Overprotected By My Tsundere CEO

Chapter 978 - 663: Loulanel City [09] Stay or Leave

Felipe Clark gave Frank Ford a careful once-over and asked, "When did you guys get here?"

Frank glanced down at his watch and estimated, "About two hours ago."

"..."

Felipe opened his mouth, almost blurting out a garbled "Abba abba."

The road had been rough, they hadn’t stopped the whole way, rushing like mad just to make it here at this time. On the way, they’d never seen Pedro Langley and Nora Scott’s car pass them, so they naturally assumed the two were still behind.

Who’d have thought they’d gotten here two hours early?

No way!

"How come we didn’t see you!" someone frowned, voicing their doubt.

Frank chuckled, all suave and roguish. "We took a side road."

"Impossible! If there was a side road, the Living Map would’ve told us!" someone shot back.

"There is one," Jared Oliveira stepped out of the car, glanced over at them, carrying himself like a big shot, "but the road’s pretty bumpy. You wouldn’t be able to handle it."

"..."

So that’s how it was.

Hearing Jared’s words, Frank raised a hand to scratch the tip of his nose, coughed lightly, and turned into the inn.

"Bumpy" didn’t even begin to cover it.

It was a full-on disaster.

If it weren’t for Nora’s solid driving skills, he seriously suspected he’d be nothing but a wandering soul by now, with his body tossed somewhere out in the wilderness of the northern desert.

Still, just how miserable he’d been was something only he and Nora knew. How refreshed he looked now, on the other hand, was something the whole inspection group could see. After being terrified all afternoon, his mood was now sky-high, he even kind of wanted to hum a tune.

Only, after he wandered around and came back with a few bottles of drinks, he found Felipe arguing with the front desk.

—The inspection group and the Sisters Durant group weren’t staying at the same place; their lodgings were some distance apart, and they’d tacitly agreed not to bother each other. With just their group staying at this inn, it should’ve been pretty roomy. He had no idea what they could be arguing about.

Curious, Frank edged closer to watch.

"Didn’t you say on the phone this afternoon that there were still four first-class rooms? How come two of them just magically disappeared?!" Felipe slapped the counter. "Anyway, you said four, so we’re getting four. Not a single one less!"

"..."

The receptionist was a young guy. Watching Felipe blow his top, his expression was blank, looking at him like he was an idiot.

They’d only made a phone call; they hadn’t put down a deposit. Why the hell was he making such a fuss.

The receptionist had zero intention of pampering him. He tossed the keys onto the counter and said bluntly, "Either stay or get lost."

Felipe’s eyes went wide with rage. "What’s that attitude!"

"That’s exactly my attitude. Got a problem with it?" The receptionist locked horns with him head-on.

This wasn’t some tourist hotspot. If they dared run an inn out here, their business was the brothers who came and went on this road, every one of them carrying that Martial World air about them. And here came this bunch reeking of frail scholar vibes, and on top of that acting like the whole damn world revolved around them, like they were God.

He really couldn’t stand the sight of them.

"You—!"

Felipe was so furious his veins popped as he jabbed a finger at the receptionist.

"Felipe," Annabelle Pinto stopped him just in time. "Let Mr. Oliveira and Assistant Thomason have the first-class rooms. The professor and I are fine, we can make do."

"No." Felipe glanced at Annabelle and felt that backing down now would be completely humiliating. Blood rushed to his head and he said to the receptionist, firm as a rock, "Tell me who you gave those two first-class rooms to. Give me their names, I’ll go negotiate with them."

The receptionist paused, then lifted his gaze to Frank, who was standing outside the crowd watching the show.

Everyone immediately looked up.

Frank had caught the gist and understood. He said, "Pretty sure they went to me and Nora."

"..."

"Thing is," Frank hesitated a second, "we honestly didn’t know those were first-class rooms. The innkeeper just handed us the keys. My room I can give up for the professor, but Nora’s should stay. There’s got to be some order of arrival; you can’t just make everything perfect for Miss Pinto and shortchange Nora."

Who the hell cared whether Nora was shortchanged!

Felipe had been fighting for the first-class room specifically for Annabelle. Now that Frank was offering one to the professor, he couldn’t object to that, so the only option left was to set his sights on Nora’s room.

He drew a breath and said, "I’ll go talk to her!"

"Stop right there!"

The receptionist’s voice went cold, snapping him to a halt.

Everyone turned back.

They saw the receptionist put away his previous sloppy, careless air. At some point his expression had turned serious, and there was a hint of authority in his features. He enunciated each word: "That room was specially prepared for her by our boss. If you’re going to make her move, then you can all leave together. Our inn is small, we can’t accommodate you lot!"

"Specially?" Felipe was incredulous. "Is your boss her fan or something?!"

"None of your damn business!"

The hot-tempered receptionist rolled his eyes at him so hard it was practically a backflip.

Fan?

More than that!

She was practically his ancestor!

