Ch. 1131..1140

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1131-“What does that have to do with you, Mister Aaron? Even if I do have a crush on him, it’s not like you can set us up, right?” Aaron smiled. “And what if I can? Give me two days to settle my stuff, and then I’ll set you two up on a date.” Annie was speechless. She was only trying to get a rise out of him, so she did not expect he would actually agree to help her. “No, thanks! I don’t need your help at all.” Aaron raised his eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll ask him out yourself?” Annie frowned and turned back to look at him. “Mister Aaron, while it’s true I failed to get you to agree to go on a date with me, that doesn’t mean other guys will not ask me out on a date first! I’m not as bad of a catch as you think I am!” Aaron pursed his lips into a tight smile. “That’s true. I’m sure plenty of guys will find you very attractive.” Annie chose not to continue the conversation. She used to think Aaron was kind and funny, but at that moment, she just found him mean.‘Corinne is right. Mister Aaron isn’t husband material at all. No woman will be able to leave unscathed if they get into a relationship with him,’ thought Annie.Not getting a reply from Annie, Aaron looked at Xante disinterestedly and realized she was staring at her phone intently. He moved a little closer to her to see who she was texting.Xante stared at Sunny’s message speechlessly.[You b*tch! You sold me out! I hate you!] Xante did not reply to him, but that did not stop him from sending her another message.[You dare to tell my brother I was harassing you when you flirted with me first?] Xante pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. No reply from her still.Ten seconds later, another message from Sunny.[I just received a beating from Lucas. Are you happy now?] Xante frowned and her fingers hovered over the screen hesitantly before replying, [Where did he hit you?] [Everywhere! This is all your fault, you evil woman!] [Well, I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Stay away from me, and you won’t get a beating next time.] [As if! Don’t think you’re shaking me off that easily. We slept together, so that makes us a couple! Mark my words: There will be a time when Lucas will be too busy to care about me, and then I’ll go find you again. You better not fool around with another man until then, or I’m going to bite you to death!] Xante frowned. [Looks like you need more beating from your brother.] [No amount of beating from him is going to keep me away from you! I didn’t fight with my brother because I didn’t want to anger him since he’s injured and all, but I, Sunny Rivera, will never bow to violence!] Xante decided to not reply to him anymore. Talking to Sunny was like talking to a brick wall—pointless and headache-inducing.After a few minutes, she received a subdued message from Sunny. [Xante… What are you doing right now? My brother has grounded me… Can we have a video call?] Xante continued to ignore him. She was about to turn off her phone when she received a video call request from Sunny.Before she could do anything, Aaron snatched the phone away from her and accepted the video call.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1134-Aaron saw the look in Corinne’s eyes and knew what she was hinting at.

Smiling, he said, “Why, Miss Corinne. We’ve come to visit you, of course.” “It’s been so long since we met, so we thought we’d drop by,” added Xante.

Both of them tacitly did not call her ‘Boss’.

“Great. You’ve come just at the right time. I was feeling bored, but with you guys here, we can play some bridge to kill time.” “Sure,” said Aaron with a smile.

“Yay! Mister Aaron gave me half-day off, so I can play with you guys too. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play bridge,” said Annie happily.

At that moment, Pamela came out of the kitchen with two maids.

“Corinne, I heard you have some friends over, so I made some snacks for them.

Tell them to try it while it’s still hot!” However, Corinne made no move to do so, which was weird since she had always been respectful of Pamela.

Annie quickly stood up and said, “Thank you, Ma’am. That’s very thoughtful of you.” Pamela smiled kindly at her. “You’re Annie, right? It’s been so long since you last dropped by that I nearly don’t even recognize you anymore. My, my, you’ve certainly grown into a beautiful young lady.” “You’re too kind, Ma’am,” said Annie, blushing.

Both Aaron and Xante got up to greet Pamela.

Since Pamela never met them before, she retained a little wariness when talking to them.

“You two must be Corinne’s friends. Sorry about the security checks, but Jeremy is really worried about Corinne getting hurt. Please don’t take it personally,” she said politely.

Aaron smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s totally understandable.” Xante said nothing.

Pamela gestured for the two maids to put down the snacks before sitting beside Corinne and Joey. Only then did Annie, Aaron, and Xante sit.

“Try the snacks. I hope they’re to your liking,” said Pamela politely. After that, she picked one of Corinne’s favorites and passed it to her. “Corinne, this is your favorite strawberry cookie. I’ve made extra for you.” “Thanks, but no thanks. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not in the mood to eat any sweet stuff at the moment,” said Corinne coldly.

