Catrin took the brown book in her and Ryan, who stood on the side eyed it suspiciously.

    "You can go back and do your work, Mr. Carl," she said, and nodding to her, the butler soon left.

    Once he was gone, Catrin turned to look back at Ryan.

    She didn''t say anything; simply kept her gaze on him. Ryan waited for a while but when he felt his patience thinning, he asked, "What is that?"

    Catrin heard him and tilted her chin a little with a confident smile. "Didn''t you ask me how I can make you believe?" She raised the brown book in her hand and tilted her chin towards it. "Here," she said, "I will do it with this diary."

    "Diary?" Ryan glanced at the brown book and then turned back to look at Catrin, who nodded to him as sure as before.

    "Since Arwen''s early years, neither I nor Idris have time for Arwen," she said as she walked closer to take a seat down across Ryan. "We were too busy with the company, so most of the time, Arwen used to stay alone at home. At that time, she developed this habit."

    She put down the diary on the table. "The habit of journaling her talks, her emotions, her feelings, her wishes and everything. As long as she would feel something, she would write it down," she said and then slowly pushed the diary towards him.

    Ryan''s expression turned complicated. He stared at the diary, trying hard to decipher the meaning behind all that he was listening to. But still, everything was sounding so surreal that it was difficult to bring himself to believe.

    "Y-You mean she wrote about me in this book?" he asked, trying to confirm his thoughts for real. Deep in his eyes, one could see the desperation.

    Ryan glanced up at her, confused. A lot was going in his thoughts but he couldn''t even figure out one. It was like he was confused, after getting an answer to all his questions.

    "Was it really Arwen who drew this?" he asked.

    Catrin gazed at the sketch. "That''s you during your high school days, isn''t it?" she asked, before adding with more meaning. "If I remember right, that was the time when you two started going to the same school and I asked you to take care of Arwen because she had recently recovered from her accident. You were really good to her. You used to even spend time together a lot. I think it must be that time she drew you."

    Ryan gave a second glance at the picture and he remembered when it could be of. His heart pounded slightly when he remembered the time.

    He was in the senior class when he went to the library after Arwen. She wasn''t feeling well that day, so he was concerned for her. But later she didn''t let him sit along with her.

    She always kept him at a distance. She wasn''t rude, but she was too polite to allow him any closer to her which started infuriating him later. Since she was still recovering and didn''t look good, he still chose to stay close by and look after her. However, he soon fell asleep and only woke up when she was gone. Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

    It seemed that day, she did notice him there and drew him in his book.

    His lips curled up a soft smile when he remembered that time when they were so young. She would not act close but would still make an effort to look after him when he needed her. There were times when she would bring him the snacks and attend the matches he participated him.

    All of that did hold a meaning that he could only understand now ...

    "Ryan, I hope you got your answer today," Catrin said as if already giving up. "If you haven''t then you can take the book with yourself and figure out. I am not going to say another word to you. Because after saying it all, there is nothing left for me to say. You have to decide on your own."

    With that, she stood up, already putting an end to the conversation, leaving Ryan to ponder on his own. Turning, she was ready to leave, but she halted in her steps and said, "The lunch is ready. If you are fine, you can stay for it."