The Enticing CEO’s Chosen Bride
Chapter 1993

Chapter 1993

An hour later, the office regained its tranquility.

Seth had brought Patty's private physician, who administered a sedative to help Patty calm down. Patty was now resting in the break room.

"Ma'am has rarely been sick in recent years, and you've always been cautious about this. What happened today?"

Seth's expression was icy.

Seth wasn't talking and looked rather pallid, so the doctor carefully added another piece of advice. "Please do not upset her again, and don't go against her wishes. You've been doing so well with this over the years."

Seth stood by the bed in the break room, silently watching Patty's pale, sleeping face, lost in thought for a long time.d2

The doctor called out to him uncertainly, "Mr. Diaz."

Seth slowly turned away from Patty, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke softly, "I understand."

Exiting the break room, Seth walked to his desk, pulled open a drawer, and took out a cigarette. He lit it and then picked up his cell phone, pacing toward the window.

The office was silent. The figure by the window stood rigid as if rooted to the spot. Occasionally, a faint wisp of smoke rose from that direction, then silently vanished into the air.

He fiddled with his phone for a while, pausing midway before continuing.

When the cigarette was down to the butt, he turned and stubbed it out in the crystal ashtray on the desk. Once again he looked at his phone, finally unlocking it.

Cicely's fever had subsided. When she woke up in the morning, she had breakfast and appeared to be in good spirits.

Erik and Creighton had joined her for breakfast, and now that her looking better, they felt much relieved.

"School's starting soon. Got everything you need? If you don't feel up to it, I can have someone prepare everything for you," Creighton offered.

"Hmm." Cicely pondered for a moment, "Clothes, shoes? Maybe I'll pop by the stationery store later, and pick out some nice pens and notebooks." Thinking about it, she realized she hadn't really visited a stationery store in many years.

"Sure. Isaac can go with you later."

Cicely took another spoonful of porridge, pausing briefly when she heard Creighton's suggestion, then nodded lightly. "Okay."

After breakfast, Cicely went upstairs to change. While she was halfway through, her phone rang. It was Seth calling.

Without hesitation, she picked up.

"Hello?"

Seth hadn't expected her to answer so quickly, and for a moment, there was a prolonged silence.

"Did you dial the wrong number or what?" Cicely glanced at the screen; it was indeed him.

It took a moment for Seth to speak, his voice deep. "I thought you'd still be asleep."

Cicely laughed, "So you decided to bother me while I was supposed to be sleeping?"

"If you hadn't answered, I wouldn't have called again."

Cicely frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"Is your fever gone? You sound fine."

"Yeah, what, was I supposed to keep burning up for days?"

Another pause from the other end, "And your foot? Is it better?"

This time, Cicely didn't respond right away. Silence fell on Seth's side as well. After a while, Cicely spoke first, "Seth, what do you really want to say? When did you become so hesitant? Do I have some kind of rapid self-healing power? Can a scrape heal completely in less than twelve hours?"

Having a valid point to argue, she spoke with newfound boldness.

"Just take care and we'll talk after you've recovered."

Cicely suddenly froze, her grip tightening on the phone. After about ten seconds, she simply said "Okay" and hung up.

She was only wearing jeans; her T-shirt lay beside her on the bed, and she listlessly pulled it over her head, then sat down.

Some things seemed clear to her, yet they were still uncertain. She wanted to ask, but anxiety held her back. She feared that asking one more question might bring the answer she least wanted to hear.

Cicely sat on the bed for several minutes until there was a knock on the door.

"Miss, there's a visitor downstairs. Mr. Creighton wants you to come down."

The maid got no reply, "Miss? Are you there?"

After a moment, the bedroom door swung open, and Cicely stepped out. "What does any visitor have to do with me?"

The maid just shook her head.

Cicely descended the stairs.

In the living room sat a young, handsome man whose appearance and demeanor immediately suggested that he was no ordinary gentleman. Upon seeing her, he stood up, a slight forced warmth in his otherwise aloof smile. "Hello, Ms. Cicely, I manage The Watson Hotel. I'm terribly sorry about the incident last night that caused you distress."

Cicely understood; this was someone from the hotel coming to apologize and mitigate the damage. She gave a wry smile, approached him, and looked up into the handsome face across from her, her gaze audacious.

"You're in charge of The Watson Hotel? You don't look much older than me. How did you get to run the renowned Watson Hotel?"

The man casually stepped back a half-step, maintaining a polite smile. "Thanks to my father's influence."

Cicely's eyes twinkled as it clicked, "Ah, so you're the son of the Watson family. That explains it."

Claud simply nodded, acknowledging her assumption. "Though the incident has happened and the harm can't be undone, I felt it was necessary to apologize to you in person. How can we make amends to you?"

"What to do?" Cicely tilted her head, pretending to ponder before looking at Claud with a playful smile, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Claud smiled lightly and said. "No."

"Then, that settles it," Cicely tilted her chin up and said with a smile, "School starts in three days, so how about you keeping me company until then."

Claud paused a beat, "Not worried about your boyfriend getting jealous?"

"Would jealousy stop you from accompanying me? Are you apologizing to him, or to me?"

Claud’s smile held a hint of chill. "I do not believe that I owe that gentleman any apologies."

Cicely raised an eyebrow, "Alright then. You're coming shopping with me now."

Creighton chimed in at just the right moment, "Cicely, that's enough."

"Got it. Who'd want to cross the Watson family's young master, right?"

Once outside, Claud personally opened the car door for Cicely, and had the driver step aside, taking the wheel himself.

"This car smells like disinfectant," Cicely complained.

