Right after he finished his work in EMP, Brian went back to the villa.
He somehow was eager to arrive home, and he got a bit worried at the thought of Molly being uneasy
in sleep.
When he got home, it was so quiet in the villa that he thought Molly was still sleeping. He went upstairs
quietly and walked in Molly's room, but she wasn't there.
Immediately, Brian became angry.
He left the room, went downstairs and inquired of Lisa about Molly's whereabouts.
"Mrs. Long took her away," Lisa replied.
Knitting his eyebrows, Brian thought in silence with a glassy look in his eyes, 'Why did Shirley take
Molly away? Wasn't she supposed to be with Richie, instead of taking her risky outings with Molly
again?'
As he thought about it, it slowly dawned on him why. It was likely.... Richie was not happy with what
had transpired in the morning!
"You may go back to work now," Brian said impassively to Lisa. He took out his phone and called
Antonio after Lisa had left with a faint reply. "Antonio, where is Shirley?"
"She's in the Falloon Mall with Molly," Antonio answered, sitting in a car and staring at the fifteen-storey
building which covered an area of more than 3, 000 square meters "They have stayed in the mall for
two hours," continued Antonio.
"I see!" replied Brian. Then he hung up and walked out.
In the car speeding to the Fallon Mall, Tony peeked at Brian secretly. Brian seemed to be calm, but
there was a thoughtful look on his face. It wasn't clear whether he was thinking about Molly or Shirley.
The moment Brian stepped into the Falloon Mall, he drew many eyes immediately. But all the passers-
by withdrew their gazes hastily when they met Brian's sharp detached glance.
Instead of asking the security guards of the XK Intelligence Agency which floor Molly and Shirley were
on, he searched for them personally floor by floor with escalators.
In the middle of the escalators stood a giant star-shaped ceiling lamp with tassels lighting the entire
mall. All around were all kinds of open-plan stores.
Just as Brian arrived on the seventh floor, he saw lots of people were gathering at a store near the
escalator. He saw Frank and all the executives of the Falloon Mall running down to this floor while he
rode the escalator up. Immediately he knew, Shirley and Molly must be at the center of the melee.
What surprised him most was to hear the sensual words from Molly. She had just called Eric "honey" a
few moments after Brian's arrival.
Uh!
What a sweet and intoxicating profusion of love!
Brian stared at those people standing in front of him. Frank didn't walk up to Shirley and Molly right
after he got off the escalator but waited to see what would happen next, and Shirley also stood by
watching Eric and Molly perform their little play.
Eric was so tall that he could completely block Molly behind him. But Brian saw her profile, as he stood
on the sides from where they frolicked. Although he couldn't see the expression on her full face, he
knew her well enough to sketch it all in his mind.
Brian narrowed his eyes keenly at Eric, sealing his thin lips. With a feeling of discomfort that he had
never felt before, he had an impulse to take Molly away with him immediately.
But he didn't. He just stood there, twitching his lips with a snort. He wasn't an impulsive man, not even
when he was a child.
He didn't fancy doing things on his impulse.
Tony, standing behind Brian, was stressed by the strong hostile aura from Brian. Seeing the grim smile
on Brian's face, he looked at the front store in worry.
Deep affection written all over his face, Eric gazed at Molly. Blushing, Molly got a bit embarrassed in his
adoring gaze, and while she wondered whether she had got it wrong, Eric raised his other hand and
gently flicked her long straight untied hair. "Sorry, I thought I could protect you by concealing your
identity," he said with regret.
Such gentle movements and affectionate tone completely disarmed Molly. She surrendered to him. And
enchanted, she was unable to speak or move. She just stood staring at him and blushing. No matter
what his purpose was, it was him who always showed up first whenever she was helpless and alone
like he had told her!
And now, what he did for her…
Her heart throbbed that breath caught in her throat. She was both nervous and moved. As though he
was her husband, Eric ignored the crowd around them.
"It's okay. I knew that you were concerned about me,"
Molly replied without thinking. It looked real and natural between her and Eric.
Eric couldn't help giving her a warm, tender kiss on her forehead.
Flames of fury burnt in Shirley as she watched them. Her eyes kept popping wider with disbelief every
passing minute. Finally, grinding her teeth, she came forth, pulled Molly aside. "I must say, Eric, don't
you think that it isn't the right time… to show your love to each other but the time to help me, your aunt,
handle this problem, which is also your wife's problem?"
Shirley said with a smile, stressing the two words - "love" and "wife" on purpose.
"You are right, Aunt Shirley!" Seeing how inappropriate his actions were, Eric stepped aside. He then
turned to Eda who tensed with guilty at her unprofessional conduct. She knew she was in trouble. Eric
glanced at her name tag and said sternly,"I demand to see your store manager!"
The cold look on his face sent shivers down Eda's spine. She had seen a face full of loving affection
while Eric was consoling Molly. Now the face looking at her was furious, menacing. Sensing danger,
she mumbled, holding her breath. "Our, our manager… went to… the Dior boutique."
Scared by Eric's stern look, she stuttered. Stumbling on words for a simple sentence, Eda sounded
hysterical. Almost like a third grade trying to read Shakespeare, her words disjointed.
Even though Eric looked quite young, Eda had a hunch he was wealthy and influential. He had the
power to carry out his threats, and even more. That reality hit her hard. She was petrified.
Generally, in all the Falloon Malls around the world, there were two assistant store managers for each
boutique but only one manager who would, at the same time, supervise three to five boutiques that
might be far away from each other and sell different kinds of goods, which was considered as a test of
the manager' competence.
After hearing what she had said, Eric slightly turned his head and looked at Frank. Just then, Eda
noticed those people standing aside. She hadn't met Frank personally, so she didn't recognize him.
Except for him, she knew all the people standing behind——they were all the section managers of the
Falloon Mall, and the CEO!
In an instant, she regretted her actions. Where had all these people appeared from? Did they all know
she was extorting Molly? Her head began to spin. She would be fired for sure.
Eda bit her lips, hoping that they hadn't seen what she had done. She seriously hoped so!
"Mr. Li, how would you handle it?" Eric asked leisurely.
The Falloon Mall CEO in A City - Hale Li broke beads of sweat on his face. Usually, Eric Long, the vice
president, was hard to deal with. Now with the president's presence, the whole situation was out of his
hands.
Actually Hale didn't know what had happened. But no matter what, Eda was culpable. It was her fault to
extort Eric's wife. Even though he knew that Molly wasn't Eric's wife, he wanted to strangle the
assistant manager anyway.
"Ahem!" As he walked up to Eric, Hale coughed slightly. Deep within he was cursing fiercely, although
he replied respectfully,"Mr. Vice President, please let me get filled in on what has happened first."
As she watched Hale's deference to Eric and heard Eric's title, Eda went completely numb. Her mouth
involuntarily opened, feeling like it had been blown dry by a vacuum cleaner. Her eyes popped out like
a DVD. She looked at Eric in disbelief, and then slowly turned to Molly.
"What was going on?" Hale asked Eda in a low voice.
It enraged Hale that Eda had fumbled for quite long, but still she couldn't explain the whole drama
clearly. In the end, Hale asked the two shop assistants in the store about the matter. Upon hearing the
truth, he hit the roof.
"Go clear your wages at the financial department and then you can leave. The Falloon Mall doesn't
need employees like you." With finality Hale ordered.
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