My One-month Marriage With Mr. Hawkins

Chapter 246: Trick Competition

Although Florence felt so disappointed at the failure to get the ticket, she still stayed up late and finished the books from Ernest.

She had almost stayed up the whole night and roughly finished reading.

As soon as she closed the book, she was so exhausted that she was so weak. Again, she had to admit that Ernest was a freak indeed.

In the early morning, Florence, with two dark circles under her eyes, took the books and walked to Ernest’s suite, returning the books to him.

“Knock... Knock... Knock...”

Florence had knocked on his door several times, but nobody answered.

Wasn’t he there?

Florence was confused. Hesitating, she pulled out her cell phone. After finding Ernest’s caller ID on her phone, she hesitated again before tabbing on it.

It was Ernest’s private number, which she seldom called. Now she was in an embarrassing relationship with him. It would also be awkward for her to call his personal number.

She still couldn’t convince herself. After hesitating for a moment, she scrolled down and found Timothy’s caller ID. Then she tabbed it.

Timothy quickly answered the phone.

“Good morning, Ms. Fraser.”

“Good morning, Timothy. Sorry for bothering you so early. May I know where Mr. Hawkins is now?”

“He’s in the mini-library right now.”

How come Ernest went to the mini-library in such an early morning?

She wondered if he truly fell in love with the design field recently as he was reading those books so actively.

Looking at the books in her hands, Florence felt lucky. Fortunately, she stayed up late last night and finished reading them, so she could return them to him on time without delaying his business.

Immediately, she walked towards the mini-library.

There were less than thirty team members in a total of both design teams. Usually, not so many members would go to find the books in the documentation room, and others even didn’t know there was a mini-library. Hence, fewer coworkers would go there. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

When Florence walked into the mini-library, she saw the scene the same as what she had seen the previous day.

Ernest was sitting next to the small desk with a book in his hands. He bent down his head to read, looking noble and elegant. The whole scene looked peaceful and beautiful.

Florence even didn’t have the heart to interrupt him.

Noticing someone at the door, Ernest looked up at Florence deeply.

When their eyes met, the air around them seemed to be solidified with sparks flashing in it.

Florence’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

She returned to her senses and couldn’t help blushing. She was fascinated when looking at Ernest just now and immersed in his charm.

How embarrassing!

She looked away and walked in with the books.

“I’m returning them to you.”

Ernest raised his eyebrows. He looked a little surprised when seeing those books. “Have you done reading?”

“Yep.” Florence nodded.

Ernest looked at her thoughtfully. He could see the dark circles under her eyes -- obviously, she stayed up late and didn’t sleep well last night.

He frowned deeply, staring at her quite sharply.

“Are you worried that I can’t understand what I’ve read? So you stayed up late and finished reading.”

His words disclosed what was in Florence’s mind.

Florence was speechless.

Before she could retort, Ernest pressed his lips.

Then he made an affirmative conclusion, “It turns out that you care so much about me.”

What?

She was eager to return the books to him, but what did it have to do with caring about him?

Florence gaped at him. Probably she was thinking quite slow because she didn’t sleep last night, and she couldn’t follow this smart CEO’s logic at all.

They finally had developed a normal relationship like ordinary people. Florence thought that she should stop Ernest from misunderstanding.

She immediately denied, “Well, those books belong to the mini-library. I just don’t want to trouble you.”

Her attitude was affirmatively aloof.

Ernest pressed his lips and gazed at Florence. His eyes were so deep as if they were maelstrom that could draw her in.

He said in a deep and sexy voice, “I never mind that you’ll trouble me.”

Florence’s heart hammered so fiercely that it almost stopped.

The man’s deep gaze and gentle words were like a feather that tickled at the tip of her heart, which made her almost lose control.

Was he...

Florence’s mind was in a mess. When she looked over at Ernest again, she found that he lowered his head again and continued to read.

He concentrated on reading so much as if it weren’t him who said such affectionate words to her and she just had an illusion.

After several seconds, Florence finally returned to her senses, forcibly suppressing her messy thoughts.

She looked at Ernest again and said politely, “Mr. Hawkins, I’m leaving now.”

“Wait,” said Ernest in a deep voice.

He hesitated for a moment and added, “May I ask you for a favor please?”

This was the first time that Ernest asked her for help.

Shocked for a moment, Florence nodded.

Although they were in an embarrassing relationship now, she had to admit that Ernest had helped her a lot and taken care of her in the past few months. Besides the agreement of their fake engagement, she indeed owed him a lot.

It would be naturally good for her to do him a favor in return.

Ernest opened the book in his hands and turned a few pages back. Florence saw a few folded pages.

He said calmly, “I didn’t understand those points. If you have time, please explain them to me.”

It turned out he wanted to learn from her again.

Florence was taken aback. Then she realized that she had misunderstood that Ernest couldn’t get the key points because he was reading one of the two books that referenced each other.

However, she had forgotten that Ernest was all-around, but he had just started reading books relevant to design. There must be a lot of key points that he couldn’t understand.

Florence was quite familiar with the content of those books, so she could help Ernest.

She hesitated, though. “I also have a lot of things that I need to learn. You know I’m a green hand in design as well. I’m afraid I might give you the wrong information... How about I’ll ask a senior coworker to help you. Erica would do.”

Ernest’s eyes were darkened. He looked up at Florence.

With a faint trace of irony at the corners of his mouth, he asked, “Do you want others to know my shortcoming?”

In the public, Ernest was always superior and all-around with no shortages. Florence had thought so before. But it wasn’t until today did she realize that Ernest still couldn’t understand something when learning design.

It was quite normal to Florence. After all, everyone needed a mentor to instruct when learning something new. Hence, subconsciously, she thought that Ernest was also in this case.

However, she had forgotten that as a superior man, Ernest wouldn’t let an ordinary person or his subordinate teach him something even if he didn’t understand it.

But he had asked her to teach him so naturally...

Florence’s heart skipped a beat. She wondered if that was because he didn’t treat her as an outsider.

Seeing Florence hesitate, Ernest creased his good-looking brows slightly. Then he drew back his book.

He said in a cold and harsh tone, “You can leave now.”

He sat upright, emanating a distant coldness as well as loneliness.

He looked as if he was dumped by someone.

Florence was startled, suddenly feeling a pain in her conscientiousness.

Without any hesitation, she blurted out, “I can explain them to you.”

Ernest paused turning the pages, a complacent smile flashing through his eyes quickly.

After a few seconds, he answered indifferently, “Okay.”

He sounded quite awkward as if he was forced to agree.

Florence felt more uneasy and guiltier. It seemed that her hesitation and rejection just now had hurt Ernest’s dignity.