His long fingers ran through her black hair over her shoulders as her faint fragrance smothered all over him, chipping away his weakening willpower. His arms around her were tightening uncontrollably as he hugged her in his arms...
He had to admit that kissing her was addictive.
His usually ascetic self was gradually falling apart before her charm. Suddenly, he felt defeated as he had always been proud of his well-trained discipline and self-restraint.
After tasting several minutes of sweetness, he forcefully stopped himself and looked at her with sparks in his eyes. Her outfit seemed a little messy as several buttons before her chest had come undone and her eyes looked beautiful.
She came back to her senses when she felt her chest area become chilly. Gazing downwards, she noticed that her shirt was open. In embarrassment, she quickly buttoned her shirt up.
He laughed before helping her. "I'm too impatient, but don't worry as there's no one else in my office."
"Don't simply touch me again during work the next time." She glanced at him frowning before she helped him to fix his slightly creased sleeve.
"You mean I can touch you anytime whenever we're not at work? Do you mean it that way?" Xavier tidied up her long, messy hair with his fingers as he chuckled.
Arya slid off from his lap and stood up, glaring at him without saying anything as she walked towards the sofa beside the coffee table.
"I bought some rice for you as well. Eat it yourself. I'll go down first. I'll be waiting for you beside your car in the evening."
She grabbed her pumpkin porridge and went towards the exit so quickly that he could not see her figure at all.
He could still feel the remains of her temperature in his arms as the door closed. Smiling, he felt gleeful and suddenly, he thought to himself that this was not bad at all.
Perhaps a life like this was what he had been hoping for. He wished this could continue especially since it seemed pretty awesome.
After a while, he stood up and went towards the sofa opposite...
...
On the other hand, in Ethan's private villa.
Things had gone crazy last night and ended when Victoria begged him to stop.
It was nearly noon when Ethan woke up. The servants had already prepared his lunch downstairs, so Ethan took a cold shower and then dressed up before heading down to eat.
After a while, Victoria went downstairs too. By then, Ethan was already eating his meal silently.
"Ethan, are you going to the office later?" Victoria gracefully got Ethan a bowl of soup as she asked him gently.
"Mmm, work's starting today. There's a meeting at 3 p.m. later. You should go back on your own after lunch. I can't make it." Ethan raised his head and looked at her, noticing some marks of their intimate moments from last night. For a moment, he found them irritating.
He took a deep breath and grabbed the newspaper, flipping through it casually. However, his expression darkened when he saw a certain piece of news and some photos in it.
Victoria noticed something was not right with Ethan, so she asked out of concern,
"What's wrong, Ethan? Why do you look so unwell?"
Ethan's eyes darkened and he threw the newspaper before Victoria.
In confusion, she picked the newspaper up and took a look at it. Her face went pale when she saw a blown-up photo of the moment when she had handed Arya the glass of wine. She continued reading it and gasped when she realized that the entire article was negative towards her. This was indeed bad news for her.
"How... How is this possible?!" She mumbled to herself as she went absent-minded. Freaking out, she quickly looked at Ethan opposite her.
"Ethan, this isn't true! They are defaming me..."
Ethan looked downwards silently.
He heard that Xavier had an odd habit. He disliked the media, and in recent years, he would not appear in the eye of the public at all except for banquets that he absolutely needed to attend. Also, he would reject any media's request to enter these banquets unless he explicitly gave them the permission to do so.
This time, there was no news about him and Arya at all. Even when it came to the conflict with Victoria, Arya's name was replaced with the phrase "a certain lady" instead. These tabloids must be working under his orders.
However, was Xavier really capable of all this?
Did he really order them to write up on Victoria? What was happening?
"Ethan, what should I do? The media really loves to exploit things like this. They'll magnify every single thing I do. I really didn't do it on purpose back then. You know that I'm really respectful towards my sister. But now, the media..." Victoria rambled frustratedly. She switched her phone on and was about to call her manager to find out what was happening.
The second she switched her phone on, message notifications came in one after another. Some were from Layla and Kristina while her manager had sent her several messages too. They must be about the newspaper.
Ethan gave it some thought before replying, "It's too late to stop it now since it's already on the news. We can only observe how things go for some time, or hold a press conference if there's a need to clarify it. Also, attend more charity events, which you've been doing, haven't you?"
His eyes seemed complicated as he looked at the extra-large close-up photo.
He did not want to imagine the possibility!
Victoria's face was getting paler. She hesitated for a moment before nodding. As she was about to call her manager, her phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she saw Kristina calling her!
She was startled for a while before picking up the call.
"Grandmother?"
"Victoria? What's with the matter on the news? Why is your phone switched off? Where are you right now?" Kristina's anxious and worried voice came through the moment the call was connected.
Victoria simply explained what happened, and then headed straight for Johns Media after lunch.
Inside Johns Media's CEO office, Kristina and Layla were already waiting.
Kristina's expression was stormy and the aura around her was unapproachable. Layla seemed really worried and anxious as she paced up and down the office.
