Mr. CEO's Young Mistress
Chapter 44: His Girl

Sharon smiled at Oliver stiffly. "I-I was asking you, not the other way around."

Oliver saw how uncomfortable she was and did not push her any further, and naturally, Sharon did not ask that question again.

Soon, the car became silent again and all the way back to Coral Pavilion, neither of them spoke a word.

"Thanks for bringing me home, Oliver," Sharon said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

Oliver gave her a small smile. "It was nothing. Now, go on in."

Sharon nodded, opened the door, and got out. She gave Oliver a wave before walking towards the villa.

Oliver narrowed his eyes slightly at her retreating figure before restarting the engine and driving off. Sharon had just reached the doors when she heard the sounds of the car driving off.

She paused and turned around to look in the direction Oliver had driven away.

She bit into her lip, eyes filling with suspicion.

Maybe it was her imagination, but Sharon could not shake off the feeling that Oliver knew something.

At the entryway, Sharon took off her coat and walked in. "I'm home, Kelley."

"Sharon," someone called out.

Sharon's hands froze, and she looked towards the living room. She exclaimed in surprise, "Grandpa?"

Puvis grinned. "You're finally back. Come here."

Sharon looked at Nathan and Rosamond questioningly, who were sitting on the other couch, wearing stern faces.

Sharon walked over and sat down beside Puvis. She hooked her arm in his and whispered, "Why are you here today, Grandpa?"

"Well, I haven't seen you in days, so I missed you and wanted to come and visit," Puvis replied.

"So he came because he missed me. Then... what about them?" Sharon thought to herself as she glanced at Nathan and Rosamond, her lips pressed together.

...

Sharon doubt they missed her too.

Nathan has always given Sharon the cold shoulder whenever he saw her, so it was natural that they were not close.

...

As for Rosamond, she disliked Sharon because of Selena. For a mere adopted child, she also felt that Leonard gave her too much attention.

However, she would never speak of her bias aloud because of how much attention the media paid to an influential household like the Lefebvre family.

The media would take apart any slight slip up of Rosamond being biased and blame her for being selfish and self-centered. Even worse, they might accuse her of torturing Sharon.

...

Therefore, no matter how much Rosamond disliked Sharon, she still had to put up a front when in public.

She frowned when she saw Sharon looking at her.

In an impassive tone, she said, "Your birthday is in a few days. Leonard told us that he will hold a banquet for you, so we came over to check on the progress and whether there was anything you needed us to

do."

"I see," Sharon thought.

Aloud, Sharon said, "I know little about the banquet, but Master Leonard has to entertain guests tonight, so he'll be back very late."

At that, Rosamond's frown deepened. She turned to look at Nathan, her lips pursed.

"In that case, tell him that we came over," Nathan instructed.

Sharon nodded and turned to Puvis beside her. "Grandpa, have you had dinner?" "No," Puvis replied.

"Dad, let's eat elsewhere." Rosamond stood up from the sofa and said to Puvis.

"Grandpa-"

Sharon had been about to ask them to stay for dinner, but Rosamond cut off her words by pretending that she hadn't heard Sharon and headed towards the doors with a stern face.

Sharon bit her tongue and shut her mouth.

Nathan had also stood up. He looked at Rosamond and turned back to look at Puvis, who was still sitting on the sofa. "Dad, let's go."

Puvis narrowed his eyes. His voice was sharp as he retorted. "You two can eat by yourselves. I'm staying here for dinner."

Rosamond halted in her tracks and turned to look at Puvis, exasperated. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Nothing. I just don't want to go the same path with some people." Puvis humphed.

"Some people... Just say that it's me and Nathan!" Rosamond gritted her teeth but said nothing.

Nathan's eye twitched. "Dad, stop kicking up a fuss in front of youngsters."

"Why do you care? Am I your father, or is it the other way around? How dare you try to lecture me!" Puvis barked, glaring at Nathan.

Being admonished in front of Sharon embarrassed Nathan.

