Chapter 15
Vaughn was the heir to the Anderson Group. His family controlled a huge multinational shipping company. The reason he got on this ship was to check out how the major ports were running.
He noticed Adelia at a dinner party.
At
that time, Adelia sat quietly in the corner, her slender fingers flying over the keyboard, totally out of place with the flashy vibe around her.
Vaughn didn’t go up to talk to her. Instead, he quietly signaled the waiter to send over a glass of fresh orange juice, then leaned against the bar and just watched her work.
Originally, the two of them wouldn’t have had any interaction.
It wasn’t until someone got drunk and tried to mess with Adelia that Vaughn stepped in and took care of the guy, and that’s when they really got close.
It was also then that Vaughn found out Adelia was a novelist.
“What did you write? Can you show me?” He leaned in a little, his long fingers resting on the back of the sofa. His eyes stayed politely on the edge of Adelia’s computer screen, not crossing the line at all.
Adelia’s fingers paused. She turned her head to look at him and suddenly smiled, “Of course you can.
She sent the draft to Vaughn’s email.
After that, Vaughn disappeared for two whole days.
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Just when Adelia thought he was so bored by her novel that he didn’t want to talk to her anymore, Vaughn actually showed up with a
publishing contract.
“I really liked the novel you wrote, and wanted to invest in publishing it. Are you interested?”
That was the first time Adelia really felt that her own words could actually be cherished by someone.
She agreed right away, and her relationship with Vaughn got closer because of this.
Vaughn leaned against the railing with one hand in his pocket, and the sea breeze swept over his sharp features, casting a deep shadow on his brow bone.
“The fan meeting venue was all set, and after that, I stayed by your side the whole time.”
Adelia froze for a moment, and the seagulls‘ cries mixed with the sound of the tide passed by her ears.
She pulled her wind–blown scarf tighter and said softly, “Vaughn, thank you.”
The man let out a low laugh and knocked the railing twice with his knuckles. “We don’t talk about that between friends.”
***
After the ship docked, Adelia checked into a local hotel to get ready for the reader meetup two days later.
But she didn’t know, a sudden change was about to happen.
On the day of the meet–and–greet, Adelia showed up on time at the venue
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the publishing company had carefully set up, wearing a simple white dress.
To her surprise, a lot of enthusiastic book fans had already gathered there.
When she showed up, the crowd got restless right away:
“Adelia, I really liked the book you wrote!”
“Could you write an encouraging message on the title page?”
Adelia always kept a gentle smile and patiently signed for every reader.
Until she finished signing the last book, her assistant suddenly leaned in and said, “A mysterious reader bought all your books and hoped to invite you to dinner.”
Out of gratitude to the readers, Adelia didn’t think much and just agreed to the invitation.
That night, she showed up at the restaurant with the souvenir as promised.
But the moment I pushed open the door to the private room, my breath suddenly stopped.
Wherever she looked, Ethan stood in front of the floor–to–ceiling window, his deep gaze like burning flames, locking her in inch by inch.
“Lia,” his deep voice was full of barely controlled madness, “I finally found you.”
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