Pamela’s hand paused. She did not get angry and passed the cookie to Joey instead. “Here, child. Try this cookie, and let me know whether it’s good or not.” Being a kid, Joey could not resist any sweet stuff, so he quickly took the cookie and ate it. Corinne simply glanced at him and said nothing.

Since Pamela was there, Aaron and the rest of them found it awkward to talk about what they came for so they all fell silent.

In the past, Pamela had never been the one to insert herself into Corinne’s friend group. She would go back to her room after serving some snacks so that Corinne and her friend could talk more comfortably

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1135-However, since this was the first time Pamela met Aaron and Xante, she did not feel comfortable leaving Corinne alone with them. As much as she knew everyone was so quiet because of her, she did not plan to leave.

“I overheard you kids say you want to play bridge? Well, that just happens to be my favorite card game! It’s such a shame I don’t get to play it as often as I like, so I hope you don’t mind letting me join,” said Pamela after sipping her tea.

Both Aaron and Xante were speechless while Corinne sat still expressionlessly.

Only Annie smiled and said, “Sure! You can team up with me since I don’t know how to play bridge at all. I’ll be more than happy to learn a thing or two from a veteran like you.”

“No problem! I guarantee you’ll be a pro by the end of the day. So, when shall we start?” asked Pamela.

Everyone looked at each other.

Finally, Corinne said, “Let’s play after lunch. It’d be rude to let my friends play on an empty stomach since they took the trouble to come all the way here.” Pamela could tell from Corinne’s tone that she was not happy. She laughed to hide her embarrassment and then said, “You’re right. Let’s play after lunch.

Don’t worry, Corinne. I’ll never let your friends go hungry.” “Is that so? I thought you Holdens are shameless enough to do anything.” Pamela’s smile froze. Nonetheless, she got up, saying, “Well, I guess I should head to the kitchen, a treat as I’ll personally cook for you. Stay here and chat for a while.” Annie got up too. “Ma’am, allow me to help you.” Pamela smiled and waved her hand. “There’s no need, Annie. I’ll get the servants to help me. You stay here and chat with Corinne.” After that, she went to the kitchen with the maids.

When she walked past Bowen, she gave him a pointed look.

Bowen immediately understood what she was hinting at. He nodded and went over to the living room to stand behind Corinne.

Pamela might be gone, but the situation was still the same as before. Aaron and the others did not find it comfortable to talk about what they really wanted with Bowen listening, so they made some small talk instead.

After thinking about it, Corinne suddenly whispered something to Joey, and the boy quickly got down from the sofa, picked up one of the tea cups, and ran off somewhere.

Turning around, she asked, “Bowen, can you please go make sure Joey doesn’t trip and hurt himself? I’d do it myself, but it’d be rude to leave my friends. Plus, you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Joey too, right? Think of what Mister Jeremy would do to the servants then.” Bowen was certainly put in a spot. He looked at Corinne and then at Joey, who was some distance away. One of the maids was already in pursuit, so after thinking about it, Bowen decided to stay in the living room.

“Ma’am, the maid will take care of Mister Joey. There’s nothing to worry about.” Corinne’s eyes dimmed. “So what you’re saying is, eavesdropping on me and my friends is more important than Joey’s safety?” “No, Ma’am!” exclaimed Bowen embarrassedly. “I’m not eavesdropping on you or your friends. I’m just standing by here in case you have any orders for me.

Also, it’s important for me to make sure your friends have a pleasant visit.” Corinne smiled coldly. “If you’re worried about my friends not having a pleasant visit, you wouldn’t have made them go through the ridiculous security checks.” “We’re just doing what Mister Jeremy asked us to do…” Corinne waved her hand. “Fine, whatever. You don’t have to explain it to me. I’m only going to ask you one last time: Are you or are you not going to help me look after Joey

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1136-“Please don’t get angry, Ma’am. I’ll go bring Mister Joey back right now,” said Bowen.

After that, he went to look for Joey.

“Annie, go and help Bowen. Joey can be a handful sometimes,” said Corinne.

“Sure thing, Corinne!” said Annie naively. She had zero clue Corinne was doing this to divert her away.

Finally, only Corinne, Aaron, and Xante were left in the living room. They did not waste time in getting to the crux of the matter.

“Boss, what’s going on? Why didn’t you pick up or answer any of our messages?” Xante asked in a hushed tone.

“My phone has been tampered with. I can only call or receive calls from Jeremy.