He peered at Sharon, who was watching him, and walked out with a stony face, not saying anything else.

Puvis gave a smug humph behind Nathan's back.

In the end, even Rosamond got frustrated and left.

Watching them leave with stoic faces, Sharon sighed silently.

She turned around to look at Puvis, who did not seem bothered at all. In fact, he looked quite pleased with himself.

Sharon grimaced, suddenly feeling a pang of pity for Nathan and Rosamond.

...

"Sir, Miss, dinner is ready." Kelley surveyed the room, but saw no signs of Nathan and Rosamond. She turned to look at Sharon, puzzled. "Where's the Madam and Mr. Lefebvre?" "I think they left..." Sharon replied sullenly, peeking at Puvis.

"They left? But didn't she say that they were staying for dinner?" Kelley muttered, confused. She shook her head and went back to the kitchen.

Sharon felt her chest tightening at she heard Kelley's words.

She realized that Rosamond and Nathan had initially planned to stay for dinner, but it was only because they thought Leonard would be back as well.

...

Now that they knew Leonard would not be returning soon, and they hated the thought of sharing a meal with Sharon, they rather leave on an empty stomach.

"Sharon, after living for this long, I've come to understand something." Puvis grabbed her hand.

...

She blinked, looked at Puvis, and asked softly, "What?"

"Life is short. Don't burden yourself too much. Trust me, it's better to live life simple. If people like you, that's great! But if not, who cares? Do the things you want to do and live your own life. Your happiness matters the most, not the opinions of others." Puvis advised Sharon, patting the back of her hand with a tender smile.

Sharon stilled slightly, stunned.

After dinner, Sharon walked with Puvis around the garden until nine o'clock and headed back into the living room to watch some television.

It was past ten o'clock, but Leonard had yet to return home.

Sharon knew Puvis had not mentioned going back to the manor because he wanted to see Leonard first before leaving.

But after waiting for another while, Leonard still had not come back.

Puvis needed to rest earlier because of his old age. At ten-thirty, he gave up and asked Nick to bring him back to the manor. After Puvis left, Sharon sat cross-legged on the sofa and continued watching the television, constantly changing the channels.

Perhaps the programmes tonight were too boring, but Sharon could not focus and only stared at the screen mindlessly.

...

Her mind kept going back to what Puvis said to her.

He had said that she should only like those who liked her back. As for those that disliked her, why bother? Just push them away as well.

He had also said that life was short. She shouldn't care what others thought and just live happily.

However, that was much easier said than done.

Because of her nap earlier, she found herself unable to fall asleep.

Fortunately, tomorrow was a weekend, so she did not have to go to school, especially since she was still replaceing it hard to fall asleep.

It was almost dawn, but Leonard had still not returned.

Sharon had switched into countless positions on the sofa while watching the TV.

For some reason, she seemed to have lost interest in all the shows that she used to like.

So, she continued to flick through different channels mindlessly.

At almost one in the morning, Sharon could hear the loud screech of tires from outside the villa.

...

Sharon immediately sat upright and stretched her neck to look towards the door.

Soon, everything quieted again.

After another minute of silence, heavy footsteps came from outside.

Sharon's grip on the remote control tightened subconsciously.

Although it was already late, her eyes were bright as they stared at the door.

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared in the entryway.

Sharon sucked in a breath and stood up from the sofa, catching the attention of the man who was changing his shoes.

His eyes widened slightly before he walked calmly towards her.

Sharon observed him quietly.

Leonard's expression seemed normal, and his steps were steady.

Thinking that he was not drunk, Sharon let out a sigh of relief.

However, before she could, the pungent smell of alcohol wafted into her nose.

Sharon frowned at the man who stood in front of her.

Leonard lowered his gaze at the girl, who barely reached his chest. "She's my girl," he thought to himself.

He placed an icy finger between her furrowed brows.

Sharon jumped and took a subconscious step back.

However, a muscular arm quickly wrapped around her waist, immobilising her.☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