Chapter 53: Is Your Boss Married Yet?
Finally, they started boarding the plane and took off right after.
To Arianna’s surprise, when they reached the airport of their connecting flight, Travis and his two assistants took a different plane than her. Ryan was told to escort Arianna home and that he would be her contact person if necessary while Travis was away.
When the plane took off again, Ryan sat beside her. Although Arianna didn’t like most of Travis’s employees, she liked having Ryan sitting beside her instead of Travis much more.
She felt happy to be free from Travis. But she soon thought of a serious problem, so she couldn’t help but ask Ryan, “Is your boss married yet?”
Arianna had always just assumed that Travis was not married. He never mentioned it, and no one said anything to her about it. But after he answered that phone call, she began to suspect that there might be a poor woman waiting for him in a different country.
It was easy for Arianna to admit that her relationship with Travis Cooper was very embarrassing. However, everything would be totally different if he had a wife. She could participate in this arrangement and degrade herself with this single man, but she would never want to hurt another innocent woman because of it.
Although Travis was likely to have many women like her, she would not want to be the home wrecker.
People had to do what they had to do, though. When she was in college, she had a female classmate who worked as a stripper every night to make a living. That classmate insisted on wearing high heels every time, thinking that the shoes meant that she was not completely naked. This helped her retain her remaining dignity.
Arianna once judged this classmate, but now she understands that life gets difficult.
A variety of thoughts were spinning in her mind.
Travis Cooper was not a man easy to get along with. But judging from the sincerity during his phone call, he was capable of respecting and cherishing someone other than himself. She could probably use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate their agreement, and maybe her freedom would come sooner.
Ryan responded to her in a bit of confusion, “Mr. Cooper is single.”
“Oh.” Arianna didn’t give up, “What about a fiancée?”
“As far as I know, he is not engaged.”
Arianna felt a bit lost. She tried to divert the topic, “Are you going to meet him after I get back home?”
“No. I’m staying to handle the company affairs for Mr. Cooper.” Ryan answered.
She had only thought of this young boy as a driver and bodyguard for Travis, but it turned out that he was also a competent assistant.
With a sigh, Arianna gave up questioning the man and picked up a magazine. But Ryan continued to answer the questions he knew she had, “Mr. Cooper is traveling to support a friend through surgery. He refers to this friend as his last family member remaining. He had known the person since he was a child. He hasn’t been in a good mood lately.”
“Since when did you become so talkative? Did I ask you about his mood and reason for going away? I don’t care about these things.” Arianna replied.
Ryan had always shown respect for her, but she didn’t want to admit it. Arianna suppressed her frustration and tried to find something else to talk about, “How long have you known him?”
“Eleven years and seven months. When I met him, Mr. Cooper was still in school and was working on a project. My parents were both dead, and my foster mother was in poor health. Mr. Cooper used his scholarship to pay for my education so I could continue in school.”
“I have remained in contact with him since then. When I was in college, my foster mother fell seriously ill. By that time, Mr. Cooper was running his company. He helped me pay for the medical care, so I came to work for him after I graduated.”
Ryan had spoken to her more now than he had in the past year. His eyes showed gratitude and admiration for his boss.
“Oh.” Arianna could not say anything more. The man she considered to be a demon was an angel in the eyes of others.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.
After a few moments of silence, Ryan continued, “When I was in college, there was a professor who studied theology. He always said people with a similar fate would be more likely to meet one another. Do you believe that, Miss Jenkins?”
Before she could answer, the pilot requested that the passengers put on their seat belts immediately as they would be experiencing some turbulence. But before he could even finish his announcement, the plane began to jerk up and down.
Arianna gripped the armrests of her seat tightly. Finally, she said to Ryan, “Are you suggesting that the two of us, who don’t have any parents left, will die together in a plane crash today?”
****
After the plane landed safely, Arianna felt like she had lost some of her respect for Ryan Cooper. This guy was kind and honest on the outside but was just as bad as Travis Cooper in his flesh and bones.
Arianna went to visit her grandfather before returning to work. She did not hold high expectations, nor did she dress up carefully to impress him. Maybe she was still suffering from jet lag because her body was weak, and her eyelids were swollen.
The weather was cold and rainy when she visited Franco Sanchez. She was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a knee-length skirt. There was only a couple hundred meters between her car and the entrance of the building, but it was enough time to make her nose start running and give her Goosebumps.
Surprisingly, her grandfather was gracious this time. Even though he could not remember anything, he said to her kindly, “Dear, it’s so cold outside today, and you did not wear enough layers. I understand that looks are important, but so is your health.”
Arianna was so surprised that she could not speak.
He continued, “You look a lot worse than the last time you were here. Are you not feeling well?”