CHAPTER 216 TO JOE’S SURPRISE

Henry's glower was massive. He could guess why Yvonne Frey went to sleep with Sue. It was plain as day. She did not want to sleep with him.

"Yes, of course!" Henry spat from his gritted teeth, his tone deep and low.

"Sir, you may go over and call madam now." Sue pointed at the next room door.

Henry made a wave. "No hurry. I'll go over after she's deep asleep."

"Huh?" Sue was confused.

Henry did not explain further, making his instruction. "Come for me again after she's deep asleep."

"Okay," Sue complied.

Henry then closed the door and went back to his room. Around half an hour later, Sue knocked on his door again. Going over with her, he saw that Yvonne was truly asleep.

He watched her for a while from the side of the bed and told Sue, "You can sleep next door."

Sue finally understood why he said to get him after Yvonne slept. This was what he was thinking.

"Sure. Have a good rest, sir." Sue had a hand over her chuckle as she made her way out.

Henry sat down slowly on the edge of the bed and looked at the slumbering woman on the bed with a dark gaze. This woman had repeatedly wanted to sleep separately with him, this time, coming to Sue. N o matter how far she ran, however, he always had a solution.

With that in mind, there was a hint of a preening smirk in Henry’s eyes as he flipped the covers to lie down beside Yvonne. Collecting her into his embrace, he rested his chin on her head before drifting into sleep with closed eyes.

A few days passed swiftly and throughout them, Yvonne never showed her sunny side to Henry. The man was sly. No matter how she avoided him and prevented herself from sleeping with him, he would b e by her side each time she woke up.

It enraged her yet she was powerless against it. Luckily, he did not do anything to her. Otherwise, she would feel worse.

"Sir, Mr. Woods is here." Sue came into the living room gleefully followed by Joe. This belongs to .

When Joe saw Henry and Yvonne, he greeted them with respect. "Mr. Lancaster, madam."

Yvonne replied to him with a polite smile. "Nice to see you, Mr. Woods."

Not wanting to see her smiling at another man, Henry took a step forward and blocked her entirely behind him before he replied faintly, "You’re here."

His action was so natural that it was unnoticeable. One would merely think that he was moving closer to Joe to discuss work. Joe assumed the same, quickly unclasping his work bag and retrieving a document to pass it over. "Mr. Lancaster, this is the investment contract you've asked me to draft. Please have a look."

Henry took it and scrutinized the content. "It's fine."

He closed the agreement and passed it back to Joe, asking, "Is the car ready?"

"Yes. The truck is parked at the entrance of the village. The villagers are already moving the goods to i t while the car back to the city has been prepared too. It's right outside the front yard," Joe answered.

Henry nodded in approval. "Wait for me outside."

"Sure." Joe turned to head out.

It was only then Henry pulled Yvonne out from behind him. "Are you done packing?”

Yvonne's mood dampened once she heard it. “I already finished packing a few days ago.”

He had blackmailed her to cancel his investment in the village if she refused to go back with him. She could only follow his words and pack up obediently, waiting for the moment to come.

"Since you’re done, wait for me in the car with Sue. I’ll head over to Chief Frey’s to sign the contract and be back,” Henry said.

Not wanting to reply to him, Yvonne nodded in response.

Henry knew that she was unwilling to go back currently, but he was not mad at her attitude. Giving her nose a pinch, he went to the chief's house with Joe.

Yvonne rubbed at her reddened nose, a big pout adorning her face.

This man was growing more natural as he did things like this now. He touched her time and again, be it a light pinch on her nose or a ruffle of her hair. From the awkwardness in the beginning, she was getting used to them now.

"Madam, let’s get in the car first," Sue said as she dragged two suitcases out of the room.

Reeling in her thoughts, Yvonne dropped her hand from her nose. "Okay."

"Let's go." Sue gestured for her to walk ahead.

Dismissing unnecessary courtesy, Yvonne hopped onto the car first.

Henry came back shortly, around half an hour later.

When Yvonne took a glance at him, she realized that h e carried a lot of things in his hands. Unable to hold in her curiosity, she asked, "What are these?"

"Delicacies from Chief Frey," Henry answered, short and sweet.

Yvonne nodded and ceased the conversation.

The car was ignited and was slowly driven out of the village in a few minutes.

Watching the village that grew smaller in sight from the rearview mirror, a sense of longing filled Yvonne’s heart. She had come back this time with the intention to stay a few months only to leave before she could stay a week. She did not even know the next time she would be back.

"You can't see it anymore. Turn your head back." Henry's voice rang beside her ear suddenly.

Yvonne lowered her head to take a swipe at the corner of her eyes before withdrawing her gaze without saying anything.

Henry knew that she was reluctant to part with the place. Swooping her and making the girl lie on his lap, he said, "If you long to stay so badly, I’ll come back with you for a short stay next time, okay?"

Yvonne kept quiet, moving herself to get up, but Henry's hand was on her shoulder, keeping her down." I’ll take it as a yes since you're not saying anything. Take a nap. We'll be there when you wake up." 1

"I don’t want to nap.” Yvonne pressed her lips together, her tone distant.

Henry's hand went to stroke her back. "Read a book if you don't want to nap then."

As he spoke, he opened the drawer in the car and took out a book for her. Yvonne accepted it in confusion and realized that it was a novel, a famous detective novel at that.

As if discovering a new mainland when her gaze fell o n the novel, Yvonne's gaze at Henry was of shock. " You read novels?"

Henry rested his arm on the car door and made a faint hum. "To kill time. This title is quite interesting."

"Is it?" Yvonne flipped the book skeptically.

This was probably not her preferred genre as she got bored after a few pages, unable to get on with it. In the end, she only got sleepy from the content. It was like being in a class. The teacher would go on and on about whatever it was on the platform while the students could not get a thing into their head as if they were hypnotized.

Ultimately, Yvonne gave in to sleep and fell asleep with a yawn. The book in her hand dropped beside Henry’s feet with a plop.

Bending to pick the book up, Henry kept it in the drawer before taking off his jacket to drape it on Yvonne, swooping down to press a kiss on her head.

Joe who was driving caught the scene accidentally and shuddered, feeling goosebumps running through him. "Mr. Lancaster, this is my first time seeing you being so gentle with madam."

"Is something the issue?" Henry spoke in a hushed tone.

Joe shook his head. "No, no, I just thought that it was fresh, that's all. When you were together with Miss Conrad in the past, you'd never done something so intimate to her before, so I'm just a little surprised.”

"About?" Henry asked indifferently as he stroked Yvonne's hair.