As Owen Rhodes’s chief assistant, Liam Hawthorne had mastered the art of multitasking.
Right now, he was confirming the afternoon’s eting agenda and the evening’s social engagents with Owen Rhodes, but his mind was elsewhere.
Owen Rhodes had been very busy these past few days.
He had always been busy, but he was exceptionally busy lately.
Liam Hawthorne had noticed.
He felt that Owen Rhodes’s busyness was deliberate, as if he were intentionally killing ti at the office.
Of course, he wasn’t implying his boss was slacking off.
The boss was working hard, and everyone could see that.
But the boss also seed like one of those n at the company who didn’t want to go ho, using a busy work schedule as an excuse to put off his wife.
But he felt that couldn’t be right.
After all, President Rhodes was very fond of his wife, and they were newlyweds. Why would he do such a thing?
Owen Rhodes had never liked social engagents before. He usually passed them on to his vice presidents.
For the ones he absolutely couldn’t avoid, he would just make an appearance, stay for a little while, and then leave early.
But for the past few days, Owen Rhodes had been attending one engagent after another.
’And for crying out loud, he even cos back to the office to work overti after them!’
No, that wasn’t it. What he ant to say was that his boss was diligent, leading by example and giving his all for the company.
"President Rhodes, President Yates from Solstice International has invited you to a business dinner tonight. Will you be attending? Or should I ask Vice President Yorke to go?"
Owen Rhodes signed the docunt in his hand. "I’ll go."
The words had barely left his mouth when his phone screen lit up with a new ssage.
He unlocked it to check, then his tone suddenly changed. "Wait. Ask Vice President Yorke to go."
"Understood."
Liam Hawthorne was ecstatic.
’I have a feeling I can actually get off work on ti today!’
Owen Rhodes quickly replied to Stella Sterling: [Okay]
Just as Owen Rhodes finished replying, Liam Hawthorne received a ssage as well.
After reading it, he reported to Owen Rhodes, "President Rhodes, the Veridian project is still in the negotiation phase. Mr. Rhodes... just returned to Jandor on his own."
’He should be back, after all. The engagent party is tomorrow.’
Owen Rhodes listened and h’md without any visible emotion.
He then sent a ssage to Ethan Rhodes, who was on the plane: [Co to my office at nine tonight.]
During the afternoon eting, Liam Hawthorne clearly noticed that Owen Rhodes was sowhat distracted.
Although he didn’t say much during the eting, the way he frequently lifted his wrist to check his watch betrayed his inner restiveness.
When quitting ti finally arrived, Owen Rhodes, who had been finding every excuse to stay busy the past two days, was unwilling to linger for even a second longer today.
On the way back to Lanthos Bay, Liam Hawthorne finally couldn’t resist asking, "President Rhodes, have you and your wife been fighting these last couple of days?"
Owen Rhodes lifted his gaze. "What makes you say that?"
"It’s just that you’ve seed... rather reluctant to go ho lately."
Hearing this, Owen Rhodes’s brow furrowed. He was silent for a few seconds. "Is it that obvious?"
Liam Hawthorne nodded cautiously.
’At least, I think it’s pretty obvious.’
Suddenly, "Turn around. We’re going to a flower shop."
Because Owen Rhodes had made Liam Hawthorne turn around and go to a flower shop during rush hour, it was almost seven by the ti they got back to Lanthos Bay.
The sun was setting, and dusk was falling.
From a distance, Owen Rhodes saw that the living room lights at ho weren’t on.
He couldn’t help but frown. ’Could Stella not be ho?’
It wasn’t until he walked through the door that he saw the candlelight dinner Stella Sterling had prepared.
Candles lit the path from the entrance to the dining room. Steaks and red wine were set on the table, where Stella was arranging the floral centerpiece.
She heard the sound and turned around. "You’re back."
Owen Rhodes was standing not far away, holding a bouquet of flowers.
The fragrance of the flowers arrived before the bouquet did. Stella Sterling took a sniff, her eyes curving into a smile. "It’s jasmine!"
Owen Rhodes handed her the flowers. "Mm."
"Did you ’hear’ about this one, too?" Stella looked up at him.
’This man, Owen Rhodes... he’s really impossible to figure out.’
Jasmine was her favorite flower, and she had no idea how he’d found out this ti.
Owen Rhodes looked down at her, only to see her gazing at him with a beaming smile.
He turned her by the shoulders and nudged her toward the dining table. "The florist recomnded them."
"...Oh."
’Fine, I guess it was my fault for getting my hopes up.’
During dinner, Stella Sterling kept secretly studying Owen Rhodes’s expression.
’He looks the sa as usual. He even brought flowers tonight, so it doesn’t seem like he’s mad.’
’I’m not sure. I’ll just have to keep watching.’
And so it went. Even after the candlelight dinner was over, Stella still couldn’t figure anything out.
It was Owen Rhodes who finally spoke first. "You’ve been sneaking glances at for a while. Is there sothing you want to say?"
Stella froze. "Was I that obvious when I was looking at you?" She frowned, trying to recall. "I don’t think I was, was I?"
’Every ti I looked over, he wasn’t looking at .’
Owen Rhodes just said, "Didn’t you say you had a gift for ?"
Her thoughts were pulled back to the present. Stella nodded ekly. "Owen, have you been angry with these past few days?"
"Why do you say that?"
Stella lowered her head slightly, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Her voice was quiet when she spoke.
"Tate said it’s not good for newlyweds to sleep in separate rooms..." After saying that, she clenched her fists and mustered her courage. "If you’re angry with , you can just tell directly." Her voice trailed off again. "You don’t have to... avoid ..."
Owen Rhodes was taken aback. He hadn’t expected his actions to cause such a misunderstanding.
’How could I be angry with Stella?’
He just felt embarrassed and was worried that his much-vaunted self-control would be utterly shattered.
He ruffled Stella’s hair apologetically. "I’m not angry with you, and I wasn’t avoiding you. Work has just been genuinely busy these last few days, and I didn’t want to disturb your rest." Then, he added in a serious tone, "But it was indeed my oversight. Maintaining the image of our marriage is a mutual obligation. We won’t sleep in separate rooms anymore."
Stella was finally relieved. "As long as you’re not angry with ."
Seeing her look of imnse relief, Owen felt a pang in his heart.
’This girl... when did she beco so timid and cautious?’
While he was lost in thought for a mont, he saw Stella take out a jewelry box.
"To be honest, I guess you can’t really call this a gift. Owen, we don’t have wedding bands yet. You bought the engagent ring, so I took the liberty... If you don’t like it..."
"Stella," Owen Rhodes interrupted her timid speculation, "I’ll love anything you give ."
Owen Rhodes opened the jewelry box. Inside was a pair of matching platinum rings with simple, clean lines. The face of each was fashioned into an elegant infinity symbol, inlaid with a hidden-set diamond.
He imdiately extended his left hand, and Stella understood, taking out the man’s ring and sliding it onto his finger.
Stella had never asked for his ring size, yet it was a perfect fit.
As she put it on, Stella breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, it fits. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I couldn’t ask you directly. I spent a long ti secretly staring at your fingers."
A smile tugged at the corner of Owen Rhodes’s mouth. He took out the woman’s ring and slid it onto her finger.
"From now on, you can’t take this ring off whenever you feel like it, understand?"
Stella nodded obediently. "I understand."
...
The platinum ring reflected the soft glow of the spotlights, dazzling Ethan Rhodes.
"Uncle, what you said in the interview about being married... was it true?"
Owen Rhodes shot him a cold glance. "When did I ever say it was fake?"
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