Shrouded Affections Winning Back My CEO Wife

Chapter 61

Chapter 61:

Eileen pondered why Benjamin, always chasing personal benefit, would risk upsetting Jonathan for her sake. Something didn’t add up. Restless, she spent the night wrestling with her sheets, sleep elusive. Then her phone rang, startling her into action, careful not to disturb Bailee, who was asleep beside her.

“Hello?” she said.

A pause stretched on the line before a voice, tentative yet familiar, broke the silence. “Is this Miss Curtis? It’s Aaron.”

Recognition dawned slowly for Eileen. It was Aaron Clarkson, Harlan’s son.

“Yes,” Eileen replied.

“It’s really you!” Aaron’s tone, laced with astonishment, carried across the line. “I never thought we’d speak again.”

Eileen remembered their brief time together. Aaron had leaned heavily on her guidance. The years had created distance, yet here he was, reaching out as if no time had passed at all.

Eileen found a quiet corner on the couch downstairs, her voice a whisper. “How have you been, Aaron?”

Aaron’s words flowed, not typical of teens his age. Eileen noticed he hadn’t changed much from the child she remembered. They lost themselves in conversation for well over an hour. During this, Eileen’s phone buzzed with an incoming call, but she chose to let it go unanswered.

After a while, she decided to broach the topic of grades. “Aaron, what’s been going on with your grades lately?”

Aaron gave a dismissive snort. “Figured you’d get to that. My dad’s pretty mad, too, but I keep it to myself. If I tell you, you’d just report back to him, wouldn’t you?”

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Eileen held her silence, her answer clear in the quiet between them.

Aaron’s voice took on an edge. “I trusted you because I thought you were on my team. If you’re just gonna spill to him, I won’t tell you.”

“Best to leave it unsaid, then,” Eileen replied, keeping the peace. Wanting to steer away from the tension, she changed the topic. “Do you want me to tutor you? Regardless of the whys and wherefores, focusing on your education is key.”

From the other end of the line, Aaron’s voice came with a teasing edge. “Don’t you want to convince me a little?”

At Aaron’s teasing remark, Eileen couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “Just tell me, are you in for tutoring?”

Aaron didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I don’t want to fall behind in my studies either. But it’s too hard for me to catch up now. When will you come to tutor me?”

Eileen considered for a moment. “I can only provide you with some study materials for you to work through. You need to complete a practice test for each subject so I can assess your understanding.”

tinged Aaron’s reply; the face-to-face session wasn’t on the table. “Okay, I’ll get it done and

bed now; it’s late,” Eileen reminded him before ending

question mark. Unsure if Bryan was

“Mr. Dawson, any instructions?”

Eileen booted up her computer to pore over the eighth-grade curriculum. Her impromptu study session stretched into the wee hours, ending only at

her when she arrived at work, having taken the bus because Bryan had taken away the car. It was her first time being

at her with

made you take

elevator’s wall and spoke without lifting

was very dull, and Judie felt her words getting stuck in her throat. The

doors again, fixing Judie with a

responded, stepping out with a backward glance that conveyed her concern for Eileen’s haggard appearance.

corridor. “Roderick, there’s trouble with your sister. It looks like she’s had

his scooter, demanded, “What do you

and she was fuming. Looks like she’s had a

sneer as she added, “She was supposed to be part of my house-buying plan. Now

Eileen when out of earshot, and Roderick was aware of this habit. He said, “Enough with the nonsense. I’ll

on that lost cause,” Judie said, her voice laden with disdain as she pressed about any potential compensation before

to Bryan when he asked,

stayed up too late,” Eileen

were you talking to on

suddenly recalled the previous night’s conversation. “A friend. Did you need me for something last night,

finished with the documents, he replied, “Just

“You don’t know where he

chair, eyebrows arched as he regarded Eileen. “What? You are

head lightly. “Just concerned that he

a thoughtful look in his eyes. “Don’t worry

puzzled her that Bryan wasn’t sure of Huey’s address, but she

her own space, she quickly texted Bailee, telling her to check on

left with Vivian. When she and Bryan departed, it was

of her phone broke the quiet. A WhatsApp notification glowed. Bryan took

red light, Bryan reached out to grab Eileen’s phone,

said, her voice betraying her fatigue and

on her rest and job performance loomed in her mind. It would surely displease

paused, hand on the wheel, and studied her momentarily with a thoughtful look before returning his