The people attending the meeting were surprised upon hearing what Ryan said.
Hearing what he had stated, Kevin raised his head as he looked at him with scorn. Also, the corner of
his lips curled with disgust. If looks could kill, Ryan would have nothing but dust and bones. He was
clearly getting on Kevin's nerves.
Even so, Kevin kept himself composed.
Manager Yu was confused of what Ryan meant when he said those words but then it hit him like a
block of ice as he looked at him warily. "Is there anything we need to improve regards to our reception,
Mr. Ryan? If so, I would like to apologize on behalf of our company."
He then poured wine into Ryan's champagne flute and gingerly pushed it towards his direction which
Ryan accepted with a nod.
Swirling the glass of liquor on his hand, Ryan looked at it pensively before answering coolly. "Mr. Kevin
accommodated me well but there are some complications with the project at the moment that's why I
cannot hand it over to AN yet."
There was a commotion when Ryan finished his sentence. The senior executives of KIA all threw each
other worried glances. They nervously looked at Kevin, hoping that he wouldn't be furious, and back at
Ryan who was sipping his wine calmly.
Surprisingly, Kevin was indifferent. He eyed Ryan with a smirk and rose up from his chair. "Well then,
with that being the case, I'll put this project on hold until Mr. Ryan gets the problem done."
He turned towards the door and marched outside. However, before doing so, he turned around and
gave a placid smile. "My apologies, Mr. Yu. Please handle the rest because I have something to attend
to."
Although the tone that he used seemed calm, an attentive person would notice the underlying coldness
that coated each word that he uttered and how icy his expression was.
Davis Zhang, who was a part of KIA, frantically stood up from his chair and rushed towards Kevin as he
desperately thought of something to lessen his anger. "I deeply apologized in Mr. Ryan's behalf, Mr.
Kevin. Mr. Ryan is the one who has been following the project. We just—"
But before he could finish his sentence, Kevin stormed off without saying a word, leaving him like a fool
in front of the now closed doors.
Davis Zhang couldn't help but feel resentful towards Ryan for making things more difficult for him as he
thought furiously, "Why didn't he tell me that there was something wrong with the project until the
moment of signing the contract?
That brat. We'll see!"
Silence then reigned on the room where Kevin left. The atmosphere felt heavy and as cold as ice. No
one spoke for their minds were plagued with thoughts and opinions that they were afraid to share out
loud. The board of directors of KIA looked dejected after getting the contract got hold off.
Whereas, the members of AN Group kept their frustrations inside. They looked composed and said it
was their fault. What was more, they tried their best to explain why Kevin had left suddenly.
As someone of high status, Kevin was an intelligent man with a heart of stone who exuded an
intimidating aura that didn't take to account what anyone said and no one dared complain about what
he said or did.
But even with this kind of character, his subordinates still hoped that everyone would see him like how
they perceived him as a strong leader.
"Well then, I shall excuse myself," Ryan said. "I will ask my secretary to forward a message to AN if the
problem is already solved." He looked calm and collected but his eyes were chilling like a raging
blizzard. He got up from his chair and silently bid his farewell.
After exchanging polite words, the members of AN let him go and didn't ask him to stay.
After walking out of the suffocating room, Ryan then took his phone out and started dialing Anne's
number as he pressed call and waited for her to answer. The phone kept on ringing but no one picked it
up until the phone started beeping. "The phone you have been calling has been switched off…"
He felt irritated as he ended the call. After going outside the building, he went to the nearest cigarette
area and lit a stick and smoked to get his frustrations out. After a few puffs, his annoyance eased up.
Anne met him a few days ago saying, "I'll personally follow this project."
"From the start to the end?" he asked.
Anne raised a brow as she stared at him in confusion, not fully understanding why he asked that out of
the blue. She was about to give a lengthy speech on what she said when Ryan interrupted her, looking
at her softly with a smile grazing his lips. "I won't sign it if you don't show up."
Anne didn't need to answer for her bright smile was sufficed as a response.
Anne had always kept her word. She was not the type of person to go back on her word so she would
at least call him if she ever passed the project to Kevin.
But Ryan checked all of his messages but alas, nothing. Even a WeChat message explaining her side
would be nice right now.
He doubted that Kevin did something to her.
It was a fact that pregnant women tended to feel sleepier than any normal human being and Anne
could attest to that.
