Chapter 522 - Red Like A Cherry

Time passed and Zoey worked like usual. She attended all meetings she had for the day while leaving Cora in Melanie's care to brief her of the light jobs she could do.

When lunch came, Cora decided to take a breath of fresh air on the building's rooftop. Since Zoey was busy and she didn't want to disturb her, Cora went on her own.

Upon reaching the rooftop, Cora walked towards the railings and leaned her arms against it.

"Such nice weather!" She muttered after taking a long inhale and exhale. The smile on her lips sported on her face as she recalled Zoey's words from earlier today.

"Zoey…" Cora whispered as her smile grew gentle at the thought of her friend.

Everyone mistreated or bullied Cora. She didn't blame anyone for that as Cora knew it was her fault for being picked on and being a pushover. 

However, Zoey would always stand up for her and wouldn't let anyone bully her in front of her. Even when Cora wasn't telling Zoey about it to avoid her friend from trouble, Zoey would always go on her own and get back on the people that bullied her.

"How can I deserve a friend like her?" Cora looked down as a glint of sadness flashed across her eyes.

Cora knew that her friend also bore responsibilities and pain she wasn't telling her. Yet, Zoey stood for herself, did whatever she wanted, and led her life to the path she had chosen.

Whatever pain Zoey was carrying, it was not enough to stop her from obtaining what she wanted. Now, Z Image Group, the company Zoey had built from scratch started to progress.

Still, Cora was the same wimp, damsel in distress. She lost her job because she couldn't stand up for herself. She would cry because her heart was torn in a 'shallow' change. Now, she was riding on Zoey's waves because she was just too weak to start on her own.

Just thinking about it, it brought tears to her eyes. She didn't deserve a friend like Zoey nor was she deserving of her kindness.

"*Yawn* Ah?" 

While Cora was crying silently and wiping the tears that were rolling down her eyes, she heard Ivan's loud yawn not far away from her.

"What are you doing here? Wait, are you crying?" Ivan gasped in dismay as soon as their eyes met.

He gazed at her from head to toe before his entire face distorted. He could not believe that this woman was there just to cry. No wonder he woke up because he was hearing weird noises which were apparently Cora's cries.

"No." Cora wiped her tears by her arm and sniffed as hard as she could. "Not crying."

Although Cora didn't understand his entire sentence, he got the keywords 'crying'. Thus, she answered in the foreign language she had been studying after meeting Ivan.

"Ohh, you can speak in the same language now?" Impressed, Ivan perked his chin up as he raised his right brow. "Did my big sis bully you?"

Ivan asked, crossing his arms as he cocked his head to the side. He didn't have much hope in Cora's progress, but he was impressed that she could understand him at the very least. After all, it wasn't that easy to learn a foreign language in a small amount of time.

"Yes," Cora nodded as she mustered her courage despite her racing heart.

"Yes? Yes you can speak the same language or yes that my sister bullied you?" Ivan inquired as her answer was still not enough to get an answer. "Ahh! Nevermind! I'll get a headache talking to you."

Ivan waved lightly as he shook his head to the side. "Forget it. Talk to me when we can speak the same language again."

Cora stared at his annoyed figure who was babbling words she could barely understand. She just looked at him, blinking her eyes as she pursed her lips in a thin line.

'Did he get mad at me?' Cora wondered internally as Ivan seemed he was back to his edgy personality. 'What did I see in him in the first place?' 

Although Cora sort of liked Ivan, she still could not help but wonder why. She had liked Zion for a long time; Zion was the complete opposite of the short-tempered Ivan.

Zion was gentle, nice, and had a heart of gold. Cora had never seen Zion get mad about anything nor had she seen him annoyed. Meanwhile, whenever she was with Ivan, he would always pick on her and get annoyed out of nowhere.

Even so, her heart could not stop racing just the thought of this foreigner. Cora clenched her hand tightly as she stared at Ivan who was scratching his head annoyingly.

"Hey," Just then, Ivan raised his head and snapped his finger to get her attention. "You. Go. Here."

Ivan dawdled for her to understand as he pointed to the space beside him. Cora darted her eyes from his eyes to his fingers and where he was pointing at.

*Bathump! Bathump!*

"Ah?" As she processed his words, Cora's face flushed as her eyes widened.

"Me. Teacher. I teach you English. Eng-lish!" Ivan stressed each word as if talking to a kid. He wasn't trying to make fun of her, though. He just wanted to teach her a few words so the struggle of talking to her would be lessened.

Moreover, not that he didn't have free time. He had too much free time that he was getting bored of doing nothing.

Cora stared at him for a minute before she nodded. "Okay!" 

With that being said, Cora trudged towards him as her heart kept on racing that she felt like she would faint! Fortunately, her heart was trained from all the years of unrequited love she had for Zion. Thus, she was confident she could stay with him for a span of time without doing anything stupid.

When Cora reached by his side and sat down, her entire being stiffened as Ivan peered at her from her to toe. "Wh -- what?"

"Did you take a shot? You're all red like a cherry." Ivan cast her a look of dismay as he clicked his tongue.. "Selfish woman. How can you not share, eh?"