgia Thorne, “Wait, why are you marrying Zane Lennox now?”

‘Hadn’t she just rekindled things with Elliot Sheridan recently?’

Georgia Thorne was busy combing Blue’s fur. “I’m getting married. Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”

“Congratulate you on what?!” ‘What was there to congratulate?’

‘If she were marrying Elliot Sheridan, Nancy would support it with every fiber of her being. But with the groom being Zane Lennox, she just couldn’t…’

Unable to talk any sense into Georgia Thorne, a dejected Nancy Hughes went to talk to Dylan Heston about it.

She completely forgot about her own past crush on Zane Lennox and spent a long time explaining why she didn’t approve of Georgia and Zane’s marriage.

Dylan Heston tilted her chin up. “What’s the matter? Still have a thing for that guy?”

Sensing the dangerous glint in his eyes, she immediately backpedaled. “Of course not! I just feel it’s unfair to our President Sheridan!”

‘I really don’t know what’s going on in Georgia’s head.’

Dylan Heston let out a cold snort, then parted her lips and kissed her.

She whimpered, the kiss a little rough, but she didn’t dare resist.

‘Next time, I’m never bringing up Zane Lennox in front of Dylan Heston again.’

Georgia Thorne’s wedding was a grand, whirlwind affair. As the maid of honor, Nancy Hughes stayed by her side the entire time.

To needle a certain someone, she deliberately took a few photos of Georgia Thorne in her wedding dress, posted them to her social media feed, and also sent every single one to Dylan Heston.

She told him to forward the photos to Elliot Sheridan, just to give him a little shock.

At the wedding, Nancy Hughes was still trying to figure out how to talk Georgia Thorne out of it when, unexpectedly, the groom failed to appear.

Curious, she went outside to see what was going on and suddenly saw Theo Heston’s butler standing by the door.

“Miss Hughes, it’s been a long time.”

“Hello.” Nancy Hughes eyed him warily. “Can I help you?”

“Miss Hughes, my master would like to see you.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time. I’m at my friend’s wedding,” she refused flatly.

“What’s there to see at a wedding the groom won’t even show up for?” the butler said, looking at her. “Miss Hughes, if you want to know where Zane Lennox is, I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me.”

“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.

‘Zane Lennox hasn’t shown up… what does that have to do with Theo Heston?’

“Miss Hughes, if you please.” The butler gestured for her to follow. Nancy’s guard went up. “Did you kidnap Zane Lennox?”

The butler didn’t answer, instead turning to lead the way.

She was skeptical and didn’t want to be inexplicably led away by them again. “Sorry, I don’t think I can go with you…”

As the words left her mouth, the butler glanced at a man in black standing behind her.

Before she could react, a sharp pain flared on the back of her neck. Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.

When she came to, she found herself locked in a small, pitch-black room.

She had been lying unconscious on a bed. Clutching her neck, she sat up and saw Zane Lennox lying asleep next to her.

‘Strange, why is he here?’

‘No, wait, why am *I* here?!’

Zane Lennox’s hands were bound with rope, wrapped around several times. His clothes were frayed, and the angry red marks on his arms showed he had struggled.

‘Her own hands and feet weren’t bound. Apparently, her captors weren’t worried about her escaping.’

She pounded on the door, discovering it was locked. “Open up! Is anyone out there!” she yelled, hammering on the door with her fists.

She screamed at the top of her lungs but heard nothing in response.

It was an ordinary room, furnished with only a bed, a table, a chair, and an attached bathroom.

She went to the edge of the bed and patted Zane Lennox’s cheek. “Zane, wake up!”

Zane Lennox slowly came to. Seeing Nancy Hughes, he was just as confused. “Why are you here?”

“I’m not really sure either!”