Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 76: The Hen and the Phoenix

PM on a weekend evening.

Thea Lynch was feeling better from her cold and took the opportunity to go out for a while that afternoon.

Sean Bell arrived half an hour earlier than the agreed time, and Thea hadn’t finished changing her clothes yet.

In the living room, Sean propped his head with one hand and looked sideways towards the master bedroom, urging once more, "Thea, are you ready yet?"

"Almost."

Upon hearing the familiar answer, Sean snickered, "How many ’almosts’ have you given me now?"

"You women are really troublesome."

"I’m lucky I came early."

Amid his complaints, Thea finally pushed open the door of the walk-in closet and came out from the master bedroom.

Sean lazily lifted his eyelids, and then his gaze paused.

Compared to her usual serious and elegant business attire, today Thea’s outfit was more aggressive.

A burgundy strapless gown perfectly outlined her good figure, like a piece of red velvet cake that people couldn’t help but want to taste.

Today’s dress was something he had specially brought; when he saw it, he felt it suited her.

Thea, though not an easily approachable personality, didn’t love being in the spotlight, especially since her illness.

This outfit today really surprised him. It was as if she was back to her teenage years when her parents were in love, her brother was around, and she was the recognized little princess of The Coronet Circle in Coronet.

All the beautiful words could be used to describe her.

Bright and flamboyant, never deliberately concealing her brilliance.

Staring at her for a while, Sean pressed his tongue against his cheek, his eyes under the glasses rippling with an unknown emotion.

"What are you looking at? Isn’t it the dress you picked? What’s so nice about it?" Thea adjusted the strap of her high heels with her foot and urged him, "Aren’t we going?"

"My taste isn’t bad." Sean smiled and stood up, "Let’s go."

One word from his mouth inexplicably carried a hint of playfulness.

Thea didn’t know what he was laughing about, only that he was in a good mood now.

When he was like this, there was an eighty percent chance he was up to something.

Thea sized him up, meeting his gaze. He smiled at her, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What exactly do you plan to do tonight?" Of course, Thea was on guard.

When she learned Ian Preston would also be attending tonight’s gala, she knew things wouldn’t be that simple.

Did Sean just need a date, so he found her?

He used to attend events alone; when did he start needing a date?

She knew there was something fishy, but as for why she said yes...

She was there for the show.

She wanted to see what tricks Sean could pull.

"You’ll find out when we get there."

Sean’s smile was mysterious, "Don’t worry, I’m taking you to see the show, I’m not going to sell you or anything."

Thea kicked the hem of her dress up into her hand and strode out, throwing four words at him: "You better be."

——

This charity gala also featured an auction.

Basically, all the big shots in The Coronet Circle had their names on the guest list and were attending tonight.

Starting from 5 PM, traffic jams began on nearby roads, and the entrance looked like a luxury car exhibition, cars stopping one after another.

Thea and Sean arrived just past seven o’clock.

Exiting the car, Sean tossed the car keys to the staff and bent his elbow, signaling to Thea.

Thea glanced at him and took his arm.

Sean’s appearance was like a royal flush; he was acknowledged as the little tyrant of Coronet, who wouldn’t recognize him?

All along the way, Thea could feel the gazes gathering around them. Most people here didn’t recognize her. She could faintly hear a few puzzled voices, but they were all very quiet, probably afraid Sean would hear.

After all, if he got upset, he wouldn’t care about the occasion. Let alone a charity gala, even if it was his father’s birthday banquet, if provoked, he wouldn’t show any face, flipping the table right there.

Once inside, they went up to the second floor and sat by the railing.

Downstairs, all the business tycoons were toasting each other; neither of them enjoyed socializing, so there was no need to join the crowd.

After accepting a champagne from a waiter, Thea took a sip and placed it beside her.

"Wanna have a look?" Sean offered her the auction catalog.

The items being auctioned today were personal collections from a few of the big tycoons downstairs. Thea wasn’t interested in jewelry but had her eye on a painting of a game of chess.

"Why pick this?" Sean glanced at it, not understanding.

He had no interest at all in calligraphy and paintings.

"It would be the perfect gift for grandpa," Thea noted the starting bid, eighteen million.

Sean asked, "What’ll be the estimated final bid? Thirty million?"

"Probably." Thea calculated, "I’d say anything under thirty million. If it goes over, then forget it."

"Alright." Sean silently made a note.

The auction was set to officially start at 7:30 PM, and many of the big shots were already arriving one after another.

Thea twirled the paddle in her hand, ready for the bidding.

As it got close to the start, the auction hall doors were opened by servers on both sides, and Ian Preston made his entrance with two assistants.

Many of the people downstairs stood up to greet and chat with him.

The commotion was big enough that Thea couldn’t ignore it.

Taking in the scene, Sean smiled and gestured to another side, "Hey, over there."

Following his direction, Thea noticed a familiar figure standing downstairs.

A woman in a burgundy gown, with an exquisite face and a bright smile, stood slightly behind Ian Preston.

Nina Sinclair.

Although they hadn’t arrived together, Nina’s gaze was fixed on Ian the entire time. Her sweet smile and obedient demeanor were not much different from the assistants with whom Ian had arrived.

Thea returned her gaze to Sean, unfazed, "You did this on purpose."

Her tone was slightly cold, more like a statement than a question.

Sean just smiled without speaking, tacitly agreeing.

Noticing they both wore the same dress, Thea clenched her champagne glass tightly, a deep displeasure flickering in her eyes.

She made to stand, but Sean swiftly held down her hand, "Why the rush?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Thea glared at him.

"As the saying goes, wearing the same outfit isn’t scary, only the ugly feel awkward. What are you afraid of?" Sean’s eyes under the glasses brimmed with amusement, "She doesn’t even come close to comparing to you."

"..."

Thea didn’t intend to run away; she just didn’t want to keep wearing this gown.

On the way here, she thought about what chaos Sean might stir, but never did she think he’d pull such a stunt.

She didn’t feel awkward; she just didn’t want to be mentioned alongside Nina Sinclair and compared.

"Are you trying to mess with me? Or Nina? Or Ian?"

Sean tilted his head and whispered in her ear, "I can’t afford to offend you or Ian. But messing with someone named Sinclair, that’s easy enough."

"What exactly are you planning to do?"

"Relax. I just want her to understand something." Sean’s smile was enigmatic, "A pheasant is just a pheasant; sticking a couple of feathers on doesn’t make it a phoenix, does it? How naive."

"Tonight, I’m going to pluck those two feathers off her tail and give them to you."