Chapter 824: Parting on Bad Terms
Hannah wasn't some naive kid; she knew exactly what he was aiming for.
When he leaned in, she shut her eyes tight, ready to kiss him to calm him down and stop him from overthinking.
Seeing her close her eyes, Austin got all jittery with excitement.
After all these years, even though they’d been engaged for a year, she never let him get too close.
The most they did was hold hands and peck each other on the cheek.
Hannah was super old-school.
She was totally against premarital sex, and Austin respected that, so he never pushed her.
Austin was waiting.
Austin was waiting for their wedding day.
After they tied the knot, he could finally have her completely.
He wanted to kiss her.
He desperately, intensely wanted to kiss her.
Austin and Hannah’s noses touched.
They were so close they could practically taste each other’s breath.
Austin’s scent was nice.
It had this faint minty vibe.
It was a smell everyone liked, super comforting.
But Hannah wasn’t into it.
As his lips were about to meet hers, her body started shaking like crazy, her stomach doing flips, something trying to claw its way out of her throat.
Austin could totally feel her shaking under his hand.
She was trembling hard.
He thought she was just nervous and didn’t mind, lowering his eyes to her soft pink lips, about to kiss them, but Hannah turned away at the last second.
His lips landed on her soft, pale cheek instead.
Austin was confused.
Hannah felt super bad, really guilty.
After all this time, she still couldn’t do it.
Just now, she really wanted to comfort him with a kiss.
But at the last moment, she just couldn’t. When Hannah thought about Austin kissing her and his tongue in her mouth, she felt sick, like she was gonna hurl.
Hannah apologized, "Austin, I’m sorry, I..."
Hannah looked down, too guilty to meet Austin’s eyes.
Kissing between couples was totally normal.
They were even engaged, so it was even more normal.
But she couldn’t even do that simple thing, she felt really bad for Austin. She was super guilty and blaming herself.
Austin looked at her, disappointed, his anger flaring up again.
Austin asked, "Such a simple thing, and you can’t do it?"
Hannah explained, "You know, I want you to wait until we’re married. I don’t want to do this before marriage."
Austin’s face turned really ugly.
Austin was pissed, "Really? What if it was Charles kissing you?"
Hannah said, exasperated, "Why do you keep bringing him up? I’ve told you, there’s nothing between us."
But Austin wouldn’t let it go and tried to kiss her again.
Hannah almost instinctively, without thinking, pushed him away.
By the time she realized it, Austin had already been pushed back several steps, stumbling.
Hannah was stunned, looking at her hands helplessly.
Hannah said apologetically, "I didn’t mean to..."
Austin was super disappointed and asked, "Didn’t mean to what? Didn’t mean to push me? Or didn’t want to push me?"
Hannah stammered for a long time, unable to think or say anything.
Austin’s eyes reddened as he laughed, then walked towards the elevator without looking back.
Hannah felt guilty and immediately chased after him.
"Austin, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to, you were too sudden just now, I accidentally didn’t control my strength."
Austin seemed not to hear, walking to the elevator and silently waiting.
Hannah anxiously said, "I don’t know why you keep bringing up Charles. I just want to tell you. There’s really nothing between us."
Austin finally reacted, turning to look at her.
Austin said, "Then quit your job."
Hannah was stunned, "You want me to quit my job?"
Austin looked at her deeply.
Austin insisted, "Yeah, quit! Didn't you say there's nothing between you two? If that's true, then quit your job. If you quit, I'll believe you."
Hannah, all anxious, said, "I worked so hard to get this job, I can't just quit."
Austin's lips twisted into a mocking smile.
Right then, the elevator door opened, and he walked straight in.
Hannah wanted to follow, but Austin snapped, "Don't come in. Come find me after you quit!"
Hannah called out, "Austin."
Hearing his words, Hannah really stood outside the elevator, not daring to move.
The elevator door slowly closed.
Austin watched as Hannah's figure got smaller and smaller until the door fully shut, and she really didn't come in.
He asked her to quit, and she wouldn't.
He asked her not to come in, and she really didn't.
In the end, she just didn't care about him.
Otherwise, knowing he was so mad, why would she let him leave?
Hannah, being all simple-minded, saw Austin leave angrily and anxiously scratched her head outside.
She really didn't mean to push him just now.
It was really an instinctive reaction.
Austin must be super pissed now.
How could she make it up to him?
She didn't want to quit her job; she cherished it a lot.
But Austin was totally against her working.
She really didn't know what to do.
Even when she got home, she was still thinking about it, super troubled.
Just as she was trying to figure out how to make it up to Austin, Stella called.
Hannah answered, "Stella..."
Stella immediately noticed something was off and asked, concerned, "Hannah, what's wrong? Why do you sound so down? Didn't Charles take you home?"
Hannah sighed deeply, "Austin came back."
"Why did he come back? Wasn't he doing academic research in Country H? Wasn't it supposed to be for several months?"
Hannah curled up on the couch, annoyed, "He must have heard I was interning at the company, so he came back specifically!"
She told Stella what had just happened.
After hearing it, Stella was furious.
Stella said angrily, "What's wrong with interning? What's wrong with working? Shouldn't women have ambitions? You're not his pet. Why should you listen to him in everything? Shouldn't you have your own thoughts, your own ambitions? Hannah, listen to me, break up with him. A guy who doesn't respect women like him isn't worth spending your life with. You two have different values, and even if you stay together now, you'll definitely break up in the future. Don't waste your time on him."
Hannah rolled her eyes, exasperated.
Hannah said, "Are you gonna say that Charles is perfect for me, and we're a great match?"
Stella was surprised, "How did you know?"
Hannah rolled her eyes again, "If I remember correctly, you've said that ten times already."
Stella was puzzled.
Really? She didn't remember.
Hannah said helplessly, "Stella, I know Austin has many flaws, but you know, he's really good to me. Without him, I wouldn't be who I am today! I can't break up with him! Besides, there's nothing between me and Charles! We're just not the same kind of people, and he could never like me."
Stella said, "How do you know he wouldn't like you? Wanna bet? I bet he would. He..."
Hannah couldn't listen anymore and interrupted her, "Alright, let's not talk about this! I just promised a minute ago that Charles and I are innocent, and the next minute I break up and get with him. I don't want to humiliate myself."
Stella said, "Hannah, we..."
Hannah knew what she was gonna say and immediately interrupted her, "Stella, are you free? Let's go out for a late-night snack?"
Hannah was really upset now.
Hannah needed something to distract her.
Otherwise, she would keep thinking about it.
Stella readily agreed.
But what she didn't expect was that Stella actually brought Charles along.
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