Joanne slept soundly until the next morning.

Before opening her eyes, she could sense a familiar breathing right under her nose. Feeling at ease, she snuggled into the familiar embrace. In an instant, what had happened yesterday all resurfaced and came to mind.

Her eyes opened all of a sudden-it was actually only dawn.

It probably had not been long since Brian slept. There were still signs of weariness on his face from a night of not sleeping. His breathing was deep and heavy-he was fast asleep.

Joanne tried to move a bit. Indeed he did not react.

She heaved a sigh of relief, then left the bed to wash up in the bathroom. She had no change of clothes there, so she ended up wearing one of Brian's bathrobes.

When she returned, Brian was still asleep. Seeing that it was still early, she pondered for a while, and continued sleeping.

Just when she had laid down, Brian pulled her into his embrace all of a sudden.

She thought Brian had woken up, but only to turn around and see that he was still soundly sleeping. It seemed like his actions just then were instinctive...

Joanne could not help but feel her heart flutter. She stayed in the same position watching Brian, until the room gradually became brighter. A tinge of sunray shone over his beautiful facial features.

It was about 6 a.m. when Brian woke up. What was different today was that Joanne was awake, and even seemed like she had been awake for some time.

He casually pulled her in closer, and she was unusually obedient that day. Like an ostrich, she buried her face in his chest, and mumbled, "I was reminded of something when I was showering just now..."

"What is it?"

"I don't have a change of clothes here." Joanne looked upwards, biting her lips in embarrassment. "I would be laughed at if I wore yesterday's clothes out."

Brian glanced at Joanne. His bathrobe was very loose on her. Just with a slight movement, half of her fair shoulders and her beautiful collarbones were revealed. He smirked.

Joanne could not be more familiar with that smile. A chill went down her spine, and indeed-she was pinned down by Brian in the next second. His hand was on the strap of her bathrobe.

His fingers brushed across her luscious and tender flower petal-like lips, "You look good in my clothes."

Joanne pushed Brian unhappily. "I'm being serious!"

His voice grew hoarse, "It's unsuitable to be fussing over such matters in the morning."

Joanne smiled stiffly, "What is suitable to be done in the morning then...?"

"Something meaningful, of course." He lowered his head and left a mark on her shoulder, then kissed her lips, repeatedly sucking on them. Every movement, every pause, was endlessly intimate.

Joanne was unusually tense because of the unfamiliar environment. She refused, "You... you still have work."

Brian replied nonchalantly, "Humans are not robots. We need an appropriate amount of relaxation and exercise."

His emphasis on the last few words was obviously hinting on how a certain activity could perfectly combine relaxation and exercise.

Joanne's face was flushed red. Both her hands were still propped before Brian's chest, but Brian knew her too well, and managed to effortlessly draw away all her rationality and strength.

...

Gavin rushed to the company early in the morning, and did not expect to meet Winston downstairs.

"Gavin, just nice." Winston passed a bag to Gavin. "Could you help me pass this to Young Madam? She stayed overnight at the company with Young Master."

Gavin carried the bag upstairs, and was about to instinctively enter Brian's office before he grew embarrassed, and finally left the bag outside.

It turned out he was right. When it was nearly 9a.m., Brian finally came out of the room. Even his prim and proper dressing could not hide his joyful, refreshed demeanor. Gavin handed the bag to him, and glared at him with a disdainful intent, "Hey, Winston sent this for Joanne."

Brian brought the clothes back to the lounge. Joanne was still lazing in bed, refusing to get up. In a daze, she asked him what time it was.

Brian took a look at his watch. "It's ten more minutes to nine."

Joanne gasped, and jumped out of bed, glaring at Brian, "It's all your fault!"

She grabbed the bag from Brian just as she was speaking, and ran to the shower. No matter how fast she could move, she was already running late. When she was done, she pulled Brian's hand and glanced at his watch. It was 9:15 a.m.

Brian passed her bag to her, "Breakfast is outside."

It was a simple meal of toast and milk. Joanne put the milk in her bag, and ran off after taking two pieces of toast, saying, "I won't be eating with you."

Brian helplessly ran after Joanne to send her off downstairs. Once they entered the lift, Joanne finally calmed down, and looked towards Brian, "How's the company? I saw staff getting taken away yesterday."

"They've gone home after the police was done interrogating them," Brian said, "Investigation would take some time, but it would be alright once it is done. Don't you worry."

Joanne was doubtful, but she could only choose to believe Brian, since she could not be much of a help.

Winston had already arrived in the car at the building entrance. She waved to Brian, "I'm leaving, you can go back up."

Only after watching Joanne's car drive away did Brian return to the company. In an instant which went unnoticed, his eyes grew cold.

It was only the beginning. He could not predict what Rowdy was going to do next.

