“Ms. Tati.”Austin and Dominic stood outside the office. They greeted Tati respectfully when the door opened. It was lunchtime in the company. The secretary was also heading downstairs to have lunch. Austin had used the kitchen in the cafeteria to prepare Isabella’s lunch. He had timed it perfectly so the food was delivered to the office a few minutes before lunchtime. That way, he could avoid the employees. He could also avoid disturbing Isabella from work. He and Dominic did require a few minutes to walk from the cafeteria and take the elevator to the top floor. “Hello, Dominic, Austin.”Tati moved aside and allowed them to enter. “We just finished working.”Dominic and Austin walked into the office. “Ms. Isabella.”They greeted Isabella before putting the thermal boxes down in the sofa area. They opened the boxes and placed the food on the table. Isabella walked over. “Please enjoy your meals, Ms. Isabella, Ms. Tati. Dominic and I will take our leave if you
“You don’t even have to exercise to maintain your figure, but that’s because you aren’t eating well.”Isabella would rather go hungry than eat something she did not like. How could she gain weight when she was stressed from work and not eating properly?“Isn’t Austin being attentive by letting you eat comfortably? The desserts he prepared for you aren’t your favorites, but that’s because you don’t have a preference. Nevertheless, he still made something that you’re willing to eat.“I compared the two boxes. Mine looks like it’s simply put together. Of course, the desserts made are intricate and delicious. However, it’s obvious which one was prepared with extra care.“We’ve been having extra time to rest during lunch these days. You aren’t even drinking that much coffee in the evenings anymore.”Isabella said, “Austin must’ve bribed you to put in a good word for him. What is he scheming?”“Of course not. How could he have bribed me when he just started working days ago? Call it
Austin mentioned that he owned a business and a few companies. Besides, his mien and looks made it evident that he was not an ordinary person. It was natural that Mr. and Mrs. O’Connor had ideas. They did not want Isabella to move to another country for marriage. She did not like it either. However, her parents would consider getting Austin to marry into their family out of desperation. “No. There’s no way Uncle Hadrian and Aunt Delphine would’ve asked me to say these words. Austin is newly employed. Everyone doesn’t know him well enough yet.”Tati smiled. “My imagination has been running wild from reading novels when I can’t sleep at night. I can’t help immersing myself into the storylines.”Isabella said, “If you still have difficulty falling asleep, it means that you aren’t busy enough. You shall be in charge of the project with Empire Group.”Tati replied, “I don’t want to take over that project, Isa. Miles Thornton is the project leader from Empire Group. We’ve been enemies
Miles used to bully Tati a lot in the past. That was also why she kept picking fights with him. Although they stopped fighting as adults, Tati would try to avoid Miles whenever she could. She utterly despised his smiley, charming eyes. Miles would always look at her with a grin. Some people might have thought that he liked her. “Okay.”Tati agreed resignedly. “Go back to your office and rest. We have a meeting later on.”Isabella passed the box of desserts to Tati. She said gently, “If Miles bullies you, I’ll get back at him for you when I’m back.”“He doesn’t pick fights with me now. Even if he does, I’ve never lost to him.”Upon remembering Tati’s ferocity back then, Isabella pretended to look worried and said, “How are you going to get married at this rate? It’s concerning.”Tati was speechless. “I only get rough with Miles. I’m an elegant and well-mannered young lady of the O’Connors when I’m with other people.“Anyway, you should rest while you can too, Isa. I’ll g
It turned out that Isabella was going on a business trip. Austin replied, “Okay, Ms. Isabella.”At that moment, Dominic said, “Aren’t you taking Austin with you, Ms. Isabella?”With her picky mouth, she would have difficulty finding food she could stomach during her trip. It would be better if she brought her private chef with her. Isabella had rarely gone on business trips in the past. She remained silent. Austin continued cleaning up quietly. He thought, ‘She’ll probably go hungry on business trips because of her picky mouth.’After considering the suggestion and thinking about her stomach, Isabella finally said, “Okay. Austin can go back and pack his luggage and be here again at 5:00 p.m. He’ll be coming with me on my business trip.“Don’t tell anyone, aside from my family, about Austin traveling with me, Dominic.”Isabella did not want others to spread rumors or criticize her for taking a young private chef on her business trip. Even if the entire Satbury knew she
Austin and Dominic had traveled to the company in the same car. On their way back, Austin asked Dominic, “Does Ms. Isabella usually stay in a hotel or her own property when she goes on business trips?”“She didn’t mention where she was going this time. If the location has one of our branch companies, she usually has a house there. It may not be big, but there are employees and daily necessities stocked.“If it’s just for a business meeting, Ms. Isabella will stay in a hotel. However, she’ll stay in the presidential suite so that cooking is possible.“You just have to pack everything you need for the trip. Ms. Isabella wouldn’t have decided to bring you along if you can’t cook there.”Austin thought about it and replied, “You’re right. I’ll start packing once I get back. I don’t have much to bring aside from some seasonings. I can get ingredients when we get there.”Bringing ingredients along on a business trip was inconvenient. However, Dominic reminded Austin, “The ingredient
