Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 48: Did You Bite Me?

Thea Lynch and Foreman Chandler exchanged glances, with the latter looking innocent. He really saw Ian Preston and the others leave!

Who knew they’d pull a surprise return.

Thea could guess that Ian’s feint was intentional. Luckily, she managed to appear calm on the surface, her face unchanged: "Is there something you need from me?"

The deputy general manager quickly smoothed things over, "Foreman Lynch must have just returned. This is Ian Preston from LX Capital. Since Foreman Lynch has some time, why not show Ian around?"

After saying that, the deputy manager desperately signaled to Thea Lynch with exaggerated winks, afraid that she might not see them if he wasn’t obvious enough.

In fact, even if Thea saw it, she would pretend she hadn’t. She gave him no face, with her hands tucked into her lab coat pockets, a lock of hair slipping from her shoulder down to her chest as she turned her head.

She didn’t look at anyone, her gaze fell on the opposite window, "I don’t have the time right now; I need to go back to the lab."

"Weren’t you done?" Hadn’t she come out already?

Upon hearing this, Thea raised an eyebrow at the deputy manager, giving a sheepish smile: "No, I just came out for a drink of water."

Deputy Manager: "..." Having such a rebellious employee is his blessing.

This place wasn’t suitable for lingering, so Thea turned and was about to leave.

"Wait."

The voice behind her sounded inappropriately, but Thea acted as though she didn’t hear, quickening her pace.

Ian Preston didn’t seem to intend on stopping her; after a while, his voice sounded leisurely: "I heard there’s something good coming up for Foreman Lynch?"

Thea quickly turned her head, eyes full of confusion, "What?"

Something good coming up? What recent good events were there that she didn’t even know about?

There wasn’t much good to be seen, but plenty of bothersome matters, mostly involving Ian Preston. Yet he had the audacity to ask.

"Silas Cheney said you’re getting married next month? How come I haven’t heard about this?"

"..."

Thea instinctively looked towards the deputy manager beside her; evidently, both thought of the joke from that morning.

After a silent exchange of looks, the deputy manager immediately stepped up to explain this misunderstanding: "No, Ian. This was something Foreman Lynch joked about during a meeting. Also, not sure how it reached Mr. Cheney. Our Foreman Lynch is still young; marriage is far off."

The fact that Thea is single is basically known across the company.

When she first joined the company, many male employees were eager to try, including several from upper management who asked around. Thea’s response was always the same: no boyfriend, and she wouldn’t be dating either.

Someone once asked her reason, to which she half-jokingly, half-seriously responded: "Young people should focus their energy and attention on their careers. Dating is too much of a waste of time; maybe I’ll consider it after retirement."

With such words, since then, no one dared to approach, half believing there was no chance, half thinking that she as a science and engineering student seemed dull.

Besides, seeing how much Thea has been working overtime lately, it doesn’t look like someone preparing to get married.

It was clearly just a joke.

But why would Mr. Preston be asking about it?

The deputy manager thought it increasingly odd, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two. Ian Preston’s intent was barely concealed; anyone with eyes could see something was up.

"Mr. Preston and Foreman Lynch know each other?"

Both have a close relationship with Silas Cheney, so it’s reasonable for them to be acquainted privately.

Although Thea gave no explanation, she neither denied it.

The deputy manager understood and breathed a sigh of relief.

In that case, no offense is taken or given. Both sides are covered!

Ian’s gaze lingered on Thea for a moment, asking, "Do you need to work overtime this Saturday?"

Thea: "That depends on what you want to discuss with me."

Talking with Ian Preston, Thea’s tone was even colder than usual colleagues, but to the deputy manager and others, this was also a sign of intimacy.

Daring to give Ian a cold shoulder—this couldn’t be just an ordinary acquaintance but possibly something closer.

Almost like a girlfriend being coy.

Noticing the two had more to say, the deputy manager signaled for unrelated personnel to discreetly step back, though none went far, ears strained to overhear.

"Grandma said you haven’t been well, and asked me to take you for a full check-up this Saturday." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"..."

Thea hated hospitals the most, without exception.

Ian wasn’t lying; this was indeed Grandma’s request.

He hadn’t seen Thea all morning. Grandpa mentioned that she had returned to Coronet early that day. During breakfast with the grandparents, Grandma brought up that she’d taken Thea’s pulse yesterday, saying her health wasn’t great.

Grandma originally thought about returning to the clinic today to prescribe medicine for Thea. Grandpa suggested having Thea undergo a physical examination first.

Thea herself definitely wouldn’t want to go to the hospital, but given the distance, grandparents couldn’t accompany her due to their age, so they entrusted Ian to take Thea for a check-up in Coronet.

After hearing this, Thea nervously rubbed the hand in her pocket, "No need, I’ve just been working overtime a lot, but don’t actually feel any discomfort."

Busyness aside, other than occasional insomnia, she really had no symptoms.

"Getting a check-up for peace of mind, it’ll make things easier to explain to Grandma and Grandpa. They specifically said they want to see the final check-up report."

Grandma and Grandpa’s biggest concern now is Thea’s health; she understood that. The two even considered relocating abroad to take care of her and accompany her during her studies. It was through alternating phone calls from her and her uncle that managed to persuade them to stay.

"I might not be free on Saturday; we’ll see then. Anyway, I’ll do the check-up alone during Saturday or Sunday."

She made it clear she preferred going alone. Rather than fearing to go alone, she was now more worried about being with Ian Preston.

Whether or not Ian remembered last night’s events was unclear; however, she vividly remembered them all. Whether Ian, being drunk, would be forgetful or not had been puzzling her all morning.

Silas Cheney, as his close friend, surely knew clearly. But Silas’s keen sense could easily escalate things. No matter how casually she asked, Silas would definitely take it to heart and report directly to Ian.

So she didn’t know who to ask all morning. Apart from Silas, it seemed only Ian was left.

As if not understanding the implication in her words, Ian said, "I’ll come to pick you up first thing Saturday."

The tone left no room for refusal.

"But I might genuinely have to work overtime on Saturday, it’s hard to say."

"No problem, I’ll wait no matter how late. I’ve booked a private hospital, anytime."

"..." Thea tugged at her lips, ceasing her struggle, not showing him a friendly face, "Anything else? I’m busy."

"Wait."

Ian stopped her once again.

Thea impatiently turned around, "Can’t you say it all at once?"

"I can." Ian granted her wish, "Last night, did you bite me?"