"Well, so I was handsome only just now?"
"No, you are always handsome. It’s just that you were particularly handsome just now."
"Why particularly?"
"You took the tense situation calmly. Your uncle was trying to change the heir, and you didn’t even
blink. If it was someone else, he must have been so anxious and even jumped up."
Troy smiles and tells her solemnly, "As the one in charge of the family business, without a certain
authority, it would be difficult to subdue those who harbor evil intent."
"You’re right." She nods as if she understands.
"How did you spend your morning?"
"Morning… in the morning…" she blinks, "I heard a story told by Yuma."
"Oh, what was it?" Troy is interested.
"Just somebody’s childhood story."
He is surprised for a second and realizes what she meant immediately, "Me?"
"Who else do you expect, your elder sister?" She snorts, "I would never care about her story."
"Then what did Yuma tell you?"
"She told me that there was a kid who was a picky eater, always crying, unreasonable, wayward, with
Oedipus complex, and…"
"Stop!"
Troy couldn’t stand it and interrupts, "Are you sure you were talking about me?"
"Don’t you clearly know what you were like?"
"Of course I do, but I know better that I was not like what you said."
"What were you like then?"
She leans forward slightly, with a curious look on her face.
"Do you want to know?"
"Yes."
"I won’t tell you."
"…"
After lunch, Troy goes down the mountain and returns to the company again. On his way, he runs into
Mia.
"Do you really settle her in Ziteng Garden?"
She points angrily in the direction of the mountain.
"Yes."
"Ziteng Garden?"
"Yes."
"Why? Why there?!"
Mia is a little hysterical, because it has been her dream for many years. She knew a long time ago that
Ziteng Garden is an extremely important place in Troy's heart. If he brings a woman there, it means
that the woman is also as important as Ziteng Garden in his heart.
"Because I love her."
Troy holds her by the wrist, "Do you have to make me say it and you hear it with your own ears so that
you are finally satisfied?"
"You love her… Huh… You love her… Huh huh…"
Mia laughs sarcastically until she laughs out of her tears.
"You have changed, you really have. You never said anything that hurt me like this before. How can
you be so cruel, how can you say that you love someone else in front of me, who loves you so much?"
"I didn’t want to say it. You made me say it."
"Then I’ll make you say that you love me. Say it, say it!"
"Enough!"
Troy looks at her coldly, "I used to think I just couldn’t love you. Now it seems that even if I could, I will
not love you."
"Why?"
"Because you are exhausting, a restless woman is always annoying after all."
Turing around, he casts a sidelong glance at her and reminds her, "Remember to come to the press
conference tomorrow on time."
"Don’t worry. I’ll be there! But remember, even if our relationship is dissolved, you can never pay off
what you have owed me!"
Troy gets into the car without looking back. He starts the engine and drives off.
Staring in the direction where the car disappears, Mia desperately says, "Karin, you will not get what I
can’t get."
At dusk, Karin stands in front of the window on the second floor, resting her cheeks in her hands,
watching the setting sun disappear in the mountains little by little until it disappears completely.
She is waiting for Troy to come back, and it has already been an hour now.
Yuma comes upstairs and whispers, "Miss Karin?"
"Yep?"
She turns around, "What’s the matter?"
"The young master called just now, saying that he wouldn’t be back for dinner tonight. He told you not
to wait for him and eat first."
"Why didn't he call my phone?"
Karin hurriedly takes out her phone from her pocket and finds that it is dead.
"Oh, alright."
She nods, with a hint of loneliness in her eyes.
After changing the battery, she calls Troy and asks, "When will you come back?"
"Around nine o’clock. Have you eaten?"
"I’m going to. Are you engaging in social activities?"
"Yeah, Robert is not available tonight, so I have to come myself."
"Okay." She pauses for a while, "Don’t drink and be careful when you’re driving back."
"I know. Bon appetit."
"Okay…"
A summer night is not complete without the humming and buzzing of insects, cool breeze, and the
fragrance of flowers filled in the air.
Karin sits on the swing in the garden, swinging back and forth and holding her phone to check the time
from time to time. She can’t feel relieved unless Troy is back.
At 8:50, she jumps off the swing and runs outside the door, looking in the direction of the mountain
road. After ten minutes, Troy still hasn’t come back. She just sits on the threshold and waits.
She waits and waits, and actually falls asleep leaning on the wall later.
In a daze, she feels that someone is picking her up, and she wakes up immediately. Seeing that the
person holding her is Troy, she finally feels at ease. She is a little unhappy though, "You said you would
be back at nine."
Seeing that it’s already eleven o'clock from her phone, she is even unhappier.
"It's hard to tell the exact time I could leave when socializing. Those clients are particularly good at
drinking tonight. If they don't leave, I can't leave first, right?"
"At least you can call me and let me know, don’t you think I look like a fool falling asleep by the door?"
He smiles, "I thought you would go to bed first before I came back. I didn’t expect you are that spoony."
"I won't wait for you next time."
She pretends to be angry and turns her head away.
"I won’t keep you waiting next time."
"Huh, you just said that it was hard to tell the exact time when socializing…"
"I don't always have to engage in these activities. Robert is responsible for this kind of things.
Generally, I rarely show up if they are not important clients."
Troy drank tonight, and there is a slight smell of alcohol on him. He takes off his coat and says to Karin,
"Go, let’s take a bath."
"You first."
"Let’s do it together."
"I like to do it alone. How free. I can swim and swim…"
Before she finishes her words, she is picked up directly by Troy and thrown into the bathtub.
"Hel—" Her whole body sinks to the bottom and then floats up slowly.
"What are you doing? I was almost drowned!"
She coughs a few times, and stares at the dangerous man in front of her in annoyance.
"Why are you scared? I’m here."
Troy begins to take off his own clothes, from shirts to trousers, to...nothing but only a pair of black
elastic shorts.
He takes two steps forward, and Karin is completely dumbfounded lying in the water. She stares at the
bulge in front of her eyes, swallows hard, and tries to suppress her frantic heartbeats.
"What are you looking at?"
Troy jumps into the water with a clatter, leans forward and asks vaguely in her ear.
She blushes immediately and shakes her head, "Nothing."
They rest their heads on the edge of the bathtub, and their bodies are soaked in the water. Though the
water is very cold, they can feel the fire. There is a sign of outburst soon.
"What did you do in the afternoon?"
He asks lazily.
Karin smiles irritably, "You asked me at noon what I did in the morning, and asked me at night what I
did in the afternoon. What are you doing? Interrogating?"
"I care about you. I’m worried that you are lonely staying on the mountain alone."
"Don’t worry, I’m not lonely."
"Oh, what did you do then?"
"What could I do? Seeing someone."
"What?" Troy frowns, "who was it?"
"I won’t tell you…"
"Are you telling me or not?"
"No."
"Umm…"
Her hands are held and locked by Troy and she can’t move. The more she struggles, the tighter he
holds her.
"Let me go!"
"No."
He leans down and kisses her, starting from her forehead, inch by inch, to the center of his eyebrows,
until her face is flushed.
"Do you want to listen to a story?"
Troy releases her hands and says something nonsensical.
Karin hesitates for a second and is a bit stunned, "Are you telling me or am I telling you?"
"I will tell you."
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