In the garden, the scent of plum blossoms filled the air, as the cold wind brought falling snowflakes.
Snowflakes gently landed on Talia’s hair, and suddenly melted away.
Talia stood in the wind, teetering.
Her flu had not yet healed, and after standing in the cold wind for a long time, her head started to hurt again. This content belongs to noveⅼfire.net
Upon hearing Adrian say this, Talia stifled the sadness in her eyes, raised her gaze to meet Adrian’s eyes, "Mm, just remember to pick them from now on."
Adrian’s throat tightened in waves.
Talia’s voice was very soft, carried by the wind into Adrian’s ears, the suppressed sobbing so broken it was heartbreaking, "I know, when in love it’s true love, when not, it’s truly not."
A chill suddenly washed over Adrian’s back, swiftly spreading to his limbs and bones.
From the depths of Talia’s eyes emerged a kind of calm that saw through everything, a calm tinged with a touch of melancholy, "I admit that at first I couldn’t accept it, you clearly said you would always stay by my side, I couldn’t understand why you would change so suddenly, I tried to find reasons for you, tried to understand your difficulties, but you said I was being delusional, now I have realized, matters of the heart, who can say for sure."
A sharp pain stabbed at Adrian’s heart, the color of pain flashed through his eyes.
"Promises only count when in love." Talia’s voice was so light, blown away by the wind into silence.
Adrian listened to the girl’s voice, watching her sad and lonely face, fear uncontrollably spread in his heart.
Suddenly, he felt incredibly afraid.
Afraid that after resolving Vincent Fletcher’s issue, they could never go back.
He couldn’t imagine a future without Talia.
Talia Rhodes quietly gazed at Adrian Jennings’s features through the wind and snow.
After a while, Talia curved her eyes at Adrian, and feigned cheerfulness as she said, "Adrian, I wish you happiness."
Adrian’s pupils shrank abruptly, instinctively reaching out to grasp something, but the girl had already turned away without a touch of sentimentality, the tassels of her wine-red scarf brushed over the back of his hand, lightly, tickling.
A trace of pain surfaced on Adrian’s face, his feet reflexively pursued forward two steps.
Ultimately, he couldn’t hold back and shouted, "Talia..."
The girl’s figure paused, but very quickly she resumed her steps forward.
She did not turn back.
Adrian pursued two steps before abruptly stopping.
He told himself, he couldn’t chase anymore.
Otherwise, all effort would be in vain, all of Talia’s suffering wasted.
He must first resolve the trouble with Vincent Fletcher, before he can return to Talia.
Adrian returned to his private villa.
The large room was cold and devoid of warmth.
Adrian sat on the sofa, seemingly hollowed out, his gaze vacant.
The sun descended in the west.
The last rays of sunset reflected the loneliness on the man’s face.
He sat there alone, unmoving, like a statue.
Daylight concealed itself as dusk gathered.
The light gradually dimmed.
After an unknown amount of time, Adrian slowly lowered his lashes, staring blankly at the watch on his wrist.
After a long while, Adrian slowly removed the watch, carefully placing it into the watch box.
Closing the box, Adrian’s eyes suddenly brimmed with stinging heat.
This feeling was unfamiliar.
Unexpected, overwhelming, leaving him defenseless.
A tear dropped onto the iron box.
Darkness hid his reddened eyes, but the moonlight outlined his solitary, lonely silhouette.
On the sixth day of the new year, The Jennings Family had visitors.
The Kingsley Family was a reputable aristocratic family in Oakhaven, known for its scholarly heritage.
The Kingsley patriarch was a professor at the Oakhaven University literature faculty, while the matriarch was a renowned contemporary essayist. The couple had only one son, who worked within the government system; their daughter-in-law was a member of the National Writers Association, a popular novelist. Their granddaughter Shirley Kingsley completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the country’s top-ranked university — Kenton University.
The Kingsley matriarch and the Jennings matriarch were somewhat acquainted, and due to connections related to the son’s work, the Kingsley Family often interacted with The Jennings Family.
Before the New Year, the Kingsley matriarch invited Mrs. Jennings to a banquet to admire plum blossoms, where Shirley impressed Mrs. Jennings with her every word and action, winning her favor.
After returning home, Mrs. Jennings contemplated matchmaking her grandson Adrian Jennings with the Kingsley granddaughter Shirley Kingsley.
The Jennings Family lacked nothing in wealth, and compared to affluent families like The Rhodes Family, Mrs. Jennings preferred educated families like The Kingsley Family.
After sharing her thoughts with the Kingsley matriarch, the latter had the same idea.
The Kingsley matriarch had only one son working in the system, and after marrying into The Jennings Family, would benefit from their connections, ensuring a bright future for her son’s career.
Adrian didn’t want to visit The Kingsley Family, so Mrs. Jennings invited the Kingsley Family to her home instead.
Mrs. Jennings kept Adrian unaware that the Kingsley Family was visiting that day, merely informing him they would have a family banquet on the sixth day of the new year, and insisted he return home.
Due to the Jennings Group’s various companies starting business on the eighth day of the new year, and the Jennings patriarch’s return to Kenton, a family banquet was held on this day every year, so Adrian suspected nothing when Mrs. Jennings asked him to return on the sixth.
Upon entering, Adrian heard laughter in the hall.
He casually handed his coat to the servant and asked, "Auntie, are there guests today?"
The servant replied with a smile, "Yes, young master, The Kingsley Family has come to offer New Year greetings."
Adrian heard and frowned slightly, "The Kingsley Family? Which Kingsley Family?"
The servant answered, "The same family that Madam instructed you to visit with her, the granddaughter from the Kingsley Family also came today."
With this, Adrian understood.
Apparently, today’s family banquet was just a pretense, his grandmother’s real intent was to set him up on a date.
Amidst their conversation, Selina Hughes had already noticed Adrian.
She hurried over, seemingly urgent, "Brother, Sister from The Kingsley Family has come, today is a matchmaking event, I advise you to find an excuse and leave."
"Adrian, are you back?" Mrs. Jennings’s voice rang out, Selina Hughes’s face froze.
The matriarch approached cheerfully, assisted by the young lady from The Kingsley Family, she said, "Adrian, you finally returned, we’ve all been waiting for you."
Adrian’s gaze briefly scanned Shirley’s face, his tone casual, "Grandma, unfortunately, there’s an urgent project at my company I need to oversee, so I won’t be staying for dinner. I’ll stop by Dad’s study to retrieve a document."
"Isn’t today still the sixth? The company hasn’t started operations yet." Mrs. Jennings’s sharp gaze swept over Adrian, her tone measured, "And I am a director on the board of The Jennings Group, a shareholder too, shouldn’t an urgent project require a resolution from our shareholders meeting? How come I’m unaware of any urgent projects?"