Joanne woke up and stared at Brian in the next morning.

He was as he had always been in the morning, lazy but elegant, with a deadly grace in his random movements.

As if it were not him who had been haunted by nightmares last night and frowned deeply while sleeping.

Brian greeted Joanne's eyes with leisure, "Did you dream of me last night?"

"Hum..." Joanne shook her hand, "No..."

"Why did you stare at me when you woke up?" Brian said with a faint smile on his face, "Did you miss me after one nights sleep without seeing me?"

"..." Joanne was speechless. She decided to satisfy Brian since he was such a narcissistic guy.

She held Brian's face with her hand, wearing a brilliant smile on her lips, "Yeah, I can't sleep at the thought of my husband being so handsome. I hope to wake up and see you while dreaming! Well, the more I look at you, the more handsome you are!"

"..." Brian felt defeated by Joanne for the first time.

Nevertheless, Brian thought the Little Monster had quite keen eyes.

Joanne found herself increasingly unable to figure out the meaning behind Brian's eyes. She feared getting into trouble and decisively slipped away to wash.

This day passed over in a hurry just as usual. It was already knock-off time when Joanne came to herself from work.

Carrying the purse out of office, she was somewhat nervous, afraid of Rowdy waiting outside again.

Joanne sighed with relief until she got in Brian's car. Rowdy didn't appear today, nor did he send flowers to the office.

She refused him resolutely so many times. Joanne thought he may give up on her. This was the best result!

Brian glanced silently at the police station and there was no sign of Rowdy.

However, the coldness in his eyes didn't fade away.

Would a man like Rowdy give up his love so easily?

While Joanne didn't think so much about it. She felt at ease temporarily and returned home with Brian, talking and laughing all the way.

This feeling would continue in the days to come.

On Friday night, Freya took part in the third knockout round of Top Model.

Freya had outdone herself this time and won the first place again with an extraordinary score, leaving other players behind.

She indeed felt quite happy. However, Freya didn't forget that Kaylee tampered with her shoes in the first round of the competition. Hence she put an eye on Kaylee these days and tried to investigate her secretly, only finding nothing out through her own efforts, let alone discovering direct evidence to prove it was Kaylee who set her up.

She never thought about telling Chris about it.

Chris was busy enough with his company affairs. If she bothered him with these trifles, he was probably up to the eyes in work. So he should spend his spare time accompanying her.

However, Freya being so understandable couldn't cheer Chris up.

Because Freya refused to show up with Chris in public occasions.

Before the competition this week, Chris offered to visit Freya in the backstage, which she sternly refused.

"Why? Do I look not good enough for you?" Chris gritted his teeth and asked.

"No, it is because you are so brilliant!" Freya grinned, "Our relationship will be exposed once you show up in the backstage. All kinds of gossip news popping up will kill me. You know better than me. I'm kind of a superstar now! I don't want to kill my career!"

Thus Chris reluctantly became one of the many spectators in the audience, watching Freya shine on the stage, winning applause and cheers.

When the host announced that the week champion was Freya again, Chris felt happy but also feared.

He was glad that Freya had finally grown up and learned to weigh and balance. She was no longer the frivolous girl with only shopping and parties in her head.

What he feared was that Freya did better than he had imagined. She was stepping towards success and attracting more and more attention. She was so carefree, so one day, would she kick him away to taste the feeling of dumping people?

Chris pressed the temple and thought that this would not work. He had to find a way to make Freya never leave him.

Chris, engaged in his secret plan, did not realize that he had become swayed by gain and loss because of Freya.

As soon as the live broadcast finished, Chris called Freya. "Should I wait for you or let Candy take you to my house?"

Freya made an "er" sound. "I want to go home, back to my house!"

Chris grinned coldly, and refused without hesitation, "There is no option of going back to your house."

"... but I get the champion again this week, I'm sure I'll be besieged by reporters when I go out." said Freya, "What if they follow me downstairs? Then we are unable to clear our names even if we jump into the Yellow River to wash."

Chris smiled disapprovingly, "Freya, we couldn't wash ourselves in the first place."

Freya felt speechless.

She was aware that if she didn't obey Chris today, he would surely try to disclose their relationship. Anyway, Chris didn't want Freya to be successful in her career. If influenced by gossip, her career would be over, and consequently, she would come back to him. This was exactly what Chris wanted.

She bit her teeth and said, "Go back first, I'll let Candy send me over!"

Chris hung up the phone with satisfaction.

Candy teased Freya on purpose, "At this speed, you and Chris will be having kids in a while, won't you?"

"Screw you!" Freya pushed Candy and said, "I don't want to get married. What kids!"

