Ella instinctively slapped an arm over her breasts, ’’I have a weak and sensitive heart. If I want to stand by your side and be your wife, I must be a phoenix. A canary won’t do.’’
Adrian glanced at her quietly.
Ella felt a boost of courage, ’’You are perfect in every aspect. Tomorrow, if people say I am not worthy of you...’’
Ji Yan: "_" Master, that’s not her point.
Ella: "_" That’s totally not my point.
’’Even if people don’t say it, I would never be satisfied with my life if I do nothing and achieve nothing. If I don’t fulfill my dreams and fight for my goals, then how would I ever find real happiness?"
’’I can fulfill your dreams.’’
Riri: ’Woof Woof’ [Translation: Daddy, that’s not the point.]
Initially, Ella had been feeling like she had overeaten but by now, her food was all digested.
Ella inhaled a deep breath.
Even if conversing with Adrian about these things made her feel like hitting her head on a rock, she couldn’t just back down halfway.
So what if the enemy was strong?
She would be relentless enough to take him down.
’’Of course, I know you can fulfill all my dreams. You are the most handsome, most amazing and most capable husband in the world...’’
Ji Yan closed his eyes. On some good sunny day, he would surely find Miss Yu for private bootlicking lessons.
’’But you fulfilling my dreams would not make me feel satisfied. The things that I want, I would fight for them. And you...’’
Ella’s smile wavered for a fraction of a second. The night air suddenly felt cooler against her skin.
As the girl zoned out after mentioning him, a rare hint of sadness reflected on her playful face.
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
Ji Yan dabbed his flower-embroidered handkerchief on forehead. This... Miss Yu... what is this cliffhanger?
Going quiet and looking sad right after mentioning the second master... aren’t you suggesting that you are resenting him?
Unaware of their assumptions, Ella was sunk in her own thoughts.
The visuals of the nightmares she was having flashed by her eyes.
And the visual that was unforgettable to her was Adrian’s pale face.
The feel of his cold hands was still as vivid in her mind.
Just when the car was blanketed in oppressive clouds, Ella suddenly looked up at Adrian.
’’You are formidable but if someday, someday... you face some problem, I want to be able to protect you as well.’’
The girl looked at him with a gentle gaze as she spoke.
A gaze so gentle that it felt akin to the comfort of warm springs.
Those words were not spoken to him for the first time.
’’So, I need to focus on my exams. With a distraction... ahem... enticing distraction like you, I doubt I would be able to focus on my studies. So, till exams, let’s minimize our interactions. To become a phoenix, I must first learn to fly.’’
Ji Yan closed his eyes. Second Master doesn’t care whether you are a phoenix or a pheasant. As long as the bird is you, there is no escaping the cage.
With the Second Master’s iron will, no reasoning or force could deter him once he set his mind on something.
’’Fine,’’ A single word escaped Adrian’s mouth.
Hugging Riri in one arm, she threw herself at Adrian.
Her free hand wrapped around his neck as she pressed a kiss on his cheek.
Ji Yan resisted the urge to rub his eyes. Was this really the same Second Master with an iron will? Had he—had he actually melted?
After Ella left, Riri was splayed on the backseat beside Adrian.
His belly facing upwards as it lazily played with a ball.
The car sank in silence.
Although the silence wasn’t as oppressive, Ji Yan was at tenterhooks.
’’Second Master, we have the results for what you had asked me to investigate...’’
As he spoke, he took out a file that he had hidden in the front compartment.
Adrian glanced at the man, ’’How is it?"
’’A month ago, nothing unusual happened around Miss Yu. She was in the Eve Mansion all that time...’’
It hadn’t been long since Adrian had ordered him to investigate Ella.
And the order had kept him on edge.
Because no matter what, if the results were a little amiss, then there was bound to be an explosion, if not two.
Regarding Ella’s affairs, Adrian’s tendencies were borderline... extreme.
A single wrong result would be enough to send the man on a rampage.
So Ji Yan had prayed to all his ancestors before he started this journey.
But surprisingly, everything came out normal.
However, not knowing what kind of a result Adrian desired, Ji Yan was still at the edge.
"According to the servants, there was nothing different about Miss Yu’s behaviour back then but... things started changing after that night...’’
Ji Yan did not dare to elaborate on what ’that night’ particularly referred to.
The suffocating gloom that descended in the car was enough to speak for itself.
Adrian got what it was.
The night of Maxwell Hill’s engagement.
When Ella got drunk and...
"After that night, Miss Yu was like a changed person...’’ Ji Yan spoke up again, ’’She treated the servants differently, she even changed her diet, her behaviour, her preferences, all seemed to have changed overnight. And she...’’
’’She even actively started looking for you...’’ Ji Yan gulped, "Miss Yu now is indeed completely different from the person she was a month ago but no matter how much I investigated, she did not seem to have encountered anything that could be the potential cause of this change.’’
Adrian leaned back, his fingers tapping against his knee, slow and deliberate.
His gaze flickered toward the window, as if searching for something in the dark. Whatever it was, only he knew.
’’Second Master, if you want, we can assign some men to keep an eye on Miss Yu’s movements. That way, we’d know about all her activities.’’
Adrian glanced out of the car.
All that greeted his eyes was darkness.
Only several spots were illuminated by the streetlights.
However, the sight of that girl excitedly hopping away flashed through his mind.
He lowered his gaze and glanced at his fingers that were treated as a lollipop, ’’No need. Let her be.’’
Following his gaze, Ji Yan stiffened and immediately passed a few tissues to the man.
Adrian glanced at Ji Yan and shifted his hand close to himself.
One look and Ji Yan shivered, both in disbelief and fear. Second master, weren’t you a germaphobe?!
After convincing Adrian, Ella was in a fairly pleasant mood.
The night air seemed so refreshing all of a sudden.
In this life, she was not desperate to divorce Adrian.
Like she told him before, she was willing to give their marriage a chance with her whole heart.
However, there was one thing that she couldn’t continue.
A/N: Dearies, if you book, make sure to drop golden tickets, power stones, reviews and gifts to support it. Your support is my motivation to write more Chapters for you and your love for these characters is the only thing that keeps me going despite my hectic schedule <3