The Woman From Hell

Theo glanced faintly at her and did not say anything. He held my hand and tookinto the elevator.

The elevator doors slowly closed. Theo backedto the wall and pressed his hands on the wall on either side of

my head. He lowered his head and asked with a smirk, "You're interested in both genders?"

| was stunned for a moment. When | realized what he meant by that, my face flushed with anger. "What

nonsense are you talking about? We cin contact while dealing with Amelia's parents yesterday. We got

slightly familiar with each other."

Theo faintly smiled and kissed my forehead. "My wife has really amazing social skills."

My mouth twitched. "Is that a compliment?"

After accompanying Theo at Grant Corporation for a day and returning hat night, | remembered about

Munchkin and gave Petra a call.

The call was quickly connected, but the person who answered it was Grayson." Your mom's asleep, Wanda. Are

you coming back tonight?"

| smiled. "I'm not going back tonight. I'm still staying here. | just finished making dinner. Have you had dinner?"

"They're making dinner in the kitchen.

We'll be able to eat soon."

"How's Munchkin doing?"

Grayson smiled. "He's okay now. His fever has gone down. He's alive and kicking. | heard about Grant

Corporation. How are things now?" "It's no big issue."

| then talked to him for a few minutes before hanging up.

| was just about to go have dinner when Jordan gavea call.

| answered the phone. "Good evening, Mr. Fredericks."

Maybe | was used to calling him that at work that even though it was not working hours now, | still called him Mr.

Fredericks.

Jordan smiled. "It's not working hours right now. You can just callby my name. Shannon said you've returned

to Whaldorf City. Are you free tomorrow? Let's have a meal together."

| remembered that | had promised to give him the sandalwood box. | could use this opportunity to pass it to him,

so | agreed. "I have ttomorrow. Sendthe tand location."

"Okay."

He did not say anything more and hung up the phone.

Theo looked atwith eyes as dark as the bottom of the ocean. "Jordan?"

I nodded. "I promised him back then that if he could take me, Shannon, and the rest safely back home, then |

would give him the sandalwood box that my mother left for me. But things got dragged until now. | can take this

opportunity to give it to him this time."

Theo frowned slightly. "Have you never thought about why your mother had the

box?" "I did, but | don't understand my mother well enough."

Theo held my hand, his gaze a little deep " You and Jordan's encounter was more or less deliberate. It's always

safer to stay vigilant."

I did not know why he was suddenly tellingthese things, but what he said was not entirely wrong. | nodded

compliantly to agree.

The next day, Jordan sentthe location of the restaurant. We would meet at noon.

When | arrived at the restaurant, | followed the waiter to the table that Jordan reserved.

Whaldorf City was already very cold this season. Jordan wore casual attire, and his hair was not as meticulously

combed as usual. It made him seem somewhat carefree, just like a handsteenager. The interior of the

restaurant was warm. | removed my jacket and put it aside. | asked him, "When did you return?"

"I've been back for several days now."

There was an amiable smile on Jordan's face. "I planned to ask you out when | cback but | saw that a lot of

things were going on in Grant Corporation, so | figured you wouldn't have time." | pursed my lips and did not say

anything.

The recent events in Grant Corporation had caused quite a stir on the internet, so it was not strange that he

knew about it.

What was strange was the fact that Fredericks Corporation was unaffected.

Jordan beckoned to the waiter and ordered

them to serve the dishes.

Before the dishes were served, we talked about trivial things.

"After such an incident, the project will have to halt for a while longer. Do you plan to stay in Whaldorf City after

this or go back?"

| sighed. "I haven't made any plans yet. We'll see after the holiday."

| thought about Shannon and said with a smile, "I thought you'd bring Shannon back with you."

Jordan merely smiled but did not answer me.

He picked up the glass and took a sip of water before asking with a slight smile, " Did you bring the box?"

"| did. But | have squestions to ask you."

| had too many questions about Mother's life. Perhaps he could offersinformation.

Jordan nodded. "Please ask."

| thought about it and asked, "The box you auctioned off in Salt City the last twas your grandfather's?"

"es."

"Did the box originally belong to him or did someone give it to him? In fact, | would much prefer it if you could

ask if your grandpa knows someone called Sandra Tyler."

The smile on Jordan's face suddenly turned cold. His gaze when he looked athad turned icy as well.

Sensing the drop in the temperature around me, | had goosebumps all over and looked at him while asking

carefully," What's wrong?"

Jordan frowned. "Your adoptive mother is called Sandra Tyler?"

I nodded. "Yes."

| remembered what Theo said tolast night and faintly said, "Jordan, I've always felt that our encounter was

too deliberate.

| thought he would deny it, but he graciously admitted it. "Salt City's cemetery was not where | first met you. It

was Whaldorf City. | noticed you at the tbut you didn't noticeat all."

| felt a hint of strangeness in his words.

Why would he have noticedwithout knowing my identity or that | had the sandalwood box?

| did not dwell too much on this question and once again shifted the conversation to Mother. "So, you know my

mother. Your grandfather knows my mother too, right?"

Jordan faintly smiled. "We don't just know her, but we're familiar with her too."

| frowned slightly and waited for him to continue.

However, he did not seem to want to tellanything more. He just askedfor the box.

| took out the box from my bag and handed it to him. | wanted to ask several more questions about Mother after

that, but he refused to say anything. Hence, | stopped asking.

Seeing him stare at the box in his hand with a face full of indifference, | felt more and more curious.

| had a feeling that | did not know him as well as | thought | did.

A lot of the time, he would be very close to us and very good at managing relationships. Even though he was

clearly a rich man, he did not practice the bad habits of a wealthy man. A lot of the time, he would get along

with us like any other ordinary person. He joined the rest of us when something cup like he was a part of

our lives.

x

However, sometimes, | felt like he was too far away from us. It was a very strange feeling.