The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Jeremy endured the pain coursing through his body and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. However, he maintained a relaxed tone
as he said to Corinne, “Yes, I’m awake.”
The relief on Corinne’s end was evident. Though she had noticed the hoarseness in his voice, she attributed it to the typical
morning hoarseness and did not immediately think that something was wrong. She asked, “Where are you now? Have you
arrived at Sophia’s house yet?”
Jeremy replied truthfully, “Yes.”
Tommy knew it would be inconvenient for Jeremy to hold the phone because of his injury, so he placed it near Jeremy’s pillow
and left the room to stand guard outside.
Corinne then continued to ask, “How did it go? Have you met Adam? Did he give you a hard time?”
Her concern left Jeremy feeling a sense of warmth in his heart. A faint smile graced his lips, but his voice still held a hint of
seriousness. “He did.”
Corinne raised her voice when she heard that. “What happened? How did he cause trouble for you?”
Jeremy replied in a somewhat dejected tone, “He hit me.”
Corinne nearly blurted out an expletive. “I’ll have Aaron buy me a plane ticket right now!”
Her anxious reaction elicited a chuckle from Jeremy. His laughter gradually became more audible, and he said teasingly, “I didn’t
think you’d grow so worried about me that you’d fly over to stand up for me after hearing that I got beat up.”
Corinne was annoyed after realizing she was being teased. The mood lightened, and she retorted indignantly, “Are you pulling
my leg?”
Jeremy’s statement was intended to reassure Corinne by eliminating her worries and suspicions. If he simply told her everything
was fine, she might be skeptical as to whether he was telling the truth. By making her believe he was still in the mood to joke
with her, she would believe that everything was fine—thus easing her concerns.
Jeremy chuckled and said, “I just wanted to hear how much you care for me. You used to treat me as dispensable and leave
whenever you wanted, right?”
Corinne, still somewhat irritated, responded, “Is this the time for jokes? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Jeremy adopted a more serious tone. “Okay, okay. I’ll stop joking. Everything has been resolved. Sophia and I will go through
with the annulment process tomorrow, and I’ll return to you immediately.”
Corinne was surprised that everything was resolved so smoothly. She asked, “How did you reach an agreement so easily? Didn’t
Sophia’s father demand any unreasonable conditions from you?”
Jeremy did not want her to worry too much, but he also did not want to deceive her a second time. He decided to gloss over the
details and reply nonchalantly, “I did have to make some necessary concessions, but everything went without a hitch. I’ll be back
soon. Is there anything you’d like as a gift? I can ask Tommy to get it for you.”
Corinne frowned cautiously, sensing that it was odd for things to have progressed so smoothly. “I don’t want a gift! I want a video
call so I can see your face!”
Jeremy was taken aback and felt a pang of guilt, yet he was also in full admiration of Corinne’s perceptiveness. As the girl that
he genuinely fell in love with, he was unable to hide anything from her. Nevertheless, he could not let her see his injuries lest she
purchase a plane ticket and rush over.
Jeremy felt a warmth in his heart as he genuinely believed that Corinne cared for him. However, he made sure not to cause her
any undue worry and declined her request. “Not now. I haven’t groomed today, and I look bad.”
Corinne found that rather amusing. “You? Look bad? As if. Let’s start the video chat now. I want to see your face.”
Jeremy was hesitant because he was aware that there were some visible injuries on his face. He asked, “I just took off my
clothes and am about to get ready for a shower. Are you sure you want a video chat with me right now?”
Corinne’s cheeks reddened and she stammered, “I... I w—w—won’t look at your body! Just your face.”