"Both of you should be careful!" Candy seemed to warn her, "If your relationship is exposed, it is not just going to affect you in the competition."

"I know." Freya stopped laughing, "I won't let things come out before the end of the competition."

If she and Chris were exposed during the competition, then she would only stay at home, otherwise, she would be drowned by saliva.

"And," Candy asked, "Are you going to hide it from the company or be honest about it? The company has regulations that new artists are not allowed to date."

Freya smiled with full confidence and said, "If I date Chris, I'll be the boss's sister-in-law. He dares not make me break up even though I tell the whole thing to the company!"

"..." Candy silently raised her thumb toward Freya.

The car soon arrived at Chris's house. Candy looked around and found no paparazzi following them, urging Freya to quickly get off.

Seeing Candy so cautious, Freya inexplicably felt a little guilty, but also excited. She lowered the cap, held her bag and slipped off the car, rushing into the elevator.

Chris had just arrived home, waiting for Freya with the door open. As soon as Freya stepped in, she slammed the door closed and leaned back against it with a long sigh of relief.

Chris frowned. "Someone is chasing you?"

Freya replied. "Guilty conscience is chasing me..."

Chris couldn't help but raise the corner of his lips and said, "You won't feel guilty if you reveal our relationship."

"You haven't seen my dad yet. Why should I go public with you first?" Freya made a "hum" voice, "Let's continue to keep this secret love. If one day it's exposed, someone will judge we are pulling strings. How fun it is!"

"Freya, you can play. But don't let me see you with other men." Chris had expected that Freya wouldn't agree to reveal their relationship. He also didn't intend to make her. However, if Freya dared to do the things he couldn't tolerate, she would be dead.

Freya was such a clever girl. She held Chris lovingly. "I'll only be with you!"

Sure enough, a docile lion was more pleasing. Chris rubbed Freya's face. "Good girl."

Freya deserved a reward for being a good girl.

...

Time flew day by day. Freya and Chris tried to provoke each other while dating, trying to find a way to make the other kick the bucket out of anger. But when they were together, they were as sticky as two melted sugars.

Gavin said that he increasingly failed to understand what love was.

Their relationships were totally different from Joanne and Brian's.

Since that day, Joanne noticed that Brian was busier than before, but he still went to work on time, drove her to the office and picked her up from work every day.

Joanne thought that Brian might be exhausted. She tried to persuade him that she would go home by herself after work, but he refused.

"I'll be worried about you." he said.

"Didn't you send someone to protect me? Is there anything else you should worry about?" Joanne was puzzled. "Don't you trust the bodyguard you hired?"

Brian rubbed Joanne's black hair and said, "I can only stop worrying when I see you."

Joanne felt awkward but sweet, so she continued to go on and off work with Brian every day.

Upon returning home, Brian went to the study to continue his work before he had time to drink water. Joanne couldn't find a chance to speak to him, so she decided to make coffee for him.

After bringing coffee into the study, Joanne usually found an excuse to stay. She thought Brian would be dissatisfied with her childish behavior, but he seemed to enjoy this, just asking her to be quiet during his meeting.

At other times, he would not scold her even she ran about in the room. He may even ask her to sit down with him to discuss the rationality of some clauses in the document.

Joanne felt bored after a long time. Instead of disturbing Brian, she took a book from his bookshelf and read quietly on the sofa by the French windows when he was busy with work.

At this time, the only thing in the spacious study room was the rustle of Joanne's books and Brian's documents. The light golden sunset was dancing in front of the window, like a silent note that would sound beautifully if one played them in their mind.

In a twinkling of an eye, half a month passed away. Joanne gradually stopped worrying when she got off work every day because Rowdy never appeared again.

If it wasn't for Brian's bodyguards following her in a proper distance every time when she went on police duty, she would soon forget about Rowdy.

Brian's birthday was around the corner at the time when Freya successfully took the fourth-week championship.

"I heard you haven't had a birthday party for many years. How do you want to spend it this time?" Joanne asked him.

Brian glued his eyes to his documents without even raising his head, "You should deal with such trifles."

"... I, I don't know how to arrange it." Joanne said without any confidence, "Should I just send you gifts?"

"Speaking of presents," Brian suddenly got interested, put aside his pen and looked at Joanne, "Have you picked it out yet? Just to be clear first, if I'm not satisfied, I'll return it."

Joanne blushed, "I'm sure you will be satisfied!"

Brian had been spending almost the entire day with Joanne during the past half month, except for his working time. She hadnt gone to pick gifts during that time, but from her present look, it was evident that she had picked it long ago.

Brian suddenly grew interested in his birthday party because the gift Joanne chose first made her blush.