He said deadpan, “Enough. Aren’t you thirsty? You’ve been

lecturing me all evening.”

“Fine. I’ll stop. On one condition, though-treat Hara right and

knock her up before the end of the year. Or forget about seeing

her ever again.”

Being threatened, he looked at her.

Though his gaze was icy, she didn’t flinch. She continued, “If

you loved Kelsey that much, you should’ve stood up to

Raymond back then instead of taking it out on Hara.”

This time, he didn’t say anything. After staring at her for a

while, he lowered his head and continued to eat.

***

When it was almost 11:00 p.m., Ellsworth came back to the

bedroom. Harriet was still working in front of herptop.

She didn’t notice him at first. Only when she heard faint sounds

did she realize he was in the room.

He took off his clothes while looking at her expressionlessly.

She hastily sprang to her feet, bent down to pick up herptop,

and said apologetically, “You need to use the desk, right?”

While saying this, she picked up the documents from the desk

and ced them on herptop.

He said, his voice t, “No. You may continue.””

Hearing this, she stopped panicking. “Alright. Then I’ll use your

desk a little longer.””

With this, she put down herptop and the documents and sat

back in the chair.

While organizing his clothes, Ellsworth looked at her. However

little he had noticed her before, even he could tell-she had

grown distant from him.

A momentter, he finished his shower.

As he walked out of the bathroom, towel-drying his hair,

Harriet looked at him, asking, “I’ve sorted out the phase one

construction details for our project with Ranton Group. Do you

have a second?”

He rubbed his hair a few times, tossed the towel aside, and

walked over.

She stood up so that he could sit, but he said tly, “Sit.”

Looking at him, she said softly, “Alright.”

Then she sat back slowly.

He stopped behind her and rested his hands naturally on the

desk, trapping her in his embrace.

Slightly stunned, she turned around to look at him.

Ellsworth seemed as calm andposed as always, his

attention on theptop screen. Seeing this, Harriet didn’t say

anything. She turned back to focus on the screen, too.

Holding the mouse in his right hand, Ellsworth scrolled down,

saying gently, “The materials are all good. Just tell QC to keep a

tight eye on things inter construction phases.”

His unique cologne wafted over, and his voice was so deep and

mellow. Harriet couldn’t help but nce at him again,

surprised-he had seldom been this gentle when talking to her.

She nodded. “Alright.”

Chapter

After a pause, she asked, “How about the design? Does it need any further optimization?”

The Townsend Group invested in all kinds of projects, ranging

from traditional industries, technology, real estate, and so on.

In the early years, Ellsworth’s father had built thepany’s

sess on real estate.

“Let me take a look,” Ellsworth said, his attention back on the

screen again.

His face was only inches away from hers, and her heartbeat

raced uncontrobly.

She couldn’t help but look at his side profile and had to admit it

was simply impable.

Though constantly praised for her beauty, she felt invisible

beside him.

After a few minutes, Ellsworth said, “Good job on the design.

And you controlled the budget well.”

Did he justpliment her?

She was genuinely surprised.

He looked at her, and their eyes locked.

She smiled at him, “Thanks. I’ll try to keep up the good work!”

He didn’t say anything and just stared at the radiant smile on

her face.

His gaze was so straightforward that her cheeks heated.

Pursing her lips, she wondered what she could say to ease the

awkwardness. Just then, he leaned over and kissed her lips.

She was totally stunned.