Substitute Bride For Young Master
Chapter 1
Coffee grounds brewed with hot water give off a distinctive aroma inside the pantry. Lorie lifted the white cup with a carved yellow chrysanthemum flower on the table and brought the object closer to her nose, sniffing as much coffee as she could.
Lately Mr. Alex is more often overtime, even arguably almost no sleep at all. This made him want to not stay up until morning. After all, sometimes Amber wakes up in the middle of the night and asks for company.
The last four years have been really hard. Not just for Mr. Alex, but for Lorie. Kinara was already like his own brother, there was a sense of loss that he could not express when the woman was gone for good. Especially by leaving three children who still need the affection of parents. That's what makes Lorie almost every day in The Spring Mountains, although several times Alex told her to go home and rest.
He lives a kara. No one was waiting for him in his quiet apartment, so busying himself with three children Mr. Alex actually gave his own comfort.
“Why not sleeping?”
Lorie looked up when she heard a slightly hoarse heavy voice from behind her body. He turned his head quickly and found his master walking in with a slightly messy appearance.
Lorie sighed softly, Mr. Alex looked a little thinner, his appearance was very much different when compared to when there was still Kinara Lee.
“Master, you want coffee?” bargain Lorie while fixing her standing position.
“I will make it myself,” replied Alex as he walked towards the hanging cabinet and took out the roasted coffee granules.
He put the blackish brown beans into the grinding machine, poured the grind on the filter paper and doused them with hot water.
Again Lorie sighed softly. Lately Young Master Smith prefers bitter coffee. Lorie smiled bitterly, if only Amanda Shu was alive after jumping from the top of the building, she herself would break the sun*al woman's legs and hands one by one, she said, enjoying the scream of his pain as he tore that disgusting face with a dagger.
Unfortunately, that unlucky woman instantly died on the spot. His head was smashed, a bit of brain fluid was splattered, but that did not make Lorie satisfied. Death that way too soon, the pain that was felt was not worth the suffering experienced by Mr. Alex and his three children.
“What do you think?” alex asked when he saw his best man was stuck and staring at the floor.
“T-no, Sir,” replied Lorie quickly. How could he possibly have told Mr. Alex his heart, would only have made the man even more sad.
“Did you miss him sometimes, Lorie? I mean ... You guys are pretty close,” muttered Alex while staring at the coffee in his glass like he was staring at a point very far and unattainable.
Lorie weighed in for a moment hearing Alex Smith's question. Should he be telling the truth that he misses Kinara too much? The bond between them was more than just a bodyguard and an employer. Kinara Lee always treated her very well. He felt like he had a family when he was with Kinara, like he was interacting with a sister he had never had before.
“I miss him almost every day, Sir,” replied Lorie slowly, finally deciding not to lie to her master.
“Moreover when seeing children ... Amber is very similar to him ..” he continued in an increasingly quiet voice.
Alex smiled bitterly and replied, “Well, it was so similar that I felt like I was watching little Kinara grow and develop in my grasp. It's okay, at least it can treat my longing for her, paying for the times when I didn't recognize her ...”
Lorie wanted to say words of comfort, but she knew it would be useless at all. His master only needed someone who would listen to him tell stories, instead of giving cliche advice that even he himself did not dare to believe. Life is never fair. All we have to do is face it and live it, inevitably .. dislike it ....
“You must endure to the end, Mr. .. do not waste the sacrifice of the Lady to give birth to those three cute children, sir,” said Lorie while trying to smile even though the one engraved on her face was more like a grin in pain. He himself had lost quite a number of his closest people ... Anne ... Ken ....
Alex's gaze grew increasingly empty and distant, as if he wanted to go back in time when everything was still fine. When he woke up from sleep and Kinara was in his arms. Now ... he's too scared to sleep. Every time he opened his eyes and found that everything was not just a nightmare, it felt like his heart was stabbed and ripped violently until there was nothing left in his chest cavity. It was really very torturous.
“Hum ... Lorie, I was thinking, how about you start studying company management? It seems Billy is now starting to be overwhelmed, especially Elizabeth is pregnant with their first child. In the future, maybe he will be even more busy. I don't want to entrust this business to others.”
The sudden diversion of the topic of conversation left Lorie stunned for a moment. Company management? All he knew was bullets and sharp weapons. Can he take that responsibility?
“Don't worry, there's still about three to four years to learn. After the children enter elementary school, it looks like I will focus more on taking care of them,” continued Alex when he never got a response from one of his trusted men.
“Tuan ... this ...”
“Think about it first. If you feel any objection, I'll find someone else.”
“Good ...”
“Just like that, I went to check on the kids first.”
“Yes. Don't forget to rest, sir. If you are sick, children will surely be sad.”
“Um. Thank you for accompanying me on chatting.” Alex brought his coffee cup and walked out of the pantry.
His shabby steps looked like dried leaves tossed about by the autumn wind, lonely and miserable.
Lorie turned her face away, unable to bear to see the appearance of her master like that. The man who was so excited and filled with the essence of life turned into a person he hardly recognized anymore.
However, a moment later, his mind was distracted by Alex's offer earlier.
Study company management ....
Should he try it?
***