Chapter 407
Cornelia was at a loss for words.
Marcus went on, âAt least, I havenât encountered such a thing up to now.â
Cornelia could understand. After all, he was born into a wealthy family, with more dough than he could ever spend. He was able to do whatever he fancied. Itâd be hard for anything to rain on his parade.
The matter with Skyler was temporarily put to bed. In the following days, Cornelia threw herself into work. She was swamped, barely even having time to catch some sleep, let alone chat with Jeremy.
In a blink of an eye, a month had passed and spring was around the corner. All their work in Paris was done and dusted, and the team was gearing up to head back to Riverton.
Cornelia was on the ball for booking the return flights and opted for a redâeye. The nonâstop flight from Paris to Riverton was a twelveâhour haul. Landing around 6 in the evening local time, she could grab a bite with the longâunseen Zack and Abigail.
Before the plane took off, Cornelia shot Jeremy a message: [Jeremy, Iâm heading back tonight. You in Riverton now?]
The message sent, and Cornelia checked the clock. It was a little past eleven at night in Paris, which made it early morning back home. Jeremy shouldâve been out cold, likely wouldnât reply.
But the next second, the man who shouldâve been in dreamland got back to her: [Safe travels!]
Cornelia asked: [Are you still up, or did you wake up already?]
Jeremy replied: [Iâm still up.]
Cornelia said: [Are you burning the midnight oil because of work? Or is there another reason youâre up? Whatever the reason, you shouldnât pull an allânighter. Itâs no good for you.]
She keyed in a mouthful, oblivious to Marcus who was right next to her, simply because she was too engrossed in her chat with Jeremy. When she hit send, Marcus couldnât help but chuckle. On the screen, Jeremy replied: [Itâs not bedtime for me yet.]
Even though she wasnât faceâtoâface with Jeremy, Cornelia was so embarrassed that she could feel her face heat up. Jeremy had told her he sometimes had to travel overseas for work, which would result in a time difference. She hadnât asked him where he was, but blabbered away. He must think she was a nag.
Cornelia rubbed her face, then asked: [So when are you getting back to Riverton?]
âIâm heading back to Riverton with you.â Marcus wanted to say, but he held his tongue.
When heâd return to Riverton depended on when heâd pluck up the courage to come clean about his identity. But when heâd come clean also depended on when sheâd warm up to his identity as Marcus.
So he couldnât give her a definite answer, only replying: [Iâve been up to my ears in work recently, so I probably wonât be back anytime soon.]
Cornelia said: [Oh]
Marcus heard her disappointed âOhâ and saw bright eyes dim significantly first. Only after a few seconds did he see her message. She said: [I just want to see you as soon as possible. Weâre legally married, but it feels like weâre dating online. The two times we met, you were sober, but I couldnât recognize you. I didnât even get a good look at your face. In fact, Iâve only seen you once on our wedding day. Itâs been so long that I canât remember how you look.]
Marcus knew she didnât remember his face, just like how he couldnât recognize her as his wife initially.
He replied: [Do you have any impression of what I look like?]
Cornelia answered: [I remember you being tall and handsome. How about sending me a picture?]
Marcusâs fingers froze for a moment. He thought for a bit before coming up with an excuse: [I donât look good in photos, so I donât have many pictures.â
Cornelia said: [Itâs alright. Just snap a random selfie. You can use a beauty filter if you want.]