She quickly went up to Victoria as soon as she came in.
"Victoria, what happened? Yesterday didn't you and Ethan...?"
Victoria put her bag onto the sofa and saw several newspapers Layla had put aside. Her beautiful face went ashen as she looked at them and picked one up. She flipped through it as sadness overflowed in her eyes.
"What's happening? And what about the ambassador? Aren't you already contracted and confirmed?" Kristina's face looked tensed and stared at Victoria when she saw her acting so oddly.
Victoria took a deep breath and looked at Kristina, hidden pain in her eyes. She toughened herself up and was silent for a moment before saying,
"It's fine, Grandmother, Mother. Don't ask me about this anymore. It's all my fault. Let's just ignore this scandal for now. Give it some time and people will soon forget about it." Her voice sounded disappointed as she sat down onto the sofa quietly.
Kristina and Layla traded glances at each other after they heard her. They came to the same conclusion. Kristina asked her coldly,
"Your sister did it again, didn't she?"
"Mother, it must be her! Arya is the Director of Glory World Corporation and Chairman Knight is her superior. How could Victoria have a good impression if she just slips in criticism to the top brass? And these newspapers might be her work too! Just who's that Caitlyn? She's just an old celebrity hag who's past her prime. She's nowhere as popular as Victoria now. If not for someone's help, how could she have beaten Victoria?"
Layla was getting angry as she spoke, her dissatisfaction towards Arya growing larger, especially after what had happened at the meeting with Arianna the last time. Besides giving her a hard time in front of Arianna by calling Benjamin, Benjamin's attitude towards her after that was just...
She had exhausted everything to keep Benjamin beside her, and finally became the mayor's wife, yet now Arya made her embarrass herself in front of her past rival, Benjamin's ex-wife. How could she take this?
"Victoria should've been guaranteed to become the ambassador! I've spoken to several directors and they all agreed to put in good words for her at different levels, so how did things turn out this way? They were really fond of Victoria too!"
Layla frowned intensely and looked at Kristina.
"Also there's the matter about Johns Media's shares, Mother. If not for Arya, there's no way Arianna wouldn't have given it back to you if you confronted her. She's now targeting Victoria. Just how many times has it been? I really don't want to talk about it. I'm worried people might comment on me mistreating my stepdaughter, but you've witnessed it all along the years. Just how many years have I been in the Johns family? Have I ever mistreated her? Have I not thought of her first whenever there's something good?"
Kristina's expression darkened when she heard Layla's words. If Arya heard these words, she wondered how she would react.
Thought of her first whenever there was something good?
Was there even once that whatever that "something good" was had not been taken away by Victoria for various reasons?
"Mother..." Victoria's frail voice broke the silence.
She looked at Layla helplessly with an underlying tone of criticism in her voice.
"You really shouldn't go to meet Aunt Arianna on your own. Grandmother should be the one to meet her instead. We're the one at fault here. Aunt Arianna and Sister had it rough all these years, and we're doing pretty fine. Can't we be more understanding towards them? After all, you're Aunt Arianna's good friend, aren't you?"
These uncomfortable words worked its effects on Layla. She raised her head and looked at Victoria with inexplicable helplessness in her expression.
"Victoria, you're only saying that because you don't understand what's happening between us. Arianna was nearly identical like her daughter. She was cold and distant. Do you think I've done nothing all these years?"
"But, Mother..."
Victoria was about to continue, but the once-silent Kristina voiced out,
"Alright, that's enough! Stop bringing up the past. If this is really Arya's doing, she's overdone it this time! She shouldn't give her own family such a hard time. I know she's angry with me for forcing her to sign on the contract as well as over the matter with Victoria and Ethan, but what else does she want after things have turned out this way?"
Kristina's voice was strict and firm. The elder's eyes looked sharp as she said coldly,
"If I don't do so, how should we solve the crisis for Johns Media? The Martinez family aren't idiots either. Why would they help us out for nothing in return? They'll only help if I say Johns Media will be your dowry in the future! But the shares in Arianna's hands are like a ticking bomb for us. It could explode anytime, so we have to get that document!"
"Mother, what do you want to do?" Layla's eyes brightened and she quickly turned over to Kristina.
Kristina stood up from her chair and said, "We'll go with the old way for Victoria's matter. We'll let the scandal die down on its own. Victoria, you don't have to do give an explanation to the public. The company will arrange more events with other partners to wash the negative news away. You have to be careful as well. Try not to be involved in these matters again. The company is in deep trouble right now, so avoid accumulating more issues."
"Then, about the shares..." Layla asked quietly.
"I have my plans. Leave it for now. We can start preparing on the projects with Smiths. The stakeholder meeting is near and there will be drastic changes. Be wary!" Kristina cautioned seriously.
Layla and Victoria exchanged glances before nodding.
Glory World Corporation's working hours ended exactly at 6 p.m.
The sky turned dark as people streamed out of the office building. Unlike the long days and short nights in the summer, the wind in the evening was dry and cold. It really started to get chilly after the sun set.
