CHAPTER 244: HIDING IN HIS... CROTCH?

His question caught her off guard for a moment.

In fact, she had never thought that he would really want to get rid of her.

If he had to, he would have done it ages ago, probably.

But nevertheless, in the face of his question, Ella smiled, "I don’t know. What if you find another woman?"

Adrian remained silent.

Ella blinked. He wasn’t really considering it now, was he? She cleared her throat, "What is it?"

He leaned back on the headboard, his lazy eyes boring into hers, "You are my woman."

No further words. No more explanations.

Ella’s heart fluttered so hard that it could grow wings and fly straight out of her chest.

She couldn’t resist from leaning in towards him.

Adrian’s eyes darkened as he saw through her intentions.

And he slightly tilted his chin.

Ella pouted when he moved his lips away and she inched closer again.

This time, she was hovering atop him.

Just as Ella was about to go straight for his lips this time, the door opened.

’Thud’

Ella landed atop Adrian, faceplanting on... his crotch.

"_"

’Silence’

’Calm and gentle breeze’

’Silence’

Ella wanted to remain buried there. Forever. It was doing a holy job of hiding her face.

But... But... But... She actually felt something...

Before, she would not have noticed it but after they had done a couple of things... ahem, she noticed it right away.

"Ace!" Ronan’s stern voice landed like a professional, "You have barely recovered. At least, regain your energy before you—"

"Out."

’Bam’ The door was shut in a split-second.

Adrian turned to Ella, who was laying still in the same position.

"Don’t want to get up?"

Ella sat straight, her face flushing vigorously.

Meeting his teasing gaze, she covered her face with both her palms, "Why are you looking at me like that? I am telling you it’s not intentional..." she peeked from the gap between her fingers.

"I wouldn’t mind if it was," Adrian whispered.

Ella dropped her hands and gaped at him, blushing furiously. He a-a-actually wanted her to—AHHH!

Adrian sighed and pulled her into his arms.

Ella’s racing heart gradually calmed down, "I am not going out of this anymore."

"Mm."

"Never showing my face to others."

"Mm."

"I am really, never going out."

"Fine by me."

Ella: "_" Isn’t he supposed to ask ’why’?

...

"You love him a lot,’’ were the first words Ruby uttered when they walked out of the condominium.

Love? Ella had never associated the term with Adrian before.

For the longest time, she had believed that she loved Max.

It took her two lifetimes to realize that it wasn’t love, but rather his attention that she craved.

Despite his twisted ways, the moment Max showed her care or attention, she would fall for him even deeper.

Because growing up, she had stopped getting that care from her parents at some point. So, she accepted it no matter where it came from.

It was only when she learned to love herself did she realize that she broke out of those tendencies.

Max’s sweet words no longer seemed like the only hope in her life.

In the blink of an eye, everything she knew about love turned out to be wrong.

So, she did not know it again. What was it like to love someone?

"I don’t know if I love him. I want him to be happy, healthy, and by my side. I want to care for him and to be there for him whenever he needs him," Ella mumbled the very plain, mundane things that she felt for Adrian in the most simple words.

Ruby looked like she wanted to say something but eventually, she remained quiet.

"I am sorry," Ella looked at her.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I have been hiding things from you," Ella inhaled a deep breath, "Actually, he... is not a branch member of the King Family..."

"I know."

Ella stilled. The calmness on Ruby’s face startled her, "You do?"

Ruby looked at her quietly.

Ella was having such a hard time digesting all the lies she had uttered but now, she was being told that Ruby knew about it all along?!

"Since when?" Ella asked.

Ruby fell silent for a moment, "I doubted it when you took me to the mansion."

Not many people in the Vermilion City or even the entire Country V lived in a mansion that resembled a royal palace.

But nevertheless, Ruby had shrugged off that thought until another dot connected in her mind.

The gang that had kidnapped her and Ella had vanished overnight, destroyed singlehandedly.

And, then she overheard part of the conversation between Mr. Ambrose and Mrs. Hill.

Later, Mr. Ambrose, who had adamantly asked her to stay away from Ella, told her to interact more with her.

And Ruby’s doubts were confirmed when she saw the way he treated Ella today.

Ella fell silent, rubbing her nose, "So, you caught me... Huh..."

Ruby looked at her silently.

Ella sighed, "He is Adrian. Adrian King, the direct heir of the King Family and Kade is his half-brother."

Ruby paused. A tense silence lingered in the air.

Ella wondered if Ruby had gone in shock.

But after a few long minutes, the girl calmly opened her mouth and uttered an ’Oh’.

Ella blinked. Oh? That’s all?

Her nerves slowly relaxed and she gained some confidence this time, "I have been hiding something else too,’’ she said, sounding almost righteous.

"Hmm?"

"Back then, I did not want you to think that I got myself a man just to get over Max. I had no such feelings for Max... but I thought you loved him and you would misunderstand that I also..." Ella inhaled a deep breath.

"So, when you saw him in my dorm room, I told you he is my boyfriend. But..."

"But?" Ruby raised a brow when Ella hesitated.

"He is not."

Ruby nodded slowly, "It’s even better if you were pretending to be in a relationship..."

Even though she did not quite believe it after seeing how much Ella cared for the man, but... they must have their reasons too.

"Very few men are worthy of you. There is no need to rush into a relationship or anything—"

"Ruby, he is my husband, not boyfriend."