Removing one side of the headphones, Ian Preston hadn’t yet spoken when a broadcast sounded from above.
The voice belonged to a girl, fluent in English, her tone even, devoid of emotion.
At first listen, there was nothing special, just felt familiar.
Until later, when the speaker switched to Chinese, he heard his own na.
It was that sound that he recognized as Thea Lynch’s voice.
A flash of astonishnt crossed the man’s eyes.
Surprised to hear the owner of this voice here.
In front of the screen, the partner suddenly saw him freeze, thinking the screen had frozen, but they could still vaguely hear the sound from their side. They tried calling Ian Preston.
Hearing this, Ian looked toward the computer in front of him and apologized.
The eting was still ongoing, the cooperation not yet achieved, still in the negotiation phase.
At this mont, it was crucial.
His assistant next to him reacted quickly, whispering, "Mr. Preston, I’ll go fetch Miss Lynch."
At this mont, Ian couldn’t walk away.
They originally planned to fly directly from Coronet to Briggate, already delayed once, with the other side giving them face, postponing until now.
Unfortunately, the weather at the mont prevented flights. The earliest estimated flight resumption was tomorrow.
The other party felt a sense of urgency, leading both sides to hastily decide on a video conference.
The others had been accommodating, tolerant of their various issues. So now Ian couldn’t leave; if he left the eting halfway, anyone would be upset.
This cooperation would probably fall through as well.
Ian didn’t speak, which signified assent.
The assistant nodded, got up to head downstairs to find Thea Lynch.
Before he could move his feet, the voice in the broadcast suddenly sounded again.
Different from the previously robotic and cold tone, this ti, the voice was trembling, mixed with a hint of anger.
Like a final ultimatum.
"Ten minutes, I’ll give you only ten minutes."
It was thought that this statent was already quite powerful. However, there was an even more potent one that followed—
"If I don’t see you in ten minutes, there’s no need for us to ever see each other again."
"!" The assistant was rooted to the spot, unable to move. Stiffly, he turned his head to look at Ian.
"Mr. Preston..."
He wanted to tentatively suggest that maybe he should go over there?
Explain, and perhaps Miss Lynch wouldn’t take it to heart.
After all, she was such a sensible person.
Not a big problem.
"I’m sorry, Mr. John. There’s sothing very important I have to do now. I apologize greatly for the disruption to this eting. Give ten minutes."
Ian stood up and patted the assistant on the shoulder, "Thank you."
The assistant: "..."
The assistant felt a headache coming on, resignedly sitting down to clean up the ss, frantically explaining to the senior managent on the other side.
——
Other bodyguards quickly followed Ian.
Ian, usually so composed, lost his composure and poise for the first ti, his steps slightly disordered as he went downstairs.
At the ground floor elevator, Ian suddenly stopped.
The bodyguard inquired, "Mr. Preston, where are you going?"
"Which direction is the broadcast room?"
In the past few years, he had taken off and landed at this airport countless tis, at least twice a month on average.
But the broadcast room was indeed unfamiliar to him.
The bodyguards received the instruction and dispersed to look for it, giving a location within two minutes.
In the vast airport, Ian’s initial steps were just a bit rushed, but gradually, he beca dissatisfied with the pace and suddenly began to run.
The bodyguards behind him were stunned. There were too many passengers in the terminal, so they had to split up to catch up with him.
——
Inside the broadcast room, sensing the heavy atmosphere, the staff tried to lighten the mood, asking Thea who she was looking for.
"Family," Thea said.
The staff mber made an understanding sound, in a knowingly manner, "Your lover, huh."
Thea was montarily stunned, then shook her head.
The staff mber nodded knowingly again, "Your partner!"
"..." Thea hesitated to speak, "No."
"How could it not be? You seem so anxious, you must have gotten separated from your lover, right?"
"Also not a lover."
"A friend, your eyes betray you."
"Your eyes tell , that person must be the one you love the most."
This ti, Thea did not refute it.
"Don’t worry, our weather is bad this afternoon, so flights are grounded."
Levi had described the situation to him earlier, so he had a general understanding. He reassured, "The other party is definitely on the way."
"Mm, thank you."
Thea breathed a sigh of relief.
The staff continued chatting with her, "Where did you co from? Which part of China? Here for tourism?"
Thea glanced down at her watch, anxious yet not showing it, responding one by one.
But without much sincerity.
Every word and sentence was perfunctory.
Levi nudged the staff, signaling him to stop talking.
The latter didn’t understand his aning, and Levi was exasperated with him. "You really don’t have any tact at all."
"What?" The foreigner didn’t understand.
Just as he was about to argue, the door to the broadcast room suddenly burst open from the outside.
With a loud crash, the sound echoed.
The three people inside the broadcast room shuddered in response.
Thea was the first to look up, looking toward the door.
The mont she saw Ian, her heart settled back into place, finally letting out a breath.
Actually, within these ten minutes, she had guessed that Ian hadn’t boarded the plane.
Just unable to reach him, her nerves were tense, unable to relax.
She wasn’t too pessimistic, nor did she expect the worst.
Over the years, relatives had left one by one.
Too many tis, accidents arrived before tomorrow did.
It made her overly sensitive now, afraid that Ian would leave her too.
A long ti ago, her sense of security ca from Aaron Lynch. After Aaron, it was Ian, and later it beca herself.
And now, she just realized that most of her sense of security still ca from Ian.
Outside, Thea didn’t dare to overstep boundaries, rarely expressing her emotions.
But now she didn’t want to think too much about it.
Her hands and feet disobeying her, before Ian could enter the door, she got up first, running toward him.
Ian didn’t know what had happened, but when he saw her approaching, he subconsciously extended his arms, embracing her completely.
"What’s the matter?"
Feeling her hands tightly gripping his waist, her strength growing as if venting sothing.
Ian’s arms around her slowly tightened, trying to give her so sense of safety. After a while, the shoulders of the person in his arms seed to tremble, and Ian’s breath paused for a mont.
He freed a hand, lowering his head to brush away the stray hair covering her cheek, tucking it behind her ear, gently kissing her ear, whispering softly to her: "Thea, your third brother is here."
"Don’t cry, don’t cry, Thea darling."
"Tell your third brother properly." Ian assud Thea had been bullied by soone and his gaze swept across the two people in the broadcast room.
When he saw Levi, his dark eyes turned cold.
He had seen this foreign man before.
Not recently, a few years ago.
Levi realized this, hurriedly waving his hand, "No, no, no, I’m the one who brought her to find you."
"No one bullied her here, okay? If you have to find the culprit who made her cry..."
Levi pointed at him: "Then it’s you."
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