Me After Meeting You

That weekend, Amber took a break. The first day, she spent waiting for Calvin and his mother, and the second, she dedicated to Ian.

In his hotel, she recorded a full day’s worth of stories for him. Amber put all of the stories she knew into the recording device, but when Ian saw that it still wasn’t full, he wanted her to add more.

In the end, Amber had to take out a collection of Shakespearean plays from his bookshelf. It was even in the original Elizabethan English, so most of the words were antiquated and unfamiliar to her. But since it was just to help Ian sleep, it didn’t really matter.

Ian didn’t do anything else that whole day. He just sat by her side and listened to her record the stories. Occasionally, he would get on his phone to handle some business, but he spent most of the time asleep. By the time he woke up, Amber had already gotten to Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thee art more lovely and more temperate.”

He suddenly woke up and said, “”Thou.'”

She was surprised, and raised her head to look at him. After her facial wash from last night, her skin was more radiant than ever. A slight flush of red peeked out from her porcelain-white skin, only serving to further emphasize her beauty. Her clear eyes were reminiscent of the sky after a heavy rain, pure enough to drown one’s heart in longing.

As his heart began to itch again, Ian closed his eyes.

“What did you say just now?”

He didn’t want to answer, but his brain unconsciously repeated the words she had been reciting. ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.’

She had mispronounced a word, reading “thou” as “thee.” He was very picky by nature, not being able to tolerate even the slightest mistake or error. But while she had been reciting Shakespeare, despite her countless mistakes, he didn’t find them unbearable at all.

Perhaps it was because her voice was too moving, so moving that he could neglect her mistakes.

“It’s fine,” he heard himself say. “You just disturbed my sleep, that’s all.”

She didn’t continue speaking. Even though he didn’t open his eyes, he could still imagine her speechless expression. When he felt Amber’s footsteps quietly creep away, his lips curled up into a cold smile.

As the door closed, Ian opened his eyes and stared at the recording device she had left on the table for a long while before calling Billy. “You said that the Kennedy siblings wanted to chase their stepmother out of their house, right?”

“Yes. Their father’s quite old now, and his mind’s a little muddled. They’re trying to prevent him from giving all his assets to their stepmother in his will. Honestly, their stepmother isn’t innocent either. She pretended to be ill to summon her biological son back from overseas. Apparently, he graduated from a famous school, worked at a renowned company, and is much smarter than the Kennedy siblings, there’ll be exciting drama ahead, I’m sure.” Billy’s voice was filled with schadenfreude as he gossiped about the other family’s affairs.

Only when he finished did he realize that this wasn’t something that Boss Axton usually deigned to partake in. He even thought that it might have been because he was planning to profit from the fight. “What, you’re interested in their companies?”

“Not at all.” Ian lowered his gaze, looking at his hands. They were currently clutching his jade teacup, which was allegedly made from a warm piece of jade. However, stone was just stone, and it emanated a coldness that annoyed him. He used an even colder tone to tell Billy, “You have lots of women, so go find a girlfriend for the Kennedy’s stepmother son.”

“What do you mean ‘I have lots of women?!'” Billy started jumping around again, and when he realized what he had said, he started shouting again. “When did you become a matchmaker for other people? Did the Kennedy siblings ask you for help? To use a woman to ruin their half brother?”

Ian ignored him and simply said, “Find a woman who has a strong background and valuable skills, someone who can’t be rejected.”

Billy kept yelling his grievances. “You’re trying to help his stepmother? Will the Kennedy siblings cry themselves to death if they knew your stance? Even though the youngest one’s a bit unreliable, and did throw a woman at you.”

He continued speaking long winded nonsense, but Ian didn’t want to listen to him and irresponsibly threw four words at him. “That’ll be all.” And then he hung up.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Billy was furious.

On the other hand, Ian held his phone and laughed coolly. Did Billy say that he wanted to help the Kennedy’s stepmother? No, he was solely helping himself. He was helping Calvin recognize his own reality by finding him a suitable woman.

As for him being Amber’s idol? Hah!

Amber didn’t know what sort of thoughts were going through Ian’s mind. Even though she was a psychiatrist, if patients weren’t willing to share any information, it wasn’t as if she could forcefully read their thoughts.

Right now, she only felt that her stomach was somewhat uncomfortable. She had drunk too much water and eaten too much fruit earlier.

She hadn’t been ill treated while doing tasks for Ian; the tea was exquisite, the fruits were plentiful, but the result was unsatisfying. Even after how hard she’d worked, he had still complained that she was bothering him and preventing him from sleeping.

She tried hard to get close to him, but it seemed like her efforts had all been made in vain. Could it be that all her compliance and forbearance was futile?

As Amber sat in the car, she reflected on her actions. Though she was being honest with him, it might be time to adjust her strategy.

But he was too indifferent towards everything, even Elly’s case. After what had happened last time, Ian’s interest in her seemed to have dipped.