Me After Meeting You

“Mr. Axton.” Amber said as she showed him the chat messages. “Thanks to you, I’m famous now.”

Ian glanced at her phone and then coolly said, “You’re welcome.”

“….” Amber’s tone was sincere as she said, “Actually, being famous is burdensome to me.”

But Ian only replied with one word. “Oh.”

Amber looked at him, took her phone back, and then purposefully kept her mouth shut for the rest of the drive. She hadn’t known him for very long, but she understood one point clearly: as soon as his responses devolved to be monosyllabic, it meant that he had lost all interest in that subject, and that any further conversation on that matter would be useless.

***

Ian actually did bring her to his office. His office was located at the Axton Hotel-the hotel where Amber had spent a night earlier.

The morning after that night, Amber had finally clearly seen the face of the flourishing Axton it was a whole block wide, and the lamps along its walls lit up half the sky. With the scenic river behind it, the hotel was as beautiful as a castle out of a fairytale.

Unlike the hotel’s outer opulence, Ian’s office was decorated quite simply in black and white colors, its furnishings practical and without any unnecessary flourish. Upon entering, Amber’s first impression was that everything was precisely placed. All the items seemed like orderly troops, arranged by height and charmingly positioned. The ambience of the office was so neat and tidy enough that it didn’t feel like anyone had ever worked here.

After sitting down at his desk, Ian immediately picked up the desk phone. “Call Lawyer Shawn over.”

Before Amber could even guess why he had called a lawyer here for, the lawyer arrived.

Ian gestured toward Amber with his chin as he said, “Produce a contract for us two, and it should state that Ms. Amber will be my girlfriend. We will remain financially independent from each other. If this relationship persists for a year, I’ll give her ….”

As he said this, he turned around and asked Amber, “How much would be a reasonable amount to give you?”

“….”

Amber blinked, and then jokingly replied, “A hundred million?”

Ian thought about it, and then seriously said, “You’re not worth that much.”

“….”

Her professionalism told her that, at this point, the only proper reply was, “Whatever makes you happy.”

Ian nodded, and then gave the lawyer a value multiple times higher than Amber’s current salary. Actually, it wasn’t too far off from her mah jjong earnings from that one night.

The lawyer seemed somewhat nonplussed by his strange request, clenching his pen tightly before finally reacting after seeing that Ian was getting impatient. After calming down, he recorded down the conditions that Ian had proposed and asked, “Are there any corresponding privileges or responsibilities?”

Ian dictated, “One party has the right to ask for marriage, and the other party must be loyal.” He turned to Amber again. “Does that seem problematic to you?”

“Can I even make any changes to the contract?”

Ian had already turned back around to the lawyer before she had finished speaking. “Then, just this.”

“….”

The lawyer looked at her somewhat sympathetically. “Is this all?”

Ian replied with a nod, “Yes.”

The lawyer nodded, leaving to formally draft the contract. Ian then explained the structure of the payment to Amber, but the information went into one ear and came out the other. Despite the unusual situations she had been seen and maneuvered through as a part of her job, this was the first time that she had ever encountered what Ian was doing.

In fact, she was somewhat curious as to his motives. “Why do you want such a contract?”

Ian looked at her, his gaze serene. “Because I like making things simple. This way, there are clear gains and losses: if we mesh well with each other, great. If not, we’ll split up. Isn’t that nice?”

Systemizing and relegating emotions to contracts is a self-defense mechanism that people often use to deal with emotional trauma. Amber noted this peculiarity down in her heart, and then asked, “Then why isn’t it me who gives you money?”

Ian’s tone was as if he were declaring that there were stars in the sky and the moon at night. “Because I have more money than you.”

That … was a completely irrefutable fact.

***

The lawyer worked quickly. Before Amber could even finish thinking about what she should do next, the contract had already been written up.

After the lawyer brought the contract back into Ian’s office, Ian motioned for him to show her the document first. Amber’s original impression that this was nothing important had changed to something resembling anxiety. Ian’s words were simple, but the contract that his lawyer produced was surprisingly formal. It followed the standard contract format: it laid out the terms and conditions, rights and responsibilities, s well as a hefty fee for violating anything very clearly.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Upon seeing that sum, she couldn’t help but become more serious. Jut moving her eyes across all the numerous zeros was enough to make her dizzy. She then said, somewhat agonizingly, “Mr. Axton, even if we can’t be a couple, we can still be regular friends.”

Ian was sitting on the other side of the table, playing with a jade-colored teacup in his hands. After hearing Amber’s words, his posture didn’t change, and neither did his expression. However, Amber suddenly felt a chill creep into her heart.

Then he said, “Send Ms. Camille out!”

“Mr. Axton ….” Amber attempted to speak up, but as she opened her mouth, Ian had already turned to look at his lawyer.

Originally somewhat hesitant, the lawyer now quickly approached Amber, insistent but polite. “Ms. Camille, please.”

Amber didn’t move. She looked at Ian, but he didn’t look back at her, only coolly playing with the jade teacup in his hands. He constantly exuded a cold, chilly air that prevented others from getting close.

She had a feeling that this was her one and only chance to get close to him, a chance that wouldn’t ever happen again.

Seeing her lack of motion, the lawyer stretched out his hand to grab her, but Amber avoided his grasp. “I can sign the contract, but can I consult my own lawyer first?” Seeing the two both turn towards her, she weakly explained, “The fee for breaking the contract is simply too high ….”