Chapter 3

After Sylvia left, Arnaud's deep frown remained. A while later, someone knocked on the door to his office again. This time, it wasn't Sylvia, but Arnaud's childhood best friend, Cody Mills. Before he even stepped into the office, his loud voice boomed as he said, "Damn it, I don't know what's gotten into the old man at home. He keeps insisting that I go on blind dates! "Arnaud, don't you think they're nuts? They keep harping on about keeping our family's bloodline going. My dad doesn't have the energy to fool around, but I do! Since I'm still young, I plan to party away my youth! There's no way I'm settling down." He flopped onto the couch, looking displeased at being forced into marriage. But Arnaud didn't even bother responding, causing him to unhappily pout. Soon, Cody got up and approached Arnaud. "Ah, I envy you. Because of your status, only your nephew gets scolded for refusing to carry on the family line, not you." "Why are you here?" Arnaud remained indifferent, his handsome face devoid of emotion. Cody tutted and rolled his eyes. "Hey, can you stop burying yourself in work? You've been a bachelor for so long. Honestly, don't you feel pent up? Or… do you prefer to satisfy yourself privately? "If you have any questions regarding romance, let me know. I can answer your questions!" When he saw Arnaud picking up another folder, Cody gave up and waved at him. "Ugh, you're no fun. I'm leaving." He headed for the door. But suddenly, Arnaud stopped him. "A friend of mine has some questions." "Oh?" Upon hearing that, Cody perked up and spun around, returning to his desk. "Tell me more about it!" Arnaud considered his words, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing as he said, "He had sex with a girl accidentally. "Before they had sex, the girl was pretty proactive and eager. But after it was over, when the guy offered to take responsibility, the girl turned him down." Without even thinking much, Cody clapped his hands and concluded, "The guy must've sucked in bed! He must've been so horrible that the girl's attitude did a one-eighty after they had sex!" Arnaud furrowed his brows but said nothing. "Oh? Arnaud, don't tell me you're that guy?" "Get out." "Pft, you can't even take a joke. I knew it wasn't you. You've been celibate for so long, I can't help but wonder if you're still a virgin." This time, Arnaud didn't even bother to speak and directly pointed at the door. Cody knew he had gone too far with this joke, especially considering how old-fashioned Arnaud was. So, he hunched his shoulders and quickly fled the scene. Once the door was shut, the office went silent once again. Yet, Arnaud could no longer focus on the document in his hands. Instead, he kept recalling the previous night's incident. Indeed, Sylvia did complain of pain a few times. In fact, she had even sounded like she was crying. But it was his first time getting a taste of it, so of course, he didn't stop. Could Sylvia's drastic change have been due to this? The more Arnaud thought about it, the darker his expression got. He couldn't directly explain to Sylvia that it had also been his first time and that he lacked experience in that sort of thing. Plus, due to the influence of alcohol, he'd failed to consider her feelings. But there was no way for him to explain this nor prove himself. He couldn't exactly ask her out tonight and prove himself again, could he? Irritated, Arnaud stood up. It was the first time in his life that he was facing a situation he couldn't overcome. …… Meanwhile, Sylvia wasn't even thinking about how Arnaud was feeling. Under the pressure of the contract she'd signed with the Kaplan family, all she could think about was getting close to Tyler and finding a chance to take action. Back in her office, she first gave Gregory's attending doctor a call. "The donor has already signed, and we've begun the pre-donation preparations," the doctor told her. However, he responsibly added, "Under the law, the donor isn't forced to donate, so even if they agree, they can back out anytime." "Don't worry. I don't think they'll back out." After all, her uncle, Jeremy Smith, couldn't earn that much money even if he worked hard for a lifetime. After discussing Gregory's condition with the doctor for a bit, Sylvia ended the call. Then, she decided to complete her work before turning her attention to Tyler. Perhaps Lady Luck was on her side, because Sylvia found a proposal from Tyler among the newly submitted project materials. She immediately perked up and opened the folder. After throwing herself into it, she finally managed to find a few problematic sections and immediately ran toward the project department. "Hello, is Mr. Tyler around?" After she knocked on the door, a young man who looked like an assistant pointed at an office. "Yes, he is. I'll go inform him now." "Okay, thank you!" Sylvia stood at the entrance of the project department for around one minute before she was ushered in. At that moment, it seemed like Tyler was discussing the project with someone else. As he talked on the phone, he gestured for Sylvia to sit down and wait for him. Sylvia gave an "okay" gesture and sat down, then instinctively glanced around Tyler's office. Clearly, this was the territory of a young person. There was a vivid oil painting hanging on the wall, and also a limited edition Chanel surfboard with someone's autograph on it on display. A few decorative items also sat on the table, clearly of considerable value. Tyler's office stood in stark contrast to Arnaud's standard black and white office which was devoid of warmth and liveliness. Technically, they were only three years apart, so why were their personalities so different? "Sorry, the legal department was explaining a contract to me." Instead of remaining in his seat behind the desk like a boss, Tyler got up and approached Sylvia. With a gentle voice, he said, "Ms. Reid, you wanted to talk to me?" "Yes!" Sylvia quickly presented the project materials he'd submitted to the CEO's office and pointed at them. "Mr. Kaplan, you just returned from abroad, so I believe that's why there are some discrepancies in your calculations for the domestic project's return of investment." Upon hearing that Sylvia was here about work, Tyler stopped smiling and grew serious. Sylvia had finally found a chance to showcase her skills, so she carefully explained the current state of the investment industry. She also pointed out that risk factors had to be deducted from the ROI to get a more accurate range. "Also, when conducting due diligence on a company, you must verify whether or not the patents are registered under the legal owner's name. Our domestic requirements for patents differ from those abroad." After hearing her explanation, Tyler repeatedly nodded. "Ms. Reid, you're right to point that out. I didn't take that into consideration." Sylvia then took the chance to pull out her phone. "Mr. Kaplan, if you don't mind, should we exchange numbers? You can come to me if you have any questions in the future." She knew that this was abrupt, but time was pressing. However, to avoid revealing her overly obvious intentions, she quickly pretended to be caught off guard and awkwardly retracted her phone. "Oh, I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking much. "You helped me previously, so I just wanted to repay the favor by helping whenever I can too. I didn't think much about it…" But at the next moment, Tyler's lips curved as he handed his phone to her. "That won't be a problem. Just exchanging numbers isn't enough, so let's add each other on Facebook too."