‘If you’re wondering how I found out so soon, I basically have some men who are trained to observe the public’s opinion. With that said, nothing bad will ever happen to you,’ concluded the message, making Xavia momentarily speechless. She really couldn’t thank him enough… In the end, she simply replied, ‘I really appreciate all this…’ ‘Well, to be fair, all this benefits my reputation as well. While we’re on the topic, I’m sorry for not reacting in time the last time. That incident, however, has made me much more vigilant, so rest assured from now on.’ …So… he wasn’t the person who had subdued the news back then? Then… Zivon had done it? The thought made Xavia slightly gloomy. She had only been cold toward him that night because of him mingling with Sophia. It didn’t help that he had left so early in the morning… Back then, she had assumed that he was too busy to be with her, but… he had actually been up trying to solve the issue for her? The fact that he’d solve such a problem
Q: If Young Master Burton was stuck in a broken-down car in heavy rain with a sick female colleague, what would he do? A: Sit back and wait for rescue B: Dash to a pharmacy to get medication for his colleague C: Carry his colleague out in search of help D: Care for her in the car as much as he can E: Leave to save himself the hassle F: None of the above. Xavia had chosen B, mostly because he knew that he wouldn’t abandon a colleague in need. However, he wasn’t gentle enough to the point where he’d give a colleague any more care than that either. Her point of reference was Jenna, since Zivon hadn’t seemed to care much about her back in S City. Regardless, Zivon’s own answer was C, in which he’d carry his colleague out in search of help… He had even included a footnote, stating, ‘I’d only allow friends, especially female ones, to come along on business trips, so there’s no way that I’d leave her be. That aside, I wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing.’ This ended up sta
One of them was Zivon’s grandmother who disliked her… As for the other, she was Zivon’s business partner whom she wasn’t all that familiar with… Such a combination made Xavia rightfully uncomfortable. Bracing herself for the worst, Xavia took a deep breath before saying, “Lady Burton, Chairman Harrison…” Nodding in response, Ava then gestured toward a seat before saying, “Come, have a seat. The reason I called you over today is to talk about the matchmaking results. Since we’ve known each other for so long, I won’t beat around the bush. I want you to take the initiative to tell the public that you aren’t actually interested in being together with Zivon, and that you only participated for fun. Naturally, Fiona will then be allowed to be with Zivon.” “Of course, I’m not telling you to do all this without proper compensation. Just state your demands and I’ll try to fulfill them,” concluded Ava who was clearly still as high and mighty as ever… Regardless, Xavia could already tell t
Xavia, for one, didn’t think that was the case. After taking a deep breath, Xavia then said, “I meant it when I said that, Chairman Harrison. I can tell that you like Young Master Burton, and that you’ve been trying very hard to get his attention. You deserve him more than I do. Then again, he and I were never suited for each other.” With that said, Xavia then turned to leave, leaving the puzzled Sophia frozen in place… Before posting the results, Zivon had told her to make it appear as though nobody had scored a hundred so that Xavia could take the crown. Now that Xavia was at the top of the world, why were things still going south…? Unsure how to deal with this now that the results had been announced, Sophia was ultimately prompted to seek Zivon out. After relaying all that Xavia had said to Zivon’s grandmother, Zivon rubbed his temple before muttering, “She said all that to Grandma, huh…?” To think that that woman would be this serious about breaking up… That aside, with how t
...She had been waiting for someone…? With stomach nourishing food in hand…? Could it be that… Zivon’s train of thought was interrupted by Nathan muttering, “…Perhaps… the food was for you, Young Master Burton…? I… told Miss Lockhart that your stomach was unwell at the time, and told her to bring some snacks…” Glaring at Nathan, Zivon immediately asked, “When did this take place?” With how oppressive Zivon’s tone was, Nathan quickly fished his cell phone out… and shortly after, he meekly replied, “T-the eighteenth…” …That was the day when Zivon had asked Sophia for help! It was also the day he had seen Xavia and Keith in that office! If the food had originally been for him… then she must have lied since she saw him going out with Sophia! At that moment, Zivon’s heart was simultaneously filled with joy, annoyance, and regret! Grabbing his cell phone and car key, Zivon then strode off, leaving Nathan and Keith equally confused. Moving back to Xavia, she had just arrived at th
Realizing that Dana was about to kneel, Xavia quickly stopped her while saying, “Please don’t do this, Aunt…” By this point, Xavia’s expression had gone dark. Though she knew that Sophia liked that man, she hadn’t expected her to have such deep feelings for him… After all, that woman had spent her entire life working hard just to get closer to him! For such deep love to be denied because of the public… Regardless, after hearing all that, Xavia now knew that she hadn’t just lost to Sophia in that test, but also in terms of how much she loved Zivon… Nobody else deserved to be with Zivon more than Sophia. With that in mind, Xavia pursed her lips before ultimately saying, “…I’ll give her the chance.” Upon hearing that, Dana almost leaped with joy as she exclaimed, “T-thank you, Miss Lockhart…! I always knew you were a good person…!” After bowing several times, she forwarded the video to Xavia’s phone before adding, “You can just post the video on the internet, Miss Lockhart. That a