When Joanne reached the City Police Station, she was already late for a total of 30 minutes. But what was different was that nobody was making jokes at her expense.

She turned on her computer and checked a news site. As expected, the news of Lambert Group being suspected for a large scale tax evasion had made it to the headlines. The media had revealed that many Lambert Group' employees had already been taken away by the police to assist with investigations.

It had been speculated that some of Lambert Group' collaborations would be suspended during the investigation period. Brian would very likely be called in for police interrogation.

It was even said that, if Lambert Group were found guilty, Brian would not only be sued by the tax department, but also be fined a large sum of money. If Lambert Group got into any trouble again during that period, Brian's reputation as a business legend would end up as a joke.

Reading that made Joanne shudder in fear. She mentally prepared herself for the worst outcome, and the thought of it made her heart pound.

Shawn poured her a cup of water and asked, "Are you ok?"

Joanne was unsure whether to shake or nod her head, and looked lost momentarily. "I don't know. He told me it's alright, but things... seem to be more serious than I thought. But there is nothing I can do."

"Whether you can or not-" Shawn said, "Perhaps things aren't as bad as you think. So far everything is still under Brian's control. He doesn't need your help on anything. He only needs you to stay with him."

Joanne shook her head. She did not know how to explain the case of Rowdy to Shawn, and could only say, "I think things aren't that simple. Something more is going to happen..."

Shawn sighed once again, and decidedly closed the webpage for Joanne. "Don't look at these anymore. It's not like you don't know that the media tends to exaggerate. Is there a point in scaring yourself?" He paused, and then added, "Women just love to overthink."

Joanne took a deep breath. "I also wish it were just me overthinking."

The day passed by quickly. Once it was 5 p.m., everyone gradually packed up and left.

Joanne was thinking of whether to give Brian a call when she detected a flash of a familiar figure in the corner of her eye.

She immediately turned in that direction-it was indeed Brian!

She was utterly surprised, "Why are you here?"

Even if Brian had knocked off work, he could not have arrived that quickly, especialy when the company was still busy.

Then, there was only one explanation for Brian appearing there with that timing, "The police summoned you?"

"Just for a few questions." Brian held Joanne's hand. "Now that I'm done, I've come to pick you up."

Joanne held onto Brian, "What did the police ask you? Isn't the company busy today?"

Brian smiled, "Firstly, the police was simply following their protocol, and asked me a few questions. Secondly, such a small issue would not need to occupy two days of my time."

He was indifferent, and that finally made Joanne somewhat relieved. She returned home with him.

On the way, Joanne received a call which was displayed as a foreign number.

She picked up, and asked with uncertainty, "Freya?"

"You guessed it so fast," Freya said disappointedly, "I was just going to tease you."

"..."

"Seriously, I'm abroad and even I have heard the news. Brian... will be ok right? How are you doing?" It was rare for Freya to reveal her worries so candidly.

Joanne glanced at Brian, "We are ok. "How about you? When are you coming back?"

"I..." Freya laughed. "I'm still thinking about life! I'll return after I'm done figuring it out!"

"Thinking about life?" Joanne jabbed without restrain. "You're obviously having so much fun you don't want to come back anymore."

Freya chuckled slightly, not acknowledging anything. She stuttered, "That... is... ah! Nevermind. I've reached the hotel! That's all."

"He's not doing good." Joanne said right before Freya could hang up the call. "At all. But it doesn't seem to affect how girls tend to be fawning over him. If you still don't come back, better be careful or he'll be abducted and taken elsewhere."

Freya fell into silence for a good moment and ended up saying, "Just... let him get abducted!"

When Joanne was still recovering from her shock, Freya had already hung up.

If it were in the past, Freya would have definitely gone berserk, and angrily shouted, "Who dares try to take Chris from me! I will kill every single one of them!"

"What was the matter with Freya?"

Joanne asked Brian in suspicion, "Say, has Freya really given up on my brother completely...?"

Brian raised his brows. Only after Joanne tried to pacify him, he finally spoke, "Another possibility could be that-Freya is sure that your brother would wait for her."

She was being willful because she was certain?

Joanne felt like she could only partially understand, and did not feel like exhausting her mental power to figure it out. She leaned into Brian's embrace, "Let's eat beef stew tonight, ok?"

Brian knitted his brows. It seemed like he was not too satisfied, then Joanne asked again, "Western?"

His brows finally relaxed. Joanne had thought of what to make, except she was unsure about dessert. Brian did not like desserts, so she could not think of what to make at all.

Brian said, "Don't think about it. I want to eat something else for dessert."

Joanne looked at him confusedly, "What?"

He smirked, and whispered a word in her ear.

"You..."

...

It would not be peaceful that night. While Brian was enjoying his dessert, a building in construction situated in the west of the city had suddenly collapsed...