Chapter 627
I was completely stunned, frozen in disbelief.
Edward looked just as shocked to run into me out here. His hand dropped from my wrist, only to catch it again a moment later. “I thought… I must’ve been seeing things,” he said, his voice a little shaky.
My breath caught in my throat, and just then, I heard a girl’s voice call out, “Dad, can we go look around up ahead?”
It was only when I looked closely that I realized one of the girls was Nora—her hair dyed brown now, so different I almost didn’t recognize her at first.
“What are you doing here?” Edward asked, then glanced at Davis standing next to me. “Who’s this? Is he your new boyfriend?”
Davis looked totally confused, since we were speaking in our own language and he couldn’t understand a thing.
Not wanting him to get the wrong idea, I quickly filled Davis in. He smiled politely and said he’d go find Elaine and the others, so I could talk with my friend.
With that, he walked off.
Edward was still holding onto my wrist. His touch was warm, and I instinctively pulled my hand back.
“If someone even looks a little like you, I lose my cool,” he said, half-joking.
I pointed ahead. “Looks like your daughter’s not here. You’d better go after her.”
Edward glanced off into the distance. “Don’t worry, she’s got bodyguards with her. There’s no way she’ll get lost.”
My mind went totally blank—I never in a million years thought I’d run into Edward here.
Yet fate had other plans, and here we were.
After months without seeing each other, we’d grown distant. Neither of us could think of anything to say, and the awkwardness was almost suffocating.
“How about we grab a coffee?” Edward suggested, his voice still a bit unsettled.
My voice was barely above a whisper. “My friends are still over there.”
Noticing I was hesitating, Edward wrapped his fingers around mine. “Come on,” he urged.
He didn’t give me a chance to say no.
We stepped out of the art gallery. The rain had finally let up, but the sidewalk was still slick and shiny.
As soon as Edward appeared, a few bodyguards in plain clothes immediately closed in, flanking him protectively.
Edward gave them a quick signal to stand down, then led me toward a café just down the street.
We settled into a quiet corner. After placing our order, Edward leaned back in his chair, his eyes locked onto me with a dazed look, like he still hadn’t woken up from a dream. For a moment, it was as if he couldn’t believe I was actually sitting there in front of him.
I started to feel awkward under his intense gaze. Clutching my coffee cup, I finally blurted out, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Edward couldn’t help but chuckle. “So, what are you doing in the UK?”
“I’m here for school,” I said.
“Who told you to come here?” Edward asked, his gaze holding something I couldn’t quite read.
I answered truthfully, “My company sent me.”
“So you didn’t come here on your own?” Edward asked, gripping the armrest a little tighter.
I let out a laugh. “Of course not. Why would you ask that?”
Edward dropped his gaze to the table. “No reason. Just checking.”
I gave him a puzzled look. “What exactly are you checking?”
Edward slowly lifted his gaze, his eyes quiet and profound, like the starry night sky.
“Did you ask Ryan before if I was living in the UK?” he said.
I was taken aback and shook my head. “No, I never asked him about that.”
The light in Edward’s eyes seemed to freeze for a second. He gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “Really? I thought you came all the way here just to see me.”
“Of course not,” I blurted out, startled. “Mr. Jennings, bumping into you here is already a crazy coincidence. I had no idea you were even in the UK. If I’d known…”
I bit back the rest of my words before they could slip out.
Some things are better left unsaid, especially if they might hurt someone.
“Know what?” Edward’s face clouded over. Even though I didn’t say it out loud, he finished my thought for me. “If you knew I was here, you wouldn’t have come, would you?”
My gaze dropped, a nervous laugh escaping me. “Mr. Jennings, that’s really not what I meant.”
“What I said before we parted last time… I just said it out of anger. I didn’t really mean it, so don’t take it to heart,” Edward said, rubbing his temples.
I gave a dry laugh. “I’m really glad we ran into each other, but I should get going. I promised my friends I’d have lunch with them.”
“Victoria…” Edward called out, his voice tinged with urgency as I started to get up. He quickly reached out and caught my arm, not wanting to let me go.
My eyes flickered from his face down to where his hand gripped my arm, and suddenly my heart was racing.
Honestly, during this whole single phase, whenever I wasn’t thinking about work, Edward kept popping into my head. So running into him now, I felt way more nervous and conflicted than actually happy.
I couldn’t even figure out why I was feeling like this. It’s not like I haven’t dated before.
Nathan was always gentle and thoughtful, Ryan always knew how to make me feel better, and Jared never gave up chasing after me. Each of them made me feel something different. But then Edward just showed up at the end, all casual, and somehow ended up taking root in my heart.