“Miss Lockhart’s virology report is out, Young Master Burton,” said the doctor. Though Zivon was usually calm regardless of the situation, he was quick to get to his feet as he asked, “What are the results?” “Well, the virus is a little uncommon, but it’s nothing risky or contagious. What’s more, Miss Burton’s special blood is helping her heal even faster, though we’ll still be giving her more antibodies later to aid with that. All in all, you don’t have to be too worried,” replied the doctor in a respectful tone, finally allowing Zivon to relax a little… Dolly herself felt like a weight had just been lifted from her heart as she exclaimed, “H-How wonderful…! Finally, something good has happened to her…!” Looking at the sobbing woman, Zivon couldn’t help but go speechless… Moving back to Xavia, the poor woman was still in a daze. Even though her eyes were closed, however, she could feel the warm touch of big, gentle hands… Constantly cleaning her body and checking on her temp
Hearing that, Zivon quickly—yet gently—pushed Xavia down again while saying, “Don’t squirm. You just had surgery two days ago, so your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.” “…S-Surgery…? What surgery?” asked the dumbfounded Xavia… and shortly after, the memories of what happened before she passed out began returning to her! Could something unbelievably cliché have happened after she fainted? Like Jenna needing some organ transplant? And she was the donor? Was that why Zivon was being so gentle with her? Before Xavia could speculate any further, Zivon was prompted to explain, “You had to undergo a minor surgery since you simultaneously had a cold, acute pneumonia, and acute appendicitis. Thankfully there were no other major issues.” Upon hearing that, Xavia couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief… before turning to give the picturesque man a good, long look. Unlike his usual condescending gaze, his eyes now seemed like they held galaxies of gleaming stars within them… What prompted
Naturally, Xavia was startled to hear all this. To think that Dolly had told Zivon everything! Though… to think that Zivon would still carry her to the hospital under those circumstances… Perhaps… he didn’t like Jenna that much after all…? …Still, just recalling what he had done to her—on the night Xavia had pretended to be Jenna—filled her with both grief and disgust… In the end, Xavia replied, “…Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. I just wish he didn’t side with Jenna so much… That aside, have you found any clues from the surveillance video clips? And has Yulia’s condition improved?” “…It’s just like you to be worried about everything the second you wake up, huh? Either way, though I don’t have any clues yet, Young Master Burton has told me not to worry about anything, and simply focus on taking good care of you. Also, Yulia is in stable condition now, so seriously, focus on healing up first,” said Dolly with a grin as she patted Xavia on the back. “Still, had I known that you
While they were on the topic, Xavia really didn’t know what to think anymore. After all, back when she had apologized and explained things to him before, Zivon hadn’t accepted it. Either way, upon hearing that, Zivon’s gaze darkened slightly… and after a while, he calmly replied, “…If you’re still angry with me, remember that you didn’t tell me the whole story. That aside, you also chose the most extreme solution to the problem. Had that not happened, I wouldn’t have misunderstood or hurt you.” “We both had issues dealing with all this, and I admit that I owe you an apology. However, I also hope that you’ll stop acting like this in the future… If you agree, then… we could… start over…” concluded the rational and mature Zivon. As always, he was taking the initiative to solve the problem… and in all honesty, Xavia felt moved. After all, just the thought of being able to start things over made her happy enough. Even so… Some things were difficult to forget, and she simply couldn’t i
After saying what he wanted, Zayne gave a chuckle before saying, “Well? What do you think? A fantastic new experience, right? Don’t worry, you don’t need to thank me!” By this point, Zivon’s ears were all red, and he found himself temporarily speechless. After all, Xavia wasn’t in the best condition yet, and it wasn’t like they had reached that stage. With that in mind, he ultimately replied in an indifferent tone, “…The idea’s fine. Either way, you can head off now, no need to wait around.” Clearly misunderstanding Zivon’s words, Zayne then said, “Ah, right, right… Wouldn’t want to bother you and Jenna!” Following that, Zayne left in a cheery mood, leaving Zivon frowning as he watched his perverted friend walk off… Why were his allies like this? Shaking his head, Zivon then returned to the ward… and upon entering, Zivon saw that Xavia was still sleeping serenely, looking as sweet as ever… Feeling sleepy as well—since Zivon hadn’t slept in the past two days—, Zivon then walked
It honestly felt suffocating looking at him lie all indifferently. Now on the verge of crying, the infuriated woman was prompted to snap, “You…! …Forget it! I’m not talking to you!” Just as she was about to wheelchair herself away, however, Zivon quickly grabbed onto the handles before pulling her back and declaring, “I thought I made it clear that we needed to be more direct with each other. I really don’t want there to be another slew of misunderstandings, so please be more mature about this.” He was the immature one here! Now fuming in rage, Xavia couldn’t stop herself from retorting, “You think you’re so mature, don’t you?! After all, you were hugging and touching ‘Jenna’ all over back then, right?! Yeah, I know because that was me! You piece of sexually driven scum!” Finally realizing why she was so mad, Zivon replied, “Did you honestly think I would’ve done that had I not known that it was you?” “…You… What? Explain yourself!” retorted Xavia who knew what she had experien
It was sometime later in an exclusive, top-floor private room when Zayne—who was playing some video games—was prompted to ask, “And here I thought you were going to have a good time with Jenna tonight… Why did you come here instead?” Upon hearing that, Chace turned to look at Zivon before adding, “Indeed. What’s wrong? Don’t you have a good relationship with Jenna now? Speaking of which… I should mention that Xavia headed to the City Hall to look for you before this. I’m only telling this to you now since we haven’t met for a while.” Chace, for one, wasn’t about to make a special call just for that woman’s sake. Regardless, Zivon already knew about that, so he simply replied, “Is there a point in saying that?” The important point was that Zivon realized that he had communication issues with her… Either way, since Chance didn’t have enough context, he was prompted to say, “I guess not… Well, since you’ve decided to be with Jenna, you should no longer look back.” It was at th
As Zivon moved his hand away from the door handle, Dolly was prompted to ask, “…What happened exactly…? Care to fill me in?” Turning to look at Dolly, Xavia then said, “…Remember how I said he and Jenna have gotten pretty intimate? And how I was grossed out by that and didn’t want to start over because of that? Well, I wanted both an explanation and an apology, but you know what I got instead…?!” “Go on…” muttered Dolly. “He said that he knew that was me all along! He had only pretended that he thought I was Jenna to irritate me! Why the hell do people like him even exist?! I bet he has no idea just how much my heart stung when I thought he was kissing me as Jenna! I almost felt like passing out at the time!” “Putting how sadistic all that was aside, that mad man actually attempted to reason with me by saying I did the same to him before this! Just the thought of having to deal with him again makes me so incredibly irked! Dolly. I want you to accompany me in the ward tonight an
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