It wouldn’t work when I tried to call or message you guys.” “What?! Isn’t this the same as being kept under house arrest?” scoffed Aaron.

A hint of anger flashed across Corinne’s eyes. “I’m guessing he knows I know about the other woman abroad and is afraid I’ll run away again. He’s doing all this to make sure the baby stays.” “Holy sh*t! You don’t think he’s going to kick you out of the house after the baby is born, right?” Aaron asked in shock.

Xante kicked him lightly. “Shh! Don’t be so loud and act normal. Don’t forget where we are right now.” Aaron cleared his throat and sat up straighter. “Ahem! So what do you plan to do, Boss?” “You two find a way to get me out of there.” Aaron stroked his chin. “Judging by how wary Miss Pamela is of us, I don’t think it’ll be that easy.” Corinne obviously knew Pamela was on her precious grandson’s side. That was why the her every move so that it would be impossible for Corinne to blatantly walk out of the house.

“I didn’t say get me out today. Quick, one of you give me your phone so I at least have contact with the outside world.” Aaron nudged Xante with his elbow. “Xante, you do it. I need my phone.” Xante glanced coldly at him. “I need my phone too! You leave yours!” Corinne frowned. “What’s the hold-up? You two should be volunteering for me to use your phone!” Xante would have given Corinne her phone if it were not for Sunny. She was afraid her boss would find out about their relationship after reading all the nonsensical messages Sunny sent her. She took out her phone and cleared all the chat history before handing her phone to Corinne.

Corinne quickly shoved the phone into a pocket. “Be nice to Miss Pamela later.

She’ll let her guard down if you can make her happy.” After that, she went to the kitchen to check on Pamela.

The kitchen was spacious and filled with natural sunlight. Even though Pamela said she would cook herself, the staff did not dare to let her do so. Thus, the old woman was relegated to the role of a supervisor.

All the servants bowed respectfully when they saw Corinne coming in.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1137-Pamela was surprised to see Corinne in the kitchen.

“Corinne, what are you doing here? Don’t you want to hang out with your friends? I’ll let you know when lunch is ready.” Corinne smiled. “It’s okay. They’ll be fine by themselves. I came to see if you need any help.” Pamela waved her hand. “No, it’s alright. I have plenty of help here. You should get out of the kitchen. All this smoke and grease isn’t good for the baby.” Corinne looked down and stroked her belly. “Grandma, you really care about this baby, don’t you?”

“Of course,” replied Pamela sincerely. “How can I not care about my greatgrandson?” Corinne smiled tepidly. “Does that mean you won’t care about me once the baby is born?” Pamela was a little taken aback by the question. She quickly held Corinne’s hand and said, “Is everything alright? Why would you think like that?” Corinne smiled wryly. “I can’t help but think I’m just a birthing machine for the family. I have no freedom or say in my life anymore.” “But Corinne, we were good to you before you were pregnant too! It’s just that we can’t help but worry about the baby after what happened with Anya and everything. I want to be able to hold my great-grandson before I die, but never have I once thought you’re just a birthing machine,” explained Pamela patiently.

Corinne still looked down. “Still… I feel that you and Jeremy have changed…” Pamela squeezed Corinne’s hand. “Well, it’s true that Jeremy has been busy these past weeks, but I promise I’ll make him spend time with you once he’s back.” Corinne pulled back her hand. “Since you don’t need my help, I’ll go back to the living room, then.” After that, she walked listlessly out of the kitchen.

It pained Pamela to see Corinne like that, so she called out to her, “Corinne, wait!” Corinne paused in her tracks and turned. “Yes, Grandma?” Pamela got up and stroked Corinne’s face sadly. “The pregnancy hormones must be making you more sensitive than usual. But don’t worry, I can guarantee Jeremy loves you. I know you’re mad at him for keeping you under house arrest, but he only does that to make sure you’re safe… I have an idea. If the weather is good tomorrow, I’ll go out with you. The bodyguards will never dare to stop me. Let’s go wherever you want to go!” “Do you really mean that, Grandma?” asked Corinne happily. She got what she wanted.

“Of course. When have I ever lied to you?” said Pamela seriously.

“Oh, thank you, thank you! Though, I haven’t thought of where I want to go yet. I really hate the feeling of having someone watching my every move… I’ll let you know where I want to go after I’ve made up my mind.” “I understand. Jeremy can be very overbearing sometimes. I’ll give him a lecture once he’s back, so just enjoy hanging out with your friends, okay? I’ll let you know when the lunch is ready.” Corinne nodded obediently, but the moment she turned around, she changed back to her cool and calm self.

