Chapter 6 006 The president eats pancakes.

"Hey, Ashley, where are you?" The voice on the phone was very friendly and full of concern. "I went out to take a call at the party last night and when I came back, I couldn't find you. Did you go home?"

Ryan immediately recognized the voice on the phone as the same one he heard on the balcony last night.

"I wasn't feeling well, so I went home first," he replied. "What's wrong?"

Cloud, on the other end of the line, felt a bit panicked hearing such a cold tone. Ashley has always been lively and enthusiastic in her words and actions, why is she suddenly being so indifferent to her? Does she suspect that what happened last night has something to do with herself?

Cloud forced a laugh twice and said, "Nothing much, just worried about you."

Ryan said, "If there's nothing else then I'll hang up."

And he really hung up.

Cloud listened to the sound of "beep beep" for a while before reacting.

Ryan's tone after hanging up was calm: "It's her."

Ashley looked disappointed and sad without waiting for Ryan's comfort. But before long she quickly adjusted her mindset and encouraged herself: "Forget it, it's my own fault for being blind and careless in making friends. From now on I need to be more careful!"

After saying that, she noticed that Ryan was looking at her absentmindedly. She waved her hand in front of his eyes and asked: "What's wrong?"

Ryan quickly returned to normalcy and shook his head: "Nothing. You should go to work now; there is a meeting at 8 o'clock. Remember to record everything discussed during the meeting with your recorder in your office drawer."

While muttering about how ridiculous it is for a company to have an 8 am meeting on Saturday morning, Ashley rubbed her sore shoulders as she stood up. Although this mansion is not often inhabited, it is fully equipped with daily necessities. After freshening up in the bathroom, they both left separately.

Outside the door, Ben hoped for at least a farewell hug from the two: ...is that it?

The driver had already opened the car door and Ashley got in. Ben turned back to take one last look at the beautiful woman standing coldly at the gate before following her into the car upon hearing their boss instructing: "Go to the company."

Ben couldn't help but ask: "What about that miss?"

They had already discussed it; Ashley didn't have much work these days and only needed to wait for Director Zeng's audition notice, so Ryan just needed to familiarize himself with his surroundings at Ashley's house. While flipping through her memo pad to confirm today's schedule of activities for the overbearing CEO, she replied: "Don't worry about her."

Why is our boss being so indifferent towards a beauty like her!!!

Knowing his boss's personality well enough, Ben dared not ask any further questions and remained silent.

As they drove down the mountain, passing through downtown area, Ashley asked the driver: "Can we park ahead?"

The driver glanced at a road sign and said: "Boss, you can park temporarily for three minutes."

"Okay then, stop ahead." She turned to Ben and said: "Hurry up and go buy me a pancake from there."

She pointed towards a small cart selling pancakes near an entrance of subway station.

Ben doubted if he heard correctly.

Ashley urged him on saying: "Hurry up! You only have three minutes."

Ben quickly got off.

He was dressed in exquisite suit attire with neatly combed hair styled with hair gel - looking every bit like an elite white-collar worker - yet now he found himself amidst bustling crowds near a subway entrance asking an elderly lady selling pancakes: "Add an extra egg! Please hurry, thank you!"

It wasn't until he returned to the car holding a piping hot pancake that Ben still felt a bit confused. Meanwhile, his boss had already generously started eating the pancake.

Ryan has stomach problems; it's probably a disease that every overbearing CEO must have. As soon as Ashley got in the car, she felt uncomfortable in her stomach. It was like her stomach was contracting and wanting to digest something but there was nothing inside. She usually eats three meals regularly and couldn't stand this feeling, so she immediately wanted to eat something.

After devouring the warm pancake, she finally felt alive again. There were always bottled water on standby in the car, but Ashley didn't like drinking cold water. After taking two sips of water, she instructed Ben: "From now on, let's keep a thermos flask in the car with hot water."

Ben said: "Okay boss." He handed over his laptop and said: "Boss, here is today's meeting agenda; I've already organized it."

