Filed to story: Snatched a Billionaire to be My Husband Book (Cora & Byron)
Cora replied with an awkward smile.
Just as Byron didn’t want others to know about their relationship, Cora also wished to keep it a secret.
She feared being looked down upon if people discovered her connection to both Eason and Byron.
As for why Byron had helped her earlier, perhaps he simply couldn’t tolerate Mia’s arrogance. Cora didn’t dare to read too much into it.
“Guessing based on your experience? C’mon! Let me tell you, Byron is definitely the BEST kind of man in the sack. Any woman would be lucky to sleep with him. I’m so envious!”
Caro dared not tell that the
“best man”
Sally had mentioned was the one she had spent the night with.
They had a delightful meal afterwards. Perhaps because Carter had instructed the staff, Cora and Sally were served with all the most popular dishes the restaurant had. They ate to their heart’s content.
But as they were leaving after dinner, Cora received a message from Carter.
[Miss Lane, I’ve had too much to drink and can’t drive. Could you please drive Mr. Hansen back?]
Cora hesitated before replying, [I can call a taxi for him.]
She didn’t want to drive Byron around like she had the previous night. Who knew where he’d be making her take the car again…
Sally teased,
“From Mr. Pope? He wants to see you, right?”
‘Not entirely right, but more or less,’ Cora thought.
“Go! With that hot body of yours, it’s impossible for a man not to be crazy about you. I’ll go have some fun myself,”
Sally said before swiftly departing without looking back.
Cora was about to call Sally back when she saw that man walking towards her. He wore a simple black shirt and trousers, yet his presence demanded attention. In the dim light of the street, Cora couldn’t discern his expression clearly, but she could see him handing her a car key.
“You haven’t left yet?”
Cora asked, sensing a faint smell of alcohol as he approached. It was not heavy, and kind of smelled good.
“I can’t leave if you don’t drive for me,”
the man answered.
‘Why do I have to drive for you?’ Cora complained in her heart, ‘You could call a taxi, use a driver from home, or just hire someone.’
But eventually, Cora reluctantly took the car key and found herself once again gripping the steering wheel of the Koenigsegg Agera.
As an improvement from last night, she refrained from mistaking the accelerator for the brake and avoided causing any traffic incidents.
Yet her cautious driving speed resembled that of a snail.
“If you keep driving at this pace, it’d be dawn by the time we arrive.”
Byron frowned, a meaningful glint shone in his eyes.
Cora smiled awkwardly, but she didn’t dare to increase her speed, fearing that she might end up damaging a car worth more than her life.
Suddenly, Byron commanded,
“Stop the car.”
Relieved, Cora stepped on the brake, but noticed that they had arrived near her apartment.
She couldn’t help but feel tricked, yet Byron didn’t even spare her a glance.
He opened the door and left. Cora had no choice but to lock the car and follow him.
“Mr. Hansen, your car key…”
She tried to remind him, but Byron continued walking without acknowledging her. Soon, they arrived at her apartment door.
Just as before, Cora couldn’t withstand Byron’s stare and opened the door to let him in. As soon as they entered, Byron lifted her up in his arms.
Cora panicked momentarily but quickly wrapped her arms around Byron’s neck, adopting a playful smile.
“Mr. Hansen, you sent me off with a long-term wine contract last night. What benefits are you going to offer me tonight?”
Cora’s words were laced with mockery, aimed at both herself and Byron for trampling on her self-
esteem. Byron gazed down at the woman in his arms, observing her fake smile, which caused him to frown.
“What do you want? Just tell me.”
Cora hadn’t anticipated such a serious response, leaving her momentarily at a loss for words.
Also to her surprise, Byron didn’t make any intimate advances after gently placing her on the bed.
Instead, he knelt down in front of her and rolled up her trouser leg.
With a can of ointment in his hand, Byron started to apply it to her swollen ankle.
“Don’t move!”
