Billionaire Lawyer's Secretary - Chapter 155: Chapter 155

Elara froze on the spot, completely stunned. Listening to the indecent conversation coming through her headphones, she just wanted to move to the deserted moon and never come back.
In the video, Elara said, "Daddy, this is my puppy."
Adrian asked, "Oh? Sweetheart, you adopted a puppy?"
Elara said, "Puppy Adrian, this is my daddy."
Justin said, "Daddy."
After that, Elara and Justin both laughed.
At this, Elara tightened her grip on the mouse and thought, 'It's all that jerk Justin's fault for making me eat those wild mushrooms.'
In the video, Adrian asked, "Then what's the relationship between Puppy Adrian and Adrian?"
Elara replied, "Adrian is Puppy Adrian."
After that, Elara said something intolerable to the ear.
She listened to every single word of things she had no memory of and felt like she was falling apart piece by piece.
Elara's voice came again. "Puppy Adrian is super attached to me, and he loves me so much. Daddy, can you make me pretzels tonight?"
Adrian replied, "Okay. Let's eat pretzels."
Elara's heart suddenly started pounding. She thought, 'Pretzels? So, that's why Adrian took me to eat pretzels yesterday.'
The video kept playing, and Elara's voice sounded again. "Is Mommy coming today?"
After a few seconds of silence, she finally heard Adrian say, "She will be here a bit later."
She then heard Adrian add, "Happy 9th birthday, my baby."
Something had been growing wild in Elara's heart, and at that moment, it finally took root. Elara thought, 'Maybe I really have fallen for him.'
Elara said in the video, "Daddy, Puppy Adrian is my boyfriend. Since this is your first meeting, you need to give him a gift, okay?"
Adrian replied, "Alright. Puppy Adrian is your boyfriend."
When the video ended, Elara closed the file and took off her headphones.
The office door swung open. Adrian was standing in front of the bookshelf, searching for some documents. Suddenly, arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and something soft pressed against his back.
The faint scent of Elara's perfume, the one Adrian loved, drifted over. The frown that had just creased Adrian's brow instantly melted away.
Elara hugged him from behind and buried her face in his white shirt, not caring if she smudged her lipstick on it.
Elara mumbled into his back with a muffled voice, "Adrian, don't love me too much."
Adrian let out a soft laugh. The sound rumbled in his chest right against Elara's ear. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid I can't take it," Elara mumbled.
"Why do you think you can't?" Adrian asked gently.
"Adrian, I don't have anything. There's nothing special about me. Why do you love me this much?" Elara whispered.
Adrian tightened his grip on the documents and then carefully placed them back in the glass-fronted bookcase. He gently took Elara's arms from around his waist.
Elara looked up at him as he turned around, and her eyes were red.
"Because you're worth it," Adrian said softly.
"We've only known each other for a month, but you've given me a car and a house, and even took me out for my favorite pretzels. What do you mean?" Elara asked.
Elara thought, 'It's one thing if he was just after my body, but now he's going after my heart, too. This isn't something I can walk away from.'
Adrian hadn't meant to make Elara cry. He was just still a bit bothered by how she had defended Justin earlier, so he showed her a video of her mushroom-fueled antics. He hoped she would realize that, deep down, she liked him.
However, she was so soft-hearted and started crying her eyes out.
Adrian gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. His expression was more tender than she had ever seen before. He said, "Elara, you've only known me for a month, but I've known you for four years."
Elara's tear-filled eyes widened in shock. She asked, "Four years?"
"To be exact, I've been looking for you for four years," Adrian said.
"W-what?" Elara stammered.
"Do you still remember the one you saved at the racing event years ago?" Adrian asked.
Elara nodded. She replied with her voice choked with emotion, "Yeah. I saved a racer. How do you know that?" She was sure that she had never told Adrian about it.
"Elara, that was me. I was the one you tried to save, even though you rolled down a mountain in the middle of a storm and a mudslide," Adrian said.
Elara was totally dumbfounded. She asked, "You-you're that Shark?"
Shark was the racing alias Adrian had used back in those days.
During the race, the drivers' names were splashed in huge, bold letters across the car doors. When his car had sped past Elara, the only thing she could make out was that striking word "SHARK".
He even had a big "SHARK" patch on his racing suit.
"Yes, Elara," Adrian replied gently. "So, when you saved me during that dive, it wasn't the first time you rescued me. You saved me twice."
Elara was a little dazed. She opened her mouth but couldn't find the words.
"Elara, I've been looking for you for four years," Adrian said.
Elara shook her head. "No. That doesn't make sense. Even if I saved you, what's that got to do with you liking me?"
"What if I told you I fell for you the moment I saw you that day?" Adrian asked.
Elara's eyes widened. She was completely thrown off. "You fell for me at first sight?"
Adrian explained, "That day, after you went to get help, I blacked out not long after. When I woke up, it was already a few days later.
"By the time I woke up, my dad had dealt with the whole racing event. I went around asking so many people to get the list of volunteers from that day, but all I had were names instead of photos.
"There were 37 volunteers in total. I tracked down 35 of them, but none of them were you. It wasn't until I ran into you in Egeorto a month ago that I realized you had gone abroad.
"I never thought that after four years, we would just run into each other like this. Isn't this fate, like you're doomed to be with me?"
Elara's mind was a mess. "Wait. Let me process this. Just give me a second."
She walked to the sofa and sat down, trying to turn everything over and over in her head.
She thought, 'Adrian was that racer I saved. After I went abroad, he spent four years looking for me. A month ago, we ran into each other naked at a hotel in Landblic. He recognized me and made me cry. So, that's what happened?'
Elara asked, "Adrian, do you mean when you ran into me that day, you recognized me right then?"
"Yes," Adrian replied.
She snapped, "Is this how you treat the person who saved your life? That day, you looked like you couldn't wait to have me thrown in jail."
Adrian shot back, "That was because you—"
Elara cut him off. "What? Can't your saver be allowed to have any needs? Am I supposed to be some kind of saintly woman, just going around saving people all day with no desires?"
Adrian was at a loss for words. Honestly, when he first saw Elara, he was so stunned that he just stood there like an idiot. It took him a long moment to register that she was standing there stark naked.
After he walked out of the bathroom, he put on a robe and lit up a cigarette, getting more and more annoyed the longer he stewed over it.
The girl he remembered from back then was just seventeen or eighteen, who was innocent and pure, the type who would probably turn beet red just hearing a sweet word.
However, when he caught her four years later, he was overwhelmed by what he saw. In fact, he kind of hated Elara at that moment. He hated that she had shattered the perfect, pure image he had been holding onto for four years.
Adrian thought bitterly, 'Is this what they call a fantasy getting wrecked by reality?'
While Adrian was still stewing in his frustration, Elara gave him a little shake. She said, "I'm 22 now. What's wrong with me having a little fun with sex toys?"
She continued, "Well, cat got your tongue? Is this really how you treat your lifesaver?"
Adrian didn't want to reply.
"Say something. Why are you ignoring your lifesaver?" Elara demanded.
She kept asking, "Did you really spend four years looking for me? Tell me how you even pulled that off.
"Was it like those bossy CEO stories, where the big shot orders his men to find me even if they had to flip Veritasiton upside down? Was it really that dramatic?
"So, Mr. Hartley, you've had feelings for me for four years? When you're, you know, fantasizing, is it my face that comes to your mind?"