In the Eve Mansion, Ella saw that there was no response to her text.
So, no reply? Perfect. Ella grinned, wicked and satisfied—mission "text‑bomb Adrian" complete.
Was that the final blow to him? He couldn’t take such mushy cringiness anymore?
’’Haha...’’ She scooped Riri from the floor and plopped on the bed.
In no time, one could hear the sound of soft snores in the room.
In the Kings’ Main Mansion, Adrian glanced at Ella’s last text for a few minutes in silence before he pushed himself to his feet.
’’Little Ian, where are you going? I already got them to clean up your room...’’ Old Madam walked towards him. Seeing sparkly eyes, Old Madam halted in her tracks for a beat, her heart was shocked, ’’Who were you texting?"
"—girlfriend," Ji Yan blurted, then nearly fainted under Adrian’s glare.
’’Girlfriend? Little Ian has a girlfriend?" Old Madam nodded, visibly pleased, ’’How come none of you told me about this?"
Ji Yan and Ronan lowered their heads, avoiding the old lady’s gaze.
Old Madam turned to Adrian, ’’How is she? Do you really like her? Which family is the girl from...’’ The old lady paused for a second before shaking her head, ’’This won’t do. Why don’t you bring her over to meet me?"
Adrian lowered his gaze and glanced at the phone in his hand, ’’She is busy.’’
Others could not but Ji Yan understood Adrian’s dry response. The last time the second master wanted to bring Ella over to the main mansion to meet his grandparents was about more than a year ago.
Ella responded by splashing a jug of water on Adrian and telling him to wake up from his daydreams. Post that, she locked herself in her room for days and refused to come out.
She only came out when Esther came to the mansion and by that time, she seemed unrecognizable and tormented.
After that, Adrian also lost his temper and overworked himself for a few weeks. But while he tormented himself and his poor employees, he never broached this topic in front of Ella again.
’’Ah, she is busy?" Old Madam’s shoulders slumped a little. But then suddenly, her eyes glowed, ’’It’s the weekend. Why don’t you try and see if she can make some time? Tomorrow will work."
Ji Yan sighed. There was no way the Second Master would agree to this. Eventually, he would have to let down the old lady’s expectations.
Adrian paused for a beat, "Alright, I will talk to her.’’
His response shocked the daylights out of Ronan and Ji Yan.
Outside the main mansion, Ronan approached Adrian, ’’You can’t be serious about that, can you?"
Adrian gave Ronan a look that screamed he was totally serious about bringing Ella to meet his grandmother.
Ronan sighed, ’’I say, Ace, you should rethink this. She’ll explode and so will Grandma’s heart. Even if you manage to get her here, how can Old Madam take it?"
Adrian tilted his head, ’’You seem idle after sending her away.’’
Ronan stiffened. This ’her’ in Adrian’s statement was none other than Ruby.
Not many people were initially aware of his private matter with Ruby but now due to Ella, everyone was in on this.
He couldn’t forget Ruby Ambrose’s face that remained cold towards him even till the moment she left.
To think that before leaving, she had the audacity to look at him and indifferently utter—’In the future, don’t bother me.’
Adrian turned around and strode away without glancing at Ronan.
Ji Yan gave the man a pitiful look before walking past him.
When they reached the car, Ji Yan opened the door for Adrian.
Ji Yan bowed his head once the man entered. ’’Second Master, I hope you can forgive me for overstepping my boundaries today. But the reason I didn’t let you tell you about your marriage with Miss Yu is because it might hamper your relationship...’’
Adrian tilted his head and looked at the man.
Ji Yan choked on his remaining excuses. Lowering his head even further, he sighed and revealed his true purpose, ’’If everyone came to know about marriage to her, we cannot predict what kind of an outcome it would bring. In the King family, your marriage is a matter of great importance and so is your romantic entanglement with any girl.’’
Adrian averted his gaze and glanced at his phone in silence. "She is the most important. Whether someone likes it or not, she will be my only romantic entanglement.’’
Those words stunned Ji Yan into silence.
And realized his second master’s inclination towards Ella was far beyond what was visible to the naked eyes.
Ella was sleeping peacefully when she sensed some movements nearby.
’’Mmm... Riri, be good...’’ She turned to her side and rolled closer to where she thought the puppy was.
A fresh scent invaded her nostrils and a chell crept in her skin, ’’You are so cold...’’ Ella mumbled incoherently and reached out towards ’Riri’ to cradle ’him’, "Come here...’’
’’Mm...’’ Ella stretched her limbs, only to realize that her movements seemed to be restricted. She rolled over after a bit of a struggle, expecting warm puppy fur.
However... Cold chest. Male chest rubbed against her cheek.
Ella slowly opened her eyes.
As her eyes adjusted to the piercing brightness cascading in through the window, she was met with the ethereal sight of Adrian King’s sleeping face.
Ella slowly pinched her own hand.
"Ow...’’ The pain made her realize that this was not a dream.
Heart hammering, she scanned the room. No sign of a certain furry little thing.
Wasn’t he working late last night? That’s why she had sent him all those risky texts, knowing that he won’t be coming back for the night.
Looking down, she realized that her leg was draped over his waist like a boa and her other ankle was trapped between his legs.
She held her breath and slowly looked around the room. And a certain little creature was nowhere in sight.
And beside her, Adrian King stirred, lashes fluttering.
Ella held her breath.