The Enticing CEO’s Chosen Bride
Chapter 1943

Chapter 1943

Cicely took a moment to digest his words— Her slap hadn't landed, so he wasn't seeking justice for Danielle. She supposed she could reluctantly accept that answer.

"Figured out how to make it up to me yet?"

Seth glanced at her coolly. "I didn't make you mad."

"Use the excuse of bringing me homework to check if Danielle was being bullied by my grandad, use me as a cover to care for another girl, and you think I shouldn't be mad?"

Seth fell silent, walked over to the car, and tapped on the window. "Pop the trunk."

The driver complied, and the trunk slowly opened.d2

Seth walked over, bent down, and pulled a box from the trunk. As he opened it, he said in a deep voice, "Come here."

He didn't look up, and it wasn't clear who he was speaking to.

Cicely approached. She saw him rummaging through a first-aid kit and instantly understood. A smirk tugged at her lips.

Watching Seth take out a bandage, Cicely arched an eyebrow and said, "Is this your way of making it up to me?"

He shot her a glance, took her hand, and applied the bandage to her wrist.

"The Diaz family's business has always been under your dad's wing. I wouldn't want him to find out I've upset his little princess and have him take it out on the company," Seth explained.

"So you really are trying to butter me up."

Cicely's wrist was slender, and the bruise-reducing bandage wrapped around it neatly. She waved her arm in the air, a playful smirk on her lips as she looked up at him. "Don't want my dad to see it?"

Wasn't it more obvious now?

Seth pressed his lips together, silently packing up the first-aid kit, but Cicely stopped him. She picked up another bandage, tore off the wrapper, grabbed his hand, and placed it on the back of his hand. "Courtesy demands reciprocity." It was where she had hit him with the book earlier.

After a glance at the haphazard wrapping, Seth let his hand hang, closed the first-aid kit, and shut the trunk, staring at her impassively. "All good now?"

Cicely raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. I got hurt because you were protecting her. Isn't it only natural you make it right?"

She flaunted her wrist in front of him. "I'm thirteen, not three. You can't fool me that easily."

Seth's gaze swept over her face, past her shoulder, landing on the books she had thrown to the ground. "Still don't want your homework?"

Cicely turned and saw the scattered books, frowning.

"Speak up."

"What's there to say? I threw them out, and now you want me to pick them up?" She’s not going to embarrass herself.

Seth simply walked over, bent down, and picked up the books, methodically packing them into a bag. "I'll have someone return your stuff later. You don't need to come tomorrow."

Cicely's face darkened again. "You wouldn't do that!"

Seth remained silent, opening the car door.

Suddenly, the bag was snatched from his grasp. Cicely stood holding her backpack. "Learning is my own business. Why should I let my education suffer because I'm mad at you? Tomorrow's the final exam, and you'd better stay home and wait for me."

She rushed through her words and turned to run away. Her gaze swept past Danielle, still standing there in a daze, her brow furrowed.

Seth watched her disappear into the distance, his gaze lingering on Danielle. "Aren't you going back?"

Danielle's eyes flickered. "Seth."

He looked at her calmly, waiting for her to continue.

"I want to skip a grade too."

Seth's expression was unreadable. "That's something you should discuss with the Ellis family."

Danielle bit her lip, her eyes pleading. "Won't you even ask me why?"

"That's your business."

Seth's tone was flat as he got into the car.

Danielle hurried forward, catching the car door with her bare hands. "I just got back to the Ellis family, and I don't know how to approach them with a request yet, but I have to skip a grade. Next semester, I'll talk to them, but I hope you can tutor me, okay?"

Seth frowned. "Are you sure you have to make trouble for me like this?"

Danielle clenched her fists tightly around the door. "Trouble?" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Why is it okay for Cicely and not for me?"

"So you have to do everything she does?"

Tears swirled in Danielle's eyes, stung by Seth's words. "Seth, I'm scared..."

She was a newcomer to the Ellis family, and although they were supposed to be her family, she didn't know any of them. Now, even Seth, her most trusted person, seemed to be drifting away from her. All alone, she truly didn't know what to do.

Seth's brow twitched, his lips pressed into a thin line. Without answering her question, his cold gaze fell on her hand on the door handle. "Let go."

His voice was cold enough to shatter a heart.

...

Cicely was nestled on the sofa, holding a pen in her hand, with a spread-out workbook resting on the bent knees.

When she saw Danielle return, Cicely lazily shifted her gaze toward her.

Danielle couldn't stand the look in her eyes. Thinking back on Cicely’s attempt to hit her outside, Danielle still felt embarrassed.

"Cicely." She stood across from the coffee table, the first time she'd called Cicely by name since she arrived.

They hadn't had much interaction, not for lack of trying on Danielle's part, but Cicely was a tough nut to crack. Nothing seemed to faze her, with her aloof and superior demeanor that had turned

away many who might have wanted to befriend her.

Her carefree, whimsical nature made it seem like a waste of time to get close to her. Despite her gentle, affectionate name, her personality couldn't be further from it. Yet, everyone seemed to like her.

Cicely was taken aback to hear Danielle formally address her, but she knew the seriousness likely meant trouble. Her posture unchanged, she continued to look at Danielle with a lazy gaze, waiting for her to continue.

Danielle's hands were clenched tightly, trying to hold back the turmoil within as she said, "I've been with Seth longer than you have..."

Cicely let out a sardonic chuckle, "So what? You want to talk about who's the other woman here?"

Danielle's face turned a shade redder. At their age, love was something they were just beginning to grasp, the edges of understanding blurry and strange. They knew the words—the labels—but they were just that: terms to be read and ostensibly understood. Actual experience with love was a foreign concept.

