Bye My Stepbrother 9

Emerson looked around before nodding.

Andrea was surprised, thinking, “He agreed? Just like that?”

The agent said with a smile, “Mr. Maxwell is eagerly looking for

a place to be his wife’s birthday present. They’re so in love. It

makes me so jealous!”

Andrea’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. She had fantasized about becoming Roderick’s wife countless times, but… fantasies were

meant to remain just fantasies.

Forcing a smile, she extended her hand. “Do give Mrs. Maxwell

my early birthday wishes.”

Emerson smiled, too, and shook her hand.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder roared. Startled, she shivered instinctively, and the sound of the door opening sent a chill

down her spine.

She turned around stiffly, only to meet Roderick’s gaze as he

stared at her intently.

“When did he get here?” she couldn’t help but wonder.

Not sure if he had heard her conversation with Emerson, she

could only say to Emerson hastily, “Mr. Maxwell, I’m afraid I

have to attend to something.

“Talk to you later.”

After Emerson stepped out, Roderick walked toward her, his

expression stern.

Waiting for her message at home became increasingly

unbearable as time ticked by, so he came to find her himself.

Yet, as he arrived, he saw her chatting happily with another

man.

“Men just can’t resist your charm, can they? That’s one

persistent suitor,” he said with a sneer.

Andrea secretly breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he didn’t hear

their conversation.

She explained in a small voice, “I’ve made it clear to him. I don’t

think he’ll come here again.”

Only then did his expression soften a little.

He sat down, trying to smooth things over between them,

which was rare.

“Andie, you look terrible. Are you having a fever? Do you want

me to accompany you to the hospital?”

He reached out, wanting to touch her face.

But she instinctively dodged with disgust in her eyes.

He had just gotten intimate with another woman. Being

touched by him made her skin crawl.

As Andrea dodged, Roderick’s hand froze in mid–air.

His expression turned cold at once as his lips curved into a

sarcastic smile.

“She dodged me… again?” he thought.

Sensing his dangerous aura, Andrea quickly looked outside the

window and changed the subject clumsily.

“Roderick, do you remember when I first went abroad? It was

the same season. I was homesick and upset, so you took me out

every day, trying to make me feel better”

Those first few years abroad were the happiest time she had

ever had.

Back then, she and Roderick had been so much in love. Without

Lucian or Scarlett around, they had acted like a couple openly,

doing whatever they wanted.

Roderick’s gaze softened as she brought up the past.

He said, “The alumni reunion is in a few days. Wanna come

with me?”

“Really? Yay!”

Andrea beamed, but her joy only lasted a second.

She’d leave soon, so she might not be able to attend the alumni

reunion.

She admitted that she indeed missed those days in school and

her past with Roderick.

But those memories were already tainted by harsh reality.

Her secret crush on Roderick had begun in high school. The day

she turned eighteen, they got together, and she thought she was

the luckiest girl ever, as her dream had finally come true.

Yet now she knew his so–called affection was nothing but a

long–planned revenge.

Those “sweet” moments she had once cherished were merely

part of his schemes, and she no longer had intention to hold

onto them.