Byron’s serious expression as he tended to her ankle broke through Cora’s defenses once again. Tears welled up uncontrollably, breaking through the layers of barriers and streaming down her face.
“Does it hurt?”
Byron asked.
Cora couldn’t be certain, but she thought she detected a hint of tenderness and pity in these three words.
“No,”
she replied. In fact, she had almost forgotten the pain after the incident with the waiters.
Yet, for some reason, as Byron applied the ointment, emotions overwhelmed her.
Perhaps it had been a long time since Cora had experienced the feeling of being loved and cared for.
‘Ever since misfortunes befell my family one after another, everyone has avoided me. Even when I got hurt, no one cared,’ Cora thought. ‘But now, Byron cares about me.’
“It’s alright. The ointment is effective. You’ll be fine soon,”
Byron assured her. Sensing her distress, he gently patted her back and spoke in a soothing tone.
However, his comforting words only caused Cora to cry even more.
Byron embraced Cora tenderly.
“Everything will be alright,”
he murmured before lowering his head to kiss her.
Later on, their clothes lay scattered on the ground, a testament to the passionate night they had shared. Cora wasn’t sure if she desired to relax her body or if she simply yearned for Byron’s embrace.
What she did know was that Byron was more gentle tonight than in the previous nights. He had allowed her to truly experience the happiness of being a woman.
The next day, at dawn, Cora was abruptly awakened by Byron.
Her mind was still foggy as she gazed at him, neatly dressed and seemingly unaffected by their sleepless night.
They had spent the entire night tangled together, finally succumbing to slumber just before dawn. Cora didn’t know why he woke her up so early.
“Unlock your phone,”
Byron instructed, showing no signs of fatigue.
“Oh,”
Cora mumbled, her mind in disarray. She followed his command and handed him her phone.
After Byron returned it to her, she noticed a new contact named ‘By’ on WhatsApp, with a profile picture that was completely black.
Cora tossed her phone aside before falling back to sleep.
When the alarm clock rang, she found Byron was no longer in bed.
Cora hurriedly got up and headed to the hospital.
Instead of going straight to the emergency room, she made a detour to the sterile ward to catch a glimpse of her mother, Flora Bates, through the window.
It had been over a month since the fire, and while Flora had survived, her body remained wrapped in bandages, and her mental state was unstable.
Due to Cora’s financial constraints, Flora was sharing a sterile ward with three other patients.
As soon as Flora spotted Cora in her scrubs, her tone was filled with dissatisfaction and rejection.
“You’re wearing that again? How much do you want others to know that you’re a doctor? How many times have I told you? I don’t want to see you wearing that!”
“Mom, I’m an intern here. This is my uniform,”
Cora explained.
Flora had always been dissatisfied with Cora’s choice to become a doctor, but Cora had grown accustomed to it. It was a vast improvement compared to the first time she proudly showed Flora her uniform, only to have it torn to pieces.
“Why didn’t you discuss such a big decision with me? Do you even care about me?”
Flora continued with her unpleasant remarks.
“So unlucky to have you. I should have suffocated you when you were born!”
Cora tried to restrain her emotions, knowing that several traumas must have caused her mother’s volatile behavior and harsh words.
Otherwise, no matter how much Flora resented Cora’s choice to become a doctor, she wouldn’t have caused a scene in front of so many people.
Just then, Flora seemed to have noticed something. Pointing at Cora’s neck, she exclaimed,
“Wait, what are those…”
Startled, Cora quickly covered her neck with both hands, trying to hide the marks Byron had left on her the previous night.
Cora had arrived at the hospital early in the morning and hadn’t expected Flora to notice them.
“Why are you so cheap? You haven’t even married Eason yet, and you’ve already slept with him?”
Flora’s face twisted with disgust.
Flora’s opposition to sex before marriage was just as strong as her opposition to Cora’s choice of becoming a doctor. The aversion probably stemmed from being deceived by a doctor named Yoris before her own marriage, which led her to marry a divorced man who already had a child.