Next One Is a Babe

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Soon enough, Aurora finished washing up and headed out after changing her clothes. Ian waited around in the living hall without turning the television on, but he scrolled through his phone on the couch.

Cindy tossed and turned in bed for a long while after he had left the room. She had the urge to punch herself—she was supposed to be afraid and alert when sharing the same bed with Ian, yet she had allowed herself to relax to a point where she rolled over and hugged him. I can’t believe Ian even found out about it! How am I supposed to face him from now on?

After lying in bed for a while longer, she decided that it was getting late. She got up to listen to the noises outside the room, but she realized that it was completely silent in the hall. Even the television wasn’t turned on. Did Ian and Aurora go out already? Finally, Cindy gathered the courage to open the door.

When she saw the person sitting in the hall, she jolted in surprise. Ian was sitting on the couch and in a spot directly facing his room. He raised his head to stare at her the moment she opened the door. Both of them exchanged glances, but she couldn’t register his reaction as she was too shocked. All she knew was that she had shuddered for a moment before an awkward look spread across her face.

“You’re awake,” he stated with a smile.

“Mhmm.” Cindy quickly looked around the living room. “Where’s Aurora? Is she still asleep?” Cindy thought that she had heard Aurora’s voice when she was in the room earlier.

“She went out to buy breakfast,” Ian replied with his gaze still fixed on Cindy. She tried her best to control her expression as she nodded and walked to the washroom. He continued staring at her, and he only looked away once she shut the door behind her. With his lips curled into a smirk, he placed his phone in his palm and flipped it. She looked as if she saw a ghost when she came out and saw me. That’s hilarious! He laughed to himself.

As Cindy cleaned herself up in the washroom, Ian stepped into the room with the intention of tidying the bed a little. However, he realized that the bed had been made when he went in. He turned around to step out of the room when he heard the sound of a phone vibrating. It was Cindy’s phone—she had left it by the side of the bed.

He lowered his gaze and glanced at the phone for a while. In the end, he decided to walk over and look at her notifications on the screen. Just like the last time, he could read her messages without having to unlock her phone. This time, it was also a WhatsApp message from Peter. Peter was asking Cindy if she was free. He had typed a longer message after that, but the notification had a word limit that didn’t show Ian the full message.

After thinking about it for a while, Ian left Cindy’s phone in its spot before he walked out of the room. When Cindy was done washing up, Aurora returned home. Cindy hastily headed to the room to pick her phone up, and she saw Peter’s message right away. ‘Are you free now? I’d like to meet up with you right now,’ the text said. Peter even mentioned that he was already waiting for her downstairs.

When Cindy checked the timestamp, she realized that Peter had only sent the text a while ago. She immediately responded to explain that she had just woken up. Within seconds, Peter responded with another text that said he would wait for her downstairs. Since that was the case, Cindy would have to skip breakfast to meet him.

She got herself ready before she went out of the room to inform Aurora and Ian of her plans. “I’m heading downstairs for a while, but I’ll be back really soon. You guys can eat without waiting for me,” she uttered.