“Ow!” Caprice yelped. Liam turned around and rubbed the tip of her forehead with his finger on the spot where she crashed into him. She murmured, "Why did you stop suddenly?" “We’ve reached the elevator,” he said while gesturing at the elevator. Then, he pressed the button to summon the elevator to their floor. Caprice cringed at her silly question. "Oh." The elevator was on the way to their current floor. While Liam stood over her and observed her rosy cheeks, a spark appeared in his eyes as he asked, "What were you thinking about?” "I wasn’t thinking about anything," she stammered as she spoke. “How did you bump into me then?” He persisted. Caprice avoided his gaze. "I... It was just an accident. I wasn’t paying attention.” She did not realize that her cheeks had blossomed into a dark red shade by this point. Liam smirked. The elevator happened to arrive right at that moment, and the doors opened to welcome them inside. Caprice kept her head foc
She had only managed two steps into the corridor when a hand seized her by her wrist. With a tremendous pull, Liam dragged her back to his side. Caprice gave him a brief, shy look. Her cheeks glowed with a shade of pink. Liam grinned smugly and led her outside with him. His car was parked in the open space right outside the building. As soon as they appeared, the driver got out of the car and opened the door for them. Liam let go of Caprice so that she could enter the car. She burrowed into the car, and he followed her into the car after. “Take us to the Stocktons,” he instructed the driver. The driver obliged and began driving. A silence descended upon them after that. After a while, after Caprice had managed to calm her beating heart, she felt like her cheeks had become swollen. She took out a piece of small mirror from her bag to inspect her face further. Just as she thought, it was puffed up and glowing red! She suddenly blushed again for the
There were still several hours to go until lunchtime. Madam Stockton and Sherry exchanged a look. Following that, Sherry turned to John and suggested, "John, wasn’t there a new gadget you’ve been talking about lately? Since Liam is here, why don’t you show it to him and see if he can tell you more about it?” John seemed intrigued by the idea. He turned to Liam. “Would you mind?” Liam answered gladly, "Of course not.” John seemed pleased to hear this. He turned around and motioned for Liam to follow. Liam gave Caprice a look before following John. Caprice wanted to follow the men, but before she could even take a step, Sherry and Madam Stockton made her stay with them. Sherry did her best to suppress a smile upon sensing her daughter’s anxious expression and told her, "Caprice, there’s something we want to talk to you about.” Caprice shot an unnerved, suspicious look at them. Madam Stockton stepped forward and ruffled her hair. She spoke with a note of concern
John's study was inside another courtyard. Caprice walked to the adjacent courtyard. Upon her arrival, she noticed that the windows of the study were open. Her eyes shone. She quickly tiptoed to the window, careful to not make any noise. She heard voices coming from inside the study. “It’s a very new project. If you’re planning to expand its scope, why don’t we work on it together? I just happen to be planning to expand into the Glanchester market.” It was Liam's voice. There was a gravitas in his voice that one usually would not expect coming from a person in his mid-twenties. She could not resist the urge to poke her head through the window and steal a peek inside. Liam and her father were seated on separate armchairs. Her father was in the middle of taking a sip from a teacup. He started shifting some documents around on the table, and that was when he suddenly directed a piercing gaze in Caprice’s direction. She recoiled from shock and quickly ducked away
Liam stopped. Caprice jerked away and fell over, landing on the ground with a soft thud. She saw her father standing in front of the window. Her cheeks were burning. She covered her face with her hands and did not even bother to pick herself off the ground. For the first time, she could spot a hint of nerves in Liam’s usually cool and composed expression. It went away as quickly as it came. After he recomposed himself, he went to Caprice and carried her in his arms. He turned to John and spoke solemnly, "Uncle Stockton, Caprice hit her head. I’ll carry her back to her room.” John cast a sharp look at him with a grunt, “Hm.” With that, Liam carried Caprice in his arms and started to walk away. Once they were out of the courtyard, she removed her hands from her face. She instantly met Liam’s eyes. He was looking down at her. He must have seen how rattled she had become, but he wore a faint smile. It looked like he was holding back laughter. Caprice shot a
Liam cast a blank look at her before taking the towel and drying his face with it. Then, he gently ruffled her hair. "Did I scare you back there?” Caprice shook her head. "No." She was slightly startled, but not to the point of being scared. Liam smiled faintly. "Sit down. Let me see your head.” Caprice did as she was told and sat down on a nearby chair. He delicately parted her hair with his slender fingers and studiously inspected the spot where she had just bumped her head when she was lurking outside the study. Caprice pursed her lips into a thin smile and told him, "Liam, I'm fine. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.” He seemed relieved. "Yeah." There was some slight redness, but there was no wound. After watching him return to his usual demeanor, she asked, “What happened to you back there?” It looked like he wanted to devour her whole. “Nothing.” After a pause, he added, "It's just… a common reaction from a man.” A common reaction from a man? Wha
After a while, she received a response from Liam. Instead of sending her a text, he gave her a video call. Her eyes shone with joy as she promptly accepted the video call. His charming and handsome face, which she had been missing for so long, showed up on the display. She greeted him with a brilliant smile, “Hey, Liam, finished with work already?” “Almost.” Liam leaned against his chair and asked with a sparkle in his eyes, “What have you been up to today?” “Same old, same old,” she remarked, then added shyly, “And I’ve been thinking about you.” It was true—she had been thinking about him. Something stirred in Liam’s eyes, and a shadow of a smile surfaced on his lips. “I’ll visit you in a few days.” Caprice was glad to hear this. “Sure!” She could fairly hear the voice of his assistant in the background. It sounded like the assistant was relaying a report. She said mindfully, “I’ll let you get back to work.” “Alright, make sure you don’t stay up late
John suddenly fell into a pensive silence, then he said curtly, “I’ll have one of my staff talk to you about it.” “Alright.” After a momentary pause, Liam remarked, “Uncle Stockton, I have a certain candidate in mind that could handle the project for you.” John asked suspiciously, “Who would that be?” Liam proposed, "Caprice." John fell silent. Meanwhile, Sherry who was seated in the car with him on their way back home noticed the queer expression on his face. She turned to him and asked perplexedly, “What happened?” John grinned, seemingly amused by the suggestion. He gave Sherry a look to say that he would tell her about it after the call, then he answered Liam, “Sure.” It was about time his daughter started getting involved with the family business. He knew that Liam had certain ulterior purposes behind this suggestion, but it was a good chance for Caprice to pick up some experience nonetheless. With that, he hung up. Sherry cast a strange look at him.