‘‘What?! Does she mean that I'm going to be the future hostess of the Oliver family?’’ Brittany gasped in
shock.
What she had heard was truly astonishing, so she was worried that it might be a joke.
"Auntie Josie..."
Josie blinked her eyes at Brittany exaggeratedly as though trying to tell Brittany something.
Then, she glanced at Ryan and said, "The kitchen is still busy, so I'll help out there for a bit.I'll be back
soon.You talk with Ryan."
It was obvious that she was creating an opportunity for Brittany.
With a beaming smile, Brittany nodded and replied, "Sure, Auntie Josie!"
Before Josie left, she leaned over Ryan and whispered, "Ryan, I've chosen her.Brittany is an amazing
woman.You should talk to her."
Upon saying that, she smiled at Brittany and left.
Of course, the servants were sensible that they left as well.
Now, only Ryan and Brittany were left in the spacious living room.
One minute...
Two minutes...
Five minutes...
Nobody dared to speak even until now.
Feeling shy, Brittany played with the hem of her nervously and then slowly moved close to Ryan.
"Ryan"
"Mister!"
"What?"
Brittany was confused.
"You call me Mr.Ryan or Mr.Oliver," he explained curtly.
Brittany's mouth widened in shock, and she fell stunned upon hearing his command.
‘What's going on?’ She was confused.
She thought Josie called her today because Ryan took a liking to her after their blind date last time.
However, he was cold to her, and she had no idea why.
‘‘Perhaps this is only his character?’’ Brittany wondered.
At the thought of this, she felt relieved.
‘‘I've heard that Ryan has never been in love, even though he's already 30 years old.Maybe it's
because of his cold demeanor that people don't dare to get close to him.Well, since he's cold and
probably unfriendly, I should take the initiative myself.’’ Thinking of this, the smile on her face softened.
She stood up and walked towards Ryan to sit next to him.
However, while she was walking towards him, Ryan suddenly lifted his gaze and looked at her.
His eyes were cold and sharp.
They seemed like a sharp sword that could make people tremble in fear the instant they saw it.
Brittany could not help but swallow hard.
Intimidated by his piercing gaze, she took two steps back and found herself a place to sit down.
She figured it was better to keep a safe distance from him in the meantime.
It was only then that he withdrew his gaze from her.
Although Josie had advised him to talk to Brittany, he instead busied himself with his phone.
He played with it and sometimes looked at it from time to time as though waiting for a message.
Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere between them, Brittany decided to initiate a conversation.
"Are you waiting for a message, Mr.Ryan?"
As if he did not hear her, Ryan continued playing on his phone.
Brittany was speechless.
Not wanting to get ignored again, she raised her voice and asked, "Is it about the company's affairs?
It's Sunday, but your mind is still on your work.You're impressive! It must be really hard to run a
company all by yourself."
Ryan remained silent.Now, Brittany had run out of words to say.
It was embarrassing! His silence was making her feel self-conscious.
‘'Why is he being like this? They were the ones who invited me, but it seemed that he has no plans of
talking to me, ‘' she mused.
At that moment, Brittany felt an urge to cry out of embarrassment.
Well, perhaps she could talk to him one more time and see if he would finally talk to her.
"Mr.Ryan, would you like some water?"
She handed him a glass of water and added, "It's hot.You should drink some."
Ryan did not reply yet again.
He did not even bother to look at her.
A feeling of embarrassment washed over Brittany.
She decided not to put down the glass unless he acknowledged her.
However, a few minutes had passed and her arm was already sore, yet he did not even take it.
Unable to take it any longer, she sat down next to Ryan, her body trembling from frustration.
It was only until then that he reacted.
Ryan moved away from her.
"Mr.Ryan..."
Brittany was about to protest when she trailed off.
He put his phone into his pocket and said coldly, "My girlfriend doesn't want me to be too close to other
women."
Well, that was the longest sentence he had uttered since coming here today.
Weird as it may sound, but Brittany almost cried in glee.
'He finally said something to me!’’ she exclaimed inwardly.
She was happy that he spoke to her at last.
However, upon realizing what he had just said, the smile on her face disappeared in an instant.
"What? Your girlfriend?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes,"
Brittany was confused.
