Chapter 5: Clearing the Misunderstandings

Adrian had said she could visit him anytime but that was back when she was in her mid-twenties.

Now? She was twenty-two.

So clearly, “nobody will stop you” was a promise that didn’t apply yet.

How could she have missed that detail?

She could only blame herself.

Back then, she hadn’t cared.

“To hell with your company. To hell with your mansion. And to hell with you.” That’s what she had thought.

Who knew that just one lifetime later, she’d be running back here eating her own words?

The receptionist's face was shifting through a palette of disbelief, disdain, and irritation.

“Yes, you need an appointment to see the President,” she snapped. “And since you don’t have one, please…” She gestured toward the exit, lips pinched tight.

“I know him,” Ella said, inhaling deeply. “Just give him a call. Tell him my name. He’ll know.”

The woman’s polite facade cracked hard. “Miss, please leave or I’ll have security escort you out.”

Ella rubbed her temples. “Look, I understand you’re doing your job. But couldn’t you at least give me the benefit of the doubt and call his secretary? Just to confirm?”

“There’s no need. I don’t have to check anything to know that the President wouldn’t lower himself to deal with someone like you. Security!” The guards began walking toward her.

But before they could get close someone else moved faster.

“Miss Yu?”

Ella turned toward the man in his mid-thirties, tall and sharply dressed.

Ji Yan.

He shot the security a cold glare, instantly freezing them in their tracks before approaching Ella.

Born and raised in Vermilion City, Ji Yan had been Adrian’s right-hand man for as long as she could remember.

“Didn’t cause too much trouble, did I?” she asked, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

“Not at all,” Ji Yan said with a courteous smile. “Please, this way.”

Under a wave of stunned stares, he led her to the VIP elevator.

It glided silently upward toward one of the top floors.

Once the doors opened, Ji Yan spoke again.

“The head servant informed me you’d be coming. I was tied up with some matters sorry I kept you waiting.”

Ella waved it off. “Don’t worry. I won’t complain at all.”

Ji Yan: “_”

He’d been sincerely apologizing… but it only now dawned on him that she had been planning to complain until he apologized in time.

He quietly broke into a nervous sweat.

Ella sighed. Being the subordinate of a man obsessed with a woman was a thankless job.

You didn’t just have to please the boss you had to please the boss’s woman too.

One wrong pillow talk and you could be fired before sunrise.

Tsk, tsk.

As Ella entered Adrian’s office, the sheer size of the space hit her like a gust of wind.

It was massive larger than her bedroom back at the mansion, which was already big enough to house a small party.

But the room's grandeur quickly faded into the background as her gaze shifted toward the window.

He was there.

His back faced her. Tall. Still. Unmoving.

“Second Master, Miss Yu is here,” Ji Yan announced with a bow before quietly retreating.

Adrian didn’t turn around.

Ella drew in a sharp breath.

Her fingers trembled slightly as they clutched the bag. She immediately pressed her free hand over them, forcing the nerves to calm.

To others, she was cool, playful, maybe even defiant.

But in front of this man…

Her emotions tangled. Fear most of all.

In her past life, she had been terrified of Adrian King.

And that fear had driven her to run from him, from the mansion, from reality.

It wasn’t until she was dying that she realized he was the only one who had never betrayed her.

This time, she didn’t want fear to rule her again.

He was a man. Not a devil.

Right?

Adrian finally turned.

And god he was still just as beautiful as she remembered.

Sharp, symmetrical features. Brown eyes that gleamed blood-red under the sunlight.

Dark hair messily falling onto his forehead.

His face, his aura frozen, unreadable.

Ella’s knees went weak, for both the best and worst reasons.

He stared at her.

Silent. Cold.

Still.

Mustering a smile, Ella spoke first.

“I didn’t see you at the mansion for the past few days…”

She stepped toward his desk and gently placed the bag on an empty space.

“So, I decided to bring you lunch.”

Adrian didn’t respond. Just stared.

Ella swallowed hard.

A voice inside her screamed: Run! There’s still time!

But she stood her ground. She knew better than anyone Adrian always dragged her back.

If she had to face the storm, she might as well get something out of it.

“For what happened before…”

The second she began, Adrian’s expression sharpened. The air turned arctic.

Ella’s heart tumbled painfully in her chest.

“I wanted to… apologize to you,” she managed, her smile still forced her throat already dry.

“Apologize?” Adrian asked, sitting down behind his desk.

Ella nodded vigorously, like a frightened chicken.

“We have a lot of misunderstandings between us.”

“Misunderstandings?”

“_”Can you stop repeating the last word like that? It’s stressing me out!

Still, she understood what he meant.

There were no misunderstandings between them.

He knew exactly what she had done.

Cuckolding him. Plotting behind his back. Scheming and betraying.

In his eyes, he had seen it all. Every act. Every lie.

Ella steeled herself.

“In the past… I didn’t behave well,” she admitted.

“I caused you some… okay, a lot of trouble. But I want to change now.”

She raised three fingers to her head like a solemn scout’s pledge.

Adrian didn’t reply.

He just looked at her.

Unmoving. Unforgiving.

Ella could tell this was where it would all start…

Or end.

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