The term 'the other woman' was an indisputably derogatory one. Cicely's blunt words had left Danielle floundering.

A lazy, mocking smile curled on Cicely's lips. "By your logic, since we're going to be living under the same roof for the foreseeable future, does that make us a couple?"

Danielle was speechless.

"That's obviously ridiculous," Cicely said, her laugh ringing out as she twirled a pen into her messy bun. "You don't fancy me, and I surely don't fancy you. So the whole confession thing is off the table."

"But Seth never said he fancied you." Danielle protested.

"But I confessed to him, didn't I?" Cicely's smile cooled as she rose gracefully from the couch.

"Seth is mine. I want him, and if I can't have him, I'll fight for him. If I can't win him, I'll cling to him. As long as the end result is to my satisfaction, I'm not above playing dirty. Besides, I made my move on Seth first. Whatever you want to discuss now, it's too late."

Danielle shook her head in disbelief. "This is pure possessiveness. It isn't love. And he's not going to let you push him around, he might not even fancy you, let alone love you."

"Bullshit." Cicely tossed the notebook onto the coffee table. "I want him, and that's why I'm possessive. It's enough that I fancy him. If he loves me, great; if not, I'll make him say he does every day. Love's just a word, right? As long as he's with me, does it really matter?"

It mattered a great deal. Cicely silently answered her own question. Of course, she wanted Seth to love her back. But if he didn't, she couldn't just let him walk away, could she? At the moment, she hadn't thought that far ahead.

Danielle was stunned into silence by this irrational proclamation. Yet, as unreasonable as Cicely's words were, they were irrefutable. She fancied him, and having him near was enough. Certainly better than loving someone from afar and suffering for it.

"Danielle, I don't care how long you two have been living together, but from the moment I declared him mine, he's off-limits to anyone else."

Danielle stayed silent too long, staring at Cicely. "Do you really think he'll indulge you like that? Stay with you even if he doesn't love you? Cicely, you're spoiled. Not everyone is part of the Ellis family. Have you ever thought about what you'd do without the Ellis family?"

Cicely scoffed dismissively. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

How could the Ellis family ever not exist? It was there, backed by her father, and someday it would be hers, along with Seth.

Little did she know that Danielle's offhand retort would prove prophetic.

...

The next day, Cicely visited the Diaz residence. Patty was home, lounging on the sofa with a spread of snacks on the coffee table. She greeted Cicely and invited her to sit.

"Cicely," Patty said casually, as Cicely approached the couch.

Patty offered a faint smile. "How's your study going? Jumping straight into the seventh grade, do you think you can keep up?"

"Seth's tutoring me well. I should be fine."

Patty nodded. "That's good."

The air hung with silence for a moment before Patty suggested, "Why don't you hang out with Danielle more? It's rare to have a summer off. You girls should be out having fun. Danielle's also an Ellis heiress, but she doesn't know the family as well as you do. She's shy, so you should spend some time with her. Well, now that I think about it. If you skip a grade, won't Danielle feel even more alone?"

Cicely unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth, savoring the sweetness before her expression eased. "Danielle? She might be more comfortable on her own."

Patty pushed the candy dish closer to Cicely and looked at her curiously. "Are you two not getting along?"

"It's not really about getting along. She's new to the Ellis family, trying to be sweet and charming to win people over. I'm different. She might think I'm tarnishing the Ellis reputation. We're not in the same league."

Patty slowly withdrew her hand, sat up straight, and a hint of an enigmatic smile appeared in her eyes. "She's new, and everything's strange to her. It's not wrong to be well-behaved."

Cicely watched Patty for a moment before standing up with her backpack.

"I should get going, I have a test today."

Patty smiled warmly. "Go on, I'll have the maid send up some juice and cake for you."

"Thanks, Patty."

Cicely nodded and headed upstairs, her smile fading as she left the room.

Entering Seth's room, she flopped onto his bed. Seth finished a page in his book before setting it aside and looking at her. "Here for a nap?"

Cicely sat up abruptly, fixing her gaze on Seth. "What do you fancy more? Someone sweet and cute, or someone like me?"

Seth raised an eyebrow, "You realize you're not exactly the sweet and cute type?"

"Just answer my question."

Seth glanced at the bandage on her wrist, yet to be removed. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Cicely frowned. "You don't know what type you fancy?"

He hummed noncommittally. "Haven't met anyone I fancy yet, so I wouldn't know."

Cicely stood up from the bed, taking a deep breath to quell her frustration. "Fine, now you know. You fancy someone like me."

Seth walked over to his desk. "Who I fancy is my business."

Cicely's frown deepened as she moved closer to Seth, tilting her head back to look at him. “Alright then, let me ask you this, do you like girls like Danielle?”

Seth casually pulled out the exam paper he had prepared earlier, a barely noticeable smirk playing at the corner of his lips. He glanced at the clock, his voice cool and detached, “Not necessarily.”

Cicely's complexion darkened, she squeezed her way in front of Seth, gazing up at him with a mix of determination and defiance. “Seth, I won’t allow you to have feelings for someone else.”

She wedged herself between the desk and Seth's body, her back against the desk and her front pressing close to him. With her chin up and a serious expression, she exuded an arrogance that was uniquely hers.

Seth took a step back to put some distance between them, looking down at her. “Cicely, you’re not even old enough to be thinking about dating, you know?”

“That’s not true. Kids in kindergarten know about dating these days.”

“So, you think they’ll stay together in the future?”

Cicely blinked, “So, are you worried that my feelings for you won’t last?”

Seth's eyes narrowed slightly, and he pushed her gently aside. “You’re overthinking it.”

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