The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 421

I sat down beside him, murmured my thanks, and then realized, rather coincidentally, that the seats directly in front of me were occupied by Zelda and Zoey.

"What did you say? Director Sterling left last night?" Zelda asked Zoey, her face alight with gossip.

The younger woman's head was bowed, her expression sullen and somewhat downcast. "Yeah, we hadn't even finished dinner. He took a call, his face completely changed, and he left in a hurry."

Ferris had left the hotel last night?

I hadn't wanted to pay attention to Ferris's situation, but this news genuinely surprised me, and though I kept my eyes on my phone, my ears instinctively perked up.

"Who was calling that made him leave in such a rush, abandoning your candlelit dinner?" Zelda voiced the exact question on my mind. "And why didn't he take you with him? He really had the heart to leave you all alone in an empty room?"

"Zelda, don't say that." The younger woman's ears turned red as she gave Zelda a shy, half-reproachful, half-coquettish push. "You know perfectly well that Ferris and I haven't..."

She was likely worried about the optics, refusing to let Zelda speak of such things with all our colleagues present.

But everyone had eyes, so who couldn't see the truth? Her attempt at concealment was painfully transparent.

Sure enough, Zelda teased her with a smile, "Well, it won't be long now. You're just waiting for the right moment."

Zoey's ears grew even redder as she bit her lip, shooting a quick glance back at me before hastily looking away, her voice dropping lower. "It's not what you think... but Ferris really was tied up last night. It was Mrs. Sterling who called him. She seemed to have something urgent, demanding he return to The Sterling Estate."

"Oh, so it was Mrs. Sterling." Realization dawned on Zelda, followed a moment later by a look of regret. "Oh my, then you really should have gone back with him last night! That would have been the perfect opportunity to meet the parents. After all, Director Sterling has already met yours."

Just then, Zoey's hushed voice chimed in again, her sweet tone laced with shyness and overflowing with happiness.

"Actually, Ferris does plan to do that."

"But he said now isn't the right time. He wants to wait a bit until the family matters are sorted out before taking me to meet them."

A deafening silence fell over me.

Something within me completely collapsed, drowning out the rest of Zoey's words as a suffocating agony tore through my chest.

Every fiber of my being ached, the despair seeping into my bones and ruthlessly shattering my resolve.