"Well, you go ahead and do your work. Then maybe you can accompany me after, okay?" There was a
pout on Cherry's face as she looked up at Kevin with her big eyes.
"Okay. After." Slowly, Kevin pushed away her hand from his chest.
There was a faint smile on his face that didn't quite reflect in his eyes. In fact, it was easy to see that he
looked a bit irritated. However, Cherry didn't seem to notice.
"I'll be going now. Drive carefully." She pressed her lips against his cheek and kissed him again, her
face blushed shyly.
"Yeah." As soon as Cherry got off the car, the smile on Kevin's face disappeared completely as his
brows furrowed together.
Meanwhile, as Anne sat in the office, she couldn't keep her mind off what she had seen. It was
incredibly upsetting for her to witness Cherry and Kevin kissing each other passionately.
'No, enough!' She shook her head as she tried to push back those thoughts to the back of her head.
Much to her dismay, the scene was so deeply engraved to her thoughts, making it impossible to forget.
"Hey, Anne. What's up with you? You look a little pale. Are you alright?" Emily asked worriedly when
she saw Anne's brows furrow deeply.
Straightening up in her seat, Anne sighed. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it." With a forced smile, she
looked up at her friend reassuringly.
"Are you sure thought? You're clearly not looking too good..." Emily knew that Anne was a strong
woman. Even if she did not feel that well, she would keep on working, which was why it was worrying
right now to see her so out of it.
"I'm really fine. Don't worry about me." With a slightly bigger smile, she patted Emily's hand.
"We are going to meet Mr. Ryan in half an hour. I'm sure he's on his way right now. There are a lot of
details we need to talk about later at the meeting."
With a shrug, Emily briefed her about the day ahead of them.
"Alright. Go and prepare. I'll head off to the conference room in a while so I can welcome him."
There was a clear, professional tone in her voice. Even though her relationship with Ryan was not
exactly that ordinary, she knew when and how to separate work and personal affairs.
Later that day, Anne made her way to the conference room and waited. About five minutes later, she
heard Emily's voice come from outside.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ryan. Our vice president is waiting for you. Please, follow me."
At the next second, the door opened. Looking up, Anne saw Ryan's tall figure appear in front of her.
He looked so sharp in his silver-gray suit, his pale, blonde hair scattered across his forehead. From the
moment he entered the room, he was completely transfixed by Anne.
"Long time no see, Mrs. Anne."
With a gentle smile on his face, Ryan reached out his hand to her. The charming smile at the corners of
his mouth made him look more handsome.
For a while, she stood there absent-mindedly. Had it really been that long since they last saw each
other?
Wasn't it they had seen each other just the other day? Coming back to her senses, Anne blinked and
smiled.
Raising her slender hand, she was just about to return Ryan's handshake.
"What are you doing? How dare you shake hands with him?"
All of a sudden, Kevin's cold voice rang in the air. With a malicious stare, he strode over at once.
"Mr. Kevin... What are you doing here?" Anne asked with a frown.
Although she didn't know why he suddenly appeared in the meeting room, she had a bad feeling in her
heart. Her intuition was screaming at her that this man had bad intentions.
"Stop what you're doing right NOW!"
Kevin growled when he saw that Anne didn't have the slightest intention of withdrawing her hand.
'Damn it! Is she really meeting up with Ryan here in the company? Who does she think I am?!'
With a frown, her delicate eyebrows knitted tightly. Still, she didn't move an inch. 'What is this guy's
deal?!'
Seeing her indifference, Kevin grabbed her wrist and pulled away her grasp from Ryan's hand.
Ryan felt angry seeing that Kevin acted so rude to Anne. Unintimidated, he glared coldly at Kevin.
"What are you trying to do, Mr. Kevin?"
Maybe it was the way he said those words, or maybe he just really disliked this man. Whatever the
reason, Kevin got even more irritated. He met Ryan's stare with the same amount of intensity.
"I think I'm the one who's supposed to be asking that question! Isn't it inappropriate to take advantage
of her like this?"
At the moment, he remembered how he caught Anne and Ryan in an embrace. A new wave of anger
surged up in him once more.
The two men stood face to face, neither of them willing to back down to the other. As Anne looked at
them back and forth, she couldn't help but feel a bit flustered.
"Excuse me? Mr. Kevin, I do hope you're not trying to talk about personal matter with me during work
hours. I'm here simply because I have some business to do with Mrs. Anne. You can even sit down
with us and listen to our meeting if you prefer."
The smile on Ryan's face resurfaced. His eyes, however, still had that coldness deep in them.
