"I... did it because I heard it’s very therapeutic,’’ Ella lowered her tone and opened her mouth, "Meow~ Meow~ Meow~"
Ji Yan was stunned, ’’Therapeutic?"
Ella nodded, "You can try too. I heard that this calms your nerves and grounds you immediately."
Ji Yan hesitated, "Really.’’
Ella nodded, ’’Why would I lie to you?"
"Second Master, if I may...?"
When Ji Yan glanced at Adrian, he noticed that the man did not seem to care.
So with a swift clear of his throat, he went at it.
Bertha and Rin appeared at the doorstep of the Master Bedroom.
"Second Master, I think some wild cats have managed to sneak inside the mansion!"
Since Ji Yan was already looking at Ella grievously, he noticed that she had not opened her mouth this time.
In front of everyone, a sleek little creature jumped out Ella’s hoodie, cutely doing a swift landing on the floor.
Adrian didn’t speak. But the moment the kitten landed on the floor, the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.
Everyone stiffened. Ji Yan silently lit a candle for Ella in his heart.
Only Riri, who was being held by Adrian, had his tail swishing.
In the living room, Adrian was seated on the long couch.
The man had already taken a shower and changed into a black shirt and grey pants.
In front of him, Ella stood with her head lowered. After a shower, she had also changed into comfortable clothes. Her long hair was tied into a messy bun and her guilty eyes shifted here and there, looking everywhere but Adrian.
Near Ella’s left foot, Riri sat with his head lowered and tail drooping. Near her right foot, a new member, a little cat of patchy colors—black, white and yellow—sat, meekly looking around.
Around the couch, the servants were gathered in the distance. While Ji Yan stood right behind Adrian, still visibly speechless.
In his heart, he was ashamed that he almost fell for Ella’s lie. Not only that, he even did an adequate amount of ’Meow meow meow’ as a form of therapy that he never received.
"Baby, it’s a long story..." Ella said when the silence stretched endlessly.
Ella cleared her throat, "Can we take this little kitty in?"
Adrian’s words were crisp.
And everyone understood what he meant. One small creature in the house was enough.
Although Ella did not know why Adrian hated small animals, by now, it was established that the man did not want to be anywhere around them.
In fact, Ella had forgotten it after seeing him interacting with Riri. She had snuck the kitty in for safety measures, but in her heart, she had thought that Adrian would probably agree if she begged him to keep it.
But his crisp reply told her that his gentler actions towards Riri did not mean that his preferences had changed.
Adrian watched as the girl’s face tilted to the side like a wilting power and the corner of his lips twitched.
He extended a hand towards her, "Come here."
Ella looked at him and then at the two little creatures who were clinging to her feet. She did not move.
Dark clouds hovered in the living room.
Adrian’s eyes darkened, "Elle..."
"You can’t just do that every time..." Ella cut him off.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
Ji Yan was thunderstruck. The servants all froze in their spots.
Miss Yu, ah, Miss Yu, have you really lived long enough? Or do you think we all have a death wish?
"It’s not that I brought her here on purpose," Ella mumbled, looking at the little kitty, "I told her to wait outside... I didn’t mean to bring her in. She followed me. I just thought I’d get her food and come back."
Ji Yan looked at her speechlessly. How did the kitten manage to hide into your hoodie if you didn’t mean to bring her in?
Adrian glanced at his empty hand; the knit between his brows did not loosen.
His gaze shifted to the girl who was completely focused on the small cat by her foot. And his eyes then wandered off to his empty hand.
More grey clouds gathered above Adrian’s head, his icy eyes lacked a sense of warmth.
"Baby, why don’t you listen to my explanation first?" Ella suddenly looked up at him, "For the rest of the things, I will let you decide. What do you think?"
Looking at her sparkling eyes and crafty smile, Adrian retracted his hand, "Speak."
Once Ella got the green signal from the man, she immediately narrated the whole event as it had happened.
Earlier, when she was following Riri, Riri led her to the outside area of the estate where there seemed to be a small shelter.
Probably because of the torrential downpour, it was mostly shattered. However, hiding near a tree, there was a tiny kitten.
Drenched and visibly a little starved, she was rolling around on the ground. When the kitten and Riri spotted each other, they immediately ran towards each other as if they were old acquaintances.
It was at that point the security finally managed to catch up to them. And Ella got to know about a few things.
"They said the kitten’s been here for months. Her mother died... but she wouldn’t leave. They fed her sometimes."
"And Riri... might’ve had an owner."
A quiet shock rippled through the room.
"How could that be?" Ji Yan looked at the puppy, "Nobody, except... cough... very few people can enter the estate. So, it is impossible for us to not realize if someone lost their puppy."
Ella also had similar thoughts. Ji Yan’s ’very few people’ referred to Max and Esther who could come here because of her.
But as far as Ella remembered, both of them never had a pet at all.
However the security mentioned that the puppy had come running from the direction of the main road and it had a collar tied around its neck.