🔹️🔹️Adrien Russell🔹️🔹️

"You will not work with that man." My voice boomed across the room. Crystal flinched at my tone and I clenched my eyes tightly to control my growing annoyance.

"I do not like him, Crystal. I don't like it when his name is mentioned, I don't like his presence, and I hate you being around him." I said through my gritted teeth. With a confused frown, Crystal stood up from the chair.

"Why would you say that? What is your issue with him anyway?" She sounded offended.

Of course, she'd be. I just said that I dislike her 'friend'.

"I don't know, Crystal." I stood up and growled. "All I know is that I don't trust him with you. Not after what happened at the party."

"Evan is nothing like what you think." Her voice rose up.

"How do you know that? I ran into him in one of my hotels today and--"

"I know what happened. He told me." She yelled loudly. "But that, Mr. Adrien Russell, does not give you the right to judge him." She stomped towards me with angry eyes.

"Let me remind you that you and I were once seen in the exact same situation. You shouldn't be judging him if you don't want to be judged." She stabbed her finger in my chest. "Hypocrite." She muttered under her breath and tried to walk away.

Her accusation added fuel to my already burning anger. Before she could go farther, I held her wrist and yanked her closer with a harsh force. She winced when I pushed her against the table and caged her between my arms as my palms held the edge of the table.

"Our thing was different, Crystal. Don't you dare compare it to that." Her wide eyes stared into mine as I glared at her. Her ragged breath fell on my lips and that's when I realized our proximity. There was barely an inch between our faces and looking into her chocolate doe-like eyes, I felt my anger pacing down.

"I don't care, Adrien." She gritted back. "He is my friend. I don't care if you don't trust him but I do." She said firmly, pushing me a little back with her palm on my chest.

"I trust Evan." The surety in her voice lit a fire in my heart. "And whether you like it or not, I will work with him." She walked past me straight to the room and I heard the door shut with a bang.

This woman has been testing patience.

I did not bother to see her after that. I went straight to my study and engaged myself in work for the next few hours. When Aunt arrived, I opened the door for her and came back to the study. I did not plan on going back to the room. I slept in my study on the couch itself.

When I woke up in the morning, my body felt like it was run over by a truck. I was greeted by some bad pain in my back and neck. The couch in the study was smaller than the one in my room. And too small to fit me in. As I rubbed my neck to relieve the pain, my mind ran back to Crystal. Her hands held magic. The way her fingers undid the knots of my body with a single glide, it had goosebumps arise on my skin.

Shaking her thoughts away from my head, I looked at the clock. It was 9 already. The good thing was, it was Saturday and I didn't have to attend the office. I made my way out of the study and glanced around to find Crystal sitting on the dining table and having her breakfast while talking to Lily.

She didn't even wait for me.

Ignoring them, I went inside the room and hopped into the shower. While I was inside, getting dressed, I heard some noise in the room, concluding it was Crystal.

As I came out fully dressed, unlike what I expected, she wasn't in the room. I wiped my hair roughly with the towel and threw it on the bed before making my way outside.

"Good Morning." Lily greeted me and I smiled at her. My eyes looked around, trying not to be obvious that I was like I was looking for someone.

"She's gone out." Lily said and I looked at her. "Crystal." I nodded and sat down on the dining table and started eating the porridge she served me.

I avoided her calculative gaze on me. But she didn't stay quiet for long. "Did you both have a fight?" She asked.

"Wh-why would you say that?" I didn't look up at her.

"So you did." Lily concluded and sat across from me. I rolled my eyes on being caught. "Is that why you were in the study since morning?" She took my silence as a 'yes' and continued speaking.

"She waited so long for you before having her breakfast. Although she tried best to not make it obvious, you know I eagle's eyes." She chuckled.

She waited for me.

"It's okay. It's normal for couples to have tiny arguments. I mean, where there is love, there will be some wrangling."

"There is no love." I blurted out. Slowly looking up at her, I saw her staring at me with a frown.

"You shouldn't be saying that because of a small fight. Love doesn't fade so eas-"

"There's never been any love, Lily. We never loved each other." I confessed and she looked at me with bewilderment.

I sighed deeply then narrated her the entire story. From that night in the lodge to the fight yesterday, everything. Hiding the truth from Lily was no use anyway. She could be trusted with our secret and also, she stays with us for more than half a day. She'd learn the truth very soon anyway.

"Oh. My. God." Lily was baffled on hearing about us. "You- I can't believe this! Now I get why you both lived in different rooms and I never see you both romancing each other." I rolled my eyes.

"Let Crystal come back. I'll school her for lying to me. All this time she shared things with me like I was her best friend but you both hid such a big secret from me." She exclaimed in disbelief.

I finished my porridge and got up from the table to put my bowl in the sink.

"Crystal always tells me where she was going but today she didn't." Lily continued speaking.

"Probably to meet her 'friend' Evan." I muttered under my breath but Lily heard it.

"Are you jealous?" She smirked with amusement.

"Why the hell will I be jealous?" I said to her with a scowl.

No way in hell was I jealous.

"Then why are you reacting like this? There's no other reason for you to argue with her on working with Evan, unless you are jealous." She reasoned herself.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lily." I shook my head. "I am just being conscious after what happened at the party. I don't trust him enough when it comes to Crystal. As simple as that."

I heard her softly sigh as she came closer to me. "Why don't you try saying this to her a bit more gently? Show her your concern instead of your frustration."

