Early morning arrived.

There was no man beside her when Kylie woke up. She looked down at herself, dressed in Ethan's shirt and pants. In bed!

Kylie walked out of the bedroom, her hair a mess on top. She noticed Ethan, who was sitting at the dining table, elegantly eating his breakfast.

The sun shone through the window, casting a warm light over his body. He was wearing his usual combination of black pants and a white shirt, but something about him seemed different today.

But what was different, Kylie couldn't identify. Despite her unruly appearance, Ethan glanced at her with calm indifference. "You're up," he said.

Kylie strode quickly towards the table and reached out to grab a steamed bun from its plate, but the back of the hand was suddenly hit hard. "Wash your hands!" yelled Ethan.

Kylie rolled her eyes and pretended to walk away. But, all of a sudden, she speedily turned around and grabbed a steamed bun before he could stop her, tossing it into her mouth.

She chewed it with dramatic motions and raised her eyebrows in defiance and pride. Ethan pushed the plate away, his face full of disdain. It appeared that the whole plate had been ruined because she had grabbed one with dirty hands.

"You don't want them? Then they're all mine!" Kylie said, sitting down at the opposite end of the table.

Ethan placed his elbow on the surface, and suddenly asked: "Why did you drink so much last night?"

Kylie's face froze in a second. Couldn't he let it go? Noticing Kylie's changed expression, the beast within Ethan gradually awoke.

Kylie wasn't used to complaining to others, but, maybe because it was so uncomfortable keeping everything inside, or because of Ethan's kindness the night before, her opinion of him had improved a little.

She slowly leaned back against her chair, and said, after a few moments: "I lost the role in Tea House..."

Ethan was taken aback by the news. "What?"

"A boss like you, who is superior to everyone else, and can easily get anything he wants, won't understand what I've given to winning a normal role, and how happy I was when I won the role. You can't even imagine..." Kylie covered her face with her hands after she had finished.

Ethan thought her emotions had been out of control because of Aiden Parker's presence; he hadn't known there was another reason. She was sad not because Aiden Parker had chosen Khloe Finch instead of herself, but because she had lost a role, she had fought hard to win.

The man who had been puzzled and gloomy all night, was now, within a second, happy and bright as the sun. But his heart ached again when he noticed her shoulders shake with pain.

How could he not understand how important it was that she be approved? Many people in the entertainment industry wanted to cast her, but she didn't take most of those directors and producers seriously. What she wanted was to be cast for her efforts and her talent, and not because of her body.

"You have been doing well, actually." Ethan pushed a bowl of cereal towards her. His knuckles gently knocked the bowl. So, the true culprit wasn't Aiden Parker, but Laurence Finch.

The producer had told him yesterday that Laurence Finch wanted to invest in Tea House, with one condition. But nobody could hurt Ethan's woman, even if the man causing pain was her own father.

When Kylie finally calmed down, she suddenly realized that she had been crying in front of Ethan, and for almost half an hour! It was really cowardly...

She had only cried twice since leaving the Finch house all those years ago—acting excluded, of course. The first time had been when she'd first found Aiden Parker, which had been out of happiness, whereas the other time...

"Sorry, I've ruined your appetite." Kylie saw that the bowl of cereal before Ethan was still untouched and felt embarrassed. Ethan wore a faint smile. "I just don't like the taste of cereal that much," he said.

Kylie didn't know what to say, and her heartbeat became unsteady again. She had expected Ethan to say something mean like he usually did, but he was considerate right now—unbelievably considerate, even. A look from that man and it killed her, but she would truly die for it, damn it!

Ethan leaned back in his chair, with his arms across his chest. "What do you want to do with a professional killer?"