Chapter 139

Caroline toyed with a roly–poly in the living room. When she looked at Kirk, he was staring back at her.

It was as though they were telepathic. She tossed him a smile.

Kirk swallowed before finally speaking into the phone. “I’ll ask Carrie about it.”

“Okay.” Ivan finally heaved a sigh of relief. After ending the call, he went back to the living room.

Avery’s parents were there. As Ivan returned, they asked him, “Ivan, what did Kirk say?”

“I told him to ask Caroline what she thinks of this.”

Still, Avery’s parents didn’t relent. Instead, their faces were full of worry when they spoke. “Ivan, we’re so sorry about this. Avery didn’t know that something like this would happen either.”

Ivan waved a hand in the air to dismiss it. “Enough talk about that. What’s important is that Caroline and Kirk are okay now.”

His words made the Mendeley couple feel even more guilty.

They glanced at Avery beside them, but they didn’t have it in them to reprimand her. She was their own daughter, after all. Besides, she was usually very gentle and obedient.

Even Ivan found this incident rather odd. Perhaps it had nothing to do with Avery.

Meanwhile, Kirk went back to the living room with his phone in hand. Caroline saw him coming and placed the roly–poly back on the coffee table. “What happened? Was it a call from your office?”

“Why do you ask?” Kirk slid his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her head.

Caroline smiled. “I rarely see you looking so troubled. Did something happen at work? Do they want you to go back?”

“Nope. It was a call from Dad,” Kirk answered. “He said Avery wants to apologize to you.”

The smile on Caroline’s face vanished at once.

The incident replayed in her mind. Her gut instincts told her that Avery liked Kirk, even though there was nothing to prove it. What happened last night must have had something to do with Avery.

“Do you want to go back there?”

Caroline turned around to face him and asked, “I have a question. Can you give me an answer first?

“Sure.”

“You and Avery have known each other since childhood, right? Were you ever… together in the past?”

Kirk held Caroline’s chin with his hand and said, “No. We’re just friends.”

“Really?”

“Don’t you believe me?”

“No, I do.” Caroline laughed. “Does she like you then?”

Kirk frowned as if he were contemplating it. “I think so.”

“Do you like her then?”

Kirk rested his forehead against Caroline’s. “Are you jealous?” He teased her gleefully.

“Hey, I’m being serious right now.”

Caroline started to turn away from him, making Kirk’s face turn serious as he grasped the situation.

Out of the blue, he lowered his head to kiss her on the lips. It made Caroline’s mind go blank.

1 After some time, Kirk finally let go of her.

Caroline was still in a daze as she stared blankly at him. Despite that, her eyes were clear, and it made her look adorable. Amused, Kirk asked, “You still don’t understand?”

Blushing, Caroline turned around and mumbled, “I don’t.”

Kirk chuckled. “Have you thought things through?”

Caroline took a deep breath and turned to face him once again. Her eyes shone with clarity when she looked at him. “Yes. Of course I’ll go.”

She didn’t need to worry about anything else as long as Kirk didn’t like Avery. She was also curious about why Avery wanted to apologize to her.

“Are you sure?” Kirk stared into her eyes for confirmation, and Caroline nodded in response.

“Then I’ll call Dad back and let him know.”

“Okay.”