As angry as she was about her freedom being taken away, she knew she could not count on anyone in the Holden family to help her. They were obviously of the same mind. Thus, she came up with the idea of using a softer approach to get Pamela to bring her out. That way, it would be easier for her to escape.

She had completely given up on Jeremy to the point she was willing to give up the position of Missus Holden to the woman abroad

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1138-Xante was the only person in the living room by the time Corinne got back.

She sat next to her and asked, “Where’s Aaron?” Xante pointed with her chin to outside, where it was viewable through the floorto-ceiling window.

Corinne looked to where she pointed and saw Aaron and Annie playing with Joey on the lawn.

“I thought Aaron doesn’t like kids,” said Corinne with narrowed eyes.

Xante pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses. “He doesn’t. He’s just putting up an act.”

“Why would he do that?” At that moment, Corinne saw Aaron reaching out to help Annie swipe off some leaves that had fallen on her hair.

Annie instinctively stepped back, though she did thank him. After that, she focused her attention on Joey only.

“Aaron is still chasing after Annie?” Corinne asked with a frown.

“My guess is he can’t help but chase after her. He’s in way too deep than we thought,” replied Xante wisely.

“What do you mean?” “We watched him grow up, so we know just how much of a player he is. He’s never been before. Similarly, no girl has ever been serious about him since they all heard of his reputation.

“The saying ‘like attracts like’ is very apt to him. I mean, no decent girl would touch him with a three-meter pole. No decent girl except for Annie. She’s kind, honest, and naive. I think he started falling for her after she kept bringing homecooked meals for him every day. After all, no girl has ever treated him with respect or chased him like she did. In fact, I think he would’ve asked Annie to be his girlfriend if you hadn’t stopped him.” “As if! So what if he asked Annie to be his girlfriend? Does he have any intention to marry her?” asked Corinne with somewhat conflicted feelings.

“Of course not,” Xante said without hesitation. “You know very well he’s a nonmarriage advocate.” “Well then, it’s good that I stopped him because Annie has plans of getting married one day,” said Corinne. After what happened, she started to hold more negative views toward relationship matters. “Annie was deeply hurt by her dirtbag ex-fiance, and she’s the type to want to get married after dating. She can’t afford to get hurt the second time anymore. That’s why I stopped Aaron from getting close to her.” Xante nodded thoughtfully. “The kind of breakups that hurt the most is when you’re left at the altar without any explanation. In fact, it would forever color all the relationships after it.” ‘She’s right. No matter how strong a woman is, there’s still no guarantee she won’t get hurt in matters of love,’ thought Corinne.

… At the Holdens’ mansion compound, Aaron was holding Joey high up in the air.

At first, Joey was frightened as it was his first time meeting Aaron, but after a while, he relaxed and found the whole thing fun.

Annie looked at Aaron, who looked so gentle and happy playing with Joey under the bright sunlight. A sense of warm and fuzzy feelings rushed over her.

“I didn’t know you like kids so much, Mister Aaron,” said Annie.

“What makes you think I like kids?” Aaron asked while pulling Joey back into his arms

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1139-Well, you wouldn’t have taken the time to play with Joey if you didn’t like kids, right?” asked Annie.

“Oh, I’m only doing it to help you. You looked kind of tired taking care of him,” answered Aaron.

Annie was stunned, and her heart actually skipped a beat. ‘He’s only doing this to help me… No, Annie! Don’t overthink this. I shouldn’t take the words of a serial flirter seriously.’ She shook her head to clear her mind. “Thanks for helping, but I still think you must’ve liked kids. Otherwise, you’ll find the whole thing annoying after five

minutes. Just like my ex. He hates kids so much that he’d growl at any kid who comes near him.” Aaron narrowed his eyes at the mention of Annie’s ex. “Then why did you choose to be with him?” he asked with a smirk.

Annie sighed and said sadly, “He actually treats me quite well, so I thought he’d change after we have kids of our own. But then I found out it was all an act. He just wanted to use me to get close to Uncle Jeremy’s family.” Aaron used Joey’s chubby little finger to poke Annie’s face, causing her to smile shyly.

“There, there. It’s all in the past now. Plus, it’s your ex’s loss for not knowing a good thing when he had it. So cheer up, buttercup.” ‘Does he mean I’m the good thing?’ thought Annie with shock. ‘Then why doesn’t he like me? He might as well not say things like that since it’s making me more confused than ever.’ At that moment, Annie’s phone suddenly rang.

