Intrigued by the CEO: Paranoid Obsessions

“It’s really you,” Harper said, stepping closer to him, “Are you okay? Why are you alone here?”

Suddenly, she noticed something was off. Logan was sitting on the ground, his suit and pants stained with dirt. He had several scratches on his delicate face, blood visible.

“Are you injured? What happened? Why did you come here?” Harper reached into her pocket and pulled out a wet wipe, offering it to him, “Here, clean up first.”

But Logan remained silent, not taking the wet wipe from her. He just stared at her in shock, his pupils dilated as if seeing her for the first time.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Harper…” Logan sat there, uttering her name.

Harper felt a sense of unease as she listened to him call her name, but she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong.

“You…” Harper was about to say something when suddenly a bright light shone upon them, blindingly bright.

Both she and Logan instinctively shielded their eyes from the light.

The next moment, they heard hurried footsteps approaching. Just as Harper lowered her hand, she felt a sharp slap across her face.

It was a hard and heavy slap.

She was hit so hard that her head turned to the side, a taste of blood in her mouth, ears ringing.

Fiona stood before her, wearing a gorgeous dress. She glared at Harper, her sweet voice now sharp and piercing, “Harper, I knew you wouldn’t give up easily. You actually dared to kidnap Logan! You talk about giving up, but then you do something like this. You’re despicable! Shameless!”

Behind Fiona stood a group of friends and relatives, all looking at Harper with disdain.

As Fiona grew more agitated, she raised her hand to hit Harper again.

Harper was prepared this time; she held out her hand to block Fiona, “Fiona, I can forgive your current misconceptions and reckless words, but that doesn’t mean you can keep hitting your sister!”

She had some attachment to this family, but that didn’t mean she could be bullied at will.

“What’s wrong with hitting you?” Fiona snapped. Her dress was torn, and she looked disheveled. She glared at Harper with resentment, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Ruining your own sister’s wedding? You’ve always been jealous of me, craving Logan. We’ve tolerated you, but today you’ve crossed the line!”

Fiona looked like she wanted to pounce on her and tear her apart.

“Enough!” a weak voice interrupted. Logan sat on the ground, stopping their argument.

Hearing this, Fiona rushed to Logan, “Logan, are you okay? How did you get so many injuries? Did Harper do this? Did this wretched woman do this to you?”

Harper stood aside, waiting for Logan to clarify.

Logan lowered his head, one hand pressing against his head, his face twisted in pain.

Fiona anxiously asked him what was wrong.

“Stop yelling,” Logan said, struggling to speak, “It wasn’t… wasn’t…”

“What are you saying, Logan?” Fiona asked urgently.

Logan couldn’t continue. He suddenly leaned to one side and passed out in Fiona’s arms.

Members of The Davidson Family quickly rushed forward to assist Logan.

As Fiona stood up from the ground, she glared at Harper with hatred, “Harper, if anything happens to Logan, I won’t let you off!”

Harper knew no explanation would work, so she could only say, “I didn’t kidnap Logan, I just found him.” Maybe she was wrong. She shouldn’t have come looking for Logan at all.

“Is that so?” Fiona glared at her hatefully, “Alright then. Where were you when Logan disappeared? Where were you?”

At Fiona’s words, Harper hesitated for a moment before responding, “I was walking by the sea.”

“Any witnesses?” Fiona pressed.

“…”

“No witnesses, right? Harper! Do you realize how ridiculous your lies are?” Fiona was convinced Harper was lying and angrily moved to strike her again.

Harper instinctively stepped back.

A figure suddenly stood in front of her.

For a moment, she thought it was Blaze who had stepped in front of her, just like at the Porcelain Gallery, when she was being mocked and he appeared, rescuing her.

“Slap!–” When an even harder slap hit her face, Harper snapped back to reality.

Walter stood before her, glaring at her with uncontrollable anger, shouting, “Look at what you’ve done! How much longer are you going to embarrass me?”

Harper reached up to touch her face, looking up at her adoptive father.

