After Rebirth, I Accept The Arranged Marriage-Chapter 93: Reassurance

She had hidden it well before. Even though she was scared, she had still dared to give Julian Grant an earful.

"Are you at home or out right now?" Victor Morgan asked.

"At home..." Jessie lowered her head, her voice low.

"How about a video call?" Victor’s voice was as calm and composed as ever, a sound that was inherently reassuring. "I’m a little worried."

"...Okay," Jessie said.

Once Jessie answered the video call, Victor looked at her surroundings and said, "Why haven’t you gone back inside? It’s getting a little chilly out. Don’t catch a cold."

Jessie was still on the swing. "Well, you called me, didn’t you? I haven’t had a chance to go back yet."

"Then how about we talk while you walk back?" Victor asked.

Jessie did as he said and started walking toward her room.

"Did you have a good time with your friend today?" Instead of pressing Jessie about what had happened, Victor asked about her outing with Lynn Jennings.

Sure enough, Jessie’s attention was diverted. As she talked about the concert she had attended that day, her mood lightened considerably.

"...That violinist is incredible. I heard his solo concert back when I was in London. A friend there recommended him. And then, surprisingly, he was in this orchestra. I was just telling Lynn Jennings what a crazy coincidence it was..."

By the time Jessie got back to her bedroom, she had calmed down considerably.

If the bedroom lights hadn’t been so bright, Victor might have actually been fooled by Jessie. But as it was, he immediately noticed the faint redness at the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose.

"So you like the violin?"

Jessie sank into a beanbag chair, hugging a fluffy pillow. "I guess so. I like anything that sounds good."

"In that case, if there’s anything you want to hear sometime, how about I play it for you?" Victor said with a smile.

Jessie stared at the man on the screen in astonishment. "You can do that, too?!"

Victor had never shown any hint of it before.

Victor chuckled. "It’s been a long time since I’ve touched one, though. I’m probably rusty, so I can’t compare to that violinist you like."

Jessie propped her chin on the pillow. "You won’t be!" ’She couldn’t let Victor put himself down like that. He was the man she herself had chosen and approved of; there was no way he was inferior to anyone. Wouldn’t that be calling her own judgment into question?’

Victor didn’t know what was going through Jessie’s mind, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at her firm denial.

"Feeling a little better now?" Victor asked.

Jessie hummed. "So-so, I guess." Looking at the screen, she realized Victor was in an underground parking garage. "Where are you going so late? Are you driving yourself?"

"Yeah," Victor said. "I left something behind. I have to go back and get it."

"Is it important?" Jessie asked. "If not, you could just get it tomorrow when you go to the office."

She just assumed Victor had left something work-related at the office.

Victor didn’t correct her. "It’s fine, it’s just a quick drive." After getting in the car, he placed his phone on its stand. "Want to tell me what happened earlier? Why were you so upset at home?"

Jessie hadn’t planned on hiding it from Victor anyway, so she told him about Julian Grant showing up in the middle of the night.

Perhaps it was because she was looking at Victor’s face and hearing his voice intermittently through the phone, but when she spoke about the incident, she wasn’t as emotional as she’d expected. She was much calmer.

"...So that’s what happened. It’s probably not a big deal. I... I guess I just overreacted... I was just a little sad at the time, and then you called, and I kind of lost it..."

Jessie lowered her head, showing Victor only the crown of her head on the other end of the call.

’I’m being so dramatic,’ she thought.

’And I even blamed Victor for not being here with me earlier.’

With her head down, she naturally didn’t see the sudden coldness that washed over Victor’s face.

In the cold light of the dashboard, his profile looked even more frigid, like an ice sculpture. His lower lip was pressed into a thin line, and a chilling look entered his eyes, as if a storm was gathering.

But it was only for an instant. When Jessie looked up at the screen again, Victor was back to normal.

He gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other, with a hint of impatience, loosened the top button of his collar.

In Aethelburg, you could feel the biting cold of winter the moment you stepped outside in December, but at this moment, sitting in his car, Victor only felt a burning heat in his chest.

"It’s not a small thing," Victor said.

"Huh?" Jessie said.

Victor looked at the person on his phone screen. Jessie was staring at him, her eyes wide, dark, and crystal clear. He repeated himself, "This is not a small thing, and you did not overreact. Coming to you in the middle of the night to say those things, making you scared and upset—that was his fault."

Hearing that, Jessie’s eyes immediately crinkled into a smile.

"Exactly!" With someone on her side, she instantly felt more confident and unafraid. "It was just so random! And he even said something about me going to the United States with him..."

Jessie was ranting indignantly, but she stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing she’d let something slip. She quickly covered her mouth.

"...D-don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I agreed," Jessie said, hastily trying to patch things up.

No change could be seen on Victor’s face on the screen. He even let out a soft chuckle. "Mm, I know."

"You’re not mad, are you?" Jessie asked cautiously. ’If some other woman tried to steal Victor away, I would definitely be angry.’ Putting herself in his shoes, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

"I’m not mad," Victor said, his tone perfectly even.

Jessie studied the screen for a long time but couldn’t find any cracks in his facade.

She finally relaxed.

However, off-camera, where Jessie couldn’t see, the veins on the back of Victor’s hands, which were resting on the steering wheel, bulged uncontrollably.

His restraint and suppression seemed to have found a tiny outlet, causing the veins to throb.

The calm before the storm can also create an illusion of peace.

Jessie had certainly had an eventful evening. Facing the camera, she couldn’t help but yawn.

Of course, Victor didn’t have the heart to make Jessie stay up just to talk to him. Seeing her yawn, he said, "Go on and get some sleep. You were out all day, you must be tired."

Jessie rubbed her eyes. "You’re not at the office yet?"

"Mm, almost there."

"Then I’ll wait until you get home to hang up, okay? Otherwise, it must be boring driving all by yourself," Jessie said, fighting off her sleepiness.

Victor watched Jessie yawn again, tears almost welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Don’t wait for me. I’m not tired yet. You go get some rest."

At this point, Victor glanced at his phone. "Keegan Sanders is calling me. It’s probably about work, so I’m going to hang up now. You go to sleep, okay?"

"Oh," Jessie said. Not wanting to get in the way of Victor’s work, she made a "bye-bye" gesture and ended the video call.

After Jessie hung up, Victor stared silently at the road ahead.

Of course, there was no so-called call from Keegan Sanders on his phone.

His house in Sixi Courtyard was on priceless land at the foot of the Imperial City; it couldn’t possibly have a helipad.

Victor drove back to the old family estate.

It was only a two-hour flight from Aethelburg to Southaven.