Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 14: Don’t Be Afraid, Third Brother Is Here

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Don’t Be Afraid, Third Brother Is Here

The gaze slowly moved from the phone pendant to its current owner.

No matter how prepared she was, Thea Lynch’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat when she saw Ian Preston’s sleeping face.

Why was he here?

Questions filled Thea’s mind.

As the flight attendant passed by, she intentionally glanced in her direction. Seeing her awake, she turned to nudge Ian’s shoulder. Thea instinctively spoke out to stop them: "Wait..."

"Mr. Preston, Miss Lynch is awake."

Turning her head slightly, Thea happened to see Ian open his eyes.

As their eyes met, a silent awkwardness spread.

Fortunately, with his high profile these past few days, Thea was used to it and maintained a stoic expression. She turned her head first and ordered her meal from the attendant.

A moment later, the attendant left, and only then did she talk to Ian: "Third Brother, you really haunt me, following me everywhere?"

"Are you so sure I’m following you?"

"Then why are you going to New York?"

The man sat upright, looked straight ahead, and slowly uttered two words: "Business trip."

Thea: "..."

She really suspected he borrowed this excuse from her inspiration.

In the lounge earlier, she asked him this, and he hadn’t answered.

What nonsense business trip.

Her expression was indescribable, Ian glanced at her and a smile appeared on his lips, "Can’t I?"

Thea was at a loss for words, "As long as Third Brother is happy."

For the rest of the journey, Thea filled her stomach and continued to play dead, either sleeping or watching dramas with headphones on, giving Ian no chance to talk.

Before landing, still napping, she suddenly frowned, feeling discomfort in her ears.

Tinnitus and a sharp pain tore at her nerves, yanking her back to those years ago, a time that was like a nightmare. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

She had merely slept, and when she woke, everything had changed.

Her brother rushed back to Coronet overnight and appeared in her hospital room.

Seeing her awake, her brother excitedly approached to check on her. Strangely, his lips kept moving, constantly speaking to her.

But she couldn’t hear his voice at all, just the rustling in her ears accompanied by several buzzing sounds, and the pain so intense it numbed her entire body.

Almost instantly, a cold sweat oozed from her forehead.

At that moment, her heart rate soared, her eyes reddened, and she helplessly raised her hand, trying to make a sound.

——

The suffocating feeling swept over her, making it hard to distinguish where she was.

"I..."

Just as she uttered a syllable, Thea inhaled sharply, instinctively wanting to cover her ears. Her right hand trembled as she raised it, only to be tightly held in mid-air by a warm hand.

She looked up in confusion to see the owner of the hand.

When she saw Ian’s concerned and tense eyes, her tight emotions crumbled, "Third... Third Brother!"

Like a drowning person grabbing a lifesaving log as the sea overwhelms them.

She tightly grasped the man’s hand and uncontrollably lunged into his embrace.

Even Thea didn’t realize that, deep down, Ian was still the only person who could save her.

The man across had already opened his arms and embraced her, his hot breath brushing against her neck.

"Don’t be afraid. Thea, don’t be afraid. Third Brother is here." He kept comforting her; for the first time, he didn’t reject her calling him that. His lips were close to her ear, and Thea could feel him talking to her, though the severe tinnitus caused the sound to be intermittent.

She tried to calm down and listen attentively to his voice, but her suppressed emotions were on the verge of breakdown. She desperately clung to his shoulder, wrinkling the expensive suit fabric, "I seem to hear less again. My ears..."

"Do you remember what the doctor said? Think carefully, didn’t he explicitly tell you that after long-term treatment, your ears were fine? No sequelae. Our Thea’s ears have been fine for six years."

The man’s tone was firm as if he were present at the time, instantly reminding Thea of the figure she saw at the corner on her discharge day.

"You’re just too nervous. Don’t think about the past. Relax, listen to me, and take a deep breath." Ian’s left hand was tightly held by her, leaving only the other to gently pat her back to help her calm down.

Thea’s attention was entirely focused on what happened the day she was discharged, momentarily forgetting the tinnitus torturing her.

After going abroad, she completely severed ties with home. Even her uncle and aunt only knew the country she was in, not the city.

Since she injured her ears, the blow was so significant that she temporarily lost her voice. Although she was recovering under Ian’s guidance, events later took them back to square one.

Knowing well that she was resistant to seeing people from her past or hearing about them, her uncle had been helping her keep it a secret, never revealing her whereabouts.

Even if Ian knew she was in Wexhaven, how did he precisely know her treatment schedule and progress?

——

Thea was the second to last to leave first-class, with Ian closely following.

In the airport hall, she barely took a few steps before seeing a group led by Ian’s assistant. They had come down earlier and were waiting for Ian.

Judging by the scene, he really was on a business trip to New York. Meanwhile, she had to transfer here, so they’d part ways.

That’s good; it was awkward just now.

When she regained her composure earlier, she realized she was in Ian’s arms, their hands still interlocked. The scene repeatedly hit her brain, and she didn’t dare look at his face throughout, terrified of imagining his expression at that moment.

Taking a deep breath, Thea turned around, her hands holding her bag in front of her. She gave him a slight bow, genuinely grateful.

As she straightened, she still didn’t dare lift her gaze to meet his eyes. Her gaze fell, and she suddenly noticed the conspicuous wrinkles on his suit jacket...

Realizing this was her handiwork from earlier, Thea’s lips twitched slightly, "Third Brother, I’ll treat you to a meal when we’re back in Coronet. You go on with your work; I’ll catch my connecting flight."

"We, meet again in Coronet."

Ian didn’t say goodbye, instead stopping her: "You’re flying again, not afraid of tinnitus?"

"..."

Thea pressed her lips, defending herself: "As long as I fall asleep during takeoff and landing, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. I’ll be careful; it won’t be an issue."

From personal experience, as long as she was asleep, what happened earlier wouldn’t occur.

This time, her recent poor sleep meant she slept too long at takeoff, so in the second half of the flight, she didn’t sleep deeply, her mind alert throughout.

"No need to transfer, come with me by car."

Thea made a curious noise, "But it’s not on the way. Aren’t you on a business trip to New York?"

"I never said my destination was here."

"Then you..."

Ian interrupted her, lifting his chin:

"Wherever you are, that’s where I’m headed. Does that make sense to you?"