Austin felt that Dominic was truly worried sick over Isabella. It was a simple business trip, yet Dominic harped on his instructions for Austin for fear he could not remember them. He initially wanted Austin to take care of Isabella, but he must have changed his mind, considering that Austin and Isabella were both young and single. Something could happen between them. He had to prevent Austin from getting ideas. It would be better to put Austin on cooking duty only and the bodyguards could look after Isabella instead. To be honest, Austin was not thinking of doing anything. After all, it had not been long since he started being by Isabella’s side. Even if he knew she was the lady chosen for him, he did not have feelings for her yet. His focus was cooking. With Isabella’s feedback on his food, he could discover his weaknesses and improve his cooking skills. Isabella had not been able to find a fault in any of his dishes so far. Austin had also noted the amount of ingredien
“Hasn’t Austin been doing well? Isa didn’t comment on his food even once,” Delphine asked curiously. Before Dominic could reply, she added, “The dishes he made were truly delicious. However, he’s a boss himself after all. He might not have been able to adapt to this shift in identity.”Being a private chef in the O’Connor family was equivalent to being a servant. Austin was capable. He was his own boss and had money. He only became a private chef because he found it challenging. It was natural that he could not take it anymore. ‘Ah, we only enjoyed his food for two days. We have to look for a new chef again.’Delphine was used to her family chef changing regularly. “Louis loved the breakfast Austin made. He could make a huge variety of food and even shape them into animals. Louis and Philip liked it a lot.”After she spoke, Dominic explained, “Austin didn’t quit, Mrs. O’Connor. Ms. Isabella had told him to go along with her on a business trip and asked me to find a stand-i
Austin replied, “Both Mr. Louis and Mr. Phillip woke up very early, especially Mr. Phillip. He gets up earlier than Mr. Louis every morning. It’s really hard on him, getting up so early in such cold weather.”Sometimes, he himself felt like staying in bed a little longer, reluctant to leave the warm comfort of his blankets.Even after the New Year, Satbury remained quite cold. In contrast, over in Wiltspoon, the temperatures had begun to reach a high of over seventy degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime, with nighttime lows around fifty degrees.The two provinces and cities were simply incomparable. The temperatures in Wiltspoon were just so very comfortable for Satbury locals.Isabella smiled and said, “Phillip is just afraid he’ll get here too late and that you’ll assume he’s not coming over for breakfast, then not prepare any for him. He's such a little foodie.”The house was never short of snacks for the little ones. In fact, any goodies were always reserved for them first.Yet,
Even when she attended banquets, she would show up in formal clothing. Isabella did not remember the last time she wore a dress. Perhaps it was when she was in third grade. In fact, she liked wearing pretty princessy dresses when she was young. Her mother had told her that.As Isabella was the first child and extremely adorable, Delphine had dolled her up like a princess. Her pretty dresses filled the closet. Her parents, aunts, uncles, and relatives would always gift her many beautiful dresses. As she grew up, perhaps when she was in fourth grade, she stopped wearing dresses. Regardless of who gave her new pieces, she would refuse to wear them and give them to her cousins instead. After everyone realized she disliked dresses, they gradually stopped giving her them. Delphine had asked Isabella why she disliked wearing dresses. Isabella reasoned that she could not walk quickly enough while wearing one. She valued speed and efficiency. Delphine said she had alway
While the private chefs Ms. Isabella had hired in the past were respectful, they were leaning toward flattery instead of sincere dedication, like how Austin was toward Ms. Isabella.Dominic was experienced. He could sense that Ms. Isabella treated Austin differently. She was also a special existence to Austin. It was normal for young people to be attracted to each other. Initially, Dominic wanted to advise Austin not to even think about dating Ms. Isabella. However, upon discovering that Austin was a young master of a wealthy family, he decided not to interfere. Dominic was glad that he did nothing.Austin returned to the house. Instead of heading straight to the kitchen, he went upstairs. He stopped outside of Isabella’s room and knocked on the door lightly. No response came from within the room. Perhaps Austin was too soft when he knocked. He knocked on the door again with more force and asked, “Are you up yet, Ms. Isabella? It’s time to have breakfast.”Isabella w
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancée, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us