If anyone so much as laid a finger on that ancestor tonight, every single staff member in this inn could just resign in disgrace.

Felipe was so mad his chest hurt.

"Enough, let’s leave it at that." Seeing where this was heading, and with everyone dog-tired, Annabelle didn’t want to waste more time and irritate people, so she stepped in to smooth things over. "It’s all the same where we stay. It’s still better than last night, wherever it is."

Her gentle thoughtfulness and generous tolerance stood in stark contrast to Nora’s selfishness, sharp tongue, and fiery temper.

The investigation team, who were already annoyed with Nora Scott, were now even more displeased.

*

Inside a certain first-class room.

Nora Scott had just enjoyed a nice long bath. When she came out, she curled up on the bed and called Pedro Langley.

"Frank Ford said you dragged Him into street racing today?" The moment Pedro picked up, he started questioning Nora.

"He even tells you that kind of thing?" Nora couldn’t believe it.

"He was scared half to death. Can’t he at least find someone to talk to?"

"Heh." Nora sneered, her tone sour. "Well, he is your ex-blind-date and rumored CP after all. Of course you’re gonna protect Him at all costs, right?"

Pedro’s mouth twitched. "...How did you find out about the rumored CP thing?"

Nora raised a brow. "He slipped up when He was rambling in the car."

"..." Pedro paused for a moment, then made up his mind. "Tomorrow just floor it and scare Him to death if you can."

Nora laughed, then poked right through Him. "You men are all heartless. One second He’s a traumatized little baby, but as soon as you catch the slightest bit of dirt on Him, He instantly becomes some shameful black history that can never see the light of day."

Pedro was amused. "You don’t have to spell it out that bluntly."

"Same shit."

"Frank said you can barely eat. Is there something wrong with your body? Can you handle it?"

"I’m fine, just a bit nauseous at night." Nora lay on the bed, rolled over, and casually turned off the light. "It’s only three days on the road. Nothing I can’t handle."

"Your health comes first. Don’t butt heads with them too much," Pedro said. "You’re not who you were two years ago."

Nora ground her molars in anger. "Got it."

Every time that crap from two years ago came up, Nora just wanted to drag Alexander Vaughn out and whip Him.

"..."

Just from Nora’s tone, Pedro knew her focus was completely different from His.

Right then, Pedro’s phone buzzed with two WeChat messages. He skimmed them and asked, "The inn owner you’re staying with tonight is your fan?"

"Huh?" Nora was stunned, then chuckled, drawing out her words lazily. "If you insist on putting it that way... I mean, sure..."

"Be serious."

"He’s one of mine." Nora smiled, sounding very casual. "I know this route better than anyone. I’ve got my people all along the way."

"..."

Right, forgot you’re the Northwest Lady Overlord.

Nora went on, "So you don’t need to worry. Whether it’s Annabelle Pinto or the Sisters Durant, they won’t be able to stir up anything big."

In the business world, Nora wasn’t as sharp as Pedro; in the Martial World, Pedro couldn’t compare to Nora.

The two of them usually didn’t interfere in each other’s territory.

So Pedro could only remind her, "Just be careful with everything."

"Got it." Nora hooked up the corner of her lips, a bit smug. "Even if they play dirty, they’re nowhere near as scheming as I am."

Pedro: "..."

You big airhead, maybe don’t go slapping the "scheming" label on your own forehead.

...

After rushing around all day, Nora was already exhausted. Chatting with Pedro, she somehow drifted off without even realizing it.

Pedro, like always, didn’t hang up on her until very late.

The next day, Nora got up a bit late. Maybe because she hadn’t rested well, her head was pounding when she woke, and she was inexplicably irritable. Everything she looked at annoyed her.

She did a quick wash-up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and went downstairs.

By then, the whole investigation team was up, sitting around the tables on the first floor eating breakfast. They were still complaining about why Nora wasn’t down yet, but the moment they saw her, they all shut up.

The front desk clerk trotted over to Nora.

Totally different from how he treated Felipe Clark and the others, he greeted Nora with squinty-eyed smiles, without a trace of pride or meanness.

"Nora, the boss told me to prepare breakfast for you: fried dough sticks and congee—"

Just hearing "fried dough sticks" made Nora feel sick. She frowned and cut Him off directly. "Not eating that."

"Then what would you like?"

"Steamed buns." Nora thought for a moment, then added, "Soup-filled ones."

The front desk quickly said, "The nearest bun shop is pretty far from here."

Nora’s expression turned cold and sharp. "Did I tell you to run there on foot?"

"...I’ll drive there right now!" the clerk answered immediately.

He said it and was about to dash out the door.

She wasn’t done talking yet!

Nora was furious. She kicked the chair beside her out of the way. "Get back here!"

The investigation team: "..."

Fuck!

She’s already putting on diva airs first thing in the morning!

Front desk! Where’s the attitude you had last night? Come on, argue with her! Go at her like your life depends on it!