...Why was he calling her out of the blue? And here she thought he’d never contact her again after making things clear with him earlier… Whatever the case was, Xavia was understandably hesitant to pick the call up. As for Hartley, Xavia’s reaction instantly told him that Zivon was calling, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty. After all, Young Master Burton’s call definitely had something to do with the fake pregnancy…! With that in mind, he was prompted to say, “…Um… Miss Lockhart…? Now that the young master’s condition has finally stabilized, could you stop contacting Young Master Burton for a while…? Just reject the call…” Looking at both Hartley and Keith, Xavia knew that she had to prioritize Keith’s illness. After all, she would only be able to leave once Keith recovered. With that, she was prompted to reply, “…Alright, though I’ll be sending him a text…” Following that, she rejected the call before starting to type a message, stating, ‘Sorry, but it’s inconvenient for me
Xavia stared at him in bewilderment. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you—”“Did not want to take responsibility?” Zivon interrupted her calmly. “You had a blood clotting disorder and would never be able to give birth. I did not want you to hear such cruel news when you just lost a child.”In other words, he had just been trying to protect her, physically and mentally.He had been enduring all this on his own and hadn't told anyone what he was going through, which had led to her misunderstanding him.He was clearly a mature man who was responsible, loving, and decisive.Now that Xavia knew the truth, she felt horrible. It was like she was a fickle young girl compared to him. “I’m sorry.” She had always been the kind of person who was willing to own up to her mistakes.Zivon stared at her and asked, “That’s it? You're sorry? Isn't there anything else you want to say?”Anything else…?Xavia became flustered. Truthfully, she never expected this to be the real reason behind his
Ding!The elevator door opened.“Miss Lockhart, take care on your way back,” Nathan said politely, his tone unusually formal.As soon as Xavia got out of the elevator, Nathan headed upstairs. His posture was indifferent, as if they were strangers that would never meet her again. Xavia froze in front of the elevator door. Her heart felt like it was being crushed, and it was almost difficult to breathe.She had a feeling that Zivon was already far out of her reach…“Xavia!” Dolly’s voice suddenly rang out, and she ran up and hugged Xavia’s arm. “What a coincidence, you’re here too? …Eh? What happened? Did someone bully you?”Xavia looked at her best friend that she had not seen for quite a while. Her throat felt tight as she said softly, “Dolly, it’s over between Young Master Burton and I.”“Huh?” Dolly was surprised for a moment. She wanted to ask Xavia if anything had even begun, but suddenly, tears started rolling down Xavia's cheeks. Dolly's eyes widened and she became flust
He did not expect Xavia to find out about it so quickly. This matter had been playing on Hartley’s mind, and everything he had been worrying about had indeed come true. It took him a few seconds to find his voice: “Miss Lockhart, I knew I would not be able to hide this matter from you for long when Young Master Burton found out the truth that day. I’m sorry… I had no other choice. I did not want the young master’s condition to worsen, or reach a point he could not return from. I’m sorry.”“Miss Lockhart, you can blame me if you want, but don’t give up on the young master because of this, okay? You saw it yourself—the young master could fall asleep tonight without the aid of any medication because of you. His illness can be treated! Please, I beg you, Miss Lockhart!”Hartley dropped to his knees, bowing down to her deeply.Xavia took a step backwards in shock. A man would not easily kneel down in front of others because they had pride. She really did not expect that Hartley would
Xavia was lying on the bed, her eyes closed. Her expression was tense, and there was a light sheen of sweat on her forehead. Her cheeks were also slightly flushed. It did not look normal.“Xavia?” Keith's brow furrowed as he went over to touch her forehead. To his shock, her skin was burning hot!“She’s having a fever. Get a doctor here now.”“Yes!” Hartley quickly ran out.The doctor came over quickly and examined Xavia. “She has a high fever of 39 degrees. We must bring her temperature down physically and give her an infusion.” As he spoke, he opened his medical kit.Keith stood aside and narrowed his eyes. 39 degrees? A person’s normal body temperature was between 36 and 37.2 degrees. Such a high body temperature meant that it was an extremely high fever. Wasn’t she fine last night? How did she catch a cold and fall ill overnight?Keith was very worried. He instructed Hartley to bring a basin of water over and carefully placed a towel on her forehead to cool her body d
Her words were filled with anger, condemnation, and hatred. To her, work should always be the number one priority.To top it all off, how could he play around with such a big project like the Green Space Project?Keith also used to make work his priority, but when he saw how ill Xavia was, he felt suffocated.“Mom, I got that project because of Xavia. Shouldn’t I be taking care of her now that she is ill? I know what I'm doing. I will go and work on it once Xavia wakes up.”“You’re waiting for her to wake up? Are you a doctor? Does she need you to be waiting for her to wake up?” Helen was angry. Her loud voice echoed in the room, noisy and irritating.Xavia vaguely heard it and slowly opened her eyes. She looked at the blurred figures around her and whispered hoarsely, “Water…”Keith heard her voice and walked over to her immediately. “Xavia? You’re awake? Here, have some water.”Keith took a tube and placed it by her mouth. Helen's head hurt as she watched him. When had
It was around seven the next day when Zivon—who was accompanying the kids for breakfast—said in a rather distant tone, “I want you to bring Yulia over to your aunt later, Maison. I need to head to the office early, so you’ll need to handle your transportation to school as well.” Sensing how aloof his father sounded, Maison frowned slightly before asking, “Don’t you like Aunt, Daddy…? Why don’t you send us over instead? That way, you’ll be able to meet her…” Raising a slight brow, Zivon then replied in a rather condescending tone, “And when have I ever said I liked her?” Maison shivered slightly when he heard how icy his father’s words were. Even so, he shook his fear off before saying, “…Well, weren’t you being sweet with Aunt back when we were having hotpot together…? You even told Aunt that you were good at a lot of things, and that you wanted to show her your skills one day… Don’t you remember…?” Upon hearing that, Yulia—who had spaghetti sauce all over her lips—looked up at
Just as Xavia was finishing her meal, she heard Louisa’s familiar voice calling from outside, “Miss Lockhart…? Are you in…?” Slowly making her way to the window, she then looked down… and sure enough, Louisa was there. This prompted Xavia to reply, “I’m here… Is there anything I can help you with…?” “Yes… Lady Burton said she wanted to talk to you, and that she’d appreciate it if you met up with her as soon as possible… …Ava wanted to meet her? But why? Whatever the case was, Xavia knew she had to meet up with her eventually, so she simply said, “…Alright, I’ll be there in half an hour…” With that said, Xavia then took a quick shower before changing into a set of long-sleeved, and more presentable clothes. Since she was still sick, however, simply moving around was a chore… This proved to be a problem once she got to the mansion and began making her way up the stairs. Essentially, her eyes momentarily went blurry… and she ended up missing a step! Just as she was about to fa
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