‘What was this? Accusing me without even understanding what happened?’

Not far away, everyone watched them, casting scornful and accusatory glances at her.

“Today, with all our friends and family present, I announce that I’m disowning this wretched person!” Walter nearly screamed, then turned and pulled Fiona away, “Let’s go, we’re leaving! We’ll let the police deal with her!”

Harper stood alone, her hand covering her numb and throbbing face.

Disowning her? Letting the police deal with her?

Huh… These were the words her father uttered.

But, it didn’t seem to matter much. After all, she was an orphan to begin with; now she was simply reclaiming her orphan status. It was just back to square one.

Suddenly, a faint light illuminated the dark woods. She glanced to the side and saw Dylan leading a group of security guards towards her… They must have witnessed the entire ordeal.

“…” Harper wiped away her tears.

“Miss Shaw, are you alright?” Dylan approached, sounding concerned, “Forgive me for not stepping forward to testify for you. I thought it would only bring you more trouble.”

He was right. If she was seen as Blaze’s woman, being with him tonight would only attract more criticism.

Harper nodded, “Thank you.” Dylan was a good person, looking out for her.

“There’s been some trouble at headquarters, and Master had to leave temporarily to handle it. He instructed us to stay here.” Dylan handed her a tube of ointment. “He told me to give this to you; there are bugs and ants in the woods.”

Harper paused, then took the ointment from him.

So Blaze had already left… Now that she thought about it, he seemed to have taken a call and told her something about standing still and not moving, and then he mentioned the guards coming over. She was just too preoccupied with finding Logan to pay attention.

‘Blaze… I had actually thought the figure that blocked me was Blaze’s, only to receive a slap from my adoptive father.

But if Blaze were here, he probably would have stood in front of me, right?

When did I start feeling this inexplicable reliance on Blaze?

Was it because he stood up for me once at the Porcelain Gallery?’

Harper walked forward with the ointment in her hand, following Dylan.

On the way, Dylan walked alongside her and suddenly spoke up, “Miss Shaw, there’s something I need to tell you… It’s best not to let Master know about your involvement with the heir of The Davidson Family.” He had just witnessed the scene between her and Fiona, and could probably guess there was some emotional entanglement.

Harper looked at him with confusion.

After a moment of contemplation, Dylan spoke with a serious tone, “Master has paranoid personality disorder. Stubbornness and suspicion are prominent symptoms.”

Paranoia…

She had read about it in books. Paranoia entails extreme distrust of a partner’s loyalty. Though she couldn’t be considered Blaze’s partner, she was his woman now. If he became suspicious, with his volatile temper, her days… wouldn’t be easy.

Understanding that Dylan was genuinely looking out for her, Miss Shaw nodded appreciatively, “Thank you, Mr. Foster.”

Dylan smiled, “I’m not just looking out for you. Since you two have been together, Master’s temper has improved a lot.”

‘Improved a lot? For a man who was angry at least 20 hours a day, how could his temper have improved? Was he angry for 24 hours a day before?’

“Don’t worry, Mr. Foster. There won’t be any more entanglements between me and Logan. He’s just my brother-in-law now.”

“That’s good.” Dylan smiled, looking at her kindly and warmly.

Afterwards, Harper was confined on the Island.

The newspapers reported the wedding extravagantly, without mentioning Logan’s disappearance and fainting.

It wasn’t until noon that Marcia brought her news: Logan had woken up and was fine. He had also clarified to the police that he had wandered into the woods on his own, and it had nothing to do with her.

Then the police left.

And during this time, not a single person who had wronged her came to apologize…

“Harper, don’t worry. I won’t let your father really sever ties with you.” Marcia choked back tears as she saw Harper off at the airport, touching her swollen cheek.

Whether he severed ties or not, Harper didn’t care anymore. She was truly tired. If they didn’t want her, then so be it.

To avoid suspicion, Dylan and the bodyguards took a separate flight, making sure no one could guess their relationship. He had thoughtfully considered her situation.