Although Asher had visited her school several times before, he rarely appeared in various media outlets, so no one at the school recognized him as the third young master of the Montgo family. But now..."Do you mind?" he asked. "Of course I do," she replied. "Why do you mind?" His voice was cold, indifferent. She was taken aback, but she saw him suddenly lean closer, his face nearing hers. Instinctively, she took a step back, but he grabbed her waist with his right hand."What are you doing?" she asked nervously. His face was too close, allowing her to easily see her own reflection in his eyes."It's just a photo. Even if it's posted online, so what? We're dating, and such photos are normal, aren't they?" His tone was cold, and his expression was icy.She paused, but then heard his voice continuing in her ear."Or is it that you don't want someone to see this photo?"She opened her mouth, and suddenly another face appeared in her mind. A face that seemed elegant and gentle, but was ac
It was a string of numbers, without a name. But that familiar number left Vivienne stunned.It was Ezra's number!Even though she had deleted Ezra's number from her phone contacts long ago, she still remembered it. After all, she had memorized that number once.Human memory is strange. When you want to forget something, you may not be able to, but when you want to remember, you may not recall it."Give me the phone," Vivienne said, extending her hand towards Asher, who was holding the phone.However, Asher lifted his arm, avoiding Vivienne's hand."Whose number is this?" he asked."I don't know," she evaded his gaze, feeling guilty."Is that so?" He half-lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes concealing his expression. "Well, once it's connected, we'll naturally find out who it is."What?! She was shocked for a moment, but before she could react, his finger had already pressed the answer button.Asher brought the phone closer to his ear, listening to the voice coming from the other end
Although Vivienne had her phone back, her face had turned even paler than before. A sense of silence enveloped the two of them, with Asher standing quietly without uttering a word, and Vivienne's mind in chaos, naturally unable to say anything either.After a while, Vivienne finally regained her senses and realized that they were now standing at the entrance of a building. The security guard at the entrance had been staring at them with a strange look for a while."Let's leave here first," she said, taking just two steps before being pulled back by Asher."Why did Ezra call you?" he asked coldly, his fingers gripping her wrist bone, applying increasing pressure."Pain!" Vivienne exclaimed, her brows furrowing in pain."Does it hurt?" he lowered his head, looking at her wrist, and suddenly lifted it up. "It's red," he said.A red mark had appeared on her delicate wrist, where he had squeezed it."Then let go of me," she said, attempting to slightly twist her wrist, only to feel him gri
"Where are we going?" Vivienne couldn't help but ask.Asher remained silent as he drove, not answering her.After half an hour, the car stopped in front of a building in the city center. He pulled her inside the lobby.By the entrance of the lobby stood two rows of staff members who bowed and greeted Asher in unison, creating a scene that made Vivienne feel like she was watching a scene from a TV drama.A middle-aged man in a black suit approached them and said to Asher, "The representatives from Germany are already waiting.""Okay." Asher led Vivienne to the elevator and they stepped in.The middle-aged man followed along, curious about Vivienne's identity, but he maintained a composed demeanor, not looking at her much.After all, having been by Asher's side for several years, he was well aware of his boss's usual style and personality. This was the first woman he had seen Asher walking hand in hand with.The elevator reached the 23rd floor. As Vivienne stepped out of the elevator, s
"Sorry, miss, I'm really sorry," the waiter apologized repeatedly, looking uneasy."It's okay," Vivienne replied. She knew she could just wash her shoes and socks later. It was just uncomfortable to have them wet at the moment."I'll go get some tissues, please wait," the waiter said, about to leave, but then he stopped abruptly.He saw the CEO, who had been engaged in a conversation with the German delegates, suddenly walking straight towards the woman in front of him, asking, "What's wrong?""It's nothing, just my shoes got splashed with champagne," Vivienne waved her hand, thinking that maybe she could use this as an excuse to leave early.However, in the next moment, Asher bent down and lifted her horizontally in his arms.A gasp went through the crowd. Who would have expected the usually aloof CEO to suddenly embrace a woman in such a public setting?Vivienne was dumbfounded as she saw Asher carry her to a nearby sofa chair and gently place her on it.She was only a little wet fr
"So, don't go," he lowered his head, his forehead almost touching hers. "Let me hold you like this forever."She was stunned.He suddenly chuckled softly. "Now, you can only rely on me. You can't leave, can you?"His smile was enchanting yet childish, captivating enough to make it difficult to look away.And her heart was in chaos.As Asher carried Vivienne into the car, she said, "You should have your employees bring the shoes here now. They're just a little wet, and I can change them as soon as I get back to my dorm.""Do you have to wear shoes?" he asked."Yes," she nodded firmly. She couldn't possibly let him carry her all the way back to her dorm at school.He pursed his lips, then suddenly started the car. However, instead of heading to Vivienne's school, they drove to a nearby boutique mall.When Asher carried Vivienne into a shoe department, her ears were already burning with embarrassment. The saleswoman behind the counter looked at the two of them with curious eyes."Which p
Ezra's phone call to her was undoubtedly the trigger, and now Asher was on the verge of exploding, despite his current indifferent yet icy demeanor.She moistened her slightly dry lips and replied, "I don't feel anything.""Really?" His eyes narrowed slightly.She didn't avoid his gaze but raised her head halfway, meeting his gaze directly.Their eyes met in the air. After a while, he finally lowered his eyelids slightly. "Okay, I believe you. I said before, whatever you say, I believe."Unexplainably, when Asher said those words, Vivienne didn't feel relieved. On the contrary, she felt a heavy, uncomfortable sensation in her chest, as if something was pressing on it."You believe everything I say?" she blurted out."Yes," he said, taking her hand and placing it on the left side of his chest where his heart was.Her palm felt his heartbeat."I believe everything you say, even if it's a lie."Breathing seemed to become difficult. She stared at him in a daze. "Aren't you going to ask me
He brought her hands to his lips, gently pressing kisses onto her hand, as if imprinting them one by one. "Do you always need a reason to like someone?" he murmured, his cold voice flowing like a gentle stream. "When I met you at the age of six, I just felt that there was a lot of light emanating from you. I thought that if I were with you, I would feel warmth. So I hoped that you would only look at me, talk to me, and play with me. That was the first time I understood the meaning of 'hope.' Before that, the word was just a combination of letters without any significance."He paused and closed his eyes, rubbing his cheek against the back of her hand. "Vivi, you said, is this love at first sight? If it is, then I think I fell in love with you back then. If it's not, then in the future, I will only understand what it means to experience heart-wrenching, bone-deep pain because of you. You once said that only when you truly love someone, you can feel that kind of pain."Vivienne stared at