Madeline Crawford and Jeremy Whitman
Chapter 1976

Shirley looked out of the car window and saw that the house before her looked familiar.

At this moment, Carter had already gotten out of the car and was at the side of the car in the rain opening the car door. He then bent down and carried Shirley out of the car, ignoring her protests. "Carter, do you still intend to keep making mistakes now, even at this stage?"

As if mute, Carter remained silent as in the face of Shirley's accusations.

"Carter!'

"Stop talking."

Carter finally spoke, but he did not stop walking.

He carried Shirley to the sofa in the house, then he brought in Shirley's luggage and wheelchair before closing the door.

The rain and wind were rustling outside beneath the gloomy sky.

Inside the house, Carter turned on the heating lamp and heater, and no one could feel the cold wind and haze of December in the house.

Carter removed his coat and slowly sat down in front of Shirley. He then picked up a red apple and started peeling it.

Shirley looked at Carter's every move coldly, and then she also stopped speaking.

She wanted to see what Carter would do.

Carter slowly peeled the apple and did not look at Shirley. He only stopped when he had peeled the entire apple to its core.

"Are you satisfied with the outcome?" Carter asked, breaking the tense and silent atmosphere.

He lifted his bottomless black eyes and looked faintly at Shirley who remained calm.

"I really didn't expect that, when I was questioned, you'd stand up and help everyone drive me away.

31

Carter chuckled at himself, then he simultaneously tossed the fruit knife onto the table and threw the apple's core in his hand into the bin.

He stood up, and his tall and lean body slowly walked up to Shirley. With his back to the light, his shadow enveloped Shirley like darkness.

However, Shirley was no longer scared of him. She sat there calmly with her resolute and leveled gaze.

"So? Did you kidnap me and bring me here to vent your frustrations? No matter. I'm already in this state, so you can do whatever you want. I won't be able to fight back anyway." When Carter heard what Shirley said, he furrowed his brows.

"Is that how you see me now?" Carter asked as he chuckled coldly. "I wouldn't have wasted so much effort to do something to you."

"What do you want then?" Shirley asked directly.

After she said that, Shirley saw Carter bending down at his waist slowly and approached her.

She leaned back slightly in disgust, but she eventually could not stop him from getting close to her entirely.

Her heart skipped a few beats, and the rhythm of her heart told her that she still had feelings for Carter.

However, she suppressed those feelings deep in her heart.

That was because they could no longer return to how it had been.

"You've conspired with Eveline to completely destroy my reputation in front of everyone. Now that I'm a 'wanted criminal', I ought to do something, don't you think?" Shirley frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Carter curled the corners of his lips and lifted his hand. As his cold fingertips landed on Shirley's cheek, his smile seemed extremely sly.

"Shirley, don't be scared. I won't do anything to you. Now, I have nothing except you. I will protect you. I won't let you get hurt."

"But it's a different matter for Eveline and Jeremy."

As Carter changed the subject, his eyes suddenly became sinister and dark. "Thanks to that test reagent you developed back then, it's now finally time for it to shine."