"M-M-Miss Yu?" Ji Yan stuttered as Ella stepped in front of him, her fingers twirling a butter knife with expertise.
"Secretary Ji, I am not a predator. You don’t need to be so afraid of ."
When he heard that, Ji Yan pulled out his flower-embroidered handkerchief and dabbled it on his forehead.
The peaceful breakfast was cut short after Ella’s declaration of wanting to go attend her parents’ wedding anniversary.
After expressing his refusal, Adrian got up and entered his study, never once looking back at her.
At least, there was no explosion, Ella did not run away and his Second Master’s health was not compromised. Ji Yan decided to count it as a win-win situation.
Never in his wildest dreams had Ji Yan thought that just when he turned to follow his second master, Ella would block his path with a butter knife in her hand.
Seeing that she had no intention to budge from her spot, he gulped, "M-Miss Yu, how may I help you?"
"What’s his problem?" Ella cut to the chase, retracting her butter knife by an inch.
Ji Yan sighed in relief but when the words registered in her mind, he was on high alert again, "Whose problem? The second Master is unproblematic."
"_"
Ella suddenly realized the reason why God Adrian lived in his delusional world and got triggered whenever things did not go his way.
It was due to his blind devotees normalizing all his actions and thoughts.
"As the saying goes, Secretary Ji, worship is good, blind worship is not."
Ji Yan: "_" Why have I never heard of such a saying?
Ella coughed, "Anyways, does Adrian have any beef with my parents?"
"Ah?" Ji Yan was bewildered.
’’Or anything specific against the Yu Family?"
Ji Yan slowly shook his head, "The Second Master has had no interactions with them before."
After Ji Yan left, Ella returned to her room. Various thoughts swirled in her head but none of them made sense.
When she ntioned visiting her parents for their anniversary, she had marked that shift in his expression. As if she had touched upon an unpleasant nerve. Yet, she could not figure out what it was.
In fact, at so point in both her lives, Ella had wondered if Adrian had so enmity with the Yu Family. Just like it happened in a classic enemies-to-lovers novel, did he marry her for revenge...?
Ahem... Such fantastical thoughts would shatter right away when she realized that she acted more vengefully against him than he did with her.
And jokes apart, the Yu Family and King Family were worlds apart.
Despite being a prestigious family, the Yu family would never land in the sa criteria as the King Family.
And she had spent her childhood with her parents abroad. So, it was more impossible for Adrian to have any grudge against the Yu Family.
Unable to figure things out, Ella gave up on her conspiracy theories by noon.
Heading off to study, she rapped her hand twice on the door.
No response.
Ella was about to knock on the door again when it was pushed inside.
The huge study was empty. There was no sign of Adrian or Ji Yan. Ella turned to leave but for so reason, she felt a tug inside her heart.
Inhaling a deep breath, she stepped inside the study. It’s not like I haven’t done this before.
Ella had taken a few steps before she felt a tug in her conscience. In her precious life, she sneaked around in his private docunts because she wanted to destroy him.
In this life, she ant no harm to Adrian. But the urge to look into things still remained. Perhaps because he was enshrouded in such mystery that Ella could not help but want to unravel him.
The little devil on her shoulder whispered: ’Just a peek wouldn’t hurt.’
Ella cleared her throat and took a step forward.
’One peek? Don’t forget you are on good terms now! You have no business snooping around his stuff!’ The angel fluttered her wings atop her head.
After giving it a thought, Ella turned to leave. But she had barely taken a step when a gust of wind blew through the open window.
’Rustle’
Loose papers fluttered inside the study. Ella picked them up and neatly arranged them on Adrian’s desk before closing the window.
Suddenly, a flash of white covered Ella’s vision. Ella peeled off the paper from her face.
Just as she moved to place it with the stack of papers on the glass desk, her gaze accidentally landed on the pencil sketch on the paper. It was a neat and beautiful drawing yet what caught Ella’s attention was not the artistry of it.
But rather—
It was a little girl, squatting on the ground. Her hands were covered in soil as she planted sothing.
Her long hair was braided into a ssy braid and at every knot of her braid, a magnolia was loosely tucked in.
A chill crept in Ella’s heart, gradually freezing her in her spot. Even in the glaring brightness, she felt the room darkening until she could not even see her own hands. The familiar feeling of distress crept in, making her stagger a few steps.
’Bam’
Ella leaned onto the glass desk for support. After taking a few deep breaths, she sat on the swivel chair and slowly opened her eyes.
Her heart still thudded in her chest as she looked at the sketch again. Sothing about it unsettled her so much that she wanted to tear it off.
Yet, with trembling fingers, she placed it carefully between the stack of papers, pushing it out of her plain sight.
But for so reason, she could not erase the picture from her mind. The little girl. The magnolia. The tiny plant in her hand.
Ella’s thoughts flashed back to the day when Adrian told her about the Magnolia tree in the garden area of the Main Mansion. The way he revealed that it was planted by him and refused to talk about it further.
Various thoughts muddled her mind, disappearing before she could put a finger on them.
In the King Empires.
The eting room had sunk in an eerie silence. The presenter stood in front of the huge screen in the center, shaking in his boots when Adrian quietly stared at the presentation.
The remaining executives warily huddled closer to each other, communicating with their eyes.
’Did the President not like the presentation?’
’But even still, why is he staring at it...?’
’Tsk... Soone is about to lose their job for real!’
Ji Yan could read through the atmosphere of dread inside the eting room. When a few begging gazes landed on him, he sighed and stepped forward, "Second Master..."
Adrian’s eyes moved and he finally looked away from the presentation.
The presenter was stunned. So, the President was not glaring at his presentation, but rather, he was in a daze?
The rest of the people in the eting room also had their brains altered. They would believe a rare spotting of a unicorn, instead of believing that their President zoned out in a eting out of nowhere!
As Adrian returned to his office, Ji Yan followed him.
Adrian halted in front of the glass door. Ji Yan also halted abruptly.
Adrian took a step in. Ji Yan took a step in.
Adrian suddenly turned around. Ji Yan also turned around.
Looking at the back of Ji Yan’s head, Adrian frowned, "What are you doing?"
Ji Yan hurriedly turned to Adrian, "Ah, Second Master, I saw so ants on the floor just now..."
Adrian’s frown deepened. But after a mont, he turned around and entered his office. One could not know what thoughts ran in his mind but the temperature of the office room halted between hot to cold until suddenly, a layer of frost encased the walls.
Unable to take the suffocating silence any longer, Ji Yan stepped forward, "Second Master, Miss Yu stopped after breakfast..."
Ji Yan nearly choked on his words when Adrian shot him a scathing glare. Feeling wronged and misunderstood, he hurriedly added, "...For interrogation."
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
"Miss Yu thinks that you have so grudge against the Yu Family..." When Adrian remained unresponsive, Ji Yan poured him a glass of water, "Second Master, are you worried that if she goes to Yu Family, she would change back to her old ways around you?"
Adrian’s expressions were unreadable.
And if Ji Yan had to be honest, he knew nothing of what the true cause of his reluctance was. What he was doing was purely guesswork based on everything he knew about his Second Master.
Adrian glanced at the glass of water but did not take it. After a mont, he finally spoke.
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