During this time of the day, Anne would usually be dealing with work rather than just lying down,
watching as hours ticked by. Unfortunately, Sam confiscated her phone when she was caught trying to
contact someone from work and now, she had nothing to do but wait until he gave her phone back.
What a boring day indeed.
During dinner, Anne suddenly remembered the conversation she had with Ryan a few days ago about
signing a contract with KIA. She also didn't forget the deal that they made about Ryan not signing if she
didn't show up.
She begged Sam to give her phone back, explaining the whole ordeal about signing with KIA but he
wasn't having it.
Sam glared at her piercingly and coldly asked, "Which is more important, the child or the company?
You've been working non-stop and it's bad for the baby, Anne."
He was strict about anything related to her to the point of forbidding Emily from helping her.
Anne let out a sigh as she wasn't left with any choice but to rest so she grudgingly went to her room to
read instead.
She was still worried about the state of the company's affairs as she picked a random book from her
bookshelf and marched towards her bed. After that, she lay down in a comfortable position. She
concentrated on reading but to no avail. After stressing over the company, she started falling asleep
with the book still in her grasp.
The dream relived a very old memory of her. Everything felt surreal like back in the old days where she
returned to high school. She just started living at S City and entered AN Private High School not too
long ago.
After taking an exam on that day, she felt even more like an outcast on the school.
"Why didn't you hand over your examination paper, Anne?" the head teacher asked pointedly. After an
hour when the exam was finished, Anne was called on by the strict head teacher to come by her office
immediately. She was bewildered at first but nonetheless went right after she was called.
She was confused but she didn't show it as she stood up straight in front of the said teacher, looking at
her with clear eyes that showed her sincerity with every word. "After taking the examination, I submitted
my paper along with the class. I didn't keep it with me."
Hearing Anne's quibbling made the head teacher even more furious. She took the stacked sheet of
exams and slammed it hard on the table which startled Anne. "Search for your name and you would
not find it in this stack!" she bellowed.
Anne couldn't believe it as she skimmed and checked every test paper there was, looking for her
name. However, her name wasn't there. All the test papers of her classmates were there except for
hers which baffled her.
Her surprised reaction might have ticked the teacher more as she looked at Anne scornfully. "You can
tell me if you're afraid to fail the exam but resorting to this is very disappointing."
Anne started panicking as she looked at her teacher pleadingly. "I won't do such a thing, Miss! I really
finished the exam and handed my paper to—"
"You don't have to argue on this matter anymore. It's my first time seeing a student like you. If you're
not satisfied with my teachings then find another teacher who's going to teach a kid like you. Using
your fabricated lies to fool around others…"
No matter how hard Anne tried to explain her side, her teacher was too livid at her that she wouldn't
even listen.
Sweat trickled down her forehead as she closed her eyes and thought hard. "Where's my examination
paper?" Anne swore that she handed it over.
"Miss." Just when she thought that all hope was lost, a hard baritone voice interrupted the teacher's
onslaught of words.
His voice reminded her of ice, cold and hollow like the wind blowing down from the top of a snow-
covered mountain with a strong force surrounding the cold air. It chilled every being of her.
The teacher turned around with a surprised look plastered on her face when she saw Kevin standing at
the door. He looked uninterested on what was happening with arrogance and indifference displayed
deep in his eyes.
"Kevin! What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here? What can I do for you?" The teacher's
attitude drastically changed when she saw Kevin. She immediately stood up from her chair and warmly
greeted him.
However, Kevin didn't even look at her as he shifted his gaze at Anne with disinterest then back at the
teacher in front of him. He then handed a crumpled examination paper to her. "This is Anne's
examination paper. I picked it up in the trash bin."
When Anne heard that, her heart sank as she ran over to get her examination paper. But before she
took a hold of it, the teacher took it first and examined if it was truly hers.
She saw the handwriting on the paper, which proved that it was really Anne's and that she was telling
the truth all along.
The teacher felt her cheeks warm as embarrassment flooded her system. She let out a cough to
compose herself and acted as if nothing happened as she smiled at Kevin and said, "I will definitely
investigate this. I thought Anne was making up lies but I misunderstood her. Fortunately, you helped
her clarify it."
Looking intently at Kevin, Anne wondered who was the culprit behind throwing her examination paper
along with the trash. Another question lurked in her mind as to why Kevin took his time to pick it up and
bring it here.
