After Rebirth She Strikes Back (Simone) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Cyrus sat alone in the empty living room. Out of nowhere, he thought about how Simone was always on her own when he stayed late at work. ‘She must have been scared,‘ he thought to himself.

A moment ago, he’d really wanted to ask her directly, to find out exactly where she’d gone. But he swallowed the urge and kept it to himself.

He knew in her eyes, they were just a superficial father–daughter pair, and that if he pushed her for an answer, it would probably just make her hate him more.

Even so, Cyrus still couldn’t help but worry. He picked up the phone and called Christian.

Christian was deeply lost in a steamy kiss with his girlfriend when the phone on the bedside table suddenly buzzed, startling them both. The unexpected interruption completely ruined the moment. “Who the hell is it now?” his girlfriend muttered irritably.

“The annoying capitalist…” Christian grumbled through clenched teeth as he recognized the number. The light in his eyes went out instantly. Frustrated, he shouted loudly, “Screw this. I’ll quit.”

Even though he kept complaining, Christian’s actions told a different story as he hurriedly put his clothes on. A few seconds later, he hervously picked up the phone. “H–Hello, Mr. Irwin,” he stammered, his tone dripping with forced politeness.

“Check where Simone went today,” Cyrus ordered before hanging up abruptly.

An hour later, Christian called Cyrus. “Mr. Irwin, Ms. Irwin has gone to Capitalton, but I couldn’t find out exactly where she went.”

Cyrus furrowed his brows, a serious expression appearing in his eyes. He wondered, ‘If even Christian can’t find her, someone must have intentionally erased the traces to keep her whereabouts hidden.’

The next afternoon, when Simone returned, she saw Cyrus lying on the couch. As she got closer, she noticed his eyes were tightly shut, and his face looked a bit flushed. The man, always so decisive and commanding, now seemed unusually fragile in his illness.

“Cyrus,” Simone called out, giving him a gentle poke. She called his name a few times, but he didn’t respond. Worried, she placed the back of her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

“Oh no, he’s burning up,” she muttered to herself. ‘Could he have been running a fever all day?‘ she thought.

Matthew and the others had taken a couple of days off, so it was just the two of them at home. Simone checked Cyrus’s temperature and saw it was nearing 104 F. She quickly gave him a fever–reducing pill she had made herself.

She then grabbed a blanket from the bedroom and tucked it snugly around him on the couch. After that, she dampened a towel and placed it on his forehead. Once she finished those, she headed to the kitchen to make some porridge.

When Simone lived with the Spence family, Norah never gave her any living allowance. When Samuel wasn’t home, it was common for Simone to come home and have nothing to eat.

Norah would order the housemaids not to cook for Simone, and no one dared disobey. Over time, Simone learned to cook for herself, and her meals ended up tasting pretty good.

Cyrus had just taken the medicine, but he was still barely conscious. Simone managed to feed him only half the bowl of porridge.

That night, to make it easier to take care of Cyrus, Simone just grabbed a blanket and slept on the couch across from him.

At three in the morning, Cyrus’s body temperature had almost returned to normal. His head, which had been heavy and foggy earlier, now felt surprisingly clear.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Simone asleep on the couch across from him, and a peculiar feeling stirred inside him.

Though he had been drowsy and unable to open his eyes clearly yesterday, he vaguely sensed someone was taking care of him with great care.

The Irwin family was distant and indifferent. Every time he got sick, he would just tough it out alone. Even when it got serious, the most he did was buy some medicine. No one had ever shown him such attentive care before.

For the first time, Cyrus experienced what it felt like to be cared for–and it was his daughter who did it.

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Chapter 9

In the morning, when Simone woke up, Cyrus was still asleep. “That’s strange,” she murmured. She was certain the medicine she had specially made should have worked.

The fever–reducing medicine she developed had no harmful ingredients and was more effective than any other products on the market. She thought there was no reason it wouldn’t bring the fever down.

Simone walked up to Cyrus, crouched down, and gently placed the back of her hand on his forehead. As soon as her hand touched him, his eyes suddenly opened. Startled, she quickly pulled her hand back.

Their eyes met, and Simone felt a bit awkward. She scrambled to her feet and stammered, “You’re… awake?”

Yeah.” Cyrus said, his gaze steady as he kept looking at her.

“Are you feeling any better now?” Simone asked.

The sickly look on Cyrus’s face had disappeared. He got up from the couch, once again exuding his usual cold, sharp demeanor, though a subtle and barely noticeable softness flickered in his eyes.

“Much better. Thanks for taking care of me yesterday.” Cyrus quickly looked away after he spoke.

Cyrus had never thought he would say something like that. What surprised him even more was how he stayed up the entire night when she didn’t come home. It was the first time he truly felt what it meant to care so deeply about someone.

Simone, feeling a little awkward, paused before saying, “It’s… it’s fine.”

Since it was the weekend and the household staff, including August, were all off, Cyrus found it improper to leave Simone alone at home with no one to care for her. He cautiously asked, “Do you want to come with me to my office later?”

Simone spaced out for a brief moment but quickly agreed afterward.

When she was younger, Samuel often took her to the office. However, ever since she returned home six months ago, Samuel’s attitude had changed.

He had clearly shown more than once that he didn’t want to take her there anymore, even though to Samuel, she was just an adopted daughter who posed no threat to him.

Samuel used to be clueless, but after what she experienced in her last life, everything became crystal clear. Samuel only saw Stella as the rightful heir of the Spence family.

His warning was obvious–Samuel shouldn’t think about taking what wasn’t hers. He was worried she might compete with Stella.

The Irwin Group was much larger than the Spence Group. Simone walked beside Cyrus, catching many people’s attention. It wasn’t common to see Cyrus with a woman by his side, and a lot of people couldn’t resist gossiping.

“Wow, who’s that behind Mr. Irwin?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen Mr. Irwin bring a woman to the office.”

“She’s so beautiful, like a princess. The way she walks is so elegant. She’s like the daughter of a tycoon or something.”

“Oh! She looked at me. I’m going to lose my mind.”

The women in the company couldn’t take their eyes off Simone, their gazes sparkling with excitement. They looked at her the way starving wolves might eye a delicious piece of meat.