"Sorry about that." Without further ado, Claud started the engine.

As they drove away from the Ellis family estate, there wasn't much conversation between the two strangers. Claud broke the silence, "You looked a bit off when you came downstairs earlier. I heard from your dad that your fever's gone."

Cicely leaned lazily against the seatback, watching the sycamore leaves flutter to the ground. "Yeah. I got a call I shouldn't have answered."

There seemed to be a story behind those words, but Claud didn't pry.

"I'm not too familiar with P City, so do you have a specific destination in mind today?"

"Let's hit the stationery store."

Claud glanced at her, "What grade are you in?"

"College. Is that a problem?"

"No problem."

They drove in silence for a while longer until Cicely suddenly said, "Actually, let's make a stop at a phone store first."

"Sure."

Cicely walked out with the latest smartphone model and got herself a new number. She then took out her old phone, "Trade this in?"

The salesperson glanced at the nearly new phone, "We'll take it."

"Sure."

Claud observed all this quietly, offering no comment. He’d thought that accompanying a woman on a shopping spree would be the ultimate test of patience, but the woman beside him seemed to have even less of it than he did. They were in and out of the stationery store in less than ten minutes, with just a few pens and notebooks.

"I need a break. Let's sit somewhere."

After a coffee shop stop and a restaurant meal, they had spent thirty minutes driving downtown, ten minutes buying a phone, another ten in the stationery store, with the rest of the day spent at the coffee shop and now the restaurant.

Claud had anticipated an easy mission based on Cicely's physical strength, but after lunch, she powered through the mall for three hours straight.

His mood was souring by the minute. Hers wasn't much better.

*

Ray’s family business was in showbiz, and the recent scandal had sent their troubles skyrocketing, with endless drama.

Not only were their managed celebrities starting to rebel, but their scripts were under pressure from other shareholders eager to dump them before they lost value. Directors and producers were watching closely, leveraging public opinion and a full-scale boycott to push Ray's family to their limits.

Within three days, Ray's family were forced to sell off their most valuable scripts.

Everyone had their eye on those scripts, but no one was a fool; they waited, knowing the prices would drop further with time. They didn't expect all the high-quality scripts to be snapped up so quickly by some unknown media company.

The news caused widespread confusion. Who was this new player? Cicely, eyeing the unfamiliar name on the screen, couldn't help but smirk.

Who indeed?

Everything had been orchestrated by him, and now, there was no way that he would leave any chances for others.

He was capable, alright. She knew he had intentions in the film industry, but she hadn't expected him to actually pull off starting a company and securing top-notch scripts on his first go.

Though she wasn't savvy about the ins and outs, she understood that the film industry was highly lucrative. High quality, solid teams, and good marketing meant success was almost guaranteed.

With Seth's clear and extravagant action, it was obvious he wouldn't make a move unless it was of significant importance. He had been planning for so long, aiming to establish a firm foothold in the industry – he was determined.

Such audacity was exactly what she admired in a man.

At ten in the morning, Claud arrived at the Ellis family estate promptly.

The first day was stationery stores and malls.

The second day, malls and supermarkets.

On the third day, Claud asked directly, "Which mall are we hitting today?"

"Umm. let's skip the mall today. I'm sick of clothes and shoes. Let's go to the amusement park. I've never been to one before."

Claud frowned, glancing at her feet, "You sure you want to do that?"

"Absolutely."

By four in the afternoon, Claud was carrying Cicely back to the Ellis family home. Her pallor alarmed the butler who opened the door. "Miss, what's happened?"

As the household gathered in the living room, Claud entered carrying Cicely. His gaze met Seth's for a brief moment, the intensity in the other man's eyes unforgettable.

Creighton stepped forward, "What's going on... What now?" It seemed like one thing after another lately.

Claud, his face set in a cold expression, said tersely, "She hurt her foot at the amusement park and refused to go to the hospital."

There was a moment of silence before Creighton acted, ordering Brody to call a doctor.

"Second room on the right, upstairs. If you think you can handle it, I don't mind you carrying me a bit longer." Cicely, who had been frowning the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

Seth, who had just started to approach, stopped in his tracks at her words.

Claud gave her a look and carried her upstairs, with Creighton following closely. After settling Cicely on the bed, Claud dusted off his impeccable suit, earning an eye roll from her. "That's enough. I accept your apology. You can go now."

Claud lingered, staring at her before suddenly lifting the hem of her pants.

Cicely flinched back, "What are you doing?"

Claud caught a glimpse of blood seeping out from the edge of her sock around the ankle. He stared at her and asked, "Do you have a tendency for self-harm?"

Creighton walked in, and Cicely's eyes caught the figure behind him. She instinctively pulled her feet back.

Claude pulled his hand back, casually grabbing a wet wipe from the nightstand beside Cicely's bed.

He wiped his hands with a nonchalance, and said, "Hey, it was me who brought you to the amusement park. You got hurt on my watch, so just walking away doesn't seem right."

"Your job here is done," Cicely replied.

Claude paused, his gaze dropping to meet hers as a faint smile played at the corner of his lips. "Who says I'm here on a job? Can't a guy just want to see you're alright without an agenda?"

Cicely looked at him, a hint of surprise flickering across her face.

With a quirk of his eyebrow, Claude's eyes briefly darted to her feet before he stepped closer, tossing the wet wipe aside. "Let me help you with your shoes first," he offered, reaching out toward Cicely's hand.

But before he could make contact, another hand intercepted. Claud lifted his gaze to meet Seth's indifferent face.

"Mr. Watson, I'll take it from here," Seth said coolly.

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