Ella halted and looked back.
Ella frowned and increased her pace. Seeing a broad tree in front of her, she hid her body behind it. With her other hand, she dragged a branch down to cover the exposed part of her body.
A confused Riri stood in the middle of the empty path, his tail drooped while his confused eyes darted from left to right.
Ella was dumbfounded, "Riri?"
She immediately stepped out of her hiding and walked up to the puppy.
Before she could comfort him, the puppy suddenly bolted forward like an arrow.
When she turned around, the puppy had made it to a huge distance.
Ella rushed after him but in no time, she was huffing and panting. She has already been running for an hour now so she barely had any strength left in her body.
"Riri, wait...!" Ella nearly tumbled over near a wall.
Riri escaped the estate gates and Ella chased after him.
The security was startled awake.
Riri finally stopped running at a distance.
From where Ella stood, she could see Riri’s tail from behind the tall bushes.
Ella sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. Her face had turned red and her body was covered in sweat from head to toe.
She grabbed the bush nearby for support. With light footsteps, she stepped forward.
When she finally stepped past the shrubs, Ella was stunned by what greeted her sight.
When Ella returned to the mansion after her run, she attracted quite a lot of gazes from the servants.
With her back straight, she strode towards the stairs.
Suddenly, Bertha appeared in front of her, her panic evident on her face, "Miss Yu, Riri is gone..."
Her words trailed off when she noticed the puppy that was following Ella.
Ella cleared her throat, ’’He went on a run with me."
Riri swished his tail, looking rather uplifted.
How has the puppy suddenly become happy? It was almost like he was not being so depressed yesterday?
Relieved and amused, Bertha turned to Ella but she was immediately struck with a hint of disbelief, "Miss Yu, you..." Bertha blinked, puzzled. Something seemed... off. "You look a little puffed up suddenly."
Ella smiled innocently, tugging her hoodie closer. "Must be the post-run glow."
Seeing the lump under Ella’s hoodie, Bertha opened her mouth to speak further, then gave up on it.
Ella quickly led Riri upstairs, "Follow me quietly. We will figure out what to do,’’ she instructed the pup.
At this moment, a trio of servants passed by them, pushing a food trolley. The fresh aroma of lavish breakfast wafted over.
Like a gust of wind, Riri disappeared from her sight. Ella immediately rushed after him.
But by the time she spotted the traitorous puppy, he had already followed the servants inside the Master Bedroom.
The servants placed the food trolley in the center, bowed to Ella before leaving.
Ella sighed in relief when she noticed that the room was empty.
Clutching her hoodie tighter, Ella moved to pick Riri up but suddenly, Riri escaped from her grasp and rushed in the direction of a wall.
"Wait, don’t go there—"
Ella’s jaw dropped when the wall started moving.
In her previous life, she had rarely stepped inside the Master bedroom so she had no idea of a place .
At this moment, the wall slid open, revealing a gym that was attached to the master bedroom. And inside the gym—
Adrian was shirtless, his body glistening with sweat, veins prominent, muscles taut as he performed perfect push ups with a straight face. Gorgeous. Glorious.
In a matter of a few minutes, Ella watched him doing numerous pushups, with one hand on his back but never once did his expression shift. He did it effortlessly, and everytime his body swerved forward, it seemed like he was punishing the ground itself.
Ella’s brain short circuited and for a moment, she forgot the rest of her concerns.
Is that... even legal?
Ella’s throat went dry. Forget Greek god, this man was carved by sin itself.
Ella knew she should leave. She really should. But her legs refused to move. Her jaw, slightly slack, refused to close. And worst of all—
"If you are going to stare, come over," Adrian’s deep, unreadable voice echoed across the room.
She immediately remembered her purpose of sneaking around earlier and slowly retreated,"Ah, I accidentally tumbled over to your room, baby. I still need to take a shower. How about I see you in a while?"
As she spoke, she was ready to dash but Riri, that traitor, dashed towards Adrian first.
Adrian pushed himself to his feet and effortlessly picked Riri up.
Then, his gaze shifted to Ella.
Ella felt something in her stomach.
No, not butterflies... Absolutely not.
As Adrian walked towards her, Ella immediately turned around and cat paw slipped from under her oversized hoodie.
Ella pushed it up to her chest and readied herself to run when—
Adrian’s footsteps halted.
Ella closed her eyes.
Riri excitedly swished his tail.
Ji Yan rushed inside the room, "Second Master, I think I heard a cat’s sound. Don’t worry, I will immediately kick it out.’’
Adrian remained quiet.
Ella glanced at Ji Yan and then at Adrian. With a clear of her throat, she said, "That was me..."
Adrian paused, his gaze trailing over her body once before shifting to her face, "Oh?"
Ji Yan was also startled, "Miss Yu, why would you make cat noises?"
Suddenly, Ji Yan stiffened. Could it be that the recent upheavals in her life had made her mentally unstable?
The thought turned him pale. All the while, he had asked his second master to be gentle but he just never listened.
Ella could read the thoughts on his face even though he did not say them aloud.
She hoped she could tell the man that she had not gone mad yet but keeping the situation in mind, she cleared her throat and spoke up.