Chapter 9 You’ve Been So Kind to Me, Uncle Arthur

• Seeing the twitching corner of Erin’s mouth, Mandy curled her lips into a smirk. “What’s the problem? Is it difficult for you to do so? You call Arthur ‘Uncle Arthur’, and I am his younger sister, so aren’t you supposed to call me Aunt Mandy?”
• Erin narrowed her eyes before a smile curved her lips and dimpled her cheeks. “Do you really want to hear me calling you Aunt Mandy?”
• “Of course.” Mandy raised her chin as if she was all ears.
• Erin nodded. “Alright, listen carefully then… Aunt.”
• Mandy stared at her.
• Erin shrugged. “I did call you.”
• Mandy was speechless. What did she just call me? She glared at Erin, asking, “What did you call me? Why didn’t I hear it?”
• “I called you ‘Aunt’,” replied Erin.
• The corner of Mandy’s mouth twitched. “Do you think you’re a crow cawing around like that?”
• Ignoring Mandy, Erin pursed her lips and stepped up quickly while dragging Arthur, who cooperatively withdrew his arm from Mandy’s grip.
• Mandy nearly ate soil in anger when she saw that she was shaken off once again.
• The Harrison Residence’s dining table was made of fragrant rosewood that was worth up to 10 million. Frank kept picking up food for Erin, who was sitting next to him, with the serving spoon, urging, “Eat more, Erin; you look much thinner than the last time you were here.”
• Erin shouldn’t have had the chance to sit next to Frank according to her position in the Harrison Family’s hierarchy, but Frank forcibly seated her next to him.
• Right now, she was sitting next to Carol and Jenn. Seated across from her were Arnold and Jacob, whom Arthur sat next to.
• Mandy would absolutely loathe being somewhere else whenever Arthur was present, so she seated herself next to him. In other words, Erin and Arthur were separated by quite a number of people.
• Mandy’s sweet voice reached Erin’s ear. “There you go, Arthur. It’s your favorite food.”
• Erin pursed her lips while glancing at Arthur from the corner of her eye.
• Arthur seemed to have sensed her gaze, as his eyes fell on her when she looked at him.
• As soon as their eyes met, Erin puckered her lips pitifully at Arthur. Arthur, however, didn’t show any emotions in his deep, cold eyes.
• Just then, Carol—who sat next to Erin—spoke. “Erin, this year is your last year in high school, isn’t it?”
• Erin tore her eyes away from Arthur before saying obediently to Carol, “That’s right, Grandma.”
• Carol asked, “Do you have any thoughts about what to do after your graduation? Would you like to attend university in the country or abroad?”
• Erin was about to answer when Arthur’s deep and cold voice spoke first. “She won’t be studying overseas; she’ll stay in Wingston City.”
• Carol shot a look at her son with a frown. “I’m asking Erin.”
• Arthur’s thin lips compressed into a straight line as he fixed his cold, deep eyes on Erin.
• Erin’s long eyelashes fluttered twice before she said to Carol, “I’ll listen to Uncle Arthur.”
• The furrows in Carol’s brows deepened at her words.
• Frank chipped in with a bright smile, “It’s good that you’ll stay in the country. That way, it’ll be convenient for me to visit you whenever I miss you.”
• Erin felt a warmth welling up within her as she gently took Frank’s arm.
• Arthur took Erin back to Coral Pavilion after dinner.
• It rained as soon as they got out of the car. Taking his suit jacket out of the car, Arthur draped it over Erin’s head and grabbed her shoulders with his large hand before quickly taking her into the villa.
• Erin looked up at Arthur from under the suit jacket. Suddenly, she said to him, “You’ve been so kind to me, Uncle Arthur.”
• An unfathomable look flashed across Arthur’s cold eyes as he lowered his gaze to look at Erin.
• The rain was unexpectedly heavy on this night; there were flashes of lightning and claps of thunder in the second half of the night.
• Erin hid under her quilt, revealing only a pair of bright and black eyes that stared unblinkingly at the flashes of lightning that streaked across the sky outside the French window. She felt that the moments when the lightning flashed were very much like unbridled souls in midair.
• As her heart thumped rapidly, she suddenly threw back her quilt and jumped out of bed barefooted. Dashing for the door, she opened it and ran outside.
• After reaching the room next door, she opened the door and quietly closed it behind her. Then, she quickly stepped toward the large bed at the center of the room.
• Her thin body slid under the thin quilt like a fish before she held the man’s arm tightly and buried her face in the crook of his arm.
• Rumble…
• The claps of thunder became louder as terrible lightning flashed repeatedly around her like apparitions even as she closed her eyes in terror.
• “Uncle Arthur,” Erin called Arthur tremblingly while curling herself into a ball.
• Someone like Arthur would remain highly vigilant even in his sleep, but he seemed totally unaware this time when Erin opened the door, came in, and even lay down next to him.
• The sound of thunder kept penetrating Erin’s eardrums.
• She could no longer soothe her fears by snuggling up to Arthur this way, so she kept burrowing under the thin quilt. At last, she crawled directly on top of him, pressing her icy face against his chest that was exposed by his gaping night robe.
• It wasn’t until she sensed the heat spreading from his chest to her face that she felt a little more at ease.
• She closed her eyes, her curly eyelashes fluttering; her tender lips parted as she breathed a sigh of relief. However, before she could relax completely, a strong, large hand suddenly grabbed her waist.
• The world spun around her before she found herself beneath the man’s strong, muscular, and feverishly hot body. Right after that, she was suddenly kissed on the lips.