Chapter 39 - What's Gotten Into You?

The man studied her, and when he saw her flushed face, his lips couldn't help but twitch. "I've seen that pink bra before. What's there to hide?"

She shot him an unfriendly look and cleared her throat, using business to alleviate the awkwardness. "About the Su family's action…"

"Do as you please." He shoved the responsibility to her, as if he was asking his little wife to shop around and spend as much money as she wanted.

She shut her mouth and started noting down her analysis of the competitors.

When he glanced down and saw what she was writing, a smile formed on his lips. She was so informed and smart… she could even use the companies' values and the values of their past projects to predict the maximum amount they could offer at the bid. Once she had come up with figures she was sure of, she started calculating an amount that would not cause much impact on Preston and Fort Group and would be recovered as early as possible. All that was left was writing a proposal.

He didn't interrupt her, watching dotingly as she worked, occasionally playing with her stylus while thinking. How he wished the drive could last forever…

She thought they were going back to the company, but they took a detour towards her home instead. She was surprised and quickly reminded, "Sir, my car is still in the company."

"I'll get someone to send it over." Although she was the one who had been interrupted from her work, he frowned irritably, as though it was pleasant to watch her do nothing but rack her brains while at work.

She blinked. "Alright. Then, sir, could you please drop me off at Grand View Hospital? I was planning to go over after work."

His mood dropped significantly, his eyes filling with a threatening gaze. "What did you just call me?"

Her body shuddered from his glare, and her voice dropped. "S-sir…?"

His mood worsened, and she couldn't comprehend what exactly had displeased him. Isn't that what employees usually call their bosses?

She knew that if she did not correct herself, she might accidentally trigger the unreasonable asshole in him and that would not be funny.

"Boss…?" She tried gently.

His expression did not change.

"President? CEO Fort?" She tried again and let out a sigh when he looked like he was about to burn her to death from his gaze.

She gulped and tried the only option left. "Mr. Fort?... Gosh! What's wrong with any of these titles?"

Zaria was on the verge of breaking down. Just as she was about to curse him out for being unreasonable, he spoke up.

"What did you call the COO earlier?" his tone was full of displeasure.

"Liam? What about it?" She had just asked when she finally realized what insanity was going on. Was the 'big baby' acting up again? Surely, he couldn't be offended because she had called Liam by his name right?

Still, she tried. "D-desmond?"

Like a blooming flower, the man's face was filled with a smile as he nodded happily, a stark contrast to his 'Hitler' expression a second ago. "Call me that from now on."

She frowned as she tilted her head to look at him. "I'm sorry, that's inappropriate. You're my boss."

"Liam is your boss too." His unreasonable jealousy was rearing its head.

She blinked and thought she had heard wrong. Are you kidding me?

Dumping aside the fact that he was her boss, she annoyedly fired off words at him. "Will you stop comparing yourself to Liam? How old are you?"

The man said nothing, but he was deflated. If you didn't give Liam too much favor, would I need to compare myself to him?

The idiot had even bragged about having had a taste of Zaria's specially made tea. How hateful! Serves him right because he was given a good beating.

___

Grand View Hospital.

As soon as Zaria was dropped off, she dashed to Nina's ward and was out of breath as she gently pushed the door open. "Nina?"

It was only when she arrived that she realized how long it had been since the day she had promised to visit—which she had forgotten.

She slowly stalked forward, noticing the presence of Ryan, who she didn't know was there. Smiling at him in greeting, she walked over to the teenager. "Nina, I'm so sorry. I…"

She couldn't bring herself to lie about anything, so she smiled and lifted the basket she had brought with her. "Look, I brought you some fruits. Do you want to have some? The next time I visit, I will cook something delicious for you."

The girl cast her a single glance and ignored her. As expected, she was upset.

"You shouldn't have come." The silent Ryan finally spoke.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" She was shocked that he would say such words to her.

The man chuckled lightly and moved forward to hold his sister as though protecting her from Zaria. "No, of course not. You did nothing wrong. You merely made a tiny promise and broke it. Of course, she is very happy. You did nothing wrong."

His sarcastic tone baffled her. They had been friends since they were little, and this was the first time that he used such a harsh tone on her. Nonetheless, she knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn't flip up. "Ryan, I'm sorry. I've been busy…"

"Of course." He scoffed. "You are an executive employee at a multibillion conglomerate now. You are already so busy running around for your billionaire bosses. The last thing on your mind is a little girl who isn't related to you."

"Ryan!" She couldn't stand his tone anymore and raised her voice. When she remembered that Nina was still with them, she toned down but was still fuming angry. "What's gotten into you? Do you have a fever?"

"Zaria, I'm sorry, but you…" He was about to say something, but he changed his words at the last moment. "Please leave."