"That won't be necessary. Someone else will take over Mrs. Anne's duties. There is no need for you to
have any more discussion with her in the future,"
Kevin said through his teeth.
Being a man himself, he knew that Ryan had an unspoken desire towards Anne. There was no way he
was going to let that grow into anything more.
Whether or not Kevin really loved her, he had this idea that she belonged to him and him alone. Any
man who dared to take her away from him was asking for trouble.
Ryan narrowed his eyes at him, his gaze as sharp as daggers.
Just when he was about to say something, Anne suddenly interrupted,
"I'm not backing down from this project. I've been working hard on this. And now you expect me to just
give it to someone else?"
Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked firmly at Kevin. What right did this man have to make a
decision for her in the first place?
Meeting her stare, Kevin badly wanted to do foul things to her. 'This damn woman is really good at
disgracing me!'
On the other hand, Ryan smiled in approval. In his head, he was thinking that Anne said those things
because she cared about him.
"Did you hear what I just said? Or do I have to repeat myself to you?"
All of a sudden, Kevin's voice was loud and cold. As he looked down at Anne, his black eyes burned
with fury.
"You can repeat yourself all you want. I still won't agree to abandon my project." Despite his fury, she
stood her ground without even beating an eyelash.
"Anne, you--!"
Kevin's hands balled up to fists at his side. With all his might, he tried to control his anger. If he didn't,
he might have ended up hurting her.
Smiling smugly, Ryan nodded towards Anne's direction. Then he shifted his gaze from her to Kevin and
spoke up.
"I have to agree with her, Mr. Kevin. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to abuse your power like this,
especially since she had worked hard to get this project."
"This is my company! I don't remember asking for your opinion. And on top of that, this woman is mine!
I don't need you telling me what to do!"
Kevin's voice rang crisply in the air as he claimed ownership over Anne.
At this, Ryan's face darkened as fury flashed in his eyes.
"Oh, I can assure you that that's about to change." A mischievous smile crept up into his lips as he
raised an eyebrow at Kevin.
'No matter what this guy says or does, I'll find a way to bring Anne back into my life!'
"Enough! In case you two have forgotten, we're inside the company. On top of that, regardless of where
we are, I am not some object you two can fight over for!"
At this point, Anne was also at the end of her wits. She knew her value, and it irritated her that these
two men were so keen to objectify her like this.
It was the first time that Kevin had seen Anne so angry. Stunned, he relaxed a bit, but still maintained
his cold gaze.
"There's a lot of work to be done, Mr. Kevin. If you don't have anything else to say, please leave."
They probably would've been done by now if Kevin had not arrived unannounced. All Anne wanted was
for him to disappear so that she could finish up the things she needed to do.
Just when Kevin's anger was starting to boil up again, he saw her intense stare. He swallowed down
his words.
With a snort, he turned around and walked away.
A complacent smile appeared on Ryan's face. Then he looked at Anne with some sympathy.
"Has he always been like this to you?"
It was unacceptable to him that Kevin would treat Anne so harshly. How could the woman he cared
about the most be trampled on by a man like Kevin so easily?
"Mr. Ryan, let's please talk about business first. Save the personal matter for a different time. We have
a lot of work to do."
Without faltering, Anne maintained her professional demeanor. Right now, she didn't want to think
about Kevin nor did she want Ryan to worry about her.
"Well, since you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask. Just remember that I will always be here for
you."
His voice was filled with tenderness. Even though he respected Anne's wishes, he was determined to
investigate on this matter on his own.
Lowering her eyes, Anne didn't respond to his words. She could feel his concern for her and she was
flustered, not knowing how to handle their relationship.
In about an hour, they finished up their meeting. Before Ryan could say anything more, Anne bade him
good bye and sent him out of the conference room. She didn't want to give him a chance to ask her
about her involvement with Kevin. Not right now, at least. With a smile, Ryan left at once.
As he walked out of the hall, all of the women he passed by couldn't help but stare in awe at his
handsomeness.
But he didn't notice any single one of them. As he stepped into his car, his eyes darkened once again.
"Go and find out more about Anne and Kevin. I want to know everything there is to know!" he coldly
ordered to his assistant.
The gentle look he had while he was with Anne had completely disappeared. Though he was still good-
looking, there was an intense expression on his face that was impossible to paint.
"Yes, sir. I'll report back to you as soon as possible." The assistant didn't dare to ask any questions or
make any qualms.
"Let's go," Ryan said coldly as he grinded his teeth impatiently.
"Yes, sir!" The car started and sped away.
From his office, through his floor-to-ceiling windows, Kevin stared down at Ryan's car that had just left.
His eyes narrowed as a coldness flashed behind them.
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