"Hey, are you still with your boss?"

Riley jogged away into the garden after glancing at his boss. "They just got home. What's the matter?"

Mich.e.l.le was full of hesitation. She forgot the only thing that CEO Xiu entrusted her. Sure, she is not her boss, but she felt like it was more important to obey that CEO's order than those from her boss. For some unknown reason, she felt the obligation to tell her that she failed to carry out her orders.

"Tell her that my boss did not want to go to a hospital unless she brings him herself." she blurted out.

"What? Is your boss a spoiled brat?" Riley was astonished of this revelation. He never expected such childish antics from an aloof executive, even more that the behavior was towards his equally aloof boss.

"It might be one of his eccentricities. I'm not even sure myself. It's the first time that he acted like this. Anyway, please, just relay it to CEO Xiu. It makes me feel like I let her down."

"Alright...but I'm only relaying the message. Don't expect me to comvince my boss or anything."

As he hung up the call, Riley turned around, about to go back into the car.

To his surprise, his boss was standing there, arms crossed on her chest.

"Were you going to convince me to do something?" Her left brow went up.

"Uhm...CEO, Ms. Park asked me to relay a message." He looked down on his shoes and the gra.s.s between them.

"What is it? I know that it's now early in the morning, but I will take a leave at the office today as I'm tired. If you still want to keep your job, spit it out, as I don't have all day for your hesitation."

Riley immediately bowed and reported, "Ms. Park said that CEO Zhou is not willing to go to a hospital unless you will be going with him." He could feel the cold sweat on his skin.

"If that was it, you can go now." Before he could respond, she had gone inside the mansion.

__________

Dan cleaned his wound and placed a waterproof bandage over it. Then he stepped into the shower.

As water fell on him, his mind wandered. With the adversity they just surpa.s.sed, he felt like he and Midori had become closer again. However, with the appearance of an unknown guy, he somehow doubted if she was someone else's woman.

But her look and stare, her touch and embrace, all made him think that there is still hope for the two of them. Seeing her with another man, with Manta in his arms, he felt deprived of the family he deserves.

It took him 40 minutes to finish his shower, most of that time, the was staring blankly, deep in contemplation.

In the afternoon, Mich.e.l.le decided to check on her boss since Riley called back to say that CEO Xiu seemed indifferent on whatever may happen to CEO Zhou. This and because she was also worried about his injury, which she had no idea on how serious it really is.

She rang the doorbell on his penthouse suit. She had confirmed through the guard that the CEO's car drove into the garage earlier today, so she is sure that he did not come home to his other residences.

Being his a.s.sistant for a few years had taught her a thing or two about him when he does not want people to meddle with him. He would not go back to their family home. For one, his family is not even there. Secondly, the maids might exaggerate this and force him to go to the hospital. It would be worse if they tell on him to the madam. His other two houses were located in the outskirts of nearby towns. Even though he is tough, he is not too irresponsible to place himself in danger by going alone beyond city limits. So the only place left was his penthouse.

She stood there for 5 minutes before she pressed on the bell again. 'Is he still sleeping? Did he go out to the convenience store or somewhere else?' Her mind soared from trivial things to worst-case scenarios. 'What if he was truly sick and could not get up from bed? Or he fell asleep in the bathtub and drowned? What if he got depressed because CEO Xiu already has a family and he hang himself?!'

She was too engrossed in her imagination that she did not notice that the door was already ajar.

Dan cleared his throat to pull her back to reality. "What do you want?" He brushed off her hand which in a blink of an eye landed on his forehead right after she snapped out of her daze.

Feeling that he has a fever, she wanted to go in. "Ehrm...uhm, CEO, can I come in?"

"You think it's a good idea for a male CEO to let his female a.s.sistant into his penthouse suit where they could be alone?" His tone was not seductive, rather, it was challenging. He walked in and upstairs towards his bedroom without a care if she goes in or not.

He was holding the k.n.o.b to his bedroom when he paused and looked at his a.s.sistant.

"I told you to tell her I won't go to any hospital unless she comes with me." With that, he went in and shut the door.

She could hear the door lock mechanism. Then silence. The whole unit was filled with deafening silence.

She called Riley. "Tell CEO Xiu that my boss still won't go to the hospital unless she's with him." Before Riley could respond, she added, "Also, he's running a fever."

Riley immediately called his boss and relayed the message.

When he finished, CEO Xiu fell silent. Seeing that the call was still connected, he prompted.

"CEO, your orders?"

Midori was back from her contemplation. "Send me his address. Then have Dr. Miyamura go over as well."

"Right away, CEO." The call ended.

Midori caressed the white gold pendant in the cursive D hanging daintily on her neck as she looked back into the mirror. After smiling at herself for a bit, she went to the closet to change her clothes.