“No. I really did come to look for Young Master Keith and I also cooked the meal for him.”“Is that so?” Zivon asked slowly. He took out his cell phone, and on it was the surveillance video of her at the building Burton Group was at. Her line of sight followed the car that appeared and she stood there for another ten minutes hesitantly, then finally left, looking dejected.“How do you explain this then?”Xavia was speechless. She did not expect that he would actually check the surveillance camera. The incident that night hit her hard, and seeing it displayed before her again felt like a slap across her face. Her eyes were watery as she looked at him. “So what? You obviously did not answer my phone call because of another woman. You did not honour our agreement, and also left without greeting me the next day. You didn't even contact me!”“As for me, I was just a fool… I was so thick-skinned to cook for you and bring food over for you all because Nathan Miller said that your s
Zivon then continued, “Grandma fell sick on the first night at the villa, that's why I stayed so long. I wasn’t intentionally ignoring your call. As for leaving that night… it was because I saw the news about you and Keith.” His tone was laced with the anger he felt back then.Xavia was stunned. He thought that she was being cold and distant towards him because of Keith?Xavia protested, “If there was anything between me and him, I wouldn’t have sent supper to you the next day.”Speaking of supper, she suddenly recalled something. “You misunderstood me because of what happened the night before, then misunderstood me even more because you saw me together with him at the office afterwards? You just got mad and refused to talk about it?”Zivon did not deny it. “You did not explain anything or show that you were upset. Instead, you were just being distant. What did you think I would assume?”Xavia looked embarrassed. “I… I was trying to suppress my emotions. I knew that there was noth
Staring in shock at the kneeling man, Yulia mustered her remaining sanity as she replied, “B-but you’re younger-” “Even if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean that I’m much more ‘capable’ than your older pursuers…?” …Why were his words so suggestive all of a sudden?! Forcing herself to calm down, she took a deep breath before saying, “…Elliot, I’m not sure what spurred this decision, but… I’m not the one for you. Please find someone your age. I’m sorry.” After saying that, she strode straight for the car… but before she could start the engine, she couldn’t help but notice how desolate he looked standing under the pouring rain… Clenching her fists, it took her a while to finally sigh and walk back to him… “…Are you really sure about this?” asked Yulia, much to Elliot’s delight. “I am! Please! Give me a chance! You won’t regret it!” …When he put it that way, all Yulia could do was help him up before finally deciding to return his kiss… Sure, things had taken a sudden, unex
She stared in horror as he removed his shirt right there and then! “W-what are you doing?!” yelped the startled woman as she quickly looked the other way. “…Huh? I mean, I’m drenched, so…” “E-even so, you shouldn’t change right in front of me!” “…Yulia, we bathed together as children… It’s not like you haven’t seen everything already…” “Y-you can’t compare that to this situation…!” “Fine, fine, I… Um… Go cook, I guess… I’ll go get a change upstairs first…” muttered Elliot as he headed upstairs. Yulia herself had to try her best to calm down! After all, Elliot had been plaguing her mind in the past few days, and… she even had dreams where he had… …No! She couldn’t be thinking about such things! She needed to cook! Maybe that would help get her mind out of the gutter! Once that was done, she’d leave and finally start devising a plan to get rid of him…! As Yulia scurried off, Elliot himself was currently staring at an old photo that showed him eating some candy in Yulia’
Just as she had arrived at her car, the president of the Halls Group suddenly walked up to her, a bouquet in hand! The Halls Group had collaborated several times with the Burtons before, and because of that, she was well acquainted with the man. Sadly, he had also proposed to her on multiple occasions… and though she kept rejecting him, he never seemed to get the hint! “There you are, Miss Burton… Since you’re off work, I was wondering if you’d join me for dinner tonight…” asked the charming man. Feeling awkward, she was just about to come up with an excuse when Elliot suddenly grabbed her by the waist and said, “Oh? Another one of your admirers, Yulia…? Sorry, but she already has a boyfriend, my man. If that doesn’t deter you enough, then you should know that she prefers her partners younger. Now please leave.” Startled to hear that, the man glanced at Yulia, his eyes begging for an explanation… Yulia herself was eager to just escape this embarrassing situation, but before s