If he had a girlfriend, why did Josie invite her? All of a sudden, her face lit up as it finally dawned on
her.
"Mr.Ryan, do you mean..."
She trailed off upon seeing his intense glare.
"I...I understand! To be frank, I don't mind it.Every successful man must have a few women around
him.Don't worry, Mr.Ryan.I won't interfere in your private life after we get married."
Ryan was at a loss for words.
He had just said that he had a girlfriend.
And now, Brittany was offering to be the third wheel.
Ridiculous! Without saying another word, he stood up and left.
Brittany was dumbfounded.
‘‘What did he mean by that? Also, why did he leave all of a sudden? Am I not good enough? Did I say
something wrong? I've been so considerate! What else does he want?’’
In the garden.Luke were playing in the swing with Precious happily.She was sitting on the swing seat
while he was pushing her from behind.
"Higher! Higher!" Precious requested with a grin.
"No.You'll fall!" Lukas cautioned.
"Okay!"
Precious happened to see Ryan approach them at that moment, so she called, "Daddy!"
Luke quickly steadied the swing for Precious to get down.
The little girl rushed to her dad and hugged his thigh with her chubby hands.
"Daddy, hug me!" she requested adorably.
Ryan smiled and picked her up just as she wished.
"Let's go home," he said gently to his daughter.
"Go home?" Precious asked in surprise.
"Why? Don't you want to?"
"I do!"
Precious wrapped her arms around his neck and added, "Let's go, Daddy.Let’s go! We can have lunch
with Auntie Wendy if we go back now.Humph! Grandma is mean.She scolded me because of a bad
woman.I'm mad.I won't talk to her again."
With the little girl in his arms, Ryan walked towards the gate.
Behind them, Luke hurried to catch up with them.
"Are you really leaving?" he asked incredulously.
"You can stay if you don't want to leave," Ryan answered.
"No, no, no.I want to go with you!"
‘‘Are you kidding? If Mom doesn't find you and your daughter, she'll definitely blame it on me again.I'm
not a fool!’’ Luke pondered.
At the thought of this, he followed Ryan closely in fear that he would indeed leave him behind.
They arrived at the parking area not long after.
All of a sudden, Josie came to them in a hurry and stopped them.
"Stop! Hey! Stop!"
They stopped in their tracks right away.
Josie strode over, her face red in anger.
She was so furious that when she pointed at Ryan, her hands trembled.
However, she did not have the heart to scold him as he was holding Precious, so she instead projected
her anger at Luke.
With her index finger pointing at his nose, she reprimanded him.
"Luke, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You persuaded your brother to leave! Why did I even give
birth to an insolent son like you? I'm so unlucky to be your mother!"
Luke was speechless.
‘‘Shit! I knew I would become a victim in the end.'’ While complaining inwardly, he ruffled the back of his
head in exasperation and exclaimed, "Mom! My brother was the one who wanted to leave!"
"Then you should've stopped him!" Luke's mouth fell open.
He did not know what else he could say to defend himself.
From the way his own mother treated him, he could not help but think that he was not her biological
son.
Josie then shifted her gaze to Ryan and reminded him, "We've agreed to have lunch at home today.It's
almost lunch time.What are you going?!"
Ryan just stared at her in response.
His gaze was like a sharp sword, penetrating through Josie'’s heart.
Feeling the intensity of his gaze, she asked in a trembling voice, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You know why I wanted to leave," Ryan replied coldly.
Josie scoffed in indignation.
"Ryan, Brittany is an amazing lady.She comes from a decent, noble family.She has an impressive
educational background she's talented and so beautiful! She may not be good enough for you, but
she's better than that Wendy! Just look at her.She's ladylike and prim and proper.What's more, her
reputation is respectable and untainted, unlike that of Wendy's!"
The more Josie spoke, the more frustrated she became.
"I don't care about what you think! Break up with Wendy right now.That's an order! Brittany is a good
woman.For now, you can go out more often and get to know each other.You can marry her in the future
once you realize you're a match."
However, Ryan did not budge.
With Precious in his arms, he just passed by Josie and strode away.
"If you like her, marry her yourself," he replied coldly as he left.
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