Mr. CEO's Young Mistress

A male voice came from the other end of the phone. "Sharon..."

Sharon removed the phone to glance at the caller ID. It was a foreign caller, but they must be acquaintances if he knew her name. She returned the phone to her ear and asked, "And you are?"

"Sharon, are you all right? Why haven't you been coming to school lately? Did something happen?" he bombarded.

Sharon was startled. "Do I know you? And why do you have my number?"

Sharon cheekily responded with more questions instead.

"Ahem." An awkward cough came from the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry. I was too nervous."

Sharon heard him taking a deep breath before speaking. "I'm Simon."

...

Erm...

She couldn't really say that she hadn't recognized it was him.

Pressing her lips together, she asked. "Is something the matter?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering why you hadn't been coming to classes lately. Are you sick?" Simon's voice was full of worry.

"Oh, I had a minor surgery." Worried that Simon would overwhelm her with his concerns, Sharon quickly added, "It was only an appendectomy, and I'm almost fine now." Simon remained silent on the other end of the phone.

Sharon lowered her phone and glanced at it uncertainly. Seeing that it was still connected, she returned it to her ear to hear Simon reply in a low voice, "It hurt a lot, didn't it?" Sharon let out a small sigh and changed the subject. "It was alright. By the way, how did you get my phone number?"

"I-I asked your friend for it." Simon stammered, worried about exposing Melanie.

Sharon instantly understood. She merely replied, "I see."

"Please don't blame her! I was the one who pestered her to give me your number." Simon stuttered nervously.

"Why would I blame her?" Sharon laughed.

Simon sighed in relief. "Alright, then."

"Simon, I, um, I'm in the middle of something. So..." Sharon said apologetically.

"Oh, sure! T-Then, take care." Simon responded.

"Thank you." Sharon was just about to hang up when she heard him speak again.

"Sharon..."

Sharon's movements halted, and she brought the phone back to her ear. "Yes?" "May I visit you?" Simon asked softly, his voice hoarse with nervousness. Sharon's hand tightened around her phone, and she bit into her lip, silent.

"I guess you must be busy." The disappointment in his voice was unmistakable.

"Thank you, Simon." Sharon hung up.

She laid back onto the bench and watched the clouds floating in the blue sky. After some time, she released a gentle sigh.

She reached out to pick up her papers, but she was no longer in the mood to study.

It was afternoon. Leonard had rushed back to the villa only to have lunch with Sharon.

Clad in a dark grey wool sweater, he suddenly appeared at the entryway, bringing along a gust of chilly wind.

Kelley had been preparing lunch when she heard the noise coming from the front entrance. She quickly walked out of the dining area to see Leonard removing his leather gloves and heading upstairs. "Sir, are you looking for Miss?" Kelley asked.

Leonard responded without even turning his head. "Mm-hmm."

"She's not upstairs," Kelley told him.

Leonard stopped in his track and turned to look at Kelley questioningly.

Kelley pointed to the garden and said, "She's studying in the garden."

"Studying?" Leonard repeated in his head, stunned.

Leonard's eyebrows raised slightly. "When has she ever been so hardworking?" he wondered.

The corners of his mouth lifted as he turned around and walked towards the garden.

Kelley watched his retreating back and called out, "Sir, please tell her that lunch is ready."

"Alright." Leonard acknowledged.

Sharon was asleep on the bench. Suddenly, she felt a slight itch on her cheek. Her brows furrowed, and she slowly blinked her eyes open.

She was bleary-eyed from sleep and laid in a daze.

Vaguely, Sharon made out a blurry face above her before something clamped down on her nose roughly.

Running out of oxygen, Sharon quickly opened her mouth for some fresh air.

Her vision cleared, and she finally saw who it was.

Her eyes immediate widened, and she sprung up into a sitting position.

Unfortunately, her sudden moments had tugged on her wound. She shrank back in pain, covering her abdomen with a hand.

"It hurts..." Sharon's face twisted into a pained scowl.

Large hands suddenly picked her up.

Due to the intense pain, Sharon did not bother putting up a fight as he carried her into the house.