With a bored expression on his face, Kevin looked at Anne disinterested and explained. "I didn't throw
your examination paper. I will never do such a thing so stop suspecting me."
Then he turned around and left.
"That's right! I believe in Kevin and I'm sure he didn't do it. He is a very upright student," the teacher
said admiringly.
Instead of chasing after him to tell him that what he was thinking is wrong, Anne just stood there as she
watched Kevin walk away.
He had a very prominent look that could take your breath away but gazing into his eyes would leave
you searching for warmth for how cold it was. He had an aura of someone who would lead a team into
greater heights even at such a young age.
He was everything and more compared to her. He was the law in the school. Everyone listened to his
words, including the teachers.
She believed that he wasn't capable of doing such atrocity because he disdained doing such
despicable thing. He was smarter than her by a tenfold.
A few days later after the incident, the results of the examination came out. Kevin came in first and
Anne was second, as always. People would cheer and praise him wherever he passed by.
While gossip and sharp judging gazes were the only form of cheer it seemed that she got.
One score lower and she was treated completely different from Kevin.
Anne always studied hard and took her exams seriously but she was always one point behind Kevin in
every exam, but this didn't make her lose hope.
She got the highest score in the last exam, beating Kevin and making her grin with joy and pride. But it
soon turned into a frown when sharp gazes from others started invading her vision. Whispers of gossip
goers started ringing in her ears and then she noticed something weird. She didn't see Kevin at school
at that time.
For the first time, Kevin ranked second.
"I heard that Kevin is sick."
"Didn't you hear that he fainted on the day of the exam?"
"Maybe that's why Anne got first place, huh?"
"It's all her fault! She made Kevin study really hard to the point of getting sick. I don't even know why
she came to our school anyway."
People were pointing at her like she was an exotic kind of animal for their entertainment, but not to use
for fun but for their hateful glares and criticisms. But even with all of what was happening, worry surged
through her as her heart started beating faster while as questions plagued her mind. "Is Kevin sick?" 'Is
he really studying so hard just to stay on first place?
Is he okay? Is he seriously ill?'
Anne felt a little uneasy as she stood outside of Kevin's room.
She took a deep breath as she mumbled, "Here goes nothing." She then opened the door leading to
Kevin's room. Kevin hurriedly hid something in his hands when she saw her.
Anne then woke with a start. She tried remembering the dream that she just had as she stared at the
ceiling.
In her dream, there was some truth to it but other scenarios were just made up which was funny. One
thing wrong about it was that she was the one who was ill at that time and not Kevin.
Anne wanted to laugh at the thought of the ones who told her that Kevin had been studying hard just to
keep his place on the top.
The whole dream was too funny that she couldn't help from smiling.
No one was present but just her so she didn't need to hide her emotions. She then placed the book that
was on her hands on her night stand as she chuckled at how absurd her dream was.
'Did Kevin really work hard just to keep his place at that time?' she thought. If so then she felt a little
pride swell up on her chest.
Unfortunately, it was just a dream.
Anne couldn't go back to sleep for a while now so she simply got up and thought about going to the
balcony.
When she walked to the balcony, she was stunned on who she saw beyond the glass door of the
balcony. There were two men lounging in the said area until they noticed her.
They were also as surprised as her when they saw Anne.
Sam hastily opened the door of the balcony and walked towards her.
Kevin followed Sam closely although he felt a little anxious.
'Why is he here?' she thought. Anne was beyond confused.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?" Sam asked worriedly as he knocked on the door.
"Don't hesitate to tell Sam if you're not fine. He is—" Kevin intervened.
But he was cut off when Anne opened the door and coldly asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Anne, are you okay?" Sam repeated, concern laced on his tone.
Anne didn't even glance at Sam as she continued staring coldly at Kevin. She replied to him, "I don't
feel uncomfortable and I'm fine, Sam." Without shifting her gaze on Kevin, she repeated her question
with venom lacing every word. "What are you doing here?"
Seeing how hostile and cold Anne was acting towards Kevin made him mad. But he suppressed his
anger as he looked at her nonchalantly, smirking at her while sarcasm danced through his eyes. He
looked at Anne's glowering face full of hostility as his eyes slowly moved down and fell on her
abdomen. Letting out a soft chuckle, he said, "I'm here to see my son and not because of you. Don't
flatter yourself."
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