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
The second she considered this, panic instantly set in again. Since Ava had only called both of them over, she should’ve seen this coming a bit earlier…! Whatever the case was, Xavia quickly clenched her fists to remain calm as she replied, “…I-I don’t need the shares… I’m already pleased enough that my entry got approved and recognized. With that said, I insist that I make my own decision on the matter… Don’t worry, I won’t be trying to make a big deal out of my request… Honestly, I’ll probably never use it. So if there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave first…” Following that, Xavia quickly turned to leave, knowing full well that trying too hard to explain herself would only increase the risk of their relationship getting found out. As for Ava, she looked rather confused as she watched Xavia scurry off. Shaking her head, she then turned to face Zivon as she said, “Either way… Since the matter regarding the design draft is over, you don’t have to worry about it anymore… Wit
It had already been evident that that was the case from the night he told her to step out from that penthouse… The fact that he was now leaving the country with Jenna only served to solidify that fact. While she was honestly uncomfortable with all this, Xavia simultaneously knew that all this was for the best. There really wasn’t a reason for her to be feeling upset… With that in mind, she quickly gathered her thoughts before calmly saying, “…Things can’t be over if nothing was even started in the first place. Either way, if there’s nothing else, just drop me by the roadside.” There wasn’t a hint of emotion in her voice at all, and that made Jenna tighten her grasp on the steering wheel. She, for one, had been observing Zivon and Xavia in the past two days, and she knew all that had happened between them. With that in mind, she wasn’t about to miss the chance to fully break the two up. While she had expected Xavia to be devastated and in pain, that girl remained as stubborn and
...Stop them from getting too close together? The hell? Was this boy still trying to set her up with Zivon?! While she wanted to tell Maison not to do it, she was far too shocked to find her voice! It didn’t help that by the time she finally snapped out of it, Maison was already running back to Jenna’s car! How frustrating…! Fast forward to later that day, Zivon, Jenna, and Maison could be seen sitting in a plane’s first-class cabin. As the plane continued flying toward Milan, Maison—who was being clingy in his father’s arms—was prompted to say, “With how blue the sky is, I wonder if we’ll get to see beautiful stars tonight… Then again, Aunt’s eyes are more beautiful than any of the stars in the sky… Don’t you agree, Daddy?” Naturally, Zivon went silent upon hearing that. He, for one, didn’t want to even think about Xavia at the moment, so he simply replied, “…You can go stargazing on your own if you want.” “How cold… Jokes aside… Did Aunt make you angry, Daddy? Even if she d
“No thanks. I’m mature enough to do it on my own,” replied Maison as he quickly dragged his luggage in front of the wardrobe and began trying to hang his clothes up inside. Feeling helpless, Jenna ultimately said that she had some things to attend to, and promptly left, causing the pleased boy to smirk. Once she was out of sight, Maison immediately turned to look at the cold Zivon before saying, “The wardrobe’s too high for me, Daddy…! Come help me out here…!” …What was this brat’s problem? Not wanting to bother too much about such a trivial thing, Zivon simply complied… Unbeknownst to him, while Zivon was busy hanging Maison’s clothes up, the boy himself sneakily began taking photos and short videos inside and outside the room to send to Xavia. Attached with the photos was a message, stating, ‘We’ve reached Milan, Aunt! First things first, Daddy refused to sleep in the same room as Lady Lockhart.’ ‘He even refused her offer to help him hang his clothes up for him! Oh, and on
But how could this be? Why would he even call her…?! While she was both anxious and confused, Xavia knew better than to pick that call up in front of Keith. With that in mind, she quickly said, “…Um… I need to… use the bathroom!” Following that, she quickly rushed to a public toilet, her phone ringing the entire way… Once she was in a safe spot, she took a deep breath before finally picking up and muttering, “…Hello…?” “Aunt? It’s me…!” replied a familiar boy’s voice… …Maison? While Xavia was slightly disappointed to hear his voice instead of Zivon’s, it kind of made sense after she gave it some thought. After all, Zivon had already told her not to show up before him again before this. With that in mind, why would he call her out of the blue? Shaking the thought off, Xavia then asked, “…What’s wrong, Maison…?” “I have jet lag so I can’t sleep… Also, the food here isn’t to my liking, and I feel terrible… Could you make me something and send it over by plane, Aunt…?” Frow
Those two words sounded more like an order than anything, and Jenna couldn’t help but sigh. She, for one, already knew that he’d never treat her kindly, so she simply walked in before explaining, “…I’m here with tomorrow’s schedule… Also, on a more important note, tomorrow evening’s banquet will be organized by Mrs. Helian, and it requires quite a bit of preparation…” Mrs. Helian was an extremely intelligent person who graduated from the first university of Darlsbury. Aside from marrying someone from Milan’s first consortium of wealthy businessmen, she had also created a ‘business miracle’ together with him. With outstanding careers and mutual love for each other, the two were certainly enviable… Naturally, Zivon knew all about Ms. Helian’s background and strengths, so he simply grunted before replying, “Thanks for the hard work.” In response, Jenna declared in a virtuous tone, “D-don’t mention it…! I’m honored to be able to share this information with you… Um… There’s one other
The hell?! Now worried out of her mind, she instantly attempted to call both his and Maison’s number… and to her dismay, neither could be reached…! What kind of trouble had Maison got himself into for Zivon to end up this angry…? After a brief pause, Xavia decided to send a message to Maison, stating, ‘Did you do something that made your Daddy really unhappy…? Please tell Aunt what you did…’ Unfortunately, she never got a reply, and every passing second simply made Xavia more and more worried. After all, back when they were in S City, Maison had done a misdeed, and Zivon had punished the boy according to his family’s laws… Was history going to repeat itself…? In the end, Xavia got so worried that she was tempted to contact Jenna to ask about it. Thinking back, however, it’d be better if she didn’t do that. After all, knowing Jenna, that woman would definitely think that she was still in touch with Maison… Bah, forget it! She’d just have to wait and see how things turned out… Th
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