365 Days of Rejected Proposal: CEO's Rebellious Pet-Chapter 140: Why Won’t You Let Me Go

In an instant, the warmth on Jenson Forrest’s handsome face vanished completely.

He raised his hand and gripped Zinnia Lawrence’s chin, tilting her face up. Her eyes were moist and still held a hint of allure. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen—everywhere were the marks of their recent, intense entanglement. The scent of their lovemaking still hung thick in the car, and his heart was ablaze with tender passion.

But this woman had already pulled away, once again thinking about leaving him.

It’s as if she just doused my heart in a bucket of ice water. The bone-chilling cold ignited a furious anger within him.

He suddenly tightened his grip on her jaw, his thin lips curling into a cold smirk. "Back to the airport? I told you, without my permission, you’re not going anywhere."

His grip was a little too tight, and Zinnia frowned in pain, stunned. "But you just promised to take me back to the airport, didn’t you?"

She had told him that if they finished this one last time, he would take her back to the airport. She had assumed he’d agreed.

Jenson, however, raised an eyebrow in cold disdain. "That’s what *you* said. When did I ever agree?"

Zinnia was so furious she could have died. Humiliation turned to rage, and she raised her hands to pummel Jenson’s chest. Her frantic punches fell one after another. "Jenson Forrest, you bastard! You’re a despicable, unreasonable animal! You’re black-hearted and rotten to the core! If you weren’t going to agree, then why did you touch me!?"

Her body was pliant and weak, lending no real force to her blows. Though she looked ferocious, her fists landed on Jenson’s body without him feeling a thing. Jenson even leaned back lazily against the seat, giving her ample room to vent.

"Was I the only one enjoying myself just now? Who was it crying out in pleasure beneath me, begging me to slow down and...?"

Zinnia’s face turned beet red. She slapped a hand over Jenson’s mouth, hissing in shame and anger, "Stop talking!"

Jenson’s dark eyes stared at her as he leaned in and kissed her palm. The man’s lips were scorching. As the heat and the soft tip of his tongue grazed her skin, Zinnia panicked and tried to pull her hand away. But Jenson suddenly seized her wrist, refusing to let her go.

He kissed her fingers one by one, his movements gentle and full of lingering affection. The intimacy sent a jolt straight to Zinnia’s heart, throwing it into utter chaos. All the feelings she’d painstakingly suppressed—the unwillingness to let go, the selfish desire for more, all her love and foolish devotion—were being effortlessly stirred to the surface.

This was the man she had loved for so many years, from the time she was eight until she was twenty-two. Whether it was her love for him as a brother or the familial affection that later blossomed into romance... she had given it all to him. Only him.

She could no longer pinpoint when the nature of her feelings had changed, but she knew that for all those fourteen years, he had been her entire world. She had loved for too long and waited for too long, only to be met with emptiness. She no longer dared to hope for the outcome she once dreamed of.

Yet his frenzied possessiveness now, his ambiguous actions, gave Zinnia a renewed sense of illusion, as if he loved her, too.

Zinnia’s lips trembled as she worked up the courage to ask one more time, "You’re fighting so hard to keep me here... is it because you can’t bear to let me go? Jenson, have you fallen in love with me?"

Zinnia held her breath, her eyes fixed on him, shimmering with hope.

Jenson’s gaze was deep and heavy. "Is that important? If I say I love you, will you obediently come back with me, withdraw the divorce application, and stop all this nonsense?"

Even though he had only said "if," Zinnia’s heart began to pound wildly.

Yes, that’s it, she thought. Even if he’s just lying to me, I’m willing to lose myself in this beautiful dream and never wake up.

She moistened her dry lips, about to nod, when a phone suddenly began to ring. It was Zinnia’s. When Jenson had pulled off her jeans earlier, her phone had fallen out onto the floor of the car, its screen now flashing with an intrusive light.

The name Alaric Hawthorne pulsed on the screen.

Jenson’s gaze fell upon it, and when he saw the name, his handsome face turned to ice. He leaned over, his long fingers plucking the phone from the floor. He handed it to Zinnia, saying, "Go on, answer it."

Zinnia had no choice but to take the phone and slide her finger across the screen to answer.

"Zinnia, you landed safely in Port Caligo, right? I’m still worried about you, so I asked a friend to meet you at the arrivals gate. Go with him to the hotel and get some rest. I’ll be there tomorrow..."

The call came right at the time her flight was supposed to have landed. Alaric clearly thought she had already arrived in Port Caligo.

Zinnia was just about to tell Alaric that she hadn’t been able to leave when Jenson suddenly snatched the phone from her hand.

"What are you doing...?"

Zinnia instinctively reached for it, but he had already powered it off and was now confiscating it. He was the one who told her to answer, and now he was the one hanging up on her.

She glared at him, annoyed. "Alaric was kind enough to have someone meet me. They’ll be worried when they can’t find me! You could at least let me explain things!"

So she really was planning to leave with Alaric Hawthorne. Look how anxious she is, afraid he’ll worry.

Jenson was filled with a cold, jealous fury. "And how were you going to explain it to him? By telling him you never went to Port Caligo because you’re in my car, right after we were intimate?"

Zinnia’s face flushed red again. She didn’t press the issue, but her mind was still on their unfinished conversation. She looked at him again, her voice nervous. "When you said you loved me just now... did you mean it?"

Jenson scoffed. "You missed a word."

With that, as if annoyed by her persistence, he lowered the car window, stuck his hand out, and snapped his fingers.

The driver’s footsteps quickly approached. Zinnia silently lowered her head. She pulled away from Jenson’s embrace, moved to the seat opposite him, and stared out the window.

Of course. I forgot the ’if’. It seems the only way he could ever love me is in a hypothetical scenario.

A bone-chilling cold washed over her. Zinnia hugged herself tightly, so very tightly. She could feel the powerful, oppressive aura radiating from him in the enclosed space. She could feel his intense, focused gaze fixed on her. But she no longer had the desire to ask him anything. She no longer wanted to probe why he had insisted on dragging her back.

Whatever the reason, it wouldn’t be the answer she was hoping for.

Jenson’s deep eyes remained fixed on Zinnia, a cold smirk playing on his lips.

All I did was stop her from talking to another man and take her phone. And now she won’t even speak to me or come near me. Just wonderful.

The car drove smoothly on, and before long, Zinnia had drifted off to sleep. She was utterly exhausted—from the inside out, in body and soul.

Her body gradually slid down in the seat, and her head began to loll toward the window. Jenson swiftly leaned over, his large hand shooting out to cushion her head before it hit the glass. Her head came to rest in his palm. Only then did Jenson move to sit beside her.

He lifted her legs, carefully settling her so she was lying across his lap.

Oblivious in her sleep, the woman merely turned over, finding a more comfortable position with her head pillowed on his thigh, and mumbled, "Why... won’t you let me go... Brother... you’re a big meanie..."

Jenson looked down at her. A single, glistening tear slid from the corner of her eye. His heart clenched. He reached out and gently wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.

"Heh... you want to escape me even in your dreams? A pity, Zinnia. You’ve already missed your chance."

I thought about letting her go before. I even tried. That’s why I went through with the divorce registration. But I found that I just can’t do it. Now that she’s carrying our child, she has even less of a chance to leave. Even if she thinks this is torture, I can’t be soft-hearted and let her go ever again!