Tempting Him to Lose Control

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: No Need to Waste Time on Him

Everyone left the kitchen.

Claire Kendall’s phone had died, so she went to Miles Warren’s study to get a charger.

Rosalind Linden followed close behind and shut the study door.

"Ms. Kendall, I’m a very direct person." She got straight to the point. "I know you’re interested in Dr. Warren, but you two are from different worlds."

Claire Kendall watched her with calm amusement.

Rosalind Linden lifted her chin. "Miles has a Ph.D. in medicine and is the future heir of the Warrens of Aethel. He needs a partner from a comparable background, someone whose family history is well-known."

"Not some little web influencer like you with no background, no education, and no family connections. What makes you think you’re worthy of him?"

Claire Kendall listened quietly, then suddenly smiled.

"Worthy of him? Why would I need to be worthy of him?"

"I want him. That’s all that matters."

Her voice was soft. "Dr. Linden, if Dr. Warren truly liked you, you two would have been together long ago. Why wait until now?"

Rosalind Linden’s face went deathly pale.

With that, Claire Kendall walked straight out of the study.

In the living room, Jonathan Keller placed the hot pot on the table, and the atmosphere instantly became lively. The group gathered around, chatting animatedly.

It was only then that Claire Kendall learned Miles Warren had applied to his superiors for a certificate evaluation for the doctors who had gone to the medical mission in Wexall Village.

This would help with their future promotions and evaluations. Getting something like that was next to impossible, which was why they had begged Dr. Keller to bring them here to thank Dr. Warren.

The conversation at the table was all about hospital matters. Claire Kendall couldn’t contribute much, but she didn’t find it boring. She listened quietly to the gossip, chiming in occasionally with a gentle smile.

Claire Kendall picked up a meatball from the spicy side of the pot.

Just as she was about to eat it, a pair of chopsticks reached into her bowl and brazenly snatched the meatball away.

Claire Kendall looked at Miles Warren.

His expression was unchanged. "You can’t eat spicy food, remember?" Then, with extreme naturalness, he ate the meatball himself.

Rosalind Linden took in their entire interaction, her heart filled with bitterness.

’It’s been ten years, and Claire Kendall doesn’t even remember Miles Warren. Yet he’s still so fixated on her.’

The others at the table exchanged glances, especially Jonathan Keller.

He’d known Miles Warren for ten years. The guy wouldn’t even touch clothes Jonathan himself had worn, yet now he was eating something out of another person’s bowl!

Jonathan Keller looked at Claire Kendall and asked, puzzled, "Ms. Kendall, have we met somewhere else besides the hospital? You look really familiar."

"Maybe... I just have one of those common faces?"

The others didn’t know what to say.

’If her face is ’common,’ then what does that make ours?’

"Ms. Kendall, how is the textile factory in Wexall Village doing? Is there anything we can do to help?" an intern asked enthusiastically.

Claire Kendall’s eyes curved into a smile, and she was just about to answer.

Rosalind Linden cut in, her tone dripping with undisguised sarcasm, "You should worry more about your own internship evaluation. Do you really have time to meddle in other people’s business...?"

Miles Warren suddenly put down his chopsticks. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable weight.

"Rosalind Linden, if you don’t know how to talk, you can just eat."

He looked at her, his gaze as cold as ice.

Rosalind Linden’s eyes instantly reddened.

"Miles, you’re scolding me for her?" Her voice trembled. "We’ve known each other for ten years! Ten years, and now you’re doing this for someone who abandoned you..."

"Enough!" Miles Warren’s eyes tightened. He raised his voice abruptly, cutting her off.

His gaze was deep. ’Rosalind Linden... how could she know?’

His voice was low. "Dr. Linden, you’ve crossed a line."

"I’ve crossed a line?" Rosalind Linden shot to her feet, the chair scraping harshly against the floor.

She shrieked, losing control, "Miles Warren, I love you! I’ve loved you for ten whole years, and now you’re telling me I’ve crossed a line?"

The room fell silent.

The beef roll Jonathan Keller was lifting to his mouth paused, his appetite gone.

Miles Warren remained expressionless, not even lifting his eyes. "Then I’m sorry, but I don’t like you."

"Dr. Linden, you are an excellent woman. You don’t need to waste your time on me."

Rosalind Linden never imagined that Miles Warren would humiliate her so completely in front of so many people.

Her face was ashen. Shaking all over, she grabbed her bag, turned, and stormed out the door.

The hot pot was still BUBBLING and steaming, but no one had the heart to eat anymore.

Everyone helped clean up and then left one by one.

As Jonathan Keller was changing his shoes, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right, Miles, a while back, weren’t you complaining that your neighbor was too noisy? You asked me to help you buy the apartment next door so you could kick them out. Well, I bought it. So... are you still kicking them out or not?"

Miles Warren froze, his eyes instinctively darting toward Claire Kendall.

He’d forgotten to update Jonathan Keller on what happened next.

Claire Kendall’s body stiffened slightly. She looked up at him, her doe-like eyes, glistening and wide, filled with a complex mix of emotions.

’So he wanted to kick me out?’

’That bastard! I took that knife for him for nothing!’

Miles Warren’s voice was dry. "That won’t be necessary."

Before Jonathan Keller could finish, Miles SLAMMED the door shut.

"Hey, Miles—"

Claire Kendall, perched on the bar counter, saw his panic. Neither rushed nor angry, she let a smile play at the corners of her eyes.

The door was closed. Only the two of them remained in the room.

She was barefoot, swinging her legs.

The air was so quiet you could hear them both breathing.

Miles Warren walked over.

He stood over her, much taller than she was.

Claire Kendall looked up at him, but her gaze was one of condescending scrutiny.

"Dr. Warren," she began, her voice soft and sweet, but now it was like a blade coated in honey.

"So, you were planning to kick me out, were you?"

Miles Warren’s breath hitched.

She raised a hand, her index finger lightly tracing the collar of his shirt before moving down to stop over his heart.

She gave a little poke.

His chest was firm, but the heart beneath her fingertip was beating rapidly.

"So why the change of heart?" She leaned in slightly, closing the distance between them even more.

Her breath was a sweet, fragrant whisper, like a soul-stealing succubus.

"Is it because I saved your life, or... because you can’t bear to see me go?"

Miles Warren’s body went rigid.

He lowered his gaze, staring at the face just inches from his own.

"I’m not kicking you out," he said in a low, intensely hoarse voice, trying to explain. "That apartment had been empty for a long time. At first, I didn’t know you were the one who moved in next door. That’s why I called him."

Claire Kendall’s finger traced lazy circles on his chest, refusing to let it go.

"And now? Is it because I’m not noisy anymore? Is that why you’re not kicking me out?"

Noisy...

’Her "noise" was what made the self-control he prided himself on constantly teeter on the verge of collapse...’

Miles Warren’s Adam’s apple bobbed. A dark undercurrent swirled in his eyes as he caught her mischievous fingers.

"You’re not noisy. You’re... good."

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