Chapter 31: Ronin

Diana felt the uneasy atmosphere around her and instinctively lifted her head, only to meet John's cold gaze. He was staring at her intensely, with that familiar gloom in his eyes, as if he wanted to swallow everything up.

Did he get angry? Strange, could it be that he sensed her inappropriate thoughts about him?! Diana instinctively shrunk her neck and unconsciously moved away from him. Seeing her reaction, the man's expression became even more unpleasant. Suddenly, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. Then he went on to touch the spot where her tattoo was attached to the back of her neck. His rough fingers caressed her porcelain skin, with a hidden anger. Diana suddenly felt a hint of fear, like a prey bitten by a fierce beast on the neck.

"Diana, are you afraid of me?" John's voice was low, with a sense of oppression. Diana remained silent. At this moment, the feeling of being controlled by him rushed back to her body and mind. She widened her eyes, stiffened her body, and resisted him by moving away.

Sensing her reaction, the storm in John's eyes grew stronger. Sure enough... she still hated him and resisted him... John's eyes turned cold as he struggled to suppress his inner restlessness. Unconsciously, the strength of his hand increased slowly. Diana shuddered instantly. This kind of John was what she feared the most! It made her want to escape and stay away from him...

"Get off." A cold voice interrupted her thoughts. Diana turned her head to see John suddenly pulling back his hand, his handsome face shrouded in the dark snowstorm, as if on the verge of a rampage.

What...what's going on?! Diana reached out her hand and placed it on the car door. She was about to get off, but stopped herself. No, she couldn't just leave like this! Whatever conflict they had, it had to be resolved. She couldn't let the tragedy repeat itself in this lifetime. Diana turned her head and looked at John, who was as immovable as an iceberg. She took a deep breath, shifted closer to him, and sat back down. John was surprised to see her not leaving, but instead moving closer to him. Meanwhile, the ice in his heart began to melt. He spoke in a calm voice, "What are you doing?"

"I...did I do something wrong?" Diana's gaze wandered, finally resting on his suit. It was a bit wet...was it her saliva?! Did he get angry with her because of that?! John saw her troubled face and remembered her resistance towards him earlier. His eyebrows furrowed deeply. He suddenly couldn't see her clearly...which one of her was the real her?

"Remember, no matter at any time, you belong to me!" John suddenly blurted out this sentence, not as a declaration of love, but with a hint of anger and possessiveness. He was like this in their previous lifetime. Her repeated deceits made him willing to suffer losses just to force her to stay by his side. Hearing this kind of talk again, Diana felt chills running down her spine. It seemed like she was back in those painful days.

Diana tossed her head and gathered up her courage. "We're going to engage now and we'll get married in the future. I belong to you for the rest of my life," she declared. John's gaze changed slightly, and there was a hint of incredulity in his eyes. Diana's heart lifted - there was hope! She cleared her throat and continued, "I know you still don't fully trust me, but time will prove everything!"

John remained silent, his handsome face cold, but the formidable aura that surrounded him had dissipated. After a long moment, he spoke in a low voice, "Don't disappoint me at the engagement banquet in three days."

"Okay!" Diana breathed a sigh of relief. Not only would she not disappoint him, but she would also surprise him! "Then I'll go now," she said cautiously.

John didn't say a word, only nodding slightly. Seeing him like this, Diana gritted her teeth and took a risk. She summoned all her courage and suddenly threw herself at him, embracing him tightly before quickly pulling away. "I...I'm really going now," she said, her heart pounding as she clumsily got out of the car. She was so flustered that she accidentally hit her head on the car door, which hurt like hell.

Inside the car, John felt the lingering warmth of her embrace and was still trying to process what had just happened. Did she really just hug him? He reached out and lightly pressed his hand to his chest. There, his frozen heart was slowly thawing...he couldn't help but give a bitter smile. Diana truly was his "disaster" in this lifetime. Whether she was sincere or pretending, he couldn't let go of her.

