All Her Secrets By Chestnut

Chapter 815 Going Home
Catherine had just stepped out from the restroom when a sudden dark figure pounced on her. With lightning speed and force, the figure yanked her into an adjacent room. With a click, the sound of the lock echoed, plunging the entire restroom into darkness as if the power had been cut off.
"Not scared?" A deep, husky voice pierced the darkness, which was a bit familiar to Catherine.
Catherine scoffed with a smirk playing on her lips. "Impressive moves! Seems like you've done this before." Even though Branden altered his voice intentionally, Catherine recognized him.
Branden smiled helplessly. "Don't accuse me wrongly. You're the only one I've done this to." He wasn't one to waste time on such affairs with others.
Catherine stayed silent. Despite the changed voice, as Branden drew closer, she had already identified him. No one could easily abduct her, not even Branden. The restroom was tight, and they were pressed together. They even could hear each other's heartbeats.
"With whom did you come?" Branden asked. Just now, he didn't believe Paxton's story of meeting Catherine here. She'd been either in the dorm or the lab lately. He didn't believe she could be here. After confirming Paxton's eyes weren't playing tricks, Branden hurriedly made his way over. Then Branden realized that it truly was Catherine.
"Amelia and Isabella dragged me to some academic conference," Catherine explained.
Branden chuckled softly, and his voice was attractive. "An academic gathering in a place like this?"
Catherine didn't respond, leaning in slightly to smell a faint trace of tobacco on his chest. "Is this yours?"
"No!" Branden protested immediately. Despite feeling down lately, he had sworn off smoking in front of Catherine. And he would stick to it. "There was a business dinner tonight. Everyone else smoked except me. But somehow, their smoke latched onto me!
Catherine didn't mind him smoking. It was just that Branden noticed she couldn't stand the smell of smoke and mentioned wanting to quit. Not smoking was commendable, and Catherine approved.
After they understood each other's reasons for being there, Catherine moved to leave and softly instructed, "Have your men turn on the lights. I'm heading back."
This was a high-end club, so it was unlikely for a sudden power outage to occur without anyone addressing it. It was pretty obvious who might be behind this.
For the first time, Branden didn't comply with Catherine's request. He encircled her waist with one arm and prevented her from leaving. "You've been absent from the apartment lately. Are you really planning to ignore me?"
"Busy!" Catherine retorted coldly.
Branden sneered and then replied, " Busy? Busy enough to attend whatever discussion thing this is, but not to spare a moment for me?"
"I'll explain later," Catherine replied.
Branden didn't want to let her go. He showed no intention of releasing his grip and buried his head in her shoulder. "No leaving!"
Hearing his somewhat childish tone, Catherine felt a bit helpless. "Your
subordinates aware of your behavior like this?" she teased.
"What's it to them?" Branden sneered in disdain. He didn't care about these
matters at all. Catherine was the most important person to him. With Catherine's resistance growing apparent, Branden grew irate. He lifted her by the waist suddenly and then leaned down to steal a kiss.
Catherine initially intended to resist, but she eventually succumbed to his fervor.
After over half an hour, Catherine finally emerged from the restroom, trailed by the reluctant Branden.
Watching her walk away without a glance back, Branden smiled bitterly. It was his own doing, and he had to bear it.
As Catherine reached the room's entrance, she bumped into Amelia, who was looking for her. "Super Catherine, where have you been for so long?" Amelia inquired.
Catherine glanced back at the corridor behind her and casually replied, "Just got some fresh air there."
Amelia noticed Catherine's disheveled hair and said, "The wind is quite strong. It messed up your hair!"
Catherine blushed a bit in embarrassment. She was relieved that Amelia didn't seem to notice. "Come on. Let's go in. Everyone's still waiting! "Amelia insisted and led Catherine toward the room.
Catherine was absent-minded. When Amelia pulled her along inside, she didn't resist.
After sitting in the room for a while longer, Catherine decided it was time to leave. "Professor Hartley is waiting for me to organize some documents. You guys enjoy it. I'm heading out!" she said.
Seeing Catherine leaving, Amelia suggested they depart together as they were almost done too.
"Wait for me. I'll use the restroom quickly. Then we'll leave together." As Isabella got up, Amelia followed her out. They left Catherine behind to wait.
"Bella, today has been good, right?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah. Amelia, all the seniors are so nice!" Isabella replied.
"Of course. I don't just pull you guys into any fraternity events. I'm quite selective.
I noticed Alfie seems to have a thing for you. What do you think?" Amelia asked with a teasing smile.
Isabella shyly looked down. "You're kidding. Alfie's clearly focused on Catherine."
Amelia shrugged off the notion. She was convinced that Alfie's interest in
Catherine was simply admiration.
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At the same time, Branden finished
the business dinner early and checked the private room where Catherine was supposed to be. He planned to pick her up and leave together. Unexpectedly, on his way, he bumped into Catherine's
roommates and overheard their
conversation. The content is on
bignovels.com! Read the latest
chapter there!
Branden's handsome face turned gloomy in an instant. His deep eyes darkened, and his demeanor grew noticeably colder. He murmured in anger, "It's a social gathering! She lied to me about an academic conference. Well done!"
Catherine noticed it was getting late, so she stepped out with Amelia's and
Isabella's bags to find them. As she exited, she spotted the two with strange
expressions. They didn't dare to look at her.
"What's going on?" Catherine found it odd.
Isabella nudged Amelia, signaling her to speak up. Isabella struggled to articulate
herself, and she was unsure how to explain to Catherine.
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Amelia was also unable to find
words. She promptly snatched the bags from Catherine's hands. Then she looked at Catherinesofemnly. "Super Catherine, Bella and I need to leave now. We'll contact you at the dorm." With that, she grabbed Isabella and dashed off. She shot
Catherine a look of sympathy before
leaving. The content is on bignovels.com! Read the latest
chapter there!
Catherine found their behavior odd. However, her confusion cleared as she
noticed Branden standing behind them with a grim expression. She sighed and then smiled lightly at Branden. "You scared them, didn't you?"
"The social gathering turned into an academic conference?" Branden asked.
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Catherine sensed the bitterness in his
words. She couldn't help but find him adorable in that moment. She
approached him and took his hand. I Seeing him unaffected, almost petulant, she found it amusing and
showed an unusual patience. Then she said, "Maybe it's a social
gathering to them, but to me, it's an academic conference. These perspectives aren't contradictory. It's just different ways of seeing things. Don't you think so?" The content is on bignovels.com! Read the latest chapter there!
Branden glared at her coldly. " Impressive talk."
"Let's debate this at home then. Let's go!" Catherine said.
As Branden heard Catherine mention going home, his initially dark expression
softened. In a better mood, he held Catherine's waist and left.