Chapter 112 Bottom Line
Half an hour later. Erin and Chandler sat in the theater. They had the entire place to themselves. Only the two of them sat in the middle of the theater watching a horror film.
Erin had no idea what they were watching the whole time. Her mind was conflicted, constantly reminding herself that she couldn’t be entangled with Chandler. The man had a fiancée, for Christ’s sake!
But his hand, which was already sweating, held onto hers tightly, refusing to let go.
She turned to look at him and calmly asked, “Chandler, what exactly do you want? Can’t we just break up properly?”
“No. You can’t break up with me so arbitrarily.” He kept his gaze straight, looking at the female ghost on the big screen without a trace of fear. It was as if he was watching a lighthearted cartoon.
His dominance and arrogance left no room for any reasoning. A smirk appeared on Erin’s lips as she said. “Alright, since you don’t want to break up, then cancel the engagement banquet. Can you do that?”
For her to finally make a request to him, Chandler was somewhat impressed. He gave her a sideways glance and smiled mischievously.” Erin, have you fallen in love with me?”
Those deep, icy eyes became even more mysterious and eerily chilling in the dim environment of the cinema. Even though Chandler was right next to her, Erin still didn’t know what he was thinking deep down. The inability to understand him made her weary.
She couldn’t even gauge if Chandler would be happy or troubled if she confessed her feelings for him. After all, he had a fiancée who was a good match for him.
Suddenly, two glistening teardrops fell, and Erin lowered her face to the side, no longer willing to look at Chandler. He turned around and tried to pull her onto his lap, but Erin refused. So, he stood up, forcefully grabbed her by the arms, lifted her up by the waist, and sat back. down holding her in his embrace.
“I was just asking if you liked me or not. It’s not like I’m asking you to die for me. Why are you crying?” he asked, mildly frustrated.
He didn’t know when it started, but her tears made him feel powerless. The more she silently cried, the more agitated he would feel. He wished he could tell her that he didn’t love his fiancée at all and that the engagement was just for show. Those words were right at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say them out loud.
“Have you gone mute, Erin?”
Erin raised her head and indignantly blurted, “Yes! I like you! But liking you is really difficult! Since you already have a fiancée, why can’t you just be with her and stop coming after me? I don’t want to be a mistress! You know how much I hate being the other woman!”
As she spoke, her emotions started to get out of control, and she began to sob. Chandler let out a soft sigh and pressed her teary face against his shoulder.
He said earnestly, “Erin, listen carefully. I like you too.”
Before she could wipe away her tears, his lips were pressed to hers. At first, it was gentle and comforting, but it gradually became passionate and full of longing. Chandler’s desire for her was suppressed yet profound, and her hands that were pushing against him gradually grew weak.
Right then, her rationality returned, and she remembered that they were in a movie theater.
“No Erin said weakly, her cheeks flushed.
Seeing that she resisted, Chandler didn’t continue to force himself on her. He stared at her lips, which had become reddened and slightly swollen from his kiss. The urge for conquest surged through his blood at the sight of that.
With his slender hands, he gentlemanly straightened her slightly disheveled clothes. Chandler finally revealed an important message.” There will be an engagement banquet, but I won’t lay a linger on that woman. Are you satisfied now?”
Erin looked into his eyes and decided that he didn’t seem to be joking. Sadly, this wasn’t the answer that she was hoping for..
There was a bitter smile on her lips as she asked, “So, if I choose to be with you, I will still be the mistress, won’t I?”
“If that’s how you choose to interpret it, then yes, you would be the other woman.” Chandler replied with a glint in his eyes.
“Hmph
“Erin struggled to get away, but Chandler refused to let go.
“Let go of me!”
Seeing her sudden emotional outburst. Chandler didn’t hold her down lorcefully anymore.
Erin stood before him and said with finality. “Chandler, I don’t need your money. I can earn my own. I don’t need your constant companionship either; I’ll spend more time on work so that I won’t think of you so much. But I can’t stand becoming the kind of woman I hate the most! That’s my bottom line! No matter how much I like you, I can’t allow myself to stoop to that!”
“Erin
Chandler frowned: her stubbornness was causing him distress. He couldn’t use compromising photos to blackmail her into
being with him as he did at the beginning. She wasn’t just a simple lover to him anymore.
Facing the woman he genuinely liked, Chandler felt helpless for the first time. He watched as Erin walked away fiercely and decisively. He
wanted more than anything to rush over and tell her to stay by his side.
But what she wanted was a legitimate status, and he couldn’t give her that currently. Furthermore, Erin was way too fragile now. Perhaps staying by Roman’s side was a better choice for her at the moment.
One should know that the complexity of the entertainment industry was incomparable to that of a normal workplace. Roman, who happened to be his close friend, had made a name for himself with no resources or backing. He got to where he was in the entertainment industry purely by his own effort and abilities. He could definitely teach Erin a thing or two.
As he watched Erin’s figure disappear from his sight, there was a hint of anticipation in his dark eyes. “Erin, if you want to stand by my side legitimately, prove your worth to me.”
In the evening. Erin cooked herself something simple and held a set of documents in her hand. Roman had forwarded all of that information to her. It concerned their accommodation and transport arrangements at Fleuverton City. It even included the geographical location of hospitals. She would be in charge of these later on.
Erin swiftly installed several useful apps on her phone to facilitate future searches and inquiries. She took her assistant trainee job very seriously, she didn’t take up the job on a whim.
When she’d just graduated, she’d once thought about becoming a personal assistant to a celebrity. However, lan didn’t agree to it at that time, saying that this kind of work would take up a lot of time and affect their relationship. Because she loved lan back then, she chose the design industry. In the end, they got divorced because of lan’s infidelity.
Now, she was single and didn’t have to worry about all that. She could choose her own career path. Erin took a pen and diligently noted down the most important pieces of information in her notebook. She continued studying the information until midnight.
When she finished showering and was about to blow her hair dry, her phone rang. Erin immediately put down the hairdryer and went to her bedroom. When she saw that it was lan calling, she was tempted to not answer, but he kept calling. Thinking that lan might have something urgent, she decided to answer.
“Erin, where are you? I have something urgent to discuss with you.”
lan’s voice sounded serious, causing her heart to tighten. “What’s the matter? About whom?”
“It’s about your father, Steven.”