Ashley was stunned by dozens of pages of PowerPoint slides.

Although I couldn't understand anything, I still pretended to read the ppt. Even if I didn't understand the content, I could still appreciate the design and layout. It was much more professionally beautiful than the career development ppt that the company made for me. After finishing it, don't forget to praise my subordinates: "Well done, good job."

Ben was pleasantly surprised.

After working here for so long, this was the first time my boss praised me! The young assistant controlled himself from raising his eyebrows in surprise and said: "Not hard at all, just doing my job."

On the other side, Ryan's arranged car had arrived to pick him up. He got into the car, gave Zhou's address and leaned back on the seat with his eyes closed to relax.

The driver subconsciously glanced at the beautiful woman through the rear-view mirror. He knew that this mansion was left by the boss's parents, and it had been locked up by his grandfather, Douglas, since his parents passed away. Except for the cleaning staff, no one else had ever entered.

It wasn't until half a year ago when the boss returned to the country that it reopened, but only the boss himself could come and go. Who is this woman? How can she stay overnight here? The driver immersed himself in gossip when suddenly the woman in the back seat spoke: "Is this how Cavendish family teaches you to treat passengers getting on your car?"

She still had her eyes closed, but her chilling sharpness filled with determination was like an ice pick, making it impossible for anyone to hide in such a small space inside the car. The driver immediately panicked and withdrew his gaze: "I'm sorry miss, I overstepped."

There was silence from behind and the driver dared not look again.

Over an hour later, as daylight broke completely and awakened the entire city, an unremarkable sedan stopped outside a semi-old residential building. Ryan opened his eyes and put on a mask after the driver opened the door for him.

He had already changed into flat shoes sent by Ben last night and put on a coat left at the mansion to cover up his sexy figure underneath.

With fair skin in a red dress accentuating her ample chest and slender waistline - she truly stood out.

The neighborhood consisted of houses built more than ten years ago with lush greenery inside; seemingly every household kept flowers. Bougainvillea cascaded down rusty anti-theft window bars while petals covered a single lane road that only accommodated passing cars during early summer.

Bicycles and electric scooters occasionally passed along green paths - people going to work or buying groceries; some practicing tai chi or playing with children on the public lawns on both sides. The entire neighborhood was bustling with activity.

But Ryan didn't like nor was he accustomed to such liveliness.

He tightened his coat and unconsciously quickened his pace, soon finding the three units where the Zhong family resided. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, someone shouted "wait" and rushed over. He reached out to hold the door open, and when it reopened, a curly-haired auntie carrying groceries thanked him repeatedly as she entered.

She pressed 6th floor but glanced at another lit button for 9th floor before suddenly turning back to shout at him: "Ashley, is that you?"

Ryan was taken aback.

The curly-haired auntie enthusiastically approached him: "You're wrapped up so tightly I almost didn't recognize you! You haven't been home these past few days; I haven't seen your mom come down for walks either. But Yu Yu comes out to play every day - yesterday he even fought with that chubby boy from the first floor over a toy!"

After she finished speaking, she looked expectantly at him.

Ryan felt her gaze lingering for an eternity; he had never thought an elevator ride could feel this slow. After what seemed like ages under Auntie's increasingly confused expression, he finally muttered in a low voice: "I'm a bit tired."

The curly-haired auntie suddenly realized: "Ah yes! You must have rushed back after filming all night; you must be exhausted!" She rummaged through her bag of groceries and pulled out a packaged sandwich: "This is what I bought for my sister; take it and eat! Haven't had breakfast yet?"

Ryan said, "No need, thank you."

Without any further discussion, Auntie stuffed the sandwich into his hand: "Don't be polite with Auntie! Let's go out for a walk with your mom in the afternoon; it's been a few days and I miss her."

The elevator reached the 6th floor, and she finally stepped out.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, looking down at the sandwich in his hand. It wasn't until the elevator doors opened again that he finally took a deep breath and stepped out.