Kelley stood by the door, waiting for Sharon and Leonard to appear.

She had not expected to see Leonard walking over with Sharon in his arms.

His face was taut, his gaze murderous.

Sharon, on the other hand, was pale as death as she held on to her abdomen. She did not even dare to take a deep breath due to the pain. Kelley cursed silently and stepped aside, uneasy.

Leonard walked right past her and headed upstairs.

In the master bedroom, Leonard roughly lowered her onto the bed, his expression hard. Without a word, he lifted the hem of Sharon's sweater, placing a hand on her lower abdomen.

Sharon was as red as a beet as she clutched her sweater firmly, afraid that he would lift it higher.

Leonard crouched by the bedside as he scrutinized the bandaged area. Then, he uncovered the dressings to check on the wound.

The surroundings of the wound were irritated and pink, but luckily, the wound itself showed no signs of discharge.

Leonard pursed his lips and pulled her sweater back down.

He got up, sat down beside Sharon, and gazed at her, who was watching him tensely.

Sharon fumbled to arrange her sweater, staring at him with bright eyes.

"Am I a ghost?" Leonard suddenly asked.

Sharon's face twitched. "Have you ever seen such a handsome ghost?" she huffed on the inside but said nothing.

Leonard looked at Sharon with a solemn expression and deadpanned, "I guess you don't plan on getting better anytime soon."

Sharon decided to remain silent.

"Come downstairs for lunch," Leonard ordered and walked out, leaving Sharon alone.

Sharon was so miserable she did not even realize that she was pouting behind his back.

After recuperating for another week, Sharon could finally get her sutures removed.

After they were removed, Sharon stared at the scar that ran along her abdomen, sad at the thought of no longer being able to wear clothes that would expose her midriff.

Besides regretting that she could no longer wear exposing clothes, she did not care much about the scar.

However, while she did not mind the scar, Leonard seemed to be very bothered by it, going as far as to ask specialists how to remove it.

Since Leonard was putting in so much effort, Sharon gladly accepted everything he arranged for her.

Today, she could finally return to the university and continue her student life.

Sharon woke up exceptionally early in the morning and cleaned herself up. She was humming a happy tune as she picked up the bag she had packed the night before and left the room.

It was unsure whether it was related to his age, but Leonard always seemed to wake up very early.

Sharon went downstairs and saw Leonard reading a financial newspaper. She greeted him cheerfully, "Good morning, Master Leonard!"

Surprised, Leonard lifted his head to see Sharon dressed in her uniform. A small smile broke out on his face as he replied, "Good morning."

Sharon dropped her bag onto the sofa and skipped towards the kitchen. "Kelley, is breakfast ready yet?" she asked.

"Yes, it is. I'm bringing it out now." Kelley assured her.

"I'll help you." Sharon rushed into the kitchen.

She soon came out carrying a loaf of freshly baked bread and dashed to the dining area.

Leonard watched as Sharon ran back and forth between the kitchen and dining area, his eyes tender.

At Bluesky University.

Since Sharon had finally returned after disappearing for nearly half a month, there were many questions. Curious students surrounded her at her desk and started interrogating her.

"Sharon, where have you been? Why didn't you come to school?" one student asked.

"Were you on vacation?" another bombarded.

"It's such a tense period, but you're still travelling? Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to catch up?" someone else exclaimed.

Someone scoffed, "What's there for her to be scared of? She has someone to back her up, so why bother studying?"

"That's true. Sharon won't have to worry about her studies since Leonard will take care of everything," another student said.

"Oh, Sharon! How I envy you!" someone gushed.

"Me too! I sometimes wish that I had also been adopted by a rich family. Then, all I needed to do was act obedient, and I wouldn't have anything to worry about for the rest of my life," somebody sighed longingly.

"Forget about it. Let's continue studying. After all, we aren't as lucky as Sharon." a student snickered.

The crowd soon dispersed.

Sharon was at a loss for words and clutched the strap of her bag tightly, her head lowered for quite some time.

She wondered, "If the price of being adopted by a wealthy family was to lose their parents, would they still insist on living such a life?" ☐☐☐☐☐☐