"Ding dong—"
The phone chid, and Audrey Sutton quickly picked it up to check.
Faye Xavier had replied with a voice ssage: "Sister-in-law, I just saw your ssage after the eting. The ticket for Master Shane this ti wasn’t booked by , but I did drive him to the airport this morning. It was probably around eight or nine o’clock flight."
Based on this timing, Audrey Sutton calculated that he might be on this ship.
She still hadn’t been able to reach him, and her heart was heavy with worry.
She stared blankly at the rescue live stream on her computer screen for a few minutes, then dialed his number again.
"Ring—ring—ring—"
Did it go through?
Audrey was montarily stunned.
The ringing stopped, and it was very quiet in her ear. Audrey was confused and didn’t know if the call was connected or not.
After pausing for two or three seconds, she was about to take the phone away to check when she suddenly heard a familiar voice on the line: "Why aren’t you saying anything?"
Hearing his voice, Audrey felt a mix of excitent and nervousness.
The excitent ca from knowing he was okay, and the worry in her heart eased.
The nervousness was because she hadn’t called him in a long ti, and now she was actively reaching out to him. Hearing his voice left her mind completely blank; she had no idea what to say.
All she could think was how to co up with an excuse to cover it up.
Should she just not say anything and pretend she accidentally pressed the wrong button?
She felt that this approach seed particularly unconvincing; it might fool others, but fooling Shane Warner seed like it was highlighting her stupidity.
"I...I accidentally dialed the wrong number!"
After saying that, Audrey hurriedly hung up the phone.
Then she regretted making up such a lousy excuse.
And she really wanted to ask where he was, if he was almost there, and remind him to be safe...
But she had already hung up, and even if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to ask.
However, considering that Shane Warner was in touch with her mom, once her mom got in touch with him, she would naturally find out these details.
Sure enough, not a few minutes later, she heard footsteps running upstairs; this kind of errand was usually done by Norman Sutton.
Just like before, he didn’t knock.
He pushed the door open and said to Audrey, "I got in touch with your husband. He’s not on that ship, he just got off a plane and is on his way to the dock."
Audrey feigned indifference and lazily replied, "Got it."
Norman Sutton stood by the door, looked at the Lego on the carpet by the bed, and asked her, "Have you finished building it? I have other sets; do you want one?"
Audrey: "Get a smaller one. I’m just biding my ti until I’m free."
"Also, I heard from Mom that you two are thinking about getting a divorce?"
Audrey paused and looked at Norman, asking, "Why?"
Norman pursed his lips, his expression sowhat apologetic: "Is it because of the kid? Is he blaming you for not protecting the kid well?"
Audrey rolled her eyes at him: "He dares to bla ? I’m the one who wants to divorce him, okay? You little kid, if you don’t know, don’t talk nonsense."
Norman initially looked apologetic, but when he heard Audrey say that, he imdiately reverted to his usual self: "No respect for your elders; is this how you talk to your brother?"
Audrey waved him off: "Hurry up and get out, close the door behind you, don’t disturb while I’m working."
"Keep it up, and when your husband is lured away by another woman, you’ll learn your lesson."
"Shut your jinxing mouth and get lost!"
Audrey thought, if he really ran off with another woman, then such a man didn’t deserve her; whoever wants him can have him.
But she knew Shane Warner wasn’t like that, she did trust him on that front.
...
Due to the delay caused by the cruise incident, Shane Warner only arrived close to four in the afternoon.
Norman Sutton drove to the dock to pick him up and went straight ho.
Audrey stood by the window and watched as their car stopped in the yard. Seeing Shane Warner get out of the car, she couldn’t help but smile.
After waiting for so many days, he finally ca back.
He tricked her again, saying he’d be back in just two or three days.
The weather outside was quite hot, and without much small talk in the parking lot, they went inside.
Once inside the house, Audrey couldn’t see them anymore, but she knew Shane Warner would be up soon, so she imdiately went back to her desk, picking up her drawing tablet to pretend she had been diligently drawing.
Soon enough, she heard footsteps outside the room.
The unhurried sound was completely different from the anxious footsteps of Norman running upstairs. Just by the rhythm of the steps, Audrey guessed it was Shane Warner.
The sound slowly approached the room, and Audrey stiffened her back, though her attention was entirely on the door, she feigned nonchalance.
"Knock knock—" The door knock sounded.
Audrey turned to look at the door, hearing Shane Warner’s voice through the door: "Honey, can I co in?"
He knocked on the door and even asked for permission, which was really unlike his usual style.
Without waiting for Audrey to respond, he pushed the door open and walked in, smiling at her expressionless face, and casually closed the door behind him.
Shane Warner walked straight to her, standing behind her. Audrey didn’t want him to see what she was drawing, so she closed her computer with her hand, maintaining her usual unfriendly tone: "Didn’t I tell you not to co to my house for nothing?"
He didn’t answer but asked instead: "Did you call just now?"
Audrey was montarily stunned and said, "Didn’t I say I dialed wrong?"
The smile on his face deepened as he leaned in a bit closer, saying, "Really?"
Hearing the tone of his question, combined with the smile on his face, Audrey knew her little lie didn’t fool him.
But she still put on a brave front, confidently saying, "I just accidentally pressed it, so what’s the problem? It doesn’t cost you anything to answer, why make such a fuss?"
"Well then, since it went through, why hang up so quickly? Hurt thinking about the bill?"
Audrey snorted coldly: "I don’t care about the phone bill, but there’s nothing to talk about with you."
Shane Warner kept looking at her with a teasing smile, then suddenly bent down close to her ear, saying, "Did you really misdial, or were you just worried I was on that ship and wanted to reach ?"
Audrey frowned with a look of disdain, turning her head away from him, but in truth, his proximity quickened her heartbeat, and a blush crept uncontrollably onto her face.
Yet she intentionally replied in a detached manner: "I just wanted to see if you really got into trouble. After all, we’re not divorced yet, and getting a large inheritance wouldn’t be a bad thing."
Shane Warner’s smile faded as he reached out, pinching her face as if to punish her: "Even if I die, you have to stay widowed for your whole life."
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