It was then when Yulia realized that she had messed up! Covering her mouth, she then muttered, “I-I’m so sorry, Brother Maison…! I forgot that that was a secret…!” To make matters worse, Yulia then ran to Zivon’s side and grabbed his arm before adding, “Could you pretend not to have heard anything I said, Uncle Burton…? Otherwise, Brother Maison will be sad since he said you can’t cook yet at your age…” This left Maison completely speechless. He clearly hadn’t meant it that way…! He… He didn’t know who Little Bun was anymore! He didn’t know anything for heaven’s sake! Realizing that Maison was now averting his gaze, Zivon felt his self-esteem getting crushed. The truth was, Zivon had initially been proud of Maison being able to cook. However, after hearing the full story from Yulia… To think that his son had been worried about his self-esteem! It was now much more humiliating that he couldn’t cook! Trying to patch things up, Yulia was prompted to say, “…Um… There’s nothing to
Xavia really didn’t want to head over… Keith, for one, didn’t want her to go there alone either, which prompted him to say, “I’ll go fetch her with you.” “…Sure. Let’s go,” replied Xavia, who knew that denying Keith’s request would make it seem like she was having an affair with Zivon. Then again, it wasn’t like she was planning to disagree anyway. After all, Zivon would never touch her with Keith around, right…? Regardless, the two soon arrived in Zivon’s private courtyard… The courtyard itself was silent, and though the house’s lights were on, no laughter from the children could be heard. This was weird… Why were the children so silent? Pursing her lips, Xavia then softly called out, “Yulia…? Maison…?” In response, she heard Maison quietly call back, “Aunt…? Come in…!” …Come in? After turning to look at Keith, both of them then stepped into Zivon’s home… and soon after, they were greeted by the sight of the children lying on a cozy-looking couch. Though Maison was awake, Yu
Whatever the case was, Keith then continued enjoying watching Xavia fumble about as she treated his wounds… and five minutes later, she finally completed the task. This prompted her to say, “I’m done, Young Master Keith… There wasn't any inflammation on the wound, so there’s no need to worry…” Now that she was done, she was about to try to leave when Keith suddenly pulled her wrist while saying in a serious tone, “Xavia…” With how close she was to him, she realized that he smelled faintly of old books… Even so, her anxiousness quickly snapped her out of it. Forcing a casual façade on, she then replied, “…Yes? What is it?” “There’s no need to be that polite with me in the future… Others will surely use that fact to make a fuss…” said Keith. …So this was what he wanted to talk about… Breathing a sigh of relief, Xavia then replied, “Hmm… How about I call you darling when we’re outside, then?” In this day and age, calling strangers ‘darling’ wasn’t frowned upon. Xavia, for one, c
...Keith cooking in the kitchen with an apron on! What more, he appeared to have prepared a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers—that laid on the kitchen table—for her as well! By god! How could such a prestigious young master be cooking?! If Keith’s parents saw this, they’d definitely scold her! With that in mind, Xavia quickly ran over to Keith while exclaiming, “Y-Young Master Keith…! Um… Why are you…? Look, could you just… go continue resting…? I’ll handle the rest…” “Just give me a moment. Though soup is the only thing I can make, I at least want to do this much for you… Please let me finish…” replied Keith as he gently held onto her hands. “I insist… I should be the one in charge of meals, so just sit back and relax, alright…?” said Xavia. “This again…? Third Young Lady, while I appreciate that you wish to show me your gratitude, please don’t disallow me from showing my sincerity, you hear?” replied Keith in a slightly serious tone. Before Xavia could reply, he had alread
By the time the secretary was able to sit up, his throat was already bright red, and there was even a little blood there… Very few knew that Keith the gentleman was actually sick. The truth was, not only did he have intense possessiveness, but he also had irritable violent obsessive behavior disorder. To explain in layman’s terms, once he liked something, Keith would be extremely controlling over that object or person. His condition was so serious that once, he had killed his beloved cat with a single kick due to it running over to Zivon one night and not returning to him instead! With that in mind, the secretary was rightfully worried now that he had such great feelings for Xavia. He hadn’t even gotten this infatuated with Jenna before this! Regardless, if Xavia got involved with Zivon again, then the risk of Keith’s illness acting up would surely increase, possibly even more aggressively…! If that happened, Keith would run the risk of having his illness exposed…! Meanwhile, Y
“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m asking you to do. You should know that if I go there, he’ll definitely inform Chace given their relationship. Following that, Chace will step in and get the house for me, making it seem that I can’t leave his side. Even worse is the fact that I’ll owe him a favor!” replied Bianca. “Just so you know, I even considered getting a stranger to buy it for me, but after some thought, I knew it’d fail. After all, that house seems important to Ninth Young Master Burton, so he probably won’t sell it for any amount of money. With all that said… You’re pretty much the only option we’ve got,” added Bianca. “…You didn’t just hire me for this, right…?” “Of course, not! I only hired you since I thought you’d be suitable for my company after looking at your work. That aside, I’ve been compiling data about suitable houses for a few nights now. You can see the data I collected in the documents. With that said, I only made the decision to involve you in this last n
So it wasn’t that Zivon wouldn’t give her a house… he just wouldn’t give her that one.Jenna immediately became curious. “What is the significance of the house to the young master?”“Madam, that's a sensitive topic. Normally, I wouldn’t dare mention it, and Young Master Burton gets angry even if the old lady mentions it, so it’s best if you don’t pry anymore.” Sensitive topic? Zivon would get angry even if his grandmother brought it up?Jenna smirked, her gaze sinister. “Alright, I got it.” After she ended the call with Nathan, she gave Xavia a call. “Zivon seems to be busy; he said he’d give me a reply in two weeks. I can’t do anything more on my side, so if you and Bianca can’t wait, just go over there and talk to him in person. I don’t mind, after all, since it’s my fault I can’t help.” Xavia frowned. Why was Jenna being so nice and reasonable all of a sudden? Xavia felt it was strange, but they couldn’t afford to wait two weeks. “Okay. Don’t worry—I’ll only be talking abou
The bright atmosphere in the office suddenly turned tense.Xavia’s wrist was still in Zivon’s grip, and the warmth of his hand felt like fire against her skin. Outrage swept through her and she struggled to break free.Zivon got straight to the point, his dark eyes fixed on her: “Go ahead…tell me what you want from me.” Xavia looked up at him furiously.Was this man incapable of talking like a normal person? He had to drag her into the office and close the door? It made her think that he was going to forcefully kiss her again…Ew, what was she thinking?!Quickly pushing away those thoughts, she handed him her file and said briskly, “I need this house. Can you rent it or sell it to me?” A house?Zivon raised his eyebrows in surprise. He took the file from her, sat down on the sofa, and opened it. Instantly, his gentle expression turned stormy, and his voice was frigid as he asked, “Did Jenna send you here?” It didn’t take a genius to tell that the man was enraged.Xavia did
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