With that tale done, it was now time to return to Yulia’s story… Ever since she was a child, she had undergone countless hardships with her mother… and even after she was able to reunite with her father, things didn’t go much easier from there. To make matters worse, Fabiola ended up getting kidnapped for the longest time, resulting in Frank ending up the way he was today… Because of all that, it only made sense that she’d mature much sooner than others her age, and unlike the naïve girl she used to be, she was an extremely competent woman today. Alas, because of how used she became with working, she soon lost the urge to find herself a romantic interest… Things continued that way until… Well, that time that Elliot… …Wait, what was she thinking?! He was younger than her, for heaven’s sake! Quickly shaking her head, she attempted to force herself to concentrate on work again… But before long, a knock was heard on the door. After being allowed in, the department manager entered t
Knowing that there was no point in keeping things a secret anymore, Rea took a deep breath before saying, “…Alright, so… The truth is, I’ve always been highly competent, but… I’ve been pretending to be useless just so that you’d eventually marry me… The trip my parents are taking… That was my suggestion too…” Feeling speechless, it took Frank a long while to reply, “…So you weren’t really drunk when you did all that last night?” Pursing her lips, Rea awkwardly muttered, “…I wasn’t… Luna suggested it, and since it sounded like a good idea to accelerate things…” …Fucking hell, to think that he had fallen straight into her trap without even putting up a fight! Watching as he glowered at her, Rea gulped before adding, “A-anyway, now that we’re married and there’s potentially a baby in my belly, you won’t divorce me, right…?” “…Oh, believe me when I say that divorce is the easy way out! From today onward, I’m making you pay for your actions for the rest of your life!” Fast forwa
Fast forward to the next morning, Rea awoke with a yawn… What a nice sleep… Wait. Why was she naked? And why was Frank…?! Her following scream immediately woke the icy man up… and upon looking at her, he was immediately reminded of what had transpired last night! Essentially, Rea ended up clinging to him, and though he initially wanted to just carry her to bed to let her rest… Damn it! Had she really been that sensual?! How had he lost control so easily?! His train of thought was cut short when he realized that Rea was bawling her eyes out… and after rubbing his temples, he was prompted to say, “…Why are you crying when you’re the one who initiated this? I’ll have you know that I never forced you-” “I-I know, but…! I’ve just…! This is my first time…!” whimpered the quivering woman, prompting Frank to purse his lips. As if he wasn’t in the same situation… “…You’re not alone there.” “It’s not the same! Men are free to sleep with whoever they want but when it comes to women, I’l
“Say, wouldn’t you agree that the food smells delicious…? Why don’t I teach you how to grill, Rea…? Oh, but make sure to take your clothes off first before we start! Wouldn’t want them to get dirty…” With how drunk Rea was, she wasn’t able to fully register his words… and just as he was about to touch her clothes, an icy voice roared, “Stop right there…!” Instantly feeling a shiver run down his spine, the man turned around… and to his horror, it was Frank! Young Master Burton’s perpetually icy son…! Why the hell was he here?! Before the frightened intern could think of how to even react, Frank walked up to him and growled, “Leave now before I chop your hands off…! Don’t make me repeat myself!” Nodding in terror, the man frantically bolted off… and once he was out of sight, Frank glared at the tipsy Rea before adding, “This is what you meant by learning how to be more responsible…?!” “Huh…? But the food really did smell super good… I want to learn…” mumbled the drunk woman.
After leaving his office, he headed off to look for Rea. She had said that she wanted to use the bathroom, but… It had already been half an hour since she disappeared. What trouble had that idiot gotten herself into this time? Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he found her laughing along with some of his interns… When the interns saw him, they were quick to bow and say, “Good morning, Mr. Burton.” Barely even glancing at them, Frank looked at Rea and said, “It’s time to head home.” “I… Won’t be following you back…” “…And why is that? Are your parents back?” “No, it’s just… These are my good friends back from school, and they’ve been staying together to learn to be more independent… With that said… I think that staying with them will be a good start for me to learn more about how the world works. Thank you for taking care of me up till this point, Frank… I won’t bother you anymore.” Raising a slight brow, Frank then looked at the interns for a while before saying, “…Are you
Regardless, after leaving her in the room, Frank returned to the shower to cool himself off… but no matter what he did, he simply remained irked. It got to the point where he couldn’t relax at all, and after wrapping a towel around his waist, he grabbed his phone to send his father a text. ‘Was there really nobody else who could’ve taken care of Rea?’ ‘What? Can’t even care for a woman properly.’ ‘I’m a busy man.’ ‘I trust in your time management skills.’ …Though he really wanted to tell Zivon that he had misplaced his trust in him, he didn’t want to disappoint his father either. With that, all he could do was clench his fists before giving Rea’s parents a call… “Hello? Frank? Why are you calling at this time of night?” “…When are you and Uncle Saltman returning, Aunt?” asked Frank who wanted them to take back their idiot already! “…Huh? What was that? Sorry, the line isn’t very good… I hope Rea isn’t giving you too hard a time! Don’t worry, we’ll be back after about a