The Fallen Heiress: Contract Marriage with the CEO Who Hates Me
Chapter 22: Bad Feeling

Chapter 22: Bad Feeling

Vernon rested his chin on his left hand and started twirling the pen in his right hand, skillfully maneuvering it between his long fingers while carefully observing Jane’s serious, busy expression as she stared at the screen of her new laptop.

Once the Spring Expo was finally over, their tutoring sessions resumed without a hitch. However, there was something drastically different about the atmosphere during the lessons.

Vernon Lin who was previously cold, detached, and even somewhat rude, was now constantly in a rather elevated mood, breaking his own habit of spitting out insensitive comments and mocking remarks.

And although Jane found that change pleasant and refreshing, she still could not help but feel her anxiety levels soar every time he would act out of his character. She knew he would not change his ways for no reason, and that reason was definitely not his growing affection toward the girl.

Having finally noticed Vernon’s sharp gaze glued to her face, Jane shifted her eyes from the laptop screen and returned the staring favor which the guy accepted rather eagerly and offered her a generous and somewhat even flirtatious grin.

"What? Finished already? I guess you’ve really gotten better with the topic. I’m glad."

Even his voice began to sound friendly and that alone was sending shivers down the girl’s spine.

"You’ve b-been in a rather g-good mood recently. D-did something happen?"

Vernon faked a contemplating expression by raising his chin higher and scratching it with the fingers of his right hand. He then looked back at Jane and curled his lips into another sly smirk, followed by a nonchalant shrug of his unexpectedly broad shoulders which, thanks to the miracles of the rising May temperature, were now clearly outlined by a slim-fit black t-shirt.

"Maybe. Speaking of good things happening, how is your progress with the ribbon? I am really looking forward to receiving it from you."

He purposely emphasized the word "really" as his deep brown eyes shone with a weirdly satisfied spark in them, and Jane could not help but feel another cold and unsettling sensation spread over her petite body.

She knew that he was teasing her, and she decided to return the favor and annoy him just as much. If that was even possible.

Jane copied Vernon’s position and also leaned on her elbow, resting her elegant chin on her right hand, faking a careless expression with her eyes looking straight into his.

"I c-can’t embroider, so my housekeeper will d-do it instead."

"Oh? That’s disappointing."

The guy unglued his face from his hand and leaned closer to Jane who, although slightly flustered by that sudden move, was still trying to maintain a stoic and nonchalant facade.

"Making someone else embroider the ribbon is against the rules, Your Highness. But most importantly..."

Vernon placed his hand on top of Jane’s and started lightly caressing her long, pinkish fingers while looking into her big, sky-blue eyes.

"I was hoping to receive something made by these beautiful hands of yours. I would not settle for anything else, so... Will you indulge me, Your Highness?"

Jane felt her face burn as if it was set on fire. Startled by the guy’s outrageously bold behavior, she pulled her hand away in one swift motion and turned her face away, trying to conceal her blushing skin while her heart was nothing but an agitated bird hitting its body against the sturdy prison of her ribcage.

That was way too much even for someone as shameless as Vernon Lin and Jane could not help but feel a sickening mixture of anger and confusion stirring up her insides.

She was clearly a fool to believe that Vernon would change; just like before, he was a two-faced villain who enjoyed tormenting everyone, regardless of their status, and it was despicable.

And yet... That was exactly the thing that was pulling her toward him as though the two of them were sewn together with an invisible but sturdy red thread. And admitting it was making her blood run cold.

Enjoying the girl’s flustered state, Vernon let out a hearty laugh which made Jane furrow her carefully shaped eyebrows and pout her lips.

"Stop m-making fun of me! It’s neither n-nice nor funny!"

The guy, still utterly delighted by Jane’s reactions, waved his hand as if innocently refuting her accusations and said in a colder tone, "Why do you think I’m making fun of you? I’m dead serious."

Jane made a wise decision not to continue that useless argument any longer. Instead, she straightened back her posture, and returned to her laptop, still pouting like a scolded child.

"Never m-mind! Let’s continue with the l-lesson!"

Failing to suppress another light scoff, Vernon placed his fingers on her laptop’s touchpad, then opened a new file, and continued in a now serious tone,

"Sure, Your Highness. Debug this code for me then."

"R-Right..."

Jane focused her attention on the screen one more time while Vernon kept observing as her green eyes moved left and right, occasionally stalling as they saw something out of the ordinary amongst the endless strings of letters and symbols, and when she finally was finished with the task, the guy pulled her laptop closer to him and, still immersed in his evaluating activity, spoke in as-a-matter-of-fact voice,

"Next time you will have a mock test, Your Highness. It will be painfully similar to the one you will have during Professor Fleming’s exam, so if you ace it, there will be a pretty good chance that you won’t fail the real test as well."

If before, Jane would feel nervous upon hearing the word "test", at that very moment she felt a strange feeling of exhilaration, mainly because she was certain that even if she did not "ace it", she would definitely not fail it. She felt both relief and contempt.

However, her blissful delight was instantly disrupted by Vernon’s face appearing unexpectedly close to her own with his low whisper brushing over her now-red ears,

"And if you get an "A" during the real test, it would mean that my struggles to turn you into a decent student were fruitful and you will have to grant me a wish, Your Highness."

"A w-wish?!"

Jane did not expect her voice to sound so loud and despite a clear shade of uneasiness and distress covering her pretty face, Vernon seemed completely unfazed and only offered her another cunning grin which meant that she would probably have no way of running away from that request.

’I have a really bad feeling about it.’