Chapter 986

Aaron led Lena out of the police station. He walked ahead, while she trailed behind, clutching the oversized coat he had draped over her shoulders. His coat carried the faint scent of pinewood, and with every step she took, the fragrance seemed to weave its way into her senses. Maybe it was the alcohol fermenting in her system, but her head felt dizzy, her vision unsteady. Even Aaron, walking in front of her, seemed to sway.

However, the moment she stepped outside, the cold night air hit her like a slap, jolting her awake. She shivered and instinctively tightened the coat around her body—only then realizing that Aaron was left wearing nothing but a thin dress shirt.

“Uncle Aaron,” she called out, her voice laced with concern. But he kept walking, his long strides unfaltering. Whether he was ignoring her out of anger or simply hadn't heard, she couldn't tell.

Their figures—one leading, the other following—looked almost like a child who had done something wrong, chasing after an adult, afraid to walk too fast or too slow for fear of being left behind.

The night was freezing. If he didn’t put on more layers, he’d catch a cold. Lena quickened her pace, intending to return the coat to him, but her balance faltered. Before she knew it, she was falling forward.

Thud! She landed hard on the pavement, pain shooting through her knee. A sharp sting had her sucking in a breath. A tall shadow loomed over her, and then, before she could react, a hand she knew all too well wrapped around her ankle.

Aaron’s cold gaze locked onto her scraped knee, his expression unreadable. After a quick glance at her face, he tested the movement of her knee joint. It hurt a lot. But it could still move.

“The bone isn’t injured,” Lena muttered, speaking more to reassure herself than him. Aaron also came to the same conclusion. He had just begun to straighten up when he felt a tug on his shirt.

“Uncle Aaron.”

He paused, his waist still bent. She sat on the ground, her face tilted upward. Their eyes met in silent confrontation.

“Help me up,” she said, voice softer this time. “I can’t stand on my own.”

The bone might be fine, but the raw scrape stung terribly. And to make matters worse, the dizziness was back in full force. She hadn’t felt it while drinking, but the alcohol was really kicking in now. If that bastard at the bar hadn’t interrupted her earlier, she might’ve ended up completely wasted.

Aaron’s jaw tensed. “You’re an adult. Can’t even walk straight? Your mother taught you better than this.”

His words stirred up an unpleasant memory from her childhood. Back then, she had been the kind of kid who never walked, only ran. Her mother used to say that Lena simply didn’t know how to walk properly. And yet, despite all that running, she had never been good at it. It was as if her feet weren’t rooted to the ground, always tripping over something.

Scraped hands, bruised knees, even a busted forehead—injuries were routine for her. She had even managed to cut her nose once. Other children were coddled when they got hurt. But Lena? She got scolded, sometimes even spanked. Instead of comfort, she received lectures about proper posture and discipline.

Every time, it was Aaron who stepped in to smooth things over, sneaking her away to her grandmother’s house to clean her wounds. And if she was lucky, he’d slip her a piece of candy—his surefire way to stop her tears.

Lost in memory, her gaze softened as she looked at him. As if sensing something, his dark eyes—shrouded by the night—flashed with a fleeting trace of warmth. Without another word, he crouched down and scooped her into his arms.

The moment she was lifted, Lena’s dizziness hit her again. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck. The solid muscle beneath her fingertips made her fingers twitch slightly. She didn’t need to look—she already knew what his body looked like underneath the shirt. Because she had seen it before.

Her cheeks flushed. Even though he couldn’t see her face, she still felt embarrassed. Unconsciously, she buried her face against his chest. Her warm breath seeped through the thin fabric of his shirt, burning against his skin.

The sensation made Aaron’s movements pause for a split second. But Lena, lost in her own world, simply sighed in contentment. Her knee didn’t hurt anymore. Her body wasn’t cold anymore. Even her dizziness didn’t seem as overwhelming. Having Uncle Aaron around was really nice. With him here, it felt like nothing bad could touch her.