The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1315 Holley's In Trouble

Jordan winked secretly at Cora.

Cora immediately understood his hint. She nodded slightly at her brother to let him know that she knew what to do.

She had to replace out who Cassie was about to meet later.

After a while, Cassie had to go, so Jordan couldn't do anything but drive her home first. A gentle breeze accompanied their silent ride.

Soon enough, they arrived at their destination. Cassie turned to Jordan and her lips curved into a slightly guilty smile. "I'm sorry Jordan. It should've been my treat. I feel bad that I let you pay the bill."

Of course, Jordan didn't mind, but he took the chance to ask her out again and said, "That's okay. We can do this again. And you can pay next time."

However, Cassie immediately regretted expressing her guilt when she heard Jordan's words. It wasn't that she didn't want to pay the bill; it was because she wasn't interested in seeing him again. However, she still answered politely, "Okay. Next time it's on me."

After a while, they bid each other goodbye and Cassie headed home.

Jordan's eyes looked stern as he watched Cassie's receding figure. He thought about who Cassie was about to meet. Was it a man?

A voice suddenly cut Jordan's thoughts. "Jordan, you're really into Cassie, aren't you?" Even though Cora probably knew the answer, she couldn't help but confirm.

Even then, her question was met with a long silence, but Jordan's breath hitched and his eyes avoided hers.

When Cora saw the way Jordan reacted, she believed that she had gotten an answer of "yes."

Thus, Cora said, "Jordan, I'd like to help you. How about this? Tomorrow when I'm at work, I'll ask Cassie who she met. I promise to tell you the truth when I replace it out." She decided to help Jordan out to make up for accidentally being the third wheel in her brother's date.

"Well, that's a way to go." Jordan gave her a gentle smile. Slight relief flooded Cora when Jordan grinned at her. Hopefully, she'd get something out of Cassie soon.

At Holley's house

The bed was where Holley was confined for now as she had to stay home and recover.

Her body was so weak that she couldn't even manage to open the front door when the doorbell rang. Her low energy level only allowed her to send Black a voice message on WeChat, which told him the door's pass code.

The voice Black heard in the message was weak and hoarse, which prompted him to worry about Holley before he even saw her. "Holley, are you okay? Are you sick?" he called out as soon as he stepped inside. He proceeded to the bedroom. The moment he saw her sprawl out on the bed, his face was filled with worry and concern.

Holley was so pale and her skin was as white as a sheet. Heavy dark circles hung below her eyes and she couldn't stop coughing. Her weakened state showed how terribly sick she was.

"I'm fine..." she choked out. However, her words were cut off by a fit of coughs. "It's just a cold," she croaked. Her eyes reddened and tears started to trickle down her cheeks.

Black hurried over to the bed and bent towards Holley so that she wouldn't have to talk so much anymore. Then, he went to the kitchen and got a cup of hot water.

He went back to her bedside and put his forehead against hers. The heat of Holley's burning skin made him worried and distressed, that he had forgotten what he originally went to Holley for.

"Stay away from me, you might get infected," Holley said as she nudged him gently. Black hardly heard her as her voice was so faint and soft, like a kitten's.

When Black saw that Holley was still concerned over him despite her being sick, he was truly touched. It made him even care about her more, that he wished he was the one sick and confined to the bed instead. He hated that she had to go through all this.

"Holley, you've gotten a really bad fever. Let me take you to the hospital," Black said. He then grabbed some clothes to help her get dressed.

"No, I don't want to go to the hospital. They'll give me a shot and it hurts me so much. I'm scared," Holley refused. She struggled to push away Black's arms. Black never knew that she could be this childish but when he saw her squirm so hard, he felt how scared she was. Thus, he decided to compromise.

"It's alright. We won't go to the hospital," Black soothed her. "But where's your medicine cabinet? I have to get you some pills."

"It's in the cabinet downstairs. No, not that. Maybe in the store room. Wait, it's not there either. Oh Black, I don't know. I don't remember where I put it."

Holley got quite upset when she couldn't recall where she had put the medicine. Her lips pouted and she looked like she was about to cry.

When Black saw her upset and desperate, he figured that the high fever must've been tormenting her with heavy dizziness. He immediately put her back down, covered her with the quilt, and went to replace the medicine cabinet by himself.

Black finally made it to replace it. He gave Holley some pills. And thanks to the side effect of drowsiness, Holley fell asleep soon.

After Black had watched Holley's sleeping form for a while, he gently pecked her forehead and tucked her in. Then, he went to the kitchen to make her some food.

It took him quite a while before he had made some congee. He put some minced pork and preserved egg, which filled the house with the delicious smell of cooked food. It made Black feel like he and Holley were like a family that lived a simple but happy life.

After he finished preparing her meal, he went to Holley to wake her up.

"Holley, honey, wake up. You should eat something."

He nudged her gently as he spoke in a voice full of tenderness, as if he had a precious and fragile porcelain figure in his hands. He had to be gentle. Otherwise he might break it.

Meanwhile, Holley's eyes slightly fluttered open. A low, faint noise came out of her throat, and in that moment Black thought that she looked positively adorable.

Black helped her sit up and let her lean on his chest. He put an arm around her to keep her balanced, then took the spoon to feed her the congee.

It seemed that Black first pushed aside his plan of introducing Holley to his parents. For now, all he cared about was Holley's condition. In turn, Holley was extremely relieved that she didn't have to meet his parents yet, and the thought boosted her appetite.

A few moments later, she had finished the bowl of congee.

Black was also glad when he saw that Holley had regained some energy and was now in a good mood. He took a thermometer, checked her temperature, and was pleased when it wasn't that high.

That night, both of them basked in each other's company. Black was contented when Holley needed him, and they had grown closer more than before. He thought that what they had now was beautiful and valuable, and it made him feel happy and at peace. All he wanted was for this to last forever.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Black," Holley said gratefully. She truly was touched by his tenderness that night. She looked into his eyes as she said those words, then burrowed in his chest.

No words came out of Black's lips, but he tightened his arms around her. His heart was full of love for this woman he held.

Black spent the whole weekend at Holley's place to take care of her, which made the couple feel closer to each other more than ever.

However, when Holley felt better and went back to work on Monday, she found that some nasty rumor about her had spread in the company. There were talks of Holley sleeping with other men to get business opportunities.

"It's hard to believe that Miss Ye had done those things. She's being slutty instead of putting the business first."

"So she was. Why would she be willing to do that with those raunchy men? It's disgusting!"

"Who knows? Maybe she's good in bed, and it's the only thing she could use to make up for her lack of management skills."

The people at work kept talking about Holley like that. Everywhere she went, she was bombarded with those sneering, judgmental words and the disdainful, contemptuous eyes.

All of those drove her crazy.

She truly had no idea where those rumors came from and how it had spread around this quick. Her eyes glinted dangerously. She wanted to know who was behind all this, and they would pay the price.