“Hey, Marcus. What’s up?” she asked after she answered the call.

“Hey, Annie… Are you still with Mister Aaron and Miss Xante?” Marcus asked gently and shyly. “It’s already lunchtime, so I was wondering whether you need me to help you order some food delivery… I’m actually quite worried you’ll pass out from hunger.” Annie was both touched and embarrassed by Marcus’ concern. “Oh, there’s no need. I’m at my uncle’s house right now, and we’re going to have lunch soon.” “Your uncle’s house? Does that mean Mister Aaron and Miss Xante are there too?” Annie knew she had to keep Aaron’s and Xante’s whereabouts a secret, so she lied, “Nope, they’re not here. I came to my uncle’s house alone after finishing my work.” She decided to leave it at that as she did not want her colleagues to find out she was the niece of Jeremy Holden. Previously, when everyone at Holden Group found out who she was, they would either flatter her excessively or ask her for gossip about Jeremy. It was very annoying to say the least.

To his credit, Marcus did not ask any more questions. Instead, he asked shyly, “Then are you free tonight? If you are, would you like to go to the cinema with me? There’s a new movie I’ve been meaning to see.” “Oh, a new movie came out? I didn’t even know.” “I’ll text you the movie details later. We can go watch it together tonight if you’re interested.” “Okay, sure. I’ll wait for your text then.” Annie immediately received a text from Marcus after she hung up the phone.

It was a picture of an all-black movie poster with only the word ‘Curse’ in red blood color.

“Hey, it’s a horror movie,” said Aaron near her suddenly.

Annie quickly looked up and saw Aaron was looking at her phone too. She instinctively put her phone away and scolded him.

“Mister Aaron, you should really stop snooping on other people’s phones

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1140-Aaron simply ignored Annie’s comment and said, “Tsk! He should be working instead of texting you! I need to talk to his supervisor about his work ethic.” Fearing Marcus would get into trouble, Annie quickly said, “He called me during lunch break, so there’s nothing wrong with his work ethic!” “Didn’t he text you before lunch break as well?” asked Aaron sternly.

“Umm… He needed to ask me something about work. It was only for a few minutes!” Aaron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You sure are protective of him. Does that mean you’ll go on a movie date with him?”

Annie looked unsure. “I’m still thinking about it,” she said flatly. “I’m not interested in horror movies. Plus, what if I screamed too loud in front of him?

That’ll be so embarrassing.” Aaron smirked. “Why don’t you go with me, then? I’m looking forward to seeing you scream.” Annie was stunned. She thought she heard wrong. “Mister Aaron, are you asking me to watch a movie with you?” Aaron nodded confidently. “Yeah. You can hug me if you’re scared. I don’t mind being taken advantage of by you.” Annie’s lips twitched. “Your joke isn’t funny at all.” She hated how he would flirt with every chance he got; it was making it very hard for her to get over him. ‘Ugh! Why does he have to be so hot? No, Annie!

This won’t do. You can’t continue being like this.’ She quickly took Joey away from Aaron. “Thank you, Mister Aaron, for helping me with Joey. But I’m hungry now, so we’re going to head in to see whether lunch is ready.” After that, she started making her way back to the mansion.

Aaron trotted after her and asked persistently, “So do you want to watch a movie with me?” “No! I do not!” Annie’s heartbeat sped up as did her pace. She could not stand being played around by Aaron anymore.

Lunch was already ready by the time Annie got back to the mansion.

“You came just at the right time, Annie. I was about to ask the servant to call you in. Here, take a seat. I hope you’ll find the food to your liking,” said Pamela kindly.

“I’m sure it will,” said Annie politely before sitting next to Corinne with Joey still in her arms.

The moment Joey saw Corinne, he reached out his chubby hands to get her to carry him.

Corinne smoothly took him off Annie’s hands. Even though the two of them were not related by blood, she knew how much he needed her, so she gave in to his request.

Annie, Aaron, and Xante were not the only guests there as the servants had asked Francine and Chester to join the others for lunch too. Thus, it was quite lively, to say the least. Greg did not care for the noise, so he asked the servants to bring his lunch to his room.

Pamela sat at the head of the table, and throughout the whole lunch, she would politely encourage everyone to eat more while piling food on Corinne’s plate.

Even so, Corinne did not eat much since she fed most of the food to Joey.

Seeing this, Pamela offered to take care of Joey so that Corinne could eat in peace, but Joey would not let anyone else feed him. Thus, Pamela had no choice but to give up and let Corinne feed him.