Diana ran into Thompson's villa as if she had done something wrong. Her heart was pounding so hard, and she felt like she was going to die. Being so proactive, would that have dispelled John's suspicion? She touched her heart and ran back to her villa in a hurry. As soon as she entered the door, she bumped into someone.

"Umm!" She covered her nose and looked up to see a handsome, cold face.

"Colin! You're back?!" Diana exclaimed in surprise.

"Just got back," Colin replied, ruffling her hair. "Where did you go?"

"Well..." Diana thought of John's angry face from earlier and sighed. "I went on a date."

Colin: ??? With whom?! He remembered John wasn't due to return for a few days. Could it be...thinking of Luke, that pretty boy, Colin couldn't help but furrow his brow. Diana patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, it's just that overbearing, icy CEO."

"John came back early?"

"Yeah," Diana nodded, looking a bit downcast.

Colin thought to himself: "Why are you like this, Diana? Did the date not go well?" 

Diana waved her hand. "Colin, I'll go upstairs first, see you later." The wooden sculpture in her room was still only half finished, and she needed to finish it before the engagement banquet.

Diana ran up the stairs and was about to push open her door when she realized it was already open. Startled, she pushed the door open and found Olivia standing at her dressing table. Upon seeing Diana enter, Olivia hastily put the item she was holding into a drawer and stammered, "Di... Miss Diana, why are you here?"

Diana's expression instantly turned cold. "This is my room. Do I need to ask your permission to enter?" She walked up to Olivia, scrutinizing her with a hint of suspicion. "If I remember correctly, you're currently the lowest servant in the Thompson household. Who allowed you to enter my room?"

Olivia was annoyed by Diana's tone but had to hold her tongue. "Ms. Taylor is not feeling well, so she took a leave of absence. Aunt said that since I used to serve you and know you better, I'll temporarily take care of you in her place..."

"Take care of me?" Diana crossed her arms, looking at her disdainfully. "Are you taking care of me or coveting my belongings?"

Olivia's face turned pale. "I, I was just tidying up your things!"

Diana continued to look down on her. "While I'm still speaking to you civilly, you'd better roll as far away as possible!"

"You..." Olivia gritted her teeth, her hands trembling with anger.

"I'm not in a good mood today, so you'd better not provoke me, or..." Diana grinned wickedly. Olivia remembered the humiliation of being stripped last time and shuddered. This lunatic! She bit her lip, turned around, and left. She really didn't care about serving Diana!

After Olivia left, Diana slammed the door shut and sent a message to Mr. Cooper to come and change the lock on her room door immediately. After everything was done, Diana walked to the study and opened the password-protected lock. Fortunately, she was unable to enter the room, which did not expose her secret. Sitting in front of the desk, Diana pushed open a row of bookshelves, revealing a sophisticated computer and various other technological products next to it. She turned on the computer and logged in to an account that she hadn't used for a long time. As soon as she went online, she saw a message from four years ago.

[Ronin: Dove, where are you?]

These few words made Diana's fingertips pause for a moment. She thought for a moment and replied to him.

[Dove: Contact me if you need me, my phone number is ******]

"Ronin" was one of the world's top hackers. Diana had met him accidentally online when she was twelve, and had followed him down the path of hacking ever since. But after her mother died, Diana had never touched that account again. In her last life, she had almost forgotten that she had such a friend. She returned to her old profession today because of John. She wondered why John had been fine all day, but after she had slept for a while, he suddenly became so angry. Diana guessed that someone had said something to him. She had to see which rat was talking behind his back.

It had been a long time since she had done this, and technology had updated and iterated quickly. Diana spent a lot of effort finding John's phone, but as soon as she hacked into it, she found that she was being blocked and even traced back! Damn it! Was John also a skilled hacker? Diana was shocked. This man was hiding pretty deep! If she was tracked and John found out it was her, wouldn't there be an even bigger misunderstanding? Diana immediately made a decision to log out and quickly unplugged the network cable and power. She had made a mistake! Diana regretted. It seemed that this plan would not work. Just as she was about to pack up her computer, she suddenly received a message on her phone.

[Hey, little girl, need some help?]