Chapter 124 - 122: Saul Thorne
That one simple sentence made Saul Thorne seem all the more charming.
Cecilia Sterling looked at him, her lips curving into a smile, and said softly, "Thank you."
Saul Thorne’s gaze lingered on Cecilia’s smiling face for two seconds before he turned and left.
Before long, the slender officer returned to have Cecilia and her friends sign the paperwork and pay the fine. By the time everything was wrapped up, it was after midnight.
"Honey, I’m so sleepy. The dorms are closed. Let’s find a hotel nearby for the night." Estelle Goodman was so tired she seemed to have lost her spine, half-hanging and half-leaning against Cecilia as she whined playfully.
Cecilia Sterling nodded. She couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of going home either. Lorcain Tech was two districts away from Hearthstone Villas, and it would be over a half-hour taxi ride.
"You can come to my place, if you don’t mind," Blair suddenly spoke up.
Cecilia was slightly taken aback. "Your place? Is it nearby?"
"The martial arts hall. It’s not far."
This sentence seemed to wake Estelle Goodman right up. She stood up straight and exclaimed in surprise, "A martial arts hall nearby? Blair, your family doesn’t live in a courtyard house, do you?"
Blair looked at the two of them and gave a slight nod.
Cecilia Sterling and Estelle Goodman couldn’t help but exchange a look. A courtyard house located within Lorcain’s fourth ring road was worth no less than a villa in Hearthstone Villas!
The three of them walked out of the police station. A Jeep was parked by the side of the road, and Saul Thorne was standing by the door, smoking.
When he saw Cecilia and the others come out, he turned, opened the car door, leaned in to grab a business card, and then walked toward them.
"I need to use the restroom."
Estelle Goodman suddenly spoke up. Looking around, she spotted a lit sign for a public restroom not far away. Blair, not feeling comfortable with her going alone, said, "I’ll go with you."
Once the two had left, Saul Thorne walked right up to Cecilia, stopping in front of her and holding out a card.
Cecilia thought it was his personal business card, but when she took it and looked closely, she saw it was for the Sunward Road Precinct. Saul Thorne said seriously, "You can save our precinct’s emergency number directly. If you run into this kind of situation again, call the police right away. We guarantee a response time of under fifteen minutes within a five-kilometer radius."
"Well, aren’t you a responsible one!" Cecilia said, pouting slightly.
Saul Thorne looked at her face and replied in a low voice, "Beautiful women tend to run into this sort of thing often. It can’t hurt to be prepared."
Cecilia raised her eyes to meet Saul Thorne’s gaze. He didn’t shy away or look aside, just held her gaze.
The next second, a smile crept into Cecilia’s eyes, and she said directly, "In that case, give me your contact info too. I’ll take another precaution."
Cecilia was the type to be direct. ’The vibe is right,’ she thought, ’and if I don’t make a move now, we might never get another chance to meet.’
Besides, she didn’t believe for a second that he’d come over just to give her the precinct’s card.
’The most skilled hunters often present themselves as the prey.’
Sure enough, Saul Thorne didn’t hesitate to pull out his phone, open his WhatsApp QR code, and say, "Scan it."
The smile in Cecilia’s eyes deepened as she unlocked her phone and added his WhatsApp.
"Saul Thorne."
"Cecilia Sterling."
After they both saved each other’s names, Cecilia turned to leave, but Saul Thorne called out to her again.
Cecilia looked back at him, her gaze questioning. "Is there something else?"
Saul Thorne didn’t mince words, asking bluntly, "You don’t have a boyfriend, do you?"
"That depends on whether you can catch me." Cecilia smiled slightly, her gaze falling on the nearly finished cigarette butt between Saul Thorne’s fingers. She raised an eyebrow. "Smoking gets you a demerit!"
After saying this, Cecilia turned and walked toward Estelle and Blair.
Saul Thorne’s eyes followed her receding back, and finally, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. ’He knew it. From the moment she’d started staring at him so openly, he knew she had designs on him.’
’Cecilia Sterling...’
He looked down and tapped on her WhatsApp profile picture. ’The photo is beautiful, but she’s even prettier in person. But the main thing is that rare spark she has. Saul couldn’t put his finger on it, but it’s incredibly attractive.’
’Not many people dared to stare at him so openly!’
Just as Cecilia Sterling and Estelle Goodman had thought, the martial arts hall Blair mentioned was a courtyard house in a nearby alley.
High red brick walls, a vermilion gate. They both looked up at the sign above the entrance. The plaque for "Jade Forest Hall" was hung high, flanked by two glowing red lanterns.
It was late, so Blair didn’t knock. Instead, she opened WhatsApp and sent a voice message.
"Candice? What’s up? It’s so late."
"Senior Brother, I’m at the gate. Come open it for me."
Estelle Goodman blinked at Blair, confused. "Your Senior Brother calls you Candice? Is your name Candice Golding?"
Blair replied helplessly, "It’s a nickname."
In less than a minute, a young man wearing shorts and a tank top opened the gate from the inside. He froze when he saw two strangers, Cecilia and Estelle.
Blair quickly explained, "My roommates. We were out, lost track of time, and the dorms are closed."
"This is my Senior Brother."
Cecilia Sterling and Estelle Goodman quickly followed suit. "Hello, Senior Brother."
Theodore Coleman gave an awkward smile and invited them in.
"It’s getting late. You guys should get some rest. Try to be quiet so you don’t wake anyone else."
Blair nodded and led Cecilia and Estelle to her room. It wasn’t large, containing only a one-and-a-half-meter-wide bed and a single armchair.
"I’ll sleep on the armchair. You two take the bed. It’s a bit of a squeeze, but it’ll have to do," Blair said, opening a cabinet to pull out clean towels and toothbrushes. "Who wants to shower first?"
Estelle Goodman quickly raised her hand. "Me first! I’m dead tired!"
After another flurry of activity, Cecilia glanced at the time as she lay down. It was already two in the morning.
When she opened her eyes again, the sky was bright. Cecilia had been woken up by the sound of shouting.
Estelle Goodman was hiding by the door, pressing her ear against it to listen. When she saw Cecilia wake up, she quickly called her over. "Blair’s getting yelled at. Come listen!"
Cecilia felt like she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. She dragged her groggy self over. The courtyard house was large, but the person shouting had such a powerful voice that the two of them could hear every word clearly from inside the room.
In the main hall of the front house, Bruce Coleman stared at the money on the table. His fierce eyes were fixed on Blair as he demanded, "Where did this money come from? If you don’t tell me, you can just keep kneeling here all day!"
Blair knelt in the hall with her head down. Her expression was placid, but her eyes were full of stubbornness. "I earned it with my own skills. Master, you should just take it."
"You earned it with your skills?" Bruce Coleman slammed his hand on the table. So profound was his Internal Energy that the single palm strike pulverized the solid wood table beside him. "Such great skill you have!"
Theodore Coleman watched from the side, frantic with worry. He couldn’t help but try to persuade him, "Dad, Candice has always been sensible. She only went out to earn money so Mom could..."
"You shut your mouth!" Bruce Coleman turned on his son, yelling indiscriminately. "You’d better not know anything about this. If I find out you’ve been helping her cover this up, you’ll see how I deal with you!"
He then turned back to Blair. His expression was stern, but he couldn’t hide the genuine worry beneath it. "You said you didn’t like the name Candice, so I changed your name to Blair. I was hoping you would be like a clap of spring thunder, shocking everyone with your achievements!"
"But look at you now! A bolt from the blue!"
"You’re not going to talk, are you? Then just keep kneeling here. You can get up when you decide you’re ready to talk!"