Arya arrived next to the car with her briefcase and noticed that the man was already inside the car making a call. It seemed to be a call from Jacob.
She walked toward the driver's seat. Xavier moved over to the front passenger seat as he was still talking to Jacob on the phone.
"We'll meet on the weekend. Come straight to the Imperial Sky Club. That's all for now." He hung up the call and put his phone aside.
"Did they ask you out for a drink and to play cards?" Arya asked casually as she put on the seatbelt and started the car.
He glanced over at her without replying as he leaned back in the seat. He was looking at the crowd outside the car window with his placid eyes.
She did not ask further since he did not reply. Then, she drove the car out of the parking lot and headed straight onto the broad streets. Her clear voice reached him.
"Actually, it's okay for you to meet them from time to time."
"I'll bring you over during the weekend," he replied almost instantly to her statement.
"Aren't you worried that I might be bothering you guys?" Arya raised her eyebrows and glanced at him with an interested look.
He turned his head and faced her to reply without answering her question,
"You should go out more. You rarely go out on your rest days."
"Work is pretty tiring. Who doesn't want to sleep well on a weekend, or read books while enjoying some tea?" She replied casually.
"There you go with your reasons. I saw your gym club member card in your drawer. You started half a year ago, but I doubt you've gone more than three times. What a typical attitude, I suppose."
Arya was then reminded that she decided to train half a year ago, so she made up her mind to get a gym club membership. In the beginning, Mia would go with her, but after a few times, she stopped going out of laziness.
"I've never seen you work out before. Moreover, you're not really the muscular type..."
Arya glanced at him and was about to refute him, but before she could finish, she felt a dangerous gaze coming from the man, making her shiver.
He squinted his eyes and focused on her as he asked quietly,
"So, do you like big and muscular men?"
Arya was stunned for a moment. She held onto the steering wheel with a grin on her face, but she did not say anything. However, Xavier took it as an affirmative reply from her.
He stared at her for a while before suddenly smiling and spouting a creepy line,
"You'll regret what you said today."
Arya just shrugged, then sped up the car.
It was rush hour and they were stuck in traffic for some time. It was around 7 p.m. when they arrived at Maple Residence. The married couple left their briefcases aside. Xavier went into the kitchen as usual while Arya arranged the flowers they had just bought in a vase.
It was a large bouquet of champagne roses. When their car passed by the entrance of a supermarket in the neighbourhood, there was a child selling flowers. They remembered that it was Valentine's Day today; the whole world was celebrating it.
Arya then made a casual remark about the flowers being pretty and how the flowers at home were wilting, so Xavier got down from the car and bought a large bouquet.
It was not a lavish dinner with three dishes and a soup, but Arya really loved them, so in the end, she had two and a half bowls of rice. Eventually, the two of them finished all the dishes.
After dinner, she could not help but rub her slim waist, afraid that she might grow fat, but she thought to herself that her mother and grandmother were not the types to gain weight easily. She would not get fat easily as well, would she?
She gave it some thought, and then decided she would measure her weight at the spa this weekend.
...
She went out of the bedroom with her slightly messy hair to see him sitting on the sofa watching television. He had even made a pot of tea, the fragrance filling the place.
"Why aren't you watching sports matches?" She glanced at the television screen before sitting down beside him.
He casually poured her a cup of tea and then handed her the remote control.
As she grabbed it and was about to change the channel, her phone at the corner of the table started ringing, so she passed the remote control back to him and picked up her phone.
It was a call from Mia!
It must be because of Arya's morning call to her that morning.
"Arya? It's me! What's up? I hope I'm not bothering you and your man calling you this late at night. Why did you call me this morning? I read the papers today. Victoria..."
Mia rattled like a bullet train non-stop when the call connected. Arya was at a loss.
"Mia!" Arya frowned and yelled at her. Mia then stopped.
"What's wrong?"
Arya gave it some thought before saying,
"I want to tell you about your wedding dinner. Aaron and you haven't decided on a venue, have you? I spoke to Xavier and he agreed on letting you guys organize it at Imperial Sky Hotel. They still have a slot open."
Mia screamed in excitement on the other end.
"Really? Imperial Sky Hotel? Oh my God, I've forgotten your man is Master Knight. I'll take up your offer then! We'll do it at Imperial Sky Hotel. I was just discussing the wedding invitation with Aaron. You guys are my saviours!"
Mia's excited voice had an unmistakable tone of gratitude in it.
"I won't decline your kind offer then. I'll send you guys an invitation the day after tomorrow. Please be sure to come. Also, please thank Master Knight for me. Remember to please him well tonight!"
Mia then let out a vicious laugh and Arya blushed. Mia continued talking just as she was about to retort something back.
"By the way, Arya, is Master Knight really like what the rumours say?"
"What rumour?"
Unaware, Arya looked downward and sipped some tea as she asked in doubt.
Mia continued with her wicked laugh. She coughed lightly and then asked in a quiet voice.