Why would Ella want a man like Adrian?
For a moment, even she was stumped by the question.
But in Old Master King’s presence, she quickly returned to her senses.
’In my previous life, I left the worst impression on Adrian’s grandparents. This time, I must give this answer my best shot, even though I don’t have much experience in this field!’
"It’s because..." Ella cleared her throat, "his heart is larger than the mountains and—"
"Girl, don’t bother with poetry." The old man gave her a scathing look, swishing the fishing rod dangerously close to her face.
Ella barely dodged in time. "Alright, he looks good."
The old man paused and stroked his beard thoughtfully as he looked at the koi fishes swimming in the pond. "Hmm, makes more sense."
Ella: "_" Are you serious? That’s all it takes? Your grandson has other good qualities too, you know!
The atmosphere was palpably tense.
Even though the place was drowned in silence and no one dared to speak, it was clear that the employees were weighing every step they took.
One could almost see the depression lines carved into their faces.
"President is back..."
"Why does he look happy?"
"I don’t know but... it’s scaring the shit out of me!"
"Shh... You’re done for if someone hears you!"
"Right! How can our President look happy? That’s impossible!"
"I saw him smiling this morning!"
All the chatter screeched to a halt as Ji Yan passed by.
"Wait, did you see that? Why does Secretary Ji look so tense suddenly?!"
"Told you! The President smiling is just the calm before the storm!"
Inside his office, Adrian leaned back in his swivel chair, his phone resting in his hand.
The chat displayed Ella’s number, along with all the texts she had sent over the past few days.
There was a twinkle in his eyes as he reread them. Again and again.
At first, the texts were random—
Updates about Ruby and Kade reacting to her haircut. Kade pestering her about their disappearance when they went to Country A.
Mentions of university stuff. A little about Riri and Lala.
But gradually, her tone shifted.
Her messages grew softer.
She started asking him where he was, when he will be back, why had he disappeared...
All of her texts that had gone unreplied for days, made Adrian feel a sharp stiffness in his chest.
Yet, at the same time, he felt his heart race.
She was worried for me.
Even after setting the phone down, her words wouldn’t leave his mind. They clung to him like the scent of rain on dry earth.
He could barely breathe.
"Second Master!" Ji Yan burst in, pale and panting.
"I-It’s Miss Yu!" Ji Yan stammered, "She’s been taken back to the Main Mansion on the Old Master’s orders—"
He hadn’t even finished the sentence when Adrian swept past him, a storm trailing in his wake.
By the time they reached the mansion, Adrian was cloaked in grey clouds.
His expression frosty and his steps were swift.
But as he was about to cross the threshold, the old butler blocked his path.
"Second Master, you cannot enter."
Ji Yan, who had just caught up, nearly tripped on the stairs.
W-What? Was the old butler senile? Was this the price of working past retirement age?!
A thick miasma of gloom enveloped Adrian. A vein ticked violently on his forehead.
"Second Master, please calm down," Ji Yan whispered. "You’ll affect your health—"
But his words slid off Adrian like water off glass.
He was ticking there like a time bomb that was a breath away from explosion, and Ji Yan was standing right next to the fuse.
"Make way!" Ji Yan turned to the butler, panic rising. "How can you block the Second Master?!"
The old butler paled but did not move an inch.
"These... are the Old Master’s orders," he murmured.
Ice slithered into the air. The temperature dropped.
Ji Yan flinched as Adrian’s eyes gleamed with contained fury.
Why had the Old Master summoned Miss Yu... and then barred Adrian?
If something happened to her—
Ji Yan didn’t dare finish the thought.
Inside the living room, the scene couldn’t have been more different.
"You’ve lost so much weight, Ella... and you look very different from last time," Old Madam King sighed for the umpteenth time. "Have you not been eating well?"
Ella smiled. "I’m fine, Grandma. I’ve just been working out lately. As for the change...’’ she touched her short hair, "It’s probably my haircut."
"Forget that. Tell me, when did you guess that I’m Adrian’s grandfather?" Old Master King cut in, waving a hand. "Did you already know it back at the university?"
Ella touched her nose, awkward.
She couldn’t very well say she’d known since day one, could she?
Earlier, the Old Master’s interrogation had veered into—’What are your intentions with our Second Master’—territory.
And at that point, she could no longer be thick-skinned to come up with an answer.
So, she simply told him that she knew who he was.
She had expected a backlash. In fact, when the old master glared at her, she thought she had thoroughly offended him.
But instead... the old man roared with laughter. And dragged her straight into the mansion.
"Tell me honestly," Old Master King insisted again.
Ella’s brain whirred, trying to assemble a decent excuse—
Two servants rushed in.
"Old Master, Old Madam! The Second Master is here!"
"Hmph! Don’t let him in," Old Master King crossed one leg over the other.
In her previous life, there was never a time this couple mistreated Adrian.
He was the apple of their eye. But, they were actually stopping him at door now?
"Unbelievable! How can you stop our grandson at the door?" Old Madam looked visibly displeased.
"Since he likes to disappear without informing anyone," Old Master muttered, "he doesn’t need to show his face now..."
He hadn’t even finished when a gust of cold wind blew through, followed by a streak of black.
Before Ella could process what was happening, she was yanked to her feet, her shoulders held in a firm, familiar grip.