Chapter 167: Is Jonathan Family?

He suddenly lowered his head and bit Sierra’s neck. Just as Sierra let out a small sound, Jonathan abruptly let go, flipped over, and got out of bed. He didn’t even glance at Sierra before heading straight to the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water filled the air, accompanied by some suppressed, heavy breathing.

Of course, Sierra knew what those sounds meant. She raised a hand to her face, feeling how unbearably hot her cheeks were. After a while, she sat up and took her phone. When she switched it on, the flooding messages almost made her phone lag. Countless unfamiliar numbers had called, and an overwhelming flood of text messages filled her inbox, every single one of them an apology.

She had only a handful of real friends, including Bella, who had sent multiple voice messages and links in excitement. Sierra clicked on one and listened.

“Sierra, how are you? I watched yesterday’s livestream, and I almost cried to death! You went through so much injustice! The Xander family is fi-o-mible, especially Denise!”

“Sierra, I feel awful for you!”

“Sierra, look at this! Northwind’s forums are exploding!”

Following those messages were links. Sierra casually clicked on one and found an apology post, where someone admitted they were wrong for blindly joining the petition to expel her without knowing the truth. The comment section was flooded with apologies. Sierra skimmed through it briefly before closing her phone; she no longer cared about any of it.

At that moment, the sound of running water stopped. Instinctively, she looked up, only to see Jonathan stepping out of the bathroom, his body still damp and wrapped in a loose bathrobe. His hair wasn’t dried yet; he simply wiped it lazily with a towel. The robe was loosely tied, barely hanging on him, revealing large portions of his well-defined chest muscles. This was a completely different Jonathan from the usual sharp, suited version of himself. His hair was messy tousled, exuding a wild vibe.

Although she had known that Jonathan had such a vibe to him, she was still surprised when she saw him like that. She instinctively said, “So big!”

Jonathan’s hand suddenly froze. He shot Sierra a glance, muttered a low curse under his breath, then abruptly turned and stormed back into the bathroom. The loud bang of the door slamming shut finally made Sierra realize what she had just said, and her face instantly burned.

She didn’t. She just wanted to compliment his good physique. Hearing the suppressed breathing sounds coming from the bathroom again, Sierra’s face flushed an even deeper red. She quickly slipped out of the bedroom. She finally believed that Jonathan hadn’t been exaggerating last night. He probably really had been. She stopped herself from overthinking and quickly left a note before leaving, as she didn’t know how to face him!

When she went back, Dickson was making breakfast. Seeing her come back in her nightdress, he was surprised and faked a cough. “Sierra!”

Sierra finally realized what was wrong and quickly went into her room to change.

“Sierra, breakfast is ready!” Dickson served breakfast. He looked at her and said proudly, “Sierra, you were great yesterday! Many people became your fans, and they said you’re a genius! You might even bypass Mr. Yaeger one day!”

He went on excitedly for a while, but when he saw her calm expression, he gradually calmed down too.

“Sierra, don’t ever forgive the Xander family. They’re horrible.” Dickson felt bad when he saw what happened yesterday. His mother and sister had always been kind to him, so he had never experienced anything like what Sierra had. Compared to her, he felt lucky; at least he had known what family warmth felt like. But Sierra never had. Her adoptive parents had treated her badly, and her biological parents and brother had been just as cruel.

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” Sierra said. “They are not my family anymore. The only family I have left are you and Grandma—”

Dickson suddenly asked, “What about Mr. Yaeger?”

At that moment, Jonathan walked in, now fully dressed. He had just opened the door in time to hear Dickson’s question. He froze in place. He wanted to know Sierra’s answer too.

Dickson’s question made Sierra pause. She thought about it seriously, then shook her head. “No. He’s different from you all.”