Loving A STRANGER

She closed the curtains and took out Pupu"s mud-caked statue from her bag. It did indeed look like a statue, the more she looked at it.

It was an abstract, dry statue, but when she looked closely, she could make out the shape of a woman: those abstract lines could be the hair...

This time, Kylie felt bad.

She remembered the first time she had asked Lord Ethan whether she could keep Pupu"s gift, and he had refused. So why the h.e.l.l had he agreed this time?

Kylie tossed the statue aside, and it rolled on the floor. Although it had hit the ground with force, it remained intact.

She lifted the blankets over her body and lay still in anger.

Fine, she thought, the statue was innocent. And it was from Pupu, not Ethan, so she picked it up.

She got out of bed, with bare feet, and placed the statue back in her bag.

But when she returned to bed, she couldn"t sleep.

For the past several years, she had become used to sleeping alone. Yet, she found that with only a couple of days sleeping by Ethan"s side, she now depended on his presence to feel sleepy.

Her head rested on the pillow, and she could feel him. His smell was everywhere in the room, which drove her crazy.

But Ethan didn"t return, as she had expected.

After dinner, the butler took her luggage to the door. "Ma"am, shall I call a car to drive you?"

"No! I can do this myself." Kylie chewed at the gum in her mouth. She didn"t like going to work, but this was different; it felt like traveling.

She wore sweatpants, just like a student.

"But I do want to say something to you," Kylie said to the butler.

"Of course, ma"am." He bowed.

Kylie chewed some more and said: "I want to take Pupu with me."

The butler stopped and didn"t know how to reply to her. Lucy had instructed him never to refuse directly.

Pupu had never shown any enthusiasm to anyone, except Lord Ethan. But since he had taken over his new business, he hadn"t been around very much to care for Pupu. Perhaps this would be a good idea.

"Please wait a minute, ma"am, I will call sir and ask him if it"s all right."

Kylie let him call the number. She looked peaceful and kept her eyes on the butler.

Watching him walking towards her, she felt nervous, and her heart began to beat quickly.

It would be impossible to expect an apology from Lord Ethan. But she wanted his att.i.tude to improve, and she wanted him to comfort her. Only then would she forgive the things that had happened last night. After all, she was a fool to remain mad at him.

She smiled and was ready to speak on the phone to him.

The butler looked at her for a second, then put on a serious expression.

It was as if Lord Ethan had materialized in front of her, in the form of his butler. He nodded from time to time, as he spoke on the phone.

"I see." The butler hung up the phone, as Kylie watched him with expectation.

"He agreed," the butler told her.

"He...didn"t say anything else?" Kylie asked, a little shocked. They had spoken on the phone for what seemed like such a long time—how could that be all he said?

"No." The butler, with a serious expression, turned towards Pupu"s room, and let the dog out.

When Pupu was released from the room, he was excited and rushed towards Kylie.

"Let"s go on vacation, okay?" Kylie immediately felt at ease when she saw Pupu.

Arf! Arf! Pupu expected Kylie to play with him, and happily ran back and forth, then circled her, then stopped in front of her.

When the leash was clipped to his collar, his ears suddenly stood up, and he couldn"t suppress the low whines of anxiety.

Kylie realized that Pupu was unhappy and stressed out. Even when she approached him, the fur on the back of his neck went up.

"We"re going there by car. I"m sorry about that. But please be patient, okay?"

She wanted to comfort him by rubbing his coat, but when she moved her hand, he followed it with his nose. The whines turned to growls, and he rejected being touched.

Okay. Fine. Kylie sat cross-legged on the ground. She smiled at Pupu.

Pupu looked at her for a while, until his erect ears relaxed. He walked a few steps forward and lay down in front of Kylie.

The tense confrontation was finally over. Kylie rubbed his neck while Pupu rested his head on her lap, with trust.

The butler, off to the side, was obviously nervous. When Mr. Parker had agreed to let the dog go, he"d been shocked.

No matter what his intention had been, everything was fine now.

"Ma"am, pets can"t be in the car. It"s going to be troublesome if you take Pupu with you. How about..."

"That"s fine. I can figure it out." Kylie tied one end of the leash to her luggage.

She wanted to send a text message to Ethan, telling him that she was leaving for work. But when she remembered that he had not asked to speak with her on the phone just then, she realized that he must still be upset.

Okay. Just let it go. It"s better not to bother him. She would explain everything to him when she was back home.

***

The tense atmosphere in the Century Group building that day made it difficult for everyone to breathe.

The CEO had just reprimanded the top management for not reporting the numbers accurately.

Before that, the CEO had been a walking ice machine, and today he had become a walking iceberg. The entire building was covered with ice and snow; it seemed.

"Elliot, is the CEO in a better mood yet?" asked the chief secretary, who wanted to bring him some doc.u.ments. However, she didn"t want to become his next punching bag.

Elliot thought that the butler had called, and asked him something about Kylie.

He had stood to the side for a while until he had seen Ethan"s expression darken, at which point Elliot had stepped out of the room.

With many years" experience being around Ethan, Elliot could read any of his many subtle expressions.