The CEO's Mischievous Little Bride
Chapter 158 Mutual Affection

In the afternoon, Patrick returned.

Vera and Randall had already come home from school.

Seeing Patrick back, Vera quickly ran up to him. "Honey, you're back."

Patrick noticed the cautious look in her eyes and opened his arms to hug her.

Then he quickly let go of Vera and said, "Honey, I have something to do. You go play first."

He pointed at Randall and shouted, "You, get up here."

Randall was sitting on the couch playing with a pillow and his phone. Hearing Patrick's call, he threw the pillow aside and followed Patrick up the stairs to the study.

"Uncle, if you're going to punish me, just say it. Don't keep me in suspense."

Randall was almost ready to accept his punishment voluntarily.

Patrick said, "I don't know what you two are up to, but I'm warning you, if Vera faces any risk because of it, I'll hold you accountable. You are not allowed to go to places like that anymore." Randall thought of Vera's fiery temper; she definitely wouldn't listen to him!

If Vera listened to him, he wouldn't have been her errand boy for over a decade.

"Did you hear me?" Patrick asked sternly.

Randall didn't agree.

Because if he agreed and then failed to follow through, he would face even greater consequences from Patrick.

So he didn't agree from the start.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a tentative soft voice. "Honey, can I come in?"

Randall said, "Uncle Patrick, she waited for you all night yesterday and cried secretly on her desk during class today." Patrick frowned.

Didn't he tell her to go to bed early last night?

However, if someone were on your mind, how could it be so easy to fall asleep?

Randall continued, "Uncle Patrick, you're the first person I've seen who affects her this much. Your moods and your feelings affect hers; she always remembers your words. When your name is mentioned, she smiles. She doesn't allow us to say anything bad about you; only she can. She dominantly includes you in her world, and we are all outsiders. She loves you so obviously. I can't believe you don't feel it."

Patrick was stunned.

Although he knew Vera had feelings for him, hearing it confirmed by Randall still surprised him.

After the surprise came joy, as this mutual care and affection made him feel very happy.

Randall said with certainty, "You are her first love. She has never been in a relationship, so she might not know this is love. We, as outsiders, can see it clearly. She has never cared about anyone's opinion to this extent."

"Since you ignored her yesterday, she has been upset. She asked when you would come back during breakfast, kept checking her phone during lunch at school, didn't eat her favorite snacks, and kept looking at the door at home." "When you came back, she was cautious not to upset you. When you hugged her, she was happy. When you didn't talk to her, her eyes turned red."

"Uncle Patrick, in a relationship, the one who loves more is always more cautious. Clearly, you like her too, so why not treat her well?"

Randall wasn't a fool; he could also see how much Patrick liked Vera.

A man who swore never to marry or have a wife suddenly doted on a woman so much.

He loved being close to her.

He carefully protected her, valued her emotions, and spent money to make her happy.

He personally taught her to drive and played in the dirt with her.

Patrick had so many small details that made it easy for everyone to see his feelings for Vera. Clearly, they both liked each other.

"I didn't ignore her," Patrick finally spoke after a long silence, defending himself.

Yesterday, he saw that person. He couldn't remember the face, only the bite mark on the upper arm.

Imagine, if someone you had been searching for fifteen years suddenly appeared in front of you, would you still have thoughts of love in your mind?

He was sensible; his feelings for Vera wouldn't affect what he needed to do.

It was just that he had more urgent matters to investigate now.

If he missed this chance, he didn't know when the next one would come.

So he neglected Vera.

Vera stood at the door holding a cup of water for a long time. Finally, she lowered her head in disappointment, guessing that Patrick didn't want her to come in.

As she turned to leave, the door opened.

Patrick looked at her from the doorway. "You used to come and go from my study without a second thought, never bothering to knock or greet. Now you've learned to knock and ask."

Vera sincerely said, "Honey, I didn't do anything wrong before, so I wasn't guilty." That was why she used to walk into his study boldly, talking as she entered.

Only when she did something wrong did the study become the place for her to admit her mistakes, and her attitude had to be proper.

Seeing the steaming cup in her hand, Patrick worried she might get burned, so he took it from her.

With his other hand, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the study.

He then rudely told Randall, "Get out."

Randall said, "Uncle Patrick, if you're not going to punish me, then I'll..."

"Go to your old room and stay there for a day. Vera will supervise."

Randall regretted speaking up and wanted to bite his tongue. Why did he bring up punishment himself? He really couldn't keep his mouth shut!

After Randall left, Patrick put down the cup and pulled the clueless-about-love Vera to the couch.

Looking at her innocent, watery eyes, which were avoiding his gaze, he said, "Honey, don't punish Randall."

Patrick didn't say a word and kissed her as she spoke.

Her soft lips felt familiar to him.

Patrick held the back of her head and kissed her for a long time.

"I heard my little kitten missed me so much she cried today?"

Hearing his affectionate tone, Vera felt aggrieved again and pouted. "Yeah, I had cried for a long time."

Patrick's lips curved slightly. "Why didn't you sleep all night?"

"You didn't come home, and I couldn't stop my mind from wandering."

"Didn't I tell you, there's no woman with me, I was working overtime with Jack."

Vera said, "But you yelled at me yesterday."

"I apologize. I won't do it again."

Vera successfully turned the tables again.

She came upstairs with the water to apologize to him.

However, by crying out her grievances, she made Patrick apologize to her instead.

Magical girls always managed to reverse the situation.

She looked at his lips and, for the first time, leaned in to give him a quick kiss. "Honey, let's put this behind us."

She wasn't jealous of Patrick using a woman to deceive her.

Patrick shouldn't investigate her participation in the Shadow Syndicate United competition.

She thought she was a smart girl and that this idea was brilliant.

However, it was too late.

Patrick had already found out everything Vera had done behind his back last night.

He looked at the quirky Vera, who seemed like a lazy, cute cat, but had turned into a top racer for Shadow Syndicate United! She even had a certain level of fame within Shadow Syndicate United!