CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: SECRET CRUSH

The next day, the morning light spilled through the window lattice.

Victoria Sinclair lazily awoke to the call of the alarm clock.

She rubbed her eyes, threw off the quilt, got out of bed, and picked up the hair tie on the nightstand.

With a gentle pull, snap, it broke.

She looked at the long-used black hair tie, sighed slightly, checked under the pillow, peered under the bed, then pulled open the drawers to search. She had turned over every nook and cranny, but the little panda hair tie she had worn for less than a week disappeared the day after she got drunk.

Unable to find the panda hair tie, Victoria, with her hair loose, went into the bathroom to wash up.

The morning light streamed onto the balcony, warm and comfortable, the washing machine quietly churning, and the floor cleaner was leisurely navigating the living room.

Victoria emerged wearing a cream-colored long-sleeved shirt, black pants, her silky black hair draped over her shoulders, and carrying a backpack.

Her gaze swept across the living room sofa, where she saw Eugene Vaughn leaning against the boundary of light and shadow defined by the morning light, a bit of black intermittently appearing and disappearing between his slender fingers.

Today, he was unusually up early.

Victoria walked past the sofa.

Hearing her, Eugene abruptly clenched his hand, the metallic trinket digging into his palm with a dull pain that made his brow furrow. He turned his head to look at her.

Normally, if Eugene ignored her, she wouldn’t initiate a greeting.

But Eugene had already cast his eyes over, so Victoria didn’t deliberately avoid him, her voice carrying the raspiness of just waking up, "You’re up a bit early today."

Eugene cleared his throat, "Yeah, I went to bed a bit early last night."

Victoria put down her backpack, squatted near the coffee table, and bent down to peek under the sofa and the table.

Her long hair fell, blocking half of her view, she hooked her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

"Looking for something?" Eugene leaned down, moving closer to her.

"My hair tie went missing." Victoria sighed and sat back on the sofa, "It’s black, with an intricate metal panda on it."

Eugene’s eyes flickered slightly, his fist slowly slipped into his pants pocket, "What do you want for breakfast?"

He got up and headed towards the kitchen, the breeze trailing after him lifted the ends of her hair.

Victoria stood up as well, "Do we still have the savory glutinous rice balls from last night?"

"Yes."

They made too much last night, and the leftovers were all in the fridge.

"Just heat them up. I still want some." Victoria didn’t concern herself about the hair tie matter and followed him into the kitchen.

Eugene heated up the savory rice balls while Victoria took out some oranges from the fridge to make juice.

The air in the kitchen was very warm, and though they hardly spoke, it felt cozy.

He brought out two bowls of rice balls, and Victoria brought out two glasses of juice.

They sat down and quietly ate breakfast once more.

Victoria found her long hair troublesome, so she straightened her body, looked around, walked to the cabinet, and took out a pencil from the drawer. She deftly rolled up her long hair and pinned it on the back of her head with the pencil.

Her hair was soft, but the advantage was its length, which allowed it to be pinned securely.

When she turned around, her eyes met Eugene’s gaze. It was a brief encounter; his eyes were intense, then quickly avoided and lowered as he continued his breakfast.

Perhaps it was curiosity!

Victoria didn’t take it to heart.

She returned to the dining table, sitting down to continue eating breakfast.

Eugene took a sip of juice and asked, "Is your company participating in the pharmaceutical exhibition?"

Victoria didn’t expect him to bring up work.

"Yes, today is the last day to set up the booth, and since our company doesn’t have a lot of medicines, we’ll showcase all of them at this exhibition." Victoria spoke while eating, a bit of soup dribbled from the corner of her mouth. She licked it with her tongue and reached for a napkin.

In that moment!

Eugene had already handed her a napkin.

She was slightly taken aback, raising her eyes to look at him.

The speed at which he offered the napkin was like a reflex, leaving her dumbfounded.

"Thank you." Victoria accepted it, wiped her mouth, held the napkin in her hand, and continued eating breakfast.

"I’ll be going too, let’s go together on the way."

"I have to return to the office first, lots of things to bring along." Victoria responded, then realized, looking at him questioningly, "I remember the Vaughn Group’s medical equipment wasn’t self-developed."

"It’s Kyanite Pharmaceuticals, our booth is at C12." Eugene spoke unhurriedly, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the crescent-shaped chip along the bowl’s rim, the one she accidentally knocked last week. "Three booths away from yours."

Kyanite Pharmaceuticals?

Victoria remembered, initially, when the Vaughn Group’s investment fell through, Eugene told her Kyanite Pharmaceuticals was 100% owned by him, and he wanted to continue investing in her company and collaborate with her.

But she declined at that time.

Even though Eugene held the highest management position in the Vaughn Group, the majority shareholder was still his father.

Victoria cautiously asked, "Do we...have any competing products?"

If they had competing products, as a small company, she couldn’t compete with him, could she? Even if his company was newly established, it was still a well-funded, large-scale pharmaceutical company.

"No competing products. You’re working on orphan disease drugs and vaccines, we’re developing external medications and medical equipment, also researching traditional Chinese medicine."

Victoria let out a sigh of relief.

After breakfast.

Victoria wanted to clear away the bowls, but Eugene disapproved of her washing them clean enough and didn’t let her wash them.

Victoria kind of liked his fastidiousness.

The two of them left together.

The elevator went straight down to the basement parking lot.

Eugene unlocked the car and sat in the driver’s seat.

Victoria habitually got into the backseat, pulling the seatbelt over to fasten it.

In the rearview mirror, Eugene’s jawline suddenly tightened, his eyes dimmed, and the car’s fragrance suddenly became suffocating.

The atmosphere in the car was oppressive and silent.

He didn’t speak, drove out of the neighborhood, and dropped Victoria off at the research institute’s entrance.

Victoria got out of the car and stood by the edge watching his car leave.

Her heart felt heavy.

——

By midday.

Eugene, accompanied by his assistant Xiao Chen and Vivian Miller, walked out of the Vaughn Group headquarters and into the parking lot.

Xiao Chen spoke respectfully, "President Vaughn, shall I drive?"

Eugene pointed at the company’s cars, "Drive those, if you want."

Xiao Chen gave a sheepish smile, quickly explaining, "I didn’t mean it like that, President Vaughn."

He had forgotten Eugene disliked others driving his car, never allowing anyone else to touch the steering wheel, finding it dirty.

Besides, what boss lets the secretary and assistant drive?

Eugene got in the car, and Vivian walked to the front passenger side, pulling the handle, finding it locked. She knocked on the glass.

No response from inside, Eugene ignored her.

Xiao Chen was already seated in the back.

Vivian was so annoyed outside the passenger seat she stomped her foot, helplessly sitting in the back instead.

After getting in, Vivian puffed her cheeks, disgruntled, "Why can’t I sit in the front passenger seat?"

Eugene leaned over, opened the hidden compartment in front of the passenger seat, riffling through it, unsurprisingly finding things that didn’t belong to him.

Lipstick, mirror, hairpin, hair tie, and wet wipes — he took them all out and handed them to Vivian, "You have plenty of little schemes."

Vivian didn’t accept them, "What’s wrong with leaving those there? They don’t take up much space."

"When did my front passenger seat become your private space?" Eugene tossed the items onto her lap, his tone devoid of any warmth.