Abi jolted and stood frozen on the floor as his voice echoed in her mind. Her brain stuttered for a moment. Every part of her went on pause while her thoughts caught up.
She forced herself to think and moved her legs to turn. Once she did, she found that Ezekiel Qin was already standing right before her.
His stoic eyes were questioning her but no word left his lips. He simply glanced at the door where she came from. Did he see her step out of the room?! Abi prayed that he didn't.
"H-hello, Mr. Qin." Abi finally found her tongue and greeted him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his overbearing aura was intense that Abi felt a little uncomfortable. She felt like she was an elementary kid, talking to a strict and stoic looking principal.
"I am just running an errand," she managed to answer normally.
However, the man just stared at her. He was silent, almost as if he was waiting for more explanation. Or more like an investigator waiting for her to confess.
Abi already saw how aloof this CEO was but now that she was alone with him, she found it extremely challenging just to stand there and speak with him. His unfriendly aura and his lack of words was making it difficult for Abi to comfortably speak with him. No wonder those directors surrounding him a while ago looked really tensed.
"Uhm… I still need to visit Little Betty in the ward so I'm–"
"Miss Chen, are you sick?" he suddenly cut her off. Abi felt her throat immediately run dry. She felt like her blood drained from her face but she desperately tried not give anything away.
"No. I just came to pick up some medicine for the kids at the orphanage and also to visit Little Betty. She was admitted into this hospital. Remember that child I brought with me to Alex's house? It's her. Do you want to come with me and visit her? She's in the children's ward."
Somehow, Abi seemed to have managed to turn the odds in her favor. But the man unexpectedly agreed to come. She only asked him if he wanted to come with her because she didn't think that Ezekiel Qin would actually agree and follow her to the ward. She initially thought that the man would decline since he was obviously here for work.
But then, Abi didn't think too much about it. Maybe this man had grown a liking to Little Betty and he just wanted to see her?
As they walked in the hallway, everyone turned around to look at them. Ezekiel Qin was really famous, after all. His fame was on par with superstars in this country. The only difference with him was that nobody dared to approach him or mob him, like what fans do to their idols, when they saw them roaming around in public places like this.
Abi thought that it was maybe because of Ezekiel Qin's intimidating aura but she was sure that his reputation of being the last man people wanted to mess with was the biggest factor as to why people didn't even dare try to do anything funny in his presence.
Seeing the attention this heartthrob, and the so-called number one man every girl wanted to marry in this country, was getting, Abi couldn't help but think what would happen if Alex was with them right now. If these people were to see Alex, what would they do?
The answer Abi came up with was, a disaster. She thought that she would believe him if Alex told her that he purposely hid from the world because he didn't want the trouble his beauty would bring upon him. It seemed ridiculous but it was actually logical.
Finally, the duo reached the ward but Little Betty was still asleep so they simply stood there by the doorway and watched the little sleeping girl.
Ezekiel was silent.
"Will you be coming here often from now on?" Abi broke the awkward silence.
"Probably."
"Uhm, then… Can I ask you to visit her again? Little Betty is actually always asking me about you. She keeps telling me to say hello to you from her," she told him before her gaze fell on the girl again.
"What happened to her?" he asked and Abi's smile slowly faded as she explained Little Betty's condition.
"She doesn't have much left..." Abi's voice became weak. "So can you visit her? I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
"I will see."
"Thank you."
Silence reigned again after that for a long while. Abi finally realized that the man would never speak unless she spoke first.
"Uhm… I need to go back to the orphanage now, Mr. Qin. Little Betty has Mrs. Yan with her so I'll be going back," Abi told him but the man remained silent.
Abi couldn't help but want to scratch her head because of their awkward situation.
"Well then, I'll be off, Mr. Qin." Abi slightly bowed and then turned to leave when...
"I'll drive you there," he said, causing Abi to frantically wave her hands.
"No, no. No need, Mr. Qin. I'm sure you're extremely busy," she politely declined, but the man's brows creased in displeasure.
Abi secretly swallowed. "Uhm. I can't possibly waste your precious time Mr. Qin. I know you're here for a business matter so I'll just take a cab," she explained but the man suddenly walked away, passing her by.
"Let's go," he ordered as if he didn't hear what she just said.
His actions made Abi speechless. Why on earth would this busy man offer her a ride?
In the end, Abi didn't have a choice but to follow him.
From the moment they left the hospital, the car was shrouded with a thick, almost unbearable silence. Abi tried to think of a topic of conversation but she just couldn't find any, until eventually, they arrived at the orphanage without uttering a single word. That was probably the most tensed and most awkward car ride she had ever experienced. She felt a little suffocated by that silence that she couldn't wait to step out of the car so that she could finally breathe again.
However, just as Abi held the door handle to leave, the man finally spoke.
"Miss Chen, what are your feelings towards Alex?"
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