Chapter 97: The Odd Man
Elizabeth swiftly altered her approach, employing any method necessary to accomplish her objectives. “Son, I didn’t intend it that way. I simply believe that Martina has grown overly arrogant due to your affection for her,” she remarked.
In truth, Elizabeth had always held this belief, but she had kept it hidden in her heart until now. However, she felt a genuine sense of crisis, which finally made her unable to hold
back any longer.
She thought Benjamin would show some emotional fluctuations as a result, but he instead appeared unperturbed.
“Arrogant due to my affection? That’s a good thing,” he said.
At least it meant that Martina still had a trace of attachment to him in her heart. Otherwise, how could she be arrogant because of his affection?
Elizabeth could only roll her eyes at her own son. He had fallen too deeply for Martina, and no one, including Elizabeth, could save him.
At this moment, what else could Elizabeth say? Whatever she said would be in vain. When Martina came out after the shower, she found that Benjamin had already entered
the room.
In fact, she wasn’t surprised by this at all. Because Benjamin also had a key, so even if she locked the door, it wouldn’t help. At most, it would express her reluctance to stay in the same room with him. However, her expression of reluctance seemed to have no effect
either.
Martina was wearing a relatively modest pajamas, holding a towel in her hand, and
wiping her damp hair.
The hairdryer was on the bedside table next to where Benjamin was sitting, and Martina was pondering whether she should go over there.
At that moment, Benjamin was immersed in reading a book when he noticed Martina’s hesitant gaze. He glanced at her. Seeing her damp hair, he instantly had an idea. Before Martina could react, he immediately took out the hairdryer from the nearby drawer.
Without saying a word, he approached Martina and gently pressed her to sit in front of the dressing table.
“Let me help you.”
The sequence of actions was carried out very naturally, as if they had done it countless times before, but in reality, it was their first time.
Martina was somewhat uncomfortable, and instinctively wanted to refuse when Benjamin handed her the hairdryer. “Let me do it myself.”
But Benjamin persisted, “I’m just helping you dry your hair, there’s no need to be nervous. If you’re bored, you can play with your phone for a while.”
Surprisingly, Benjamin picked up his phone, revealing a game interface, and handed it to Martina, not giving her a chance to argue.
Martina fell silent, pondering what was going through Benjamin’s mind. She really
couldn’t understand Benjamin’s tactics anymore.
At this point, it was already a done deal. Even if Martina wanted to refuse, it wouldn’t
make a difference. It would only make her seem affected and artificial.
She decided to treat it as if nothing happened. It was just drying her hair, after all. It
wasn’t a big deal.
Martina held the phone in her hand but had no interest in the game. Instead, she
wondered about the bruises on Adam’s face. It seemed like he had been slapped for real.
Since all she did was give him a light slap, it was clear that this incident had nothing to do
with her. Before that, someone had already targeted Adam, so who could it be?
No matter how much Martina pondered over it, she couldn’t unravel the mystery. She
even began to speculate whether Benjamin could be implicated in some way. Otherwise,
why would he be able to remain composed, not uttering a single word, despite her blatant
challenge to his authority?
She couldn’t understand anyway. She felt like there was something in her mind, but it
just got stuck because her thoughts weren’t clear enough.
After all, Adam was Benjamin’s friend. According to Martina’s original thinking, she
thought she would completely anger Benjamin and be driven out because of it.
But unfortunately, the better she imagined, the easier it was to be disappointed.
Benjamin was completely unpredictable now. Even if she had wonderful thoughts, it was all
in vain.
Benjamin was actually completely focused on drying Martina’s hair. His fingertips would
occasionally accidentally touch her forehead and neck.
Maybe it was just an unintentional act, but it still triggered a peculiar reaction in Martina’s heart.
Her entire body started to heat up, and it was likely that her cheeks had turned a deep shade of red. She couldn’t bear the thought of Benjamin seeing her in such an embarrassed state, fearing that he might misinterpret her intentions and suspect she had some hidden agenda.
Finally, when Benjamin managed to dry Martina’s hair, she let out a deep sigh of relief. Even such a trivial task like drying her hair felt like a form of torture to her. It seemed that Martina’s self–control was truly lacking, as she couldn’t even handle such a small matter.
Fortunately, Benjamin didn’t pay attention to Martina’s actions and instead continued to
groom her hair.
Martina was pleasantly surprised by this favor.
She would rather have Benjamin ignore her like before than see him acting this way. Because the more Benjamin behaved like this, the weaker her inner resolve became. What would she do if she inadvertently couldn’t resist the urge to turn back?
Although Martina had forcefully demanded herself not to do so, some things might not
be so easily controlled if they persisted.
As Martina looked at Benjamin’s face in the mirror, coincidentally, Benjamin was also looking at her.
Once again, an inexplicable sense of uneasy conscience welled up in Martina’s heart,
causing her to lower her head without a word.
Seeing her reaction, Benjamin’s mood improved considerably, and even his lips curled up slightly.
“Martina, Benjamin whispered, “I know that what I did before caused you pain, but I
assure you that those things will never happen again. You will see.”
Martina couldn’t help but question whether she was dreaming or experiencing some
sort of illusion upon hearing Benjamin’s unexpected words.
Honestly, she was really not accustomed to the current Benjamin. It felt like she was
facing a complete stranger. How could there be such a obvious contrast?
Martina could only try to appear unaffected and casually blinked her eyes. “Actually, you don’t have to do this. Some things are in the past.”
Martina’s mind was focused on one thing only: finding a way to leave as soon as possible. Everything else was irrelevant.
Benjamin seemed to have sensed Martina’s thoughts, and a hint of pain quickly flashed in his eyes.
His large hand instinctively held Martina gently in his embrace, worried that his actions might frighten her. The embrace exuded both tenderness and determination.
“No matter what, I won’t let you go.” It was like a combination of assurance and threat, and the faint flicker of emotion within Martina’s heart vanished instantly.
