Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 159

For some reason, when our eyes locked, my heart skipped a beat out of nowhere.

Logically speaking, Hogan shouldn’t be here at this hour.

But there he was, unexpectedly, and all alone at that.

His gaze was so intense, you couldn't just ignore it.

Timothy picked up on the vibe too. He dropped the smile and asked with a serious tone, “Can you handle this, Xaviera?”

“Yeah,” | didn’t want Timothy getting tangled up in the beef between Hogan and me, so | said, “Let's call ita day for now. Pick me up on time tomorrow night.”

A flicker of hesitation crossed his pretty eyes, and | heard Timothy offer, “If you can’t handle it, | could step in, you know.” | played it off, “Underestimating me?”

That got Timothy to back off, and he left without looking back.

But that laser—like stare was still glued to my back.

| steadied myself and walked towards Hogan with feigned

calmness.

“What a coincidence, Mr. Zade,” | said evenly, “I didn’t expect to see you enjoying your leisure time here.”

His icy gaze raked over me, finally landing on the cotton slippers at my feet. “When did your taste drop to such lowbrow levels?” Those slippers were super cute, and old me actually liked them.

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| had even thought about getting Hogan a matching pair — — couple slippers, couple pajamas, the whole shebang. But after he called it childish, | always pretended to dislike them.

Now, to Hogan, they had become ‘lowbrow’.

But | couldn’t be bothered to argue with him, so | just said, “If there’s nothing else, I'll take my leave.”

As | turned to go, Hogan’s challenging voice stopped me, “Is this why you refuse to cooperate with Rainbow Capital?” His voice was cold and sharp, like a thousand-year-old ice, chilling

to the bone.

Years of knowing him told me clearly that Hogan was pissed.

Rightly so, | guess. A guy used to having everything at his fingertips probably didn’t see my rejection of the opportunity he showed me.

My heart fluttered slightly, but | responded coolly, “Mr. Zade, you should be happy, right? With one less competitor, you’ve got fewer headaches, don’t you?”

At that, Hogan’s brows knitted together, and he retorted coldly, “You’ve spent all this time in Pinecrest Hollow trying to find Freeman, and now you're giving up just because you've found a big shot to lean on? Xaviera, | expected more from you!”

By the end of his rant, Hogan was almost out of control, his voice trembling. But what's he so mad about?

Did he really think I'd just lap up a bit of pity from him and Cecilia?

“Didn't you say it yourself?” | took a breath to quell the rising anger,

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“lam good at making choices, right?”

“You think you can stop my plans with no leads?” Hogan sneered, “Xaviera, you only get one shot, and you should know, with or without you, | can get what | want.”

That was his way of implying that him working with me was doing me a favor.

Sometimes, he and Cecilia really were cut from the same cloth.

“Mr. Zade, | appreciate the offer,” | forced down the discomfort in my chest, “but sorry, my mind’s made up.”

At that, Hogan’s eyes narrowed, as if he had heard the most unbelievable news, and he just stood there, stunned.

After a moment, he pointed in the direction Timothy had left and scoffed, “All for that punk? Xaviera, you fancy someone that green?”

The disdain in his eyes was so thick, you could almost see it spilling out.

Sure, Timothy might be a bit rough around the edges and no match for the slick and seasoned Hogan. No wonder he looked down on him.

Just like he had always looked down on me.

“Speaking of green,” | drew a line in the sand, softly saying, “Mr. Zade, you also have a thing for young, juicy girls like Cecilia, right? Sometimes, our tastes can be uncannily similar.”