Love Began with the First Meeting



Addison's lips trembled with self-mockery. "I am, but now she is gone."

Yates winked subtly while listening to him, and knowing the pain of such a loss, didn't ask for further details. No matter whether the word "gone" meant that she had fallen in love with another, or whether she had passed away, it was clearly a huge wound for Addison. To Yates' surprise, Addison had kept it a secret for so long. He still remembered that Molly had been complaining that Addison wasn't looking for a girlfriend.

"Uncle Yates!"

Hearing the exclaim, Yates turned to see Matthew and Sally, so he looked away and answered, "Hmm... Sit down first. We are soon to have dinner."

"Okay!" Matthew behaved respectful and polite, totally different from the Master Matthew of the Tang Family, who acted so recklessly outside. Considering that it was not a formal occasion, Addison had chosen not to wear the royal boutonnieres. Matthew nodded slightly in greeting at Addison and then moved towards the table.

However, Sally was shocked and remained silently rooted to the spot. She had to wonder why enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road, or perhaps God was just teasing her. Her mind tried to figure out the situation as she finally sat down. Since Addison was here, then the car parked at the back must then be his. Sally's face had turned pale for a moment, but fortunately, Matthew had already turned away.

Addison negligently looked after throwing the barest glimpse at Sally, and kept chatting with Yates, as if she was a complete stranger to him.

Yates' hand-made soup served as the starter course, after which, servants dished up the other well-prepared courses. Since most of the members of the Tang Family lived in the main mansion, they seldom came to Yates's private villa, except when gathering in the main hall. He preferred the peace and tranquility. His wife might be his nosiest part in his life. Since his wife had gone abroad, only Addison, Matthew and Sally were joining him for dinner.

From the very beginning to the end, Sally was like an invisible woman. Matthew didn't dare to cut in over the conversation while Yates was talking to Addison. Not even mentioning that Sally, who felt anxious as if she was sitting on pins and needles, also appeared awkward. Her previous resistance had also informed her, and she was so terrified of encountering Addison that she had even sensed him prior to his showing up. She should have celebrated for still feeling something.

As for Matthew, he was done with such feelings. He could have done whatever he wanted outside, but now he had to yield to Yates and Addison, and pretend to behave well.

"I heard that today's entertainment headline is about you?" Yates turned to Matthew abruptly.

Every time he received such an indifferent look from others, he felt wounded, as if someone was cutting into his heart. Matthew managed to restrain his emotions, even though he wished to lash out against Yates. "Well, as you know, Uncle Yates, the paparazzi are always making up fancy stories, rather than telling the truth."

"Hmm..." Yates answered and warily eyed Sally. She stayed incredibly calm even though no one had paid any attention to her. No matter whether she faked it, or was born to detachment, it had become her acceptable norm. "Is she the girl you mentioned before?"

Matthew nodded after a glimpse at Sally. "In fact, we are related to each other. Since I knew that she was hunting for a job, I assigned Joe to arrange for her to work at the Rock International Corp." He was completely honest, because he was fully aware that nothing could be hidden from Yates' piercing gaze. He'd rather tell the truth than be revealed as a liar, as he would then receive an "education" from Yates.

Hearing his explanation, Yates

frowned slightly. "Don't bother Joe

et

too much." Having satisfied his fleeting curiosity, he no longer focused on them, and went back to speaking with Addison. Their

favorite topic was speculation in rocks, ranging from extremely ordinary rocks to one particularly

massive one. They were really into it.

Sally was so quiet that she even began to believe herself as

our

transparent as the air, but when she glimpsed nervously at Addison, who was talking in a breezy way, she came to realize that he also had tough days to battle through. As far as she knew, he used to learn a lot, including politics, leadership and other aspects involved in government, so he was always tired. He used to say that he was like an encyclopedia, filled up with knowledge on anything from astronomy to geology. But that knowledge was clearly draining, and Sally could see fatigue on his face. Perhaps, he needed to strive for his own status. Nevertheless, it had already taken too much for him to reach his position.

"Good job! It seems that you have worked on it a lot in order to meet my requirements." Yates nodded with a smile creeping onto his face. "Despite the question whether your rock has produced quality materials or not, I will carve one for you, later. Well, I just acquired a quality rock which contains Tanzanite."

"What a coincidence..." Addison smiled as well. "Tanzanite can also be mined from mine, if everything goes well."

"Really?" Yates sounded surprised by this.

"If Tanzanite is mined, I'd like you to make an accessory of the shape of Beautiful Lady Yu for me." Addison unintentionally allowed his eyes to drift to Sally while he spoke.

Sally's slender hand holding the wine glass froze at once. Luckily, she didn't raise it off the table. Otherwise, she couldn't be sure whether she wouldn't just have loosened her grip and let it go.

She couldn't help but remember what had happened years ago.

"Why are you obsessed with poetry recently?" Addison looked pointedly at the book of poems which Sally had brought with her and smiled.

Sally couldn't help the whimsical smile that curved onto her lips in response. "I just wanted to have a taste of the ancient people's affection. Yeah, so I can better understand what you have done for me!" Actually, she didn't mean it.

However, Addison was willing to believe every word she uttered, even though he knew clearly that she was talking nonsense. It was not the first time that he took it seriously when she was making such irresponsible remarks.

"Why not show us what you read and recite one or two poems?" Addison instantly took away Sally's book, leaving no chance for her to review.

Sally glanced back at him, wearing a

never-look-down-upon-me

et© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

expression, and repeated from her memory. "When will there be no more autumn moon and spring flowers? For me who had so many memorable hours. If you ask me how much my sorrow has increased, just see the over brimming river flowing east!" She only chosen the beginning and ending lines, but Addison's growing smile triggered her anger. "I omitted the middle part because it's not very appropriate in this context!"

"Neither are the other parts. This poem sounds too sentimental, which doesn't fit the present atmosphere." Addison nodded darkly at Sally and his eyes narrowed, and then he also recited from memory, "You may remain a single person for the world. But for someone else, you mean the whole world to him!"☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