My Child and I Married a Billionaire

’Is she being sarcastic with me?’

’Just now, if I hadn’t pushed her into the bathroom and Gwen Morgan had seen her, did she think she could have kept her fake identity a secret? Did she think her life would be easy after that?’

Damien Vaughn couldn’t believe this woman had the audacity to turn the tables on him.

"If you like it in there so much, then stay there forever. I’m not in the mood to argue with you."

He turned, walked back to the hospital bed, kicked off his shoes, and lay down.

Cecelia Archer followed him out. Seeing that he wasn’t dealing with Gwen Morgan but had instead shamelessly flopped onto her hospital bed, she became even more furious.

"Miss Morgan came all this way to get you. What are you still doing here instead of going back to Veridia? Don’t you think a rundown hospital like this is beneath a man of your status, President Vaughn?"

Damien Vaughn linked his hands behind his head, lying back casually.

Hearing her, he scoffed without opening his eyes.

"I’m staying here to handle work, of course. Did you think I was staying to keep you company? Your phone is charged. Go browse the internet, read the news, and say fewer ridiculous things."

Cecelia Archer: "..."

’There’s no way I’m sharing a bed with him again!’

Since she had nowhere else to go, she decided to scroll through her phone.

She picked up her phone from the nightstand, sat to one side, and turned it on. In the two or three days she hadn’t been in touch, Shane Grant had sent her a flood of messages.

They were all filled with concern for her safety. He also mentioned he’d been discharged from the hospital and was taking good care of Candy and Annie, sending lots of photos of the two children playing together.

Seeing the children safe, sound, and happy, Cecelia Archer felt a great sense of relief and quickly replied to Shane Grant.

She told him she had to stay for the post-disaster reconstruction and might not be back before the New Year.

She had expected Shane Grant to be displeased, but to her surprise, he was quite supportive.

"This incident is getting so much attention right now. All the media and netizens are waiting to see what happens next. Staying there to handle the aftermath is the right thing to do. If you just let it go, you’ll become a laughingstock. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the kids. You just take care of yourself. Finish your work and come back soon. We’ll be waiting for you at home."

Shane Grant was just so gentle, so considerate, so magnanimous.

’Compared to him, and then looking at Damien Vaughn...’

Cecelia Archer couldn’t help but glance at Damien Vaughn, then, deeply moved, she replied to Shane with an "Okay."

Just as she was about to end the chat and check the online news reports and netizen reactions to the incident, Damien Vaughn opened his eyes.

"I know I’m handsome, but that doesn’t give you the right to sneak glances at me whenever you want. Please, control your eyes."

Cecelia Archer: "?!"

’Does he have a third eye or something? I only glanced at him for a second and he noticed?’

’And complimenting his own looks... when did he get so secretly narcissistic?’

Seeing her momentary embarrassment, Damien Vaughn closed his eyes again, satisfied.

"Your typing is too loud. It’s bothering me. I’ll give you two choices. One, put down your phone immediately and come to bed quietly. Two, take your phone and go play outside, and if you leave, don’t come back..."

Before he could finish, Cecelia Archer decisively chose the second option.

Cecelia Archer squeezed in with Grandma King for the night. The night passed without incident.

The next morning, after washing up, she went to the cafeteria to get breakfast for herself and Grandma King and ran into Damien Vaughn, who had also come to eat.

Cecelia Archer didn’t want to greet him and was about to pretend she hadn’t seen him and walk around him, but Damien Vaughn blocked her path.

"What are you having? Get me a plate, too."

After saying that, he walked straight to an empty table and sat down to wait.

Cecelia Archer: "..."

’This lord and master... He’s really too used to being the boss. Doesn’t he have hands of his own? He’s in a cafeteria and still expects someone to wait on him!’

Cecelia Archer got her and Grandma King’s breakfast to go, then deliberately ordered soy milk and a fried dough stick for Damien Vaughn and placed it in front of him.

Damien Vaughn’s eyebrows knitted together like caterpillars.

"This is the breakfast you got for me?"

"If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. The Vaughn Family has so many chefs, you really don’t need to be here suffering like this."

’Isn’t she just afraid that Shane Grant will get the wrong idea if she stays with me, so she’s trying to rush me out?’

Damien Vaughn was under no obligation to satisfy her.

He couldn’t bring himself to eat the fried dough stick, but the soy milk was drinkable.

After drinking the cup of soy milk, Damien Vaughn went to Grandma King’s room.

Cecelia Archer and Grandma King were eating and chatting when he walked in and gave a direct order.

"You have two minutes. Finish up and come with me."

’He’s like a ghost,’ Cecelia Archer thought. ’Why is he everywhere?’

"Go where?"

Damien Vaughn said seriously, "Work business. Hurry up."

After receding throughout the previous afternoon and night, not much of the floodwater was left on the streets.

Cecelia Archer assumed he was in a hurry to start the post-disaster reconstruction, so she quickly finished her breakfast and ran to find him. Damien Vaughn led her outside without a word.

"Is it just the two of us? Where are you planning to start? Where are we going now?"

Damien Vaughn ignored her. The two of them went downstairs, passed through the crowd, and got into a car.

He plugged an address into his phone’s GPS, started the car, and drove off.

Cecelia Archer wanted to ask him their destination again, but when she glanced over, he had a look on his face that said he couldn’t be bothered to answer. ’Forget it,’ she thought.

’I’ll find out when we get there anyway.’

Bored, she leaned against the window and stared outside. The car twisted and turned for what seemed like an eternity before stopping in a scenic area. Although it was winter and the flood had just receded, the place was surrounded by ancient trees, serene and elegant. Between the trees, a flight of stone steps, immaculately clean, stretched up toward the clouds—a truly delightful sight.

Cecelia Archer didn’t know where this was or why he had come here, and she couldn’t help looking at him again.

Damien Vaughn got out of the car, his posture rigid, and slammed the door.

"Get out."

Cecelia Archer had no choice but to follow.

He entered the mountain forest without a word, taking the stone steps with his long strides. Cecelia Archer followed.

After about ten-odd minutes, Cecelia Archer, who rarely exercised, felt her knees start to go weak.

"Didn’t you say this was for work? What kind of work requires us to run up a mountain? Just how long are we supposed to walk? President Vaughn, can you please say something?"

Damien Vaughn just ignored her, taking two steps at a time as he continued forward, nimble as a swallow.

Cecelia Archer followed for a few more minutes, but she really couldn’t go on and decided to give up.

"I can’t walk anymore. If you want to climb, climb by yourself. If you have any work instructions, just message them to me. I’ll wait for you here."

’We haven’t even gone a tenth of the way, and she’s already quitting?’

’Look at her, weak all over, huffing and puffing. So useless.’

Damien Vaughn was speechless for two seconds, then strode back down to her.

"Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were Grandma King’s older sister. Look at you, so useless. The work can only be discussed at the summit. You are coming up this mountain with me today, one way or another."

Cecelia Archer was breathing too heavily, swallowing mouthfuls of cold air. She clutched her stomach and said unhappily,

"What kind of amazing work has to be discussed on a mountaintop? You said it yourself, I’m useless as can be. Aren’t you just making things difficult for me?"

Damien Vaughn was, in fact, deliberately making things difficult for her.

’Who told her to be so audacious and keep pissing me off?’

"Is this the attitude people from the Grant Group have toward their work? So undisciplined and lacking in perseverance? In that case..."

Cecelia Archer: "..."

’He’s using work to pressure me again?’

"I’m rested! I’ll go on ahead, President Vaughn!"