Gianna didn’t understand. Creasing her brows in confusion, she shrugged and asked, "What?"
Arwen glanced at her before tilting her head to the side and squinting her eyes for a better look. "Seems like you forgot to hide the traces of sothing that you haven’t shared with yet."
Gianna still didn’t understand, but sothing in Arwen’s gaze made her shy. She shifted on her feet and hesitated, "Wenna, what are you saying? Has there ever been sothing that I wouldn’t share with you?"
"That’s sothing you’re gonna tell ," Arwen said, jutting her chin towards the nape of her neck.
Gianna’s hands at once shot out to touch as though realizing what she might haven’t covered rushing here. Her fair cheeks flushed red, and her eyes looked everywhere just to avoid eting Arwen’s.
Arwen watched her, amused. "Is it what I think it is?" she asked, and Gianna swallowed awkwardly, not knowing how she should explain.
Hesitation beca clear on her face. She opened her mouth to explain. However, just at that mont, a knock at the door again interrupted them. While Gianna turned to look, Arwen also tilted her face a little to the side to see who was there.
"Can I co in?" Jacob asked, his voice calm and subtle.
Arwen was pretty surprised to see him there. Letting her lips curl up at the corners, she smiled and greeted, "Lawyer Thorne, please co in. I wasn’t expecting to see you here. But it’s nice."
Jacob’s eyes wandered to Gianna for a mont before returning back to Arwen. "Oh, I heard from Jason, so I thought to visit. How are you feeling now?"
Gianna quickly moved and pulled her scarf out of her bag before wrapping it around her neck to hide the mark. But paused for a second when she realized that her movent was still caught. Her expression beca a little awkward, but she didn’t say anything.
Arwen didn’t notice anything. She simply replied, "Ah, I am better now. I might get discharged even later in the evening."
Jacob nodded to her. "That’s good. Aiden —"
"Arwen!" Jason’s voice halted him mid-sentence. "Let —" But he paused when he saw the crowd in the room. His brows quirked a little as though taken by a little surprise by everyone’s presence. "Oh ... seems like you aren’t alone as I thought you would be."
Arwen smiled at him. "Weren’t you guys concerned about that? Now the problem is already solved."
Jason nodded with a smile and then turned to look at his friend with quiet curiosity. "How did you co here? Did Aiden call and tell you everything?"
Arwen paused at his question. Her brows twisted a little before she turned to look at Jacob to say. "Aiden? But Lawyer Thorne said he learned about from you?" Her tone was slightly confused and slightly curious.
Jason blinked and quickly defended. "How can it be ? Both of my friends love to abandon . They would only reach out when they need ; otherwise, they wouldn’t even rember my existence. And this friend of mine hasn’t called or shown up for ages already," he said and stared at Jacob, waiting for him to give his opinion.
Arwen, on the other side, beca a little confused. She stared at Jacob, and sothing in his fra told her that things weren’t as simple as they looked. There was sothing more to it that he was hiding or just not letting it surface.
Before she could read or understand what it was, sothing caught her eye, and she instinctively turned to look at her friend, who was trying her best to make her presence as minimal as possible. Her brows furrowed, and when Gianna caught her looking her way, she awkwardly smiled, shrugging as though it was nothing.
"I ca here for you today," Jacob finally spoke, looking at Jason as though explaining what he said earlier while answering his complaints. "But you were busy with so nurse, discussing the details about Arwen. That’s how I got to know about this and ca to visit her first. If you consider so heartless, why don’t you go and find a nice-hearted friend sowhere else?"
"You —" Jason pointed a finger out to refute him, but when he saw him standing there, looking unfaltered, he just couldn’t. "I am not going to argue with you. After all, who could win an argunt against a lawyer?"
"Against a top-tier lawyer," Jacob corrected.
Arwen stared at Jacob, her gaze narrowing slightly. Although what he said explained well, sothing still didn’t match his words earlier. It felt like he was just aligning his previous words with the story that seed believable.