I thought about it. I agree I might have overreacted a little and maybe, I shouldn't have yelled at her.

"You're right. But... I am pretty sure she still won't listen to me."

"Then that's her choice. She is old enough to know what kind of company she wants, Adrien. She doesn't need you to school her. You can't stop her from trusting someone on the basis of your judgement that you made by meeting the man once or twice." Lily's words made me regret what I did or said.

I guess I was too quick to judge Evan. But even if Evan wasn't the kind of man I thought he'd be, his closeness with Crystal didn't please me at all.

"Fine. I'll apologise to her once she is here." I said, gulping down a few sips of water.

"Good. I'm sure she will forgive you. She has a really big heart. Yesterday, when Sophie came an apologised to her, she was quick to forgive her too." Lily said with a dreamy smile and I stared at her with a frown.

"Sophie came here yesterday?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes. I wasn't in the house when she came but she stayed here for quite some time to chat with Crystal so I was here seeing them be so friendly." I didn't respond to that.

Sophie? Friends with Crystal?

All this time she'd been holding grudges against her, judging her wrongly and suddenly she decided to apologise to her? And be FRIENDS?

It just doesn't make sense.

I spent the morning in my study, working on the upcoming projects after going to the mart to buy a box of chocolates. My eyes kept on moving towards the clock. It had been three hours since Crystal had left without informing anyone.

I left the study and paced around the living room to see any signs of her. When I found nothing, I finally decided to call her.

She declined it.

I frowned at my phone and called her again.

"What do you want?" The door opened and Crystal, with a very bored expression, walked in.

"Why did you decline my call?" I asked sternly.

"Because I was in the elevator, already on my way here." She said and marched towards the room.

I knocked on the door and she asked me to wait as she was changing. After a few minutes, she opened the door and let me come in.

She sat on the couch and started reading her novel. I picked the chocolate box from the bed-side and quietly kept it in front of her on the coffee table before sitting beside her on the couch. She eyed the chocolates and then me.

"I'm sorry." I said it at last. "I might have overreacted and judged your friend. And I shouldn't have yelled at you that way." I looked down, not meeting her eyes and scratched the back of my neck. But I felt her continuous gaze on me so I looked up at her.

She sighed and picked the chocolate box. I eyed her moves as she opened the box and plopped one chocolate in her mouth and turned to look at me with undivided attention.

"I don't understand your beef with Evan. I don't know why you dislike him so much, but either way, nothing can stop me from working with him. He is my friend." I sighed heavily and rubbed my eyes in frustration.

'Friends' my ass.

"You just won't listen to me, will you?" I said and she shrugged.

"Our marriage is just for a show. I will not interfere in your life and I expect the same from you. These were your words, remember?" She said and I had the flashback of our wedding night, when I clearly said these words to her.

I knew she was right so I couldn't argue with her anymore. "Fine. You can work with him. But I-"

"What made you think I will need your permission for it? I already signed up for the job with him." She smirked proudly and I glared at her.

I tried not to get bothered by it and continued to say what I was before being interrupted. "But I have one condition." My voice was more stern than before. She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Martin will accompany you all the time." She looked at me with disbelief and opened her mouth to say something but I didn't let her. "No arguments over this, Crystal. I am not taking any chances. End of discussion." I stood up from the couch but she held my wrist.

"Martin can drop and pick me up. But that's all. He does not have to stay around me all the time. Evan will be there with me so you have nothing to worry about." I was about to say something but she interrupted.

"Please." Her big puppy-like eyes pleaded and her plump lips stuck out in a pout. And right there, I melted like butter.

"Fine." I sighed and she widely grinned. As if she was on cloud nine, she jumped in happiness and threw her arms around my neck, pulling me for a hug. I was taken aback by her sudden action and to steady us, I held the small of her back. She looked so tiny in my arms. My large build embraced her small body perfectly. We stood like that for a few seconds while I was busy taking in her peachy fragrance that was taking over my senses.

As if she realized what she had done, she froze in my arms before slowly pulling away. Her hands were still on my shoulders and mine on our waist. Her eyes awkwardly met mine and I got lost in those chocolate like orbs. She involuntarily bit her lip and my eyes darted to them. Those luscious pink lips between her teeth was a delicious sight. My throat dried up and I gulped while my head moved forward on it's own. I could feel her heart beating rapidly against her chest as it was pressed to my torso. Mine was no different. Our lips were a breath away from meeting when someone coughed, making us jerk away in surprise.

We looked at the door and found Aunt Margaret smirking at us. I suddenly started feeling hot. What the hell is wrong with me?

"You should lock the door before starting your romance." Her comment made the heat crawl all the way up to my ears. I looked away in embarrassment and glanced at Crystal to see her cheeks all red. Aunt giggled and came further inside the room.

"Sorry for interrupting but I have something for you both." She waved to strips of papers in front of my eyes. "I went to a movie with my friends today and loved it, Thought I should get two tickets for you too. The show is tonight, make sure you go." She put the tickets in my hand.

"But-" I tried to speak but she stopped me. "Oh, come on. Just go watch the movie, have dinner, enjoy your date and thank me later." She grinned. "You won't get chances like this once both of you start working." Saying that, she walked out but turned around to close the door. "You can continue with... whatever you were doing." She giggled and shut the door while I rolled my eyes at her teasing.

Crystal and I looked at each other and showed the tickets to her.

"Date tonight?" I asked with a small smile and she returned it.

"Sure."

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