Chapter 223 - 26: Go Wash Your Hands

Jessie drew her mind back from her recalling and said, "Didn't you want to see my father?"

"Sure, I did," Tristan said without hesitation.

"You know, in my dad's personality, he will not have the chance to meet you in private once he starts working. You are a businessman. It is most natural that you consider it from the point of business."

Tristan didn't say anything, and tacitly admitted this explanation for him.

"It is the same from my point of view. There is a chance I can do something for you."

He turned to see Jessie and heard her continue, "It is a value that one can be used." She laughed it off.

Tristan extinguished his cigarette and threw it into the dustbin by the road.

"If you need any help, don't hesitate to let me know." He didn't wait for her reply and walked to the car.

Jessie waited until the sound of the car engine disappeared and sighed. People said women were fickle, but men were even more fickle than women.

Tristan was like a rock if you approached him from a distance, but as soon as you got close, he was like the wind. He was too self-protective, and tended to draw lines for everything.

Tristan didn't get back to the office after he left Donald's house. He went to the seaside. After the sunset, the sea was a dark color, with snow-white waves rolled up in a regular span of time. He liked the seaside at this time. Almost no one could be seen on the beach.

Here, Tristan didn't need to play any roles but his own.

Tristan did nothing but just sit on a rock and smoke. One cigarette after another.

After a while, he went back to his car and brought a file. He lit up and saw the flame devour the paper inch by inch until it all turned into ash.

He smiled bitterly and thought of his parents.

After he got back to the villa, Tristan found Kate was curled up on the couch sleeping. An opened book was covering her c.h.e.s.t. He took it up.

It was Financial Management, with a stamp of the LACC library. He shook his head the put it aside and then wanted to carry her to the bedroom.

She woke up when he touched her. Kate rubbed her eyes with her hand, and Tristan pulled her hand away and said, "Reading is good, especially for the stupid person. But buy new ones from the store. The books in the library were dirty after being touched by so many people."

Kate still resented his dirty behavior, and she retorted, "They are not dirty. Only students touched them."

Tristan was amused. "Not dirty but touched by students? That book has been in countless hands. Do you know what they did before they touched the book? Some of them might have some strange disease."

Kate thought he was dirty in his heart, so he would regard others as the same. He himself had a strange disease. She didn't want to bother arguing with him.

So she yawned and walked to the bedroom. Tristan followed and asked, "You have had a shower?"

She nodded.

"Go wash your hands."

She rolled her eyes and walked slowly to the bathroom.

Tristan sighed. It was strange that with somebody to talk to, he felt much better at home.

In the evening, Jessie went to her father's study and asked him about his opinion on Tristan.

Donald admitted Tristan's manners and capability were impeccable. But he changed his tone and said, "But are you sure you can rein him in all the time?"

Jessie said disapprovingly, "Why should I rein him? Men are to be admired, not to be reined in."

Donald didn't agree with her, and he asked again, "How much do you know about him?"

Jessie told him what she knew about Tristan. Donald still shook his head. "This is what you see on the surface. He is only 35, but he has achieved a great deal. A person without a family background and…"

"His disposition made him so. He has courage, strategies, and insight." Jessie supported the person she admired.

After his daughter left, Donald frowned. He didn't tell her that the city prosecutors received accusations against the Chasin group for illegal commercial conduct.

It was because of this he came back from vacation ahead of schedule.

***

Kate had a dream.

In the dream, Kate was only five or six years old, and a ferocious black dog, much larger than her, was chasing her. Kate fell down at last, completely exhausted.

The dog opened its big mouth wide and reached its spooky white fangs to her throat. Kate was so scared that she put her hands over her eyes, but the anticipated pain did not come. Instead, it was replaced by the contact of something coarse and wet.

Kate looked up in surprise and found what was l.i.c.k.i.n.g her. An extraordinarily broad tongue was moving against her face.

Darkness came to her eyes, and the world disappeared.

Kate opened her eyes suddenly and saw the bedroom with dim light coming through the half-closed curtains.

She took a deep breath, knowing it was just a dream. But the next second, she detected warm and wet breaths blowing on the back of her neck. She looked down. A robust arm was around her waist.

Kate was not used to this intimacy. She tried to move away from the arm, but it clung to her tightly. She felt uncomfortable and squirmed like a worm.

A husky voice warned her, "Don't move."

Tristan opened his eyes to see a head of full and sleek hair, among which stood a fair and tender ear. And below, her slim neck and smooth shoulders.

The landscape of her b.r.e.a.s.ts was covered by a conservative pajama top. He glanced at the clock at the bedside table and rose a little, giving her a bite on the shoulder.

Kate was taken aback because it took a few seconds for Tristan to release his mouth. She scowled. "Why did you bite me?"

"I am hungry," Tristan said lightly. He got up and went to the bathroom casually.

Water splashing sounds came from the bathroom. Kate sat up and checked her shoulder. There were teeth marks on it. She cursed. "Morbid."

Tristan received a call as soon as he stepped into his office. He listened until the other line was finished talking and said, "OK. I knew somebody doubted me. Let them investigate. We will cooperate, either in finance or other departments. We will be supportive. Give them whatever information they need…Thank you very much for letting me know. I am prepared for it."

"By the way, my art collector friend sent me a piece of work by Monet. I am not sure if it is genuine. Could you check it for me? Great. I will have it sent to your place."

Putting down the phone, Tristan went to stand by the window. It was a 180-degree French window with a vast view. He designed this office so that he could look around almost half of the city.

He had seen the city change over the past twenty years. Landscapes changed in front of his window. From here, he always felt the illusion that he had traveled through time.

There was an empty land in the distance, just out of his field of view. Tristan had an image in his mind. The foundation had been built, and the construction was going on. If this office was his kingdom, then that was his battlefield. All these had feudal appeal to a man with ambition.

Drawing his attention back from outside the window, Tristan returned to his desk and dialed the extension of his secretary. "Can you, the Vice GM, come to my office?"

At 9 pm, when Tristan left his office and drove out of the parking lot, he saw a lanky shadow under the road light.

The headlights revealed a familiar face. He asked the driver to stop the car. The person walked close, and he recognized it was Kate's brother, though he had only seen him once.

Tristan slid down the window and asked, "You waiting for me?"

"Yes. I want to talk with you."

They stood under the road light. They were almost the same height.

Max took a deep breath and said seriously, "How can you let my sister go? I will pay you back the money. Starting from now, I will pay until it is done. You can add the interest."

Tristan said in no hurry, "She is with me now."

There was a pain in Max's eyes. "A person like you can have any woman you like. My sister, she is not suitable to live a life like this."

Tristan turned his lips down. "What right do you have to negotiate with me?"

"I am her brother." Max looked into Tristan's eyes without fear. "I cannot see my sister suffering."

The answer made the smile on Tristan's face freeze, and he replied after a pause, "OK. I will give you a chance."

"You don't have to pay for money. I want to play a game with you. If you win, your sister is free to go; if you lose, then anything between she and I has nothing to do with you anymore."

Max widened his eyes. "Really? What is it?"

Tristan said, "Pick something you are good at. Like basketball?"

"OK." Max agreed without hesitation. He was a lead player on the school basketball team. He didn't believe he could not beat this old man.