Chapter 1817


    In the evening.


    It was yet another day without any new clues.


    It was as if Jefferson had really disappeared into thin air.


    Adrienne had no idea how she got out of the Paramount Criminal Police Team''s building. Her mind


    was so preupied that she couldn''t even drive. Hence, she took a cab to the hospital instead.


    She sat in the cab and watched the scenery that flew by her. In her mind, memories of her and


    Jefferson together began to surface.


    "Little Specky, how stupid can you get? Even with me around, you let other people bully you." This


    was back when she had just started junior high. She had shortsightedness, so she wore her


    prescription sses. Her new look was made fun of by her other ssmates and they even


    snatched her sses away.


    She thought that her ssmates were just joking around, therefore she didn''t think too much of it.


    However, Jefferson stormed to her ssroom and stood in front of the ss. He pointed at the


    ssmate who snatched her


    sses and said, "Adrienne is mine. How dare you touch even a single hair on her head?"


    From then on, no one in ssughed about her shortsightedness or dared to steal her sses


    again.


    In senior year, there was a guy who would write notes to Adrienne. Jefferson dragged that boy out


    and beat him up. The boy lost, and no one dared to write her notes anymore after that.


    Since then, from high school to college, Jefferson apanied her to and from school every day.


    He stood as a guardian by her side, and no other boy dared to pursue her again.


    Adrienne watched her ssmates getting into rtionships and going through breakups. But even


    after she graduated from university, she had never experienced dating.


    Out of curiosity, Adrienne had once asked her female ssmate what dating was like.


    However, the female ssmate looked at her incredulously. "Adrienne, you have Jefferson, how can


    you not know what it feels like to date someone? You must be kidding me."


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    In the past, Adrienne had never understood why she would know the feeling just because Jefferson


    was around. After all, she had never


    seen him date anyone. It didn''t seem like he had any experiences to share with her.


    At that time, Adrienne also did not understand why even though so many girls showed their interest


    in Jefferson, he ignored all of them.


    Once, Jefferson received a love letter from a girl. However, before even reading it, he tore it right in


    front of the girl. "If you want to pursue me, you''d better take a good look in the mirror first."


    What was wrong with her?


    To Adrienne and everyone else at school, that girl was a campus belle. How could Jefferson think


    she was ugly? Adrienne assumed that Jefferson must have high standards. After all, he was pretty


    good-looking himself.


    First of all, he was tall. When he was around 18 years old, he was handsome and energetic.


    Besides that, he came from an esteemed family. He had the right to be arrogant.


    Adrienne never knew that the girl he liked was her.


    He always called her ''Little Specky'' in such a fierce tone and made her angry... She had always


    thought that he hated her. But to her surprise, he confessed to her that she was the one he had


    liked all along.


    When she heard those words for the first time, she instinctively thought that he was trying to mess


    with her again. Thus, she hadn''t taken it seriously at all.


    When she heard his confession for the second time, she started to believe him due to his serious


    expression. Even so, she still wasn''t 100% sure then. She had always thought that loving someone


    meant respecting them, adoring them, and being considerate towards them.


    Previously, she hadn''t noticed Jefferson do any of these things.


    Now that she really thought about it, it wasn''t like that at all. Although he was often fierce to her and


    ordered her around, they were all small matters. When it came to serious stuff, he never forced her


    to do anything.


    In fact, he wasn''t that bad. She had just never noticed how good he treated her.


    No wonder he always called her an idiot.


    She was so ignorant that she didn''t even realize he had feelings for her for so long.


    "Miss, we''re here."


    The taxi driver called out to her several times before Adrienne came to her senses. "Sorry." She


    paid the driver quickly and got out of the car.


    Standing still, she took a deep breath to try and realign her thoughts. Then, she strode towards the


    hospital.


    In the ward, Hodge sat at the head of the bed, holding a newspaper in his hand.


    Although he was wearing presbyopic sses, he still held the newspaper very close to him.


    Because of his age, his eyesight was quite weak.


    After two days of not meeting him, Adrienne felt like Hodge had suddenly aged by a lot. She felt a


    sour pang in her heart.


    Hodge never spoke negatively in front of her, but she knew that his health was deteriorating by the


    day. He didn''t have much time left to enjoy this beautiful and everchanging world.


    Adrienne didn''t have much time left to see her grandfather like this anymore.


    She couldn''t help herself as she rushed over to hug Hodge. "Grandpa, reading the newspaper?"


    "Adrienne, you''re here." Hodge put down the newspaper in his hand and patted Adrienne''s head


    with a smile. "What''s wrong with you today? Why are you being so affectionate?"


    "I just want to hug you." Holding him, Adrienne was reluctant to let go. She was afraid that


    she might not get the chance to hug him like this again.


    Hodge looked at Adrienne and said, "Adrienne, did Jefferson make you angry?


    Adrienne shook her head. "No."


    "No?" Although Adrienne was hiding her emotions well, Hodge had raised her since she was a


    child. How could he not tell that something was wrong? "If he dares to bully you, I will break his legs


    and let him know that my granddaughter is no softie."


    "Grandpa, Jefferson really hasn''t done anything to me." Adrienne sat down beside Hodge''s bed.


    She propped up a pillow for Hodge to lean on. "Grandpa, it must be hard for you to read the


    newspaper. Let me read it out for you."


    "You don''t have to read the newspaper. Just tell me what happened between you and Jefferson."


    Hodge was not that easily sidetracked.


    If they kept talking about Jefferson, Adrienne was afraid she would not be able to suppress her


    emotions. She was trying her best to change the topic, but Hodge kept bringing it back to Jefferson.


    Adrienne decided to give in and take the chance to have a proper talk with her grandfather. She


    wanted to know how he felt about Jefferson. After all, he was


    her only rtive left and she really valued his opinion about their marriage.


    After some thinking, Adrienne asked, "Grandpa, tell me the truth, do you really think that Jefferson


    is that bad?"


    Hodge smiled and said, "Do you really want me to tell you the truth?"


    Adrienne nodded. "Yes."


    Hodge said, "Let''s make it clear first. No matter what I say, you are not allowed to get angry at me."


    "Okay, I won''t get angry at you."


    "Jefferson is an arrogant, unreliable, and disrespectful man..." Adrienne''s expression started to


    grow somber but Hodge suddenly changed his tone. "But for some reason, I still like that shameless


    rascal."