Chapter 136: Locked In

She should have expected this, Celine didn’t know that just like her son, this grown man who was supposed to be the president of a big company disliked swallowing pills.

“It’s easy if you wash it down really quickly.” Celine tried again when her previous attempt was met with plain silence. She would have marveled about how two people could be so alike, one was older and one was smaller but they were both exactly the same.

She held out the pill to him, and she caught as the hint of aversion fleeted past his hazel eyes before he quickly looked away.

“I told you, I don’t need those pills.” He stated firmly in that strictly sharp voice of his and Celine bit down on her lip in frustration.

Great, it seemed she had no other choice now.

A look of disappointment suddenly shrouded her eyes. “Alright, if you really don’t want it, you don’t have to take it.”

A harsh pang settled into his chest when the air around her swiftly changed. He would admit that he had been liking this more than he should…he had been enjoying the way she fed him, attentively remained there to feed him medicines even though pills, big or small were something he hated having pass down his throat. But the moment her eyes misted over, all the fun seemed to have been washed away.

She pulled away and sat back in the seat opposite his own, even though she tried to turn her face aside he’d seen a trace of tears glimmering in those blue eyes.

The panic settled in his chest heavily, his mouth opening and closing but he couldn’t choose his words. He wasn’t very good with them, especially when he’d clearly hurt someone.

Hurt…of course she’d be hurt.

She had gone through all this trouble and he was here being too picky.

The thought of hurting her was intolerable, and it triggered a wave of self-hatred that overwhelmed him.

He couldn’t find the words to take it back, but he could rectify the action.

Tristan leaned over, grabbing her hand, peeling it open to reveal a moderate sized red pill. Without hesitation he took the pill out of her hand and swallowed it down.

He had a to clamp down a bolt of revulsion rising up his throat, but if it would please her, he would swallow down poison itself. That realization made him feel momentarily strange.

Why was he always so ready to do anything for her?

She pointed at another bottle, her voice small and her eyes still held that sheen of disappointment. “There’s one more.”

Obediently he grabbed the bottle, flipped it open and poured one white pill out before tossing it in his mouth again and swallowed it.

Oh fucking hell! He absolutely hated it, but he gritted his teeth, enduring that feeling he absolutely detested anyway.

“Is there more?” He asked, dreading it even before she could tell him there were more pills to swallow but immediately he looked at her, he was taken aback. There was a wide smile on her face, no trace of the eyes that had seemed to be on the verge of tears. It was almost as if the teary eyes he had looked into just a moment ago had been a hoax.

Did she just…trick him?

“No, that’s all. You took it so well, good boy.” Her hand reached over to ruffle his hair and he stiffened, feeling the softness of her fingers dancing along the strands of his hair before she suddenly went stiff, her eyes widening in realization as she hastily pulled back.

“What did you just call me?”

“Nothing.” Celine blurted pulling back. She felt like being swallowed into the sofa never to be seen again.

’Stupid, why did you think you were talking to Leo?’

She really had been carried away.

Leo would never swallow pills no matter how sick he was feeling, nothing she ever said could convince him unless he noticed her looking sad. She wasn’t proud of this, but she would trick him a bit just to make him take the pills and then she would praise him afterwards.

She cringed to herself quietly, not daring to look at Tristan to see what kind of expression currently sat on his face. If she had she would have caught a light upwards tilt on the side of his lips.

If she continued to remain here, she might just keep doing silly, embarrassing things. She got up quickly, grabbing her bag and made to leave but stopped when he grabbed hold of her wrist.

“Leaving?” He asked, a drizzle of reluctance in his voice.

She nodded, “Those supplements will help, so please don’t forget to take them often and…”

She hesitated, the words lingering at the tip of her tongue but she never uttered them.

’Thank you for showing up at the right time to save our daughter. Actually…she would love to meet you, she has always been dying to meet you.’

What was the point in telling him something he didn’t want to acknowledge himself? She thought, swallowing those words as she instead said,

“Get some rest.”

He suddenly released his grip on her hand, a strange calm settling on his face, he gave her a nod in appreciation saying nothing as she walked away.

Upon getting to the door, she turned the knob but it didn’t budge.

That was weird, she thought as she tried the knob a few times but it wouldn’t budge.

Perhaps it had been automatically locked, she assumed as she tapped the interface of the security system only to be shown with a jarring red message.

*Security lockdown in place*

It displayed those words on the screen along with a countdown of several numbers Celine realized was time.

What was this…twelve hours?

Did it mean the security system was counting down twelve hours before the doors could be unlocked?

“Are you having trouble with the door?” She jolted when his voice came behind her, whirling to find him there looking over her shoulder with a frown on his face.

“It’s not opening, the security system locked down.” She informed taking a step back to put some distance between them, he was close enough for her to feel his body warmth upon her own causing a strange heat to rise up her neck.

“That’s not possible, there’s never a lockdown without authorization.” He said, already taking his phone out of his pocket.

Celine had been afraid at first, but the realization that they could still call someone on the outside to unlock the door made her feel relieved.

His fingers danced over the screen for a few seconds before he placed the phone against his ear but the sharp beeping sound that came after was audible even to her.

His frown deepened as he looked down at the screen. “I don’t have a signal.” He muttered and Celine immediately reached for her own phone.

“You can use mine.” She offered, unlocking her phone and handing it to him.

She had done everything she wanted to, and in her own way, she had shown him her gratitude for saving Leah, she always felt strange emotions whenever she was around him, it would be better if she could leave as soon as possible.

“Still no signal.” He muttered reaching out to tap the interface screen several times but the jarring red message remained, blinking repeatedly along with the timer.

“Is there really no other way to open the door?” She was beginning to panic now.

“No.” He replied, “We’re locked in.”

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