Cindy sat down for a brief moment before she got up and went into Aurora's room to make the bed. It had been a while since somebody had stayed in this room, so changing the sheets was absolutely necessary.
Aurora waited, but after a minute or two, she followed Cindy into the room and tugged on her hand apologetically. "I'm sorry that you guys are getting in trouble because of me again."
She froze. "No, don't say that. None of this is your fault, and besides, what's family if we don't stick together to solve a problem, right? It was that man who came and messed with us, so don't go blaming yourself for any of this." With that, she looped her arm through Aurora's and snuggled close to her, then added consolingly, "We're a family, so don't think that you're imposing on us or anything. You don't have to be quite so formal with us."
Aurora smiled and reached up to stroke Cindy's hair. Then, she said ruefully, "I'm just worried that I'll become a burden to the both of you."
"No, that's nonsense," Cindy reassured. "How could you ever be a burden when you're family?"
Aurora did not say anything else as she helped Cindy change the sheets. Then, she lay on the newly-made bed and felt exhaustion wash over her.
That ignorant, boorish man had drained Aurora of her energy after badgering her the entire day, and she didn't get much rest. Now that she could finally relax in the safe harbor that was Cindy and Ian, her body caved into the fatigue.
Cindy waited until Aurora had tucked herself into bed before she turned off the bedroom lights on her way out the door.
When she returned to the living room, Ian had already finished another round of video games. He was sitting on the couch with his gaze fixed on the television that had been turned off.
Cindy walked over to take a good look at him. She could tell that his cavalier attitude had been for show, and he probably didn't want Aurora to worry. She sat down on the couch while feeling sympathetic and linked arms with him.
Then, the woman leaned into his shoulder as she said, "Hey, don't worry about this. The incident will blow over before we know it."
He sighed. "I was just thinking about how rough my mom must have had it when she was dating the guy. Come on, you've seen how shameless he was today."
Cindy had obviously seen how thick-skinned the man was; it angered her to no end, but everyone in this world had different personalities, and mankind was divided between the good and the bad. Some stood on moral high grounds, but some people had no boundaries just like the man.
He was no anomaly, and they had seen plenty of those who were probably like him in the entertainment industry, albeit not as outwardly shameless as he was.
Cindy had already grown accustomed to things like this, and Ian likely shared the same indifference too. However, it involved Aurora this time, and he was naturally defensive of her. The both of them stayed up late that night, and when they returned to their bedroom, they washed up and got ready for bed.
They had been affected by today's events, and as soon as they lay down, they turned off the lights.
That night, Cindy slept as well as she could have. It wasn't the most restful slumber, but it was good enough.
When she woke up the next day, she was startled to find that Ian was not on the other side of the bed.
She bolted upright and quickly turned to look out the window before she grabbed her phone.
It was still early in the morning, and even on the days when Ian needed to rush over to work on the set, he wouldn't be up so soon.
As such, she hurried down from the bed. When she walked out the bedroom door, she was greeted by the sight of Ian on the couch.
He was speaking on the phone, and Hannah was likely on the other line. It was hard to tell if anything good or bad had happened seeing as he kept his tone neutral, but he sounded solemn as though he was on a business call.
Meanwhile, Aurora's bedroom door was open as well, but she did not venture out of the room.
Cindy walked over to the doorway and saw that Aurora was standing by the window with her head low. She was scrolling through her phone, but there was no telling whether she was texting someone or browsing through the news.
Cindy went back to the couch and stood there. Ian hung up the phone after saying a few more words, and she quickly seized the moment to ask, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Ian paused in thought for a beat or two before he explained, "It's nothing that we haven't already seen coming since last night."
Upon hearing this, Cindy could already guess what had happened. She hastened back to the room and grabbed her phone before going online to check the news.
Sure enough, things turned out the way they had anticipated. The man had panicked and flown into a rage after he found out that he did not successfully blackmail them into giving him money.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Returning EX (John and Sophia)
So what happens to Ian and Cindy. Is she/ or does she get pregnant? Do they go back to the city and Ian works with Logan? Does Aurora stay in the entertainment industry or return with Ian? Terrible ending, who cares if Aurora was drinking/drunk with colleagues. What happened with Ian and Cindy?!...
Get rid of Gary. Apparently Cindy is too dumb to figure out his motives 😡...
Why are you trying to break them up when they just got together and are a loving couple. Let them stay close and move back to their true friends, Logan, Lola, John and Sophia!...
Sure hope Ian pulls his head out of his behind and works this out with Cindy. His brother needs him at the company and neither one of them truly like the celebrity life. Sophia and Lola will love her …....
I can’t wait for John to take down the Bailey’s including Isabelle so he, Sophia, William and Matilda can live in peace. Introduce Yolanda to Richard so they are out of the picture....
Ugh, don’t break up Sophia and John… they belong together and Sophia is just stubborn for no reason...
Sophia lives John, he just needs to tell her he loves her and get on with their life and family. Too much interference from others....
Sophia is so stupid....
John needs to man up, tell his mother and Isabelle to take a flying leap and confess to Sophia that he made a horrible mistake in divorcing her. This story is taking too long and once again, the bitches are looking like they are on the right side. Awful...