But why would he do that?
She was thinking about it when she caught the subtle shift in Jacob’s gaze. His eyes turned to look straight at soone, and the emotion in them felt just right ...
Intrigued, she followed his line of sight and paused when it led her to no other but Gianna, who was standing right opposite to him.
And then, suddenly, she realized. Gianna ca first. And right after her, Jacob had followed. That small awkwardness that ca along was not her illusion, but rather sothing deeper.
Her lips tugged up in a curious smirk. And when Gianna felt it, she turned to look her way, turning awkwardly again, highlighting everything more evidently. After all, more than anyone, Arwen knew that her friend wasn’t an awkward type to begin with.
If she was being awkward around soone or a situation, then there was definitely a deeper story beneath.
Arwen was intrigued ... curious to find what she wasn’t aware of, but she held back, knowing it wasn’t the good ti.
Jason, on the other hand, suddenly turned to Gianna and said, "Ms. Griffin, thank God, I found you here. It’s been a while since I have been aning to et you."
Gianna turned to look at Jason, slightly confused by his words. "eting ? You could have easily given the call. I rember the last ti I shared it with you." She looked at Arwen and explained, "When Arwen was in the hospital and you were his attending doctor."
Arwen nodded, rembering. And Jacob did the sa.
"Yes, I have your number," Jason said, his voice a little shy. "But I wasn’t sure how should talk to you about this. I didn’t want to make it awkward, but at the sa ti, I knew everything about it was going to get you awkward."
Gianna heard him and didn’t understand. She looked confused and turned to Arwen, but even she looked clueless about it.
Arwen shrugged at her, and Gianna turned to Jason again. But before she could ask him anything, Jacob’s voice cut in, laced with slight frustration.
"Since you are already aware that it’s sothing that could make you awkward, why are you still bent on presenting it to soone? Don’t you know that a gentleman shouldn’t make a lady awkward?"
Jacob blinked for a second, not knowing how he should defend himself. Of course, he knows how to be a gentleman, but he also needs help. And for once, can he skip being a gentleman?
"I —"
"Don’t speak a word, Jason," Jacob said, turning to look at Arwen. "Arwen is still resting and recovering. Don’t do anything that would make it hard for her. Or else, Aiden wouldn’t spare you. You know that, don’t you?"
Jason was more than confused. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, not knowing what exactly he felt wrong. Ignoring it altogether, he turned back to Gianna, ready to explain his situation to her.
But right when he would have spoken, he saw soone move. And just before he could register, Jacob stepped forward and grabbed Gianna’s hand.
Gianna tried to avoid it, but both his hold and intent were first. She couldn’t dodge away.
"Didn’t you say that you have an artist to et with?" Jacob reminded.
Gianna turned to both her sides, looking at both Jason and Arwen awkwardly. "I ..."
"You have scheduled the appointnts to et them, didn’t you?" he pressed again, turning on her arm, making her look back into his eyes.
Gianna nodded before stuttering out, "Y-yes, I have that in plans, but —"
"Fine," Jacob cut her off, smoothly. "It’s going to be on my way. I will drop you there."
Before Gianna could refuse or say anything, he already tugged and walked towards the door. In the end, she could only follow him, closing her eyes. She didn’t dare turn to look back at Arwen. Because she knew if she did, she wouldn’t be able to hide anything.
And right now, she didn’t know how to explain.
Once they left, Jason pursed his lips. "This ti again, he did it again. Don’t you think there is sothing wrong with him? Especially when it concerns Ms. Griffin?"
Arwen smirked, reading beneath the surface. "There is sothing definitely. I am with you on that, Dr. Clark."
Jason turned to her, and she nodded to him with utmost understanding.
————
Back at Winslow Residence —
Aiden was heading to the hospital when a tap of the cane made him pause in his steps. And he knew who was there to seek the explanation.
"Aiden, stop there," Morgan’s voice ca, and Aiden turned to look, eting his gaze evenly.
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