Chapter 31: Blind Date
Caroline Whitman came out of the shower and suddenly remembered the headphones she had left in the guest room the last time she slept there.
She knocked twice on the guest room door. When there was no response, she said, "I’m coming in," and pushed the door open.
The light was on, but no one was there. He was probably in the shower.
Caroline Whitman walked straight to the nightstand. She remembered leaving them on top of it.
But her headphones weren’t on the nightstand. Instead, there was a photo of her, along with a phone and a pair of glasses that didn’t belong to her.
She picked up the photo to take a look. It was taken when she was in high school.
Just as she was wondering how this photo had been dug up, she suddenly froze.
’Wait a minute, I’m at Brocade Bay right now, not my own home. This is Adrian Grant’s house, so how does he have this picture?’
Just as she was puzzling over this, she heard someone coming in behind her.
"What’s wrong?" Adrian Grant’s voice sounded from behind her.
Caroline Whitman turned around and was met with the sight of him fresh from the shower. His loosely tied bathrobe was slightly open at the neck, revealing a sliver of his well-defined chest.
Her gaze involuntarily paused there for a moment. The faint red mark she had left last time was already gone.
"I was looking for my headphones," she explained, quickly averting her eyes. Then she held up the photo in her hand, looked up, and asked, "How do you have this picture?"
She was absolutely certain she hadn’t brought this photo with her, let alone to Brocade Bay.
Besides her, only Adrian Grant had slept in this room, so there was only one possibility: the photo came from him.
’But why would he have a picture of me?’
’Could it be... he has a secret crush on me?’
For the first time ever, Caroline Whitman allowed herself a moment of narcissism.
But on second thought, that was completely impossible.
Adrian Grant showed no sign of embarrassment or guilt at being caught. Instead, he stated matter-of-factly, "My grandfather gave it to me when I went back to the old family home today."
Hearing this, Caroline Whitman was utterly baffled.
’What the heck?’
"Grandpa told me to pick someone to get to know and date from a dozen or so photos."
"So you chose me? To use me as a cover?" Caroline Whitman realized, then paused. "Wait, how does your grandfather have my picture?"
She and Gavin Grant had never even formally met, let alone spoken.
Adrian Grant said, "My grandfather invited your father to play chess last weekend. He probably asked your father for the photo then."
"..."
"I thought you would know about this."
"He didn’t tell me."
Caroline Whitman turned her head away. ’How embarrassing.’
’He really threw his own daughter under the bus. How could he not tell me about something so important beforehand?’
Adrian Grant had walked over to the nightstand by now. He bent down slightly, opened a drawer, took out a white headphone case, and handed it to her. "Are these it? I put them in the drawer last time."
Caroline Whitman took them and added, "I’ll be taking the photo, then."
"Mm."
Adrian Grant was already sitting on the bed.
Seeing him nod, Caroline Whitman didn’t say anything more. Her gaze flickered over his chest one last time before she turned and left the bedroom.
Adrian Grant heard the door close. Not two seconds later, it opened again. He looked over as her delicate face peeked in through the crack.
"You’re not actually thinking of a marriage alliance with me, are you? You didn’t even ask for my opinion," Caroline Whitman asked warily.
But Adrian Grant just smiled, a leisurely and composed expression on his face. "I said I would abide by our agreement and not get involved with any other women before Ryan returns to his own world."
"That’s why I could only choose you from the list my grandfather gave me. To be honest, I do need your cooperation to report back to him."
"But you can rest assured, Miss Whitman, we won’t actually go as far as a marriage alliance."
Caroline Whitman was at a loss for words.
He had turned the tables on her again.
’He brought up the agreement. I really don’t know how to respond to that.’
She could only force a helpless, troubled smile. "Yes, it’s for the best that we don’t go down the path of a marriage alliance. Otherwise, if you started thinking about marrying me, I’d be very troubled."
Adrian Grant asked, "Why would you be troubled?"
Caroline Whitman replied unhurriedly, "Don’t you think marrying someone you don’t like is a painful thing?"
Adrian Grant nodded thoughtfully. "That’s true."
"Then I hope you can find someone you like to marry, Miss Whitman."
Caroline Whitman smiled. "It’s too early to talk about that. Let’s wait until the child goes back."
With that, she closed the door.
Caroline Whitman hadn’t expected to hear from Franklin Whitman so soon.
She received a call from him the very next day, and he told her all about it.
He had already arranged a time for them to meet—Friday night—and had even booked a restaurant.
Caroline Whitman wasn’t the only one who received this message; Adrian Grant did too.
When the two of them returned home, they exchanged a look of mutual understanding.
"Did you get the message today?" Adrian Grant asked first.
"Yeah, my dad told me as soon as I got to work this morning. He sure works fast," Caroline Whitman said with a hint of resignation.
She had thought that sharing a future child was already surreal enough.
But what was even more surreal...
...was that even though they lived under the same roof, they now had to pretend to be strangers and go on a blind date.
Caroline Whitman asked, "Do we really still need to go?"
Adrian Grant replied, "Let’s go. It’ll make it easier for me to report back."
In his view, it was just a meal.
It was well worth it if one meal could get Gavin Grant off his back for a while.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the two of them had never eaten together before.
"Mommy, Daddy, where are you going? Baby wants to go too."
Tiny, who was playing with a puzzle in the living room, picked up on the keyword "go," and his internal radar went off instantly.
Lately, he had gradually come to accept one of them, either Caroline Whitman or Adrian Grant, being away on a business trip or working late, but he couldn’t stand both of them leaving him at the same time.
The two adults saw Ryan Grant’s expectant expression.
Caroline Whitman’s heart softened. ’Perfect,’ she thought. She didn’t want to sit in a restaurant alone with Adrian Grant anyway.
Even though it was just to act as his cover, the whole situation was a real test of one’s composure.
So she agreed, "Okay, you can come with us."
Adrian Grant said, "No, you can’t go."
The two of them spoke at the same time.
The air was silent for a second.
Ryan Grant blinked, tilting his head. "Why can’t I go?"
Even Caroline Whitman turned and blinked her own puzzled eyes. "Yeah, why?"
Adrian Grant, however, said matter-of-factly, his expression unchanged, "We’re going on a date. Kids can’t be third wheels."
Caroline Whitman: "..."
Hearing this, Ryan Grant’s eyes darted around as he spotted a flaw in the logic. "But Daddy, you said you had to report back? How can going on a date with Mommy count as reporting back?"
"..."
Caroline Whitman lowered her gaze and started to laugh, her shoulders shaking. "Why’d you have to go and mention a ’date’? Shot yourself in the foot, didn’t you?"
Adrian Grant fell silent.
He had only said it to create the image of a loving couple in front of the child, hoping to lower his guard. Who would have thought it would backfire?
’I’ll have to avoid talking about these things around the kid in the future.’
"Alright, Daddy was just teasing you. Actually, we’re going to meet a big client together, so Baby can’t come along, okay?"
Caroline Whitman stepped in with a smile to smooth things over.
How could she not see that Adrian Grant was just trying to project the image of a "loving couple" for the child’s sake?