When Silas saw Cecil, he immediately whispered to Louis, “Why is Cecil here?”

While keeping his eyes on Cecil, Louis replied, “If it’s known that we have a close relationship with the Althan family, then maybe we can avoid a disaster like with yesterday’s investor.”

Louis’ face darkened as he recalled yesterday’s lunch.

When they arrived at the restaurant to meet the investor, they received a phone call saying the investor was stuck in traffic and would be late.

After waiting an hour with no sign of the investor, Silas decided to check the news for any traffic updates—only to find there were none and there never had been.

Given their need for funding for a new project, they had no choice but to wait. When the investor finally arrived, negotiations did not go well, and the investor chose not to invest.

Normally, Louis would have been able to move past such events, as it wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Their company was a small player, insignificant compared to the big players.

But this time, he couldn’t simply forget.

What Silas didn’t know was that after the investor left, Louis had also gone to find the bathroom. As he walked through the hallways, he overheard the investor’s voice.

“Ha, it seems like every dog can open a company these days.”

Laughter followed.

“Instead of investing in this small company, I’m better off investing in the new project of the Althan Corporation.”

“Actually, I even forgot about this meeting today—”

Louis gritted his teeth upon hearing these words.

Why was the Althan family always everywhere he went? Why?

He clenched his fist.

If they liked the Althan family so much, why not give everything to them?

A cold glint flashed in Louis’ eyes. Cecil probably wouldn’t mind doing him a little favor.

Even the memory of yesterday was enough to ignite the anger in his chest again.

Beside him, Silas looked at him with a hint of disgust.

“So you asked him to come?”

“Mmm? Oh, Cecil. Well, no. If I had mentioned it was a banquet, he probably would have found an excuse to avoid it, since he doesn’t like them.”

Louis shrugged nonchalantly.

“So I only mentioned that we would meet up here.”

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Silas widened his eyes in disbelief.

Why was Louis so cruel to Cecil?

No, cruel wasn’t quite the right word. It seemed more like he harbored a deep-seated disdain for the other and took pleasure in seeing Cecil uncomfortable in the spotlight.

Shaking his head, Silas turned away from Louis and walked toward Cecil, who was surrounded by people trying to talk to him.

“Hey, where are you going, Silas? We need to talk to potential partners right now.” Louis tried to grab his hand, but Silas evaded him.

“Don’t talk to me right now,” Silas said without even looking at him, leaving Louis standing alone in the crowded hall.

Meanwhile, Cecil was starting to panic. He felt overwhelmed by the crowd that all seemed to want a piece of him.

It reminded him too much of the rainy day almost ten years ago when everyone wore black and surrounded him, asking what would happen to the company now.

As more and more memories resurfaced, Cecil’s breathing became heavier and heavier. A hand grabbed him and led him out of this horror.

Just like ten years ago, when a small hand had taken his and led him away, freeing him from the nightmares his father’s death had left upon him.

A name wanted to escape his lips, but through his blurry eyes, he noticed that the back of this person did not belong to the one he had in mind.

“Silas?”

Upon hearing his name, the other looked back.

“Don’t worry, I know a less crowded place.”

Quietly, Cecil let Silas lead him away from the lights into the darkness. But strangely, the dark wasn’t so frightening anymore.

They stopped only when they arrived at an outdoor pool, surrounded by greenery and softly illuminated by lanterns.

Both of them were breathing heavily after their escape from the banquet hall.

Suddenly, they locked eyes, and seeing each other’s flushed faces, they burst out laughing.

“I’ve done many things and there are many rumors about me, but even I never fled a party,” Cecil laughed happily.

“Well, I also never thought I’d leave future business opportunities behind.”

Cecil lowered his head at Silas’ words.

“Sorry, I—”

“No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. And if anything, I should apologize.”

“Huh?” Cecil was puzzled by Silas’ words.

“Yesterday, I hurt your feelings and was too harsh. Even though I know nothing about your relationship with Louis, I still tried to interfere and gave you unsolicited advice. For that, I’m sorry,” Silas said with a serious expression.

He pursed his lips, contemplating whether or not to continue his words.

But thinking about the schadenfreude in Louis’ eyes today, he decided to offer Cecil advice once more.

“But I won’t apologize for my words. I stand by what I said and truly believe he is not worth your attention.”

After he finished speaking, Silas took a careful look at Cecil to see what he was thinking.

But Cecil’s head was lowered, obscuring his expression with his hair.

“Cecil?”

Hearing Silas’ inquiry, Cecil was unsure of what to respond.

His mind was a mess, and so were his feelings.

On one hand, he felt deeply hurt by today’s events. But on the other—didn’t everybody make mistakes?

Why couldn’t he forgive Louis for this one mistake?

And it had been almost ten years since he had told Louis that he hated attending such events. His family wasn’t part of high society anymore, so… wasn’t it natural not to know that he hadn’t attended any events in the past years?

Maybe he had a good explanation. And don’t forget, Cecil, it was only one mistake.

“It was only one mistake,” Cecil echoed his thoughts.

“I can’t simply forget ten years’ worth of feelings for one mistake. That wouldn’t be true love, right?” He smiled.

But in Silas’ eyes, it looked more like a grimace than a smile.

Without saying a word, he shook his head. If Cecil had really loved Louis for ten years, then a few simple words wouldn’t resolve his feelings in one day.

He would need to show him Louis’ true colors slowly. Only then would this cute guy be free of his hopeless love.

Actually, Silas was stunned by his own insistence. Normally, he wouldn’t care about another person once they had rejected his good intentions.

Everybody would notice their mistakes on their own once they hit the wall.

Yet, strangely, he did not want to see Cecil’s beautiful face covered in tears, deprived of its former happiness.

But why Cecil was different, he didn’t want to think about too deeply, as he had a feeling it would only lead to disappointment.

“Okay.” Silas guessed even Cecil was surprised he didn’t continue digging deeper, given his shocked expression.

What kind of image did he have in this cutie’s mind?

“How about we forget about this for now and grab a bite to eat? The food here looked really delicious.”

Cecil breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad Silas didn’t continue pressing him for answers he didn’t have.

But he became dissatisfied again after hearing the other’s last sentence. Just what did Silas think of him? That he was a little kid who could be coaxed with delicious food?

“Then what are you still standing around for? Go, lead the way.”

Cecil looked away in embarrassment when he heard Silas laugh.

“Your wish is my command, Young Master.”

With Silas leading the way, the two of them made their way along the edge of the pool.

Suddenly, a drunken man appeared in front of them and stumbled. Unable to stabilize himself, he instinctively tried to grab the nearest thing, which unfortunately turned out to be Silas.

Instead of grabbing him, the drunken man pushed Silas, making him fall backward.

Noticing the direction of his fall, Silas instinctively tried to grab the closest thing to stop himself, but sadly, the closest thing was Cecil.

He wasn’t strong enough to stop their plunge into the cool pool water.

The only thought swirling in his head before he hit the water was:

‘I bet Silas didn’t want to be the only one wet, so he took me with him.’