Chapter 15 Ulterior Motive

• “You can suspect me.” he paused. “In fact, I did come with an ulterior motive-to meet my own sexual needs.”
• Skylar had the urge to curse aloud, but she reined in her temper and said helplessly, “This is a bad time, Mr. Ford. I’d suggest you go look for someone else.”
• Following that, she deliberately opened her bag to show him the sanitary pads inside.
• Tobias, who was driving, glanced at her sideways. “It doesn’t matter to me. Besides running a red light on the road, I’d also love to experience it on the bed.”
• Skylar could feel her blood boiling. A rookie like her was definitely no match for someone like Tobias.
• So she employed another strategy by laying her cards on the table in hopes to arouse the man’s sympathy.
• “I’m penniless and jobless, and I was kicked out by the landlady. In short, you’d wish you had stayed away from me. I bring bad luck to the people around me, and there will be retribution if you bully a poor commoner like me.”
• Skylar looked at Tobias with such soulful and innocent eyes that made his heart stir.
• “You can follow me,” he said in a deep voice. “With me, anything that can be solved with money is not a problem.”
• Skylar retracted her gaze and leaned back on the seat. “I don’t want to.”
• “I’ll send you the address.” Tobias took out a key from the armrest compartment and threw it on Skylar’s lap.
• Without even looking at it, she promptly put it back into the armrest compartment.
• She might be poor, but she had just regained her freedom not long ago.
• Hence, she must be crazy if she were to accept the man’s offer.
• Tobias had behaved like a gentleman this time as he had dropped off Skylar at the address as told.
• Once again, Skylar would direct him along the way, afraid that he would send her to the wilderness.
• It wasn’t until she had fished for her phone, wanting to give her uncle a call did she realize that the key was back in her hands.
• Not wanting to disturb her uncle’s family, Skylar dared not knock on the door too loudly and could only call them.
• Yet, with no one answering her calls or the door, she eventually slumped down to the ground.
• This was the place she had lived in since she was young—a place overlaid with memories of her childhood.
• Meredith would always express her grievances to her about how her mother was chained and thrown into prison. She didn’t know when her mother would be released.
• Her own father was even worse. He could have afforded to raise another child, but he had chosen to abandon her thoroughly as though she was never born.
• In the cold dark night, Skylar paced up and down in front of the old house, gradually feeling sleepy and hungry
• All of a sudden, she was back in her school uniform while heading home after school.
• Meredith was there, waiting for her at the gates, holding a walking stick.
• She ran up to Meredith excitedly. “Grandma, what’s for dinner? I’m starving.”
• With a gentle smile on her face, Meredith looked at her amiably. “Grandma has made you your favorite spaghetti carbonara.”
• Then Skylar entered the house but soon realized that Meredith, who was following behind, had suddenly disappeared.
• She searched around frantically, and no matter how loud she shouted for her grandmother, there was no sign of Meredith.
• “Skylar.”
• Skylar woke up with a start, screaming for her grandmother. As though her last bit of energy had been sapped away, she slumped down against the wall. I was dreaming again. But who was it who called me?
• “Skylar, when did you get here?” Only then did Skylar realize that the voice belonged to her Uncle Wesley. She got up to her feet and saw that the sun was already up.
• Though the man was her blood relative, there was no feeling of dependency or familiarity to speak of when she saw him.
• Other than the time when he had come to ask for the house, he had never contacted her since then.
• “I came here last night,” she said. “I’ve called you many times, but you didn’t pick up.”