Chapter 8 Cousin-in-law

The secretary ran into Bryan and told him about Rory's arrival.

"I'm busy," he replied. He didn't bother stopping to process the news.

"Sir, but he keeps coming back over and over again," the secretary insisted.

Bryan finally paused as he turned to face his secretary. "Don't let me repeat myself."

His blade-sharp eyes were frightening. "I'm sorry, sir!"

The moment Bryan walked out of the Li Group building, Rory suddenly appeared out of nowhere to stop him.

"Mr. Li, I have something important to tell you. Please, just give me a couple of minutes." He spoke like he couldn't handle being taken over by his own anxiety.

"Didn't the secretary already tell you that Mr. Li doesn't have time for that?" Kent interrupted as he moved in between them to block the view.

As Rory saw Bryan about to get into the car to leave, he exclaimed, "The Luo family and the Li family have become relatives by marriage. Your grandfather has already agreed to cooperate with us. How can you do this?"

Bryan stopped in his tracks, and turned to look up at Rory.

"Do you really believe that a woman can achieve all this? How naive of you!"

He smiled as if to mock Rory's ignorance.

"Do you want me to see your grandfather in person?" Rory desperately threatened.

Bryan couldn't help but sneer. "Do you think you can just go ahead and see my grandfather as you like?"

He turned to issue an order to Kent. "Cancel the advertising project with the Luo Group."

Kent intently nodded, while his eyes were locked at Rory. "Goodbye, Mr. Fu."

After she bought all the seasonings she needed, Madeline went back to the villa with her scooter. She lay to rest at the fresh-looking green lawn and bathed under the sun.

The comfort it offered made her feel like she was having the best day of her life. All of a sudden, a bird's sound rang violently in her ears.

She stood to find where it was coming from. After scanning her surroundings for a brief moment, she found a bird with broken wings that fell into the ground not too far away from her spot.

She slowly crawled over in order not to scare out the bird. "Don't be afraid. I'm going to save you. I'm not a bad person. I won't put you in a cage and hurt you, okay?"

The car from a distance abruptly stopped. Bryan carefully observed the woman slowly crawling on the lawn. Her hair was shining beautifully as her smile reflected the soft rays of the sun.

He sat quietly inside the car, and watched her pick up the bird. Then she scanned her surrounding as if looking for something, she then proceeded to tear off a piece of her skirt, and used it as a bandage for the bird's wound.

She continued to sweetly talk to the bird like it was her old friend.

He was impressed and stunned. Despite all her difficulties in a troubled family life, she could still give kindness to others and smile so brightly.

He did not expect any of it to happen!

The car then accelerated away like a racing car.

"I'm back!" She brought and immediately unpacked the seasonings in the kitchen.

"Did you go for a walk? What took you so long?" Liam infuriatingly asked.

"Sorry, something happened on the way here," she explained in a rather faint voice.

"You just can't do anything well. I don't even know why you are still here."

She had been used to how others continued to despise her, but Liam's approach towards her was the worst of them all.

She kept thinking about what the reason could be.

"Where are Anne and the others?" she curiously asked.

"What do you expect, everyone would be willing to wait for you to come back? It's already lunch break. Get over yourself!" Liam scolded her, and she smashed the bowl into the ground like a mad drill sergeant.

It was indeed already some minutes past twelve o'clock.

"Hey! Mr. Bryan suddenly came back. Just prepare the lunch as soon as possible. I'm going to bed. I'm too tired working all morning."

Liam was just about to leave after saying that.

"What? Well, what exactly do you want me to prepare?" Madeline asked out of surprise.

She didn't know what Bryan liked to eat, let alone know what to cook.

"You've been with the Li family for more than ten days now. Weren't you paying attention to your masters' taste? That's sloppy work! If you can't do it well, I'll make sure word gets out to Mr. Blake tonight."

Liam turned around and left after saying those words.

Madeline couldn't help but feel a little more anxious the moment she heard Blake's name being mentioned.

It was rare for Bryan to finish a big project. He went straight home to get some rest. As soon as he took off his shirt, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Madeline knocked on the door several times as soon as she arrived, but she didn't hear any sort of response, so she opened the door on her own, and came in.

She didn't expect to see someone temptingly half-naked inside the room.

Bryan looked at Madeline with his eyes wide open in surprise. They were both just as confused.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I knocked on the door a few times but there was no response. You probably didn't hear me." Madeline started to blush. She looked down, and embarrassingly closed the door.

She gasped with her mouth still wide open.

What lingered in her mind was the man's sexy body. She didn't expect his skin to resemble that of a bronze, which was coincidentally her favorite color.

'Madeline, are you out of your mind? What were you thinking?'

Her face started to blush again. She felt as if she was near a hot, boiling water.

"What's the matter?"

The man's voice from behind her snapped her back to her senses as she was staring into oblivion.

She suddenly raised her head out of shock. "I... um... Did you put on your clothes already?" She wasn't sure why she said that, but she did anyway.

Bryan looked at her in confusion. "You don't want me to do it?" he softly responded with a trace of mockery in his tone.

"Well..." Madeline wanted to bite off her tongue just so she wouldn't accidentally say anything wrong. "The lunch is ready. You can come downstairs." She turned around and ran away as fast and quietly as possible after saying those words

A faint smile slowly formed on Bryan's face. What was she thinking just now? When he opened the door himself and stood next to her, she didn't even notice him.

Additionally, why did her face become that red?

Did she remember something or what?

He went downstairs and grabbed himself a seat. He looked at her in disbelief.

"Is this lunch?"

She awkwardly nodded and stood behind him.

"Did you cook it?" He confusingly continued to stare at a bowl of noodles with fried sauce and poached egg.

"If you don't like it, I'll cook another dish for you." She instinctively rolled up her sleeve to prepare the ingredients.

However, Bryan suddenly picked up the chopsticks, and said, "No, it's such a waste not to eat this." He took a bite and tried to savor the taste.

She nervously observed his reaction to the food, she imagined it being thrown into the trash can as she blushed again in embarrassment. "I can't cook something like Western or Korean food. I basically can't cook anything other than some snacks. I was afraid you might be hungry, so I cooked some noodles for you."

He suddenly felt pity as he heard her nervous explanation. "It's very delicious. You haven't eaten yet, right? Sit down and let's eat together."

"No, no, my cousin-in-law, you go ahead and enjoy it!" She was afraid that someone might see and report them to Blake.

He got somehow infuriated when he heard her call him cousin-in-law.

"What did you just call me?" He raised his head to stare at her, and his face visibly changed to express his annoyance.

Her heart skipped a beat. She looked at him, and thought, 'How could this guy be so unpredictable? He looks so terrifying when he is angry.'