The Returning EX (John and Sophia) novel Chapter 1683

Chapter 1683 In the Elevator

Ian had an arm around her shoulder, but he lowered it once he felt her pulling away from him. Both of them stood in front of the elevator, and Cindy quickly cleared her throat to speak. “I was planning to go up really soon. You didn’t have to come down for me,” she uttered.

He didn’t respond to what she said, but changed the topic to ask her a different question instead. “What did he tell you earlier?”

Cindy licked her lips as she tried to think of a way to answer Ian. “Ah… It’s nothing much. It’s mostly about badminton,” she mumbled. I can’t possibly tell Ian what Peter actually said to me, right? I’d be too embarrassed to do that!

Ian obviously didn’t believe her. He stood in his spot even when the elevator doors had opened. After some hesitation, Cindy parted her legs to step into the elevator. At the very last second, before the elevator doors shut, Ian stuck his hand out to stop the doors before letting himself in.

The doors shut once both of them were inside, but Ian didn’t press the button for their floor, although he was standing right next to the wall. Cindy noticed that something was wrong, but she was too afraid to provoke him, so she simply leaned closer to press the button. However, the moment she reached over, he grabbed her arm before pulling her close to him. She wasn’t prepared for his sudden force, and she immediately tripped and fell toward him.

Ian reached his other hand out to hold her shoulder before pressing her against the wall of the elevator. Cindy’s eyes were bulging with surprise—she felt like her eyeballs were about to pop out of her head. Isn’t this how a man usually corners a woman in all the television dramas? Her mind couldn’t help but think of such thoughts.

His hand was pressed against the wall beside her face, and he knitted his brows as he stared at her. She couldn’t stop herself from blushing. She tried to push him off of her, but he was as firm as a statue—he didn’t budge at all.

Cindy felt too shy to look into his eyes, so her gaze flickered all over the place as she spoke to him. “What are you doing? You haven’t pressed the button for our floor. Didn’t you say that you wanted breakfast?”

Breakfast? He thought. How am I supposed to be in the mood for breakfast when things have turned out like this? He kept his mouth sealed as he glared at Cindy. If I were to compare her to the other faces that I’ve seen in the entertainment industry, she’d only pass as an average-looking girl. Yet, why is my heart pounding as I look at her? It felt like flowers were blooming inside me when she was hugging me this morning.

All of a sudden, Ian thought about their visit to Constance Residence a while ago. That day, when he saw Sophia and John acting all lovey-dovey with each other, he no longer felt the sense of grief and loss that he used to feel. He had genuinely felt happy for both of them. That moment was when he knew that he no longer had feelings for Sophia.

After contemplating for a while, Ian decided to ask Cindy the question he had in mind. “Did Peter tell you that he liked you?”

Cindy’s face was already flushing from standing so close to Ian, but after he asked her this question, she felt her cheeks burning even more. Ian got his answer when he saw how much Cindy stuttered and struggled to reply to him. This led him to burst into laughter. “What about you? How did you respond to him?”

“I rejected him, of course. How could I say yes?” Cindy uttered with her gaze lowered. They had only met for a few days, and all Peter had was probably a minor crush on her. He probably misunderstood his own feelings and thought that there was something more.

Cindy was aware of the fact that his feelings couldn’t be any more than infatuation. He doesn’t know my strengths and weaknesses, and he’s saying that he likes me just by looking at my appearance. That’s such a shallow way of falling for someone.

Ian nodded without saying anything else, but his gaze remained fixed on Cindy. She felt uneasy that Ian was scrutinizing her, so she protested in a weak tone, “Can you press the elevator’s button now?”

Ian didn’t have to look at the buttons to know which one to press. The elevator began to move up, but Ian hadn’t budged at all. Cindy had no choice but to continue holding her breath. Earlier, she had pressed her palm against his chest, but she pulled her hand away after she failed to push him off of her.

As the elevator traveled upward, she stood upright with her back pressed against the wall—it looked almost as if she was a soldier standing at attention.