novelraw Chapter 362 - 363: You Are Responsible for the Beautiful Blossom
Chapter 362 - 363: You Are Responsible for the Beautiful Blossom
Chapter 362: Chapter 363: You Are Responsible for the Beautiful Blossom
Eastminster Tower and Cloudscape Building were just across the road from each other, so Adrian Desmond was a frequent visitor to Sienna Johnson’s office.
After making his presence known in the Eastminster Group’s cafeteria a few times and ensuring all employees recognized him as Sienna Johnson’s husband, Adrian Desmond stopped subjecting his stomach to the company fare. Instead, he had a chef prepare lunch and deliver it to Sienna Johnson’s office so they could eat together.
"...How come President Johnson never gets fat, even though she eats a sumptuous banquet every day?"
Gary Fisher had left the Eastminster Group, and Vivian Abbey was too busy to handle everything on her own. So, an assistant, Lucy, was selected through an internal evaluation.
Lucy looked deceptively innocent and sweet, but her work ability was plain for all to see; even Sienna Johnson had to admit it. Looks can be deceiving, and that was certainly true for Lucy.
"Sounds like someone’s envious," Vivian Abbey laughed.
"Huh? Vivian, I can’t handle a man like Sixth Master... I still think Secretary Fisher is a much better man. What about you two? How’s it going?"
When Lucy first saw Adrian Desmond’s handsome appearance, she had been a little smitten. But after he’d put her in her place a few times, she was left with severe psychological trauma.
Experience had taught her a valuable lesson. Now, she wouldn’t dare be so reckless when encountering handsome men.
"We never even started, so how could there be any progress! Don’t you go blabbing, young lady! I really want to get married soon. If your big mouth goes around announcing I have a boyfriend, who would dare to pursue me then?"
Lucy nudged Vivian Abbey and smiled slyly. "You really don’t have any feelings for Secretary Fisher?"
"Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Secretary Fisher?" Vivian, who tended to gain weight easily, ate only vegetarian food. Her packed lunch was particularly devoid of oil or fat, so much so that just looking at it made Lucy lose her appetite.
"My heart is set on the bright moon, but the bright moon only shines on the gutter. Secretary Fisher likes you; everyone in the company knows that. I don’t like men whose hearts are already taken. ...By the way, I heard Secretary Fisher originally came to the Eastminster Group for you. Why did he leave now? Could it be... you two really broke up?"
Vivian Abbey ate her carrot, chewing slowly without saying a word.
"Good men are becoming rarer these days. If you like him, stop being so reserved, or those little vixens will snatch him up. You’ll regret it then."
...
"Ugh, this is just awful to eat. I’m going to President Johnson’s to see if I can get some of her food."
Vivian Abbey collected herself and warned, "Go ahead, if you’re not afraid of dying."
Lucy pouted. "They have so much; they can’t possibly eat it all."
"During an economic crisis, when capitalists can’t sell their milk, they’d rather pour it into the river than give it to the poor."
"Sigh, those wicked capitalists..."
...
Sienna Johnson looked at the table laden with dishes, her expression strained.
Perhaps it was because she had endured many hardships in her youth; her adoptive mother had been so frugal she couldn’t even bear to eat cabbages picked up from the vegetable market. Even though Sienna later became wealthy, she maintained her thrifty habits.
For example, she never ordered a mountain of food only to waste what she couldn’t finish.
Adrian Desmond’s profligate ways were something Sienna Johnson truly couldn’t get used to.
"In the future, can you please not order so many dishes? This is too extravagant; it’s enough for five or six people... We can’t finish it all, and it’s such a waste to throw away..."
"Isn’t the point of earning so much money to spend it? Otherwise, what’s the point of earning it?"
"That doesn’t mean you can be so wasteful."
...
"In the future, two or three dishes plus a soup will be enough for us."
Adrian Desmond had also experienced a period of hardship when he was young, but his situation was different from Sienna Johnson’s. He had once been a wealthy young master, but his family later suffered a major upheaval, leading to a period of destitution. It was precisely because he had fallen on hard times that Adrian seemed desperate to compensate for that suffering, insisting on having the best of everything.
Sienna Johnson was rendered speechless by the mere fact that he couldn’t stand Sileria City’s water and had water air-freighted from Swestein daily. Drinking air-freighted water was one thing, but Adrian Desmond even used it to wash his hair and bathe...
She had never seen anyone so wasteful, she thought.
"The way you spend, you’ll squander any fortune in no time."
"Earning money is something men should worry about; women shouldn’t concern themselves with such matters. Here, try this deep-sea cod fillet. The ingredients were just air-freighted today..."
...
"But..."
"SHHH... Don’t worry about these things. I’m in charge of earning money, and you’re in charge of looking beautiful... Okay?"
Sienna Johnson put the food in her mouth, and a sudden wave of nausea washed over her. Her face turned pale. She rushed to the trash can and retched a few times, but nothing came up.
Adrian Desmond put down his chopsticks. He looked at her anxiously and asked, "What’s wrong?"
"The smell of the fish made me feel sick."
"I remember you used to love fish."
"Never mind, I’ll try something else." But it was no use. She tried a few other things but found she couldn’t eat anything. Only some sour lemonade seemed to agree with her.
"I’ll take you to the hospital to get checked out," Adrian Desmond said. Seeing Sienna Johnson couldn’t eat anything, her face pale and her smile strained, he lost his appetite as well.
"No, it’s okay," Sienna replied. "It’s just an upset stomach, nothing serious. I have some stomach medicine in my office, in the third drawer. Can you get it for me?"
Adrian Desmond went to get the medicine for Sienna Johnson. She lay languidly on the sofa, looking somewhat listless. She watched Adrian, and suddenly remembering what Lucas Robertson had asked her to do, she inquired,
"This person, Samuel Palmer, do you know him?"
"What did Lucas Robertson tell you?"
Neither of them was a fool, so they understood each other without much explanation. The moment Sienna Johnson mentioned Samuel Palmer, Adrian Desmond knew what she was getting at.
"Lucas Robertson said you arranged for Samuel Palmer to get close to Kiki. Is that true?"
"Yes." Adrian Desmond had no intention of hiding it from Sienna Johnson.
Sienna Johnson frowned. "What are you planning to do to Kiki?"
"Don’t worry. That Samuel Palmer is outstanding. He’s a good match for Kiki; she definitely won’t be at a disadvantage."
"You’re not the type to meddle in other people’s affairs. I want to know why you’re doing this." Sienna Johnson’s gaze was sharp as she looked at him.
Adrian Desmond said, "In a way, if it weren’t for Lucas Robertson, we wouldn’t have been separated for all those years. This anger in my heart needs an outlet. Since I can’t take it out on you, I had to find a scapegoat..."
"What does that have to do with Lucas Robertson? I was the one who asked him for help back then. If you want to split hairs now about who was right or wrong, weren’t you the one at fault in the end?"
"Back then, if you hadn’t been trying to have it both ways, wanting to marry me as some sort of junior wife, I, heavily pregnant, wouldn’t have run away from home."
...
"Adrian Desmond, do you have any idea how hard it was for me back then? When I gave birth, I hemorrhaged badly and nearly died..."
Back then, I was prepared for death, Sienna Johnson recalled. I even entrusted Curly to Kiki, asking her to take the child and find Adrian Desmond.