CHAPTER 275: MUST BE A DREAM

"I didn’t plan that kidnapping nor had I intended to harm you or Ruby," Mo Jun tapped his fingers on his desk.

That kidnapping was solely Esther’s doing, in coordination with Ricky. By the time Mo Jun knew about it, things were beyond saving.

"I know and that is why I am sitting here to talk to you. But that doesn’t erase the fact that even after you knew about it, you did nothing..."

This was also part of the reason Ella kept her distance from Mo Jun.

Be it in her previous life or this one, he was fixated on Esther to a point that he was blinded to her faults.

Mo Jun ran his fingers through his hair, "I... It’s my fault."

"Of course, it is. But I didn’t bring you here to count your faults."

Mo Jun nodded slowly, "Fine, tell me what the matter is."

Ella leaned back on the chair, "How is the case proceeding?"

Mo Jun froze. A cold glint flickered in his eyes as he leaned forward, "What did you say?" a vicious glint flickered in his eyes.

The corner of Ella’s lips tugged up, "You heard me the first time. Do you want to silence me now?"

Mo Jun’s fingers clenched and unclenched.

He closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled a deep breath before looking at her again, "I am sorry I lost my composure just now... It’s a family affair, and a confidential matter. How do you know about the case?"

"I know a lot of things but why does it matter?" Ella smiled, "You are battling this case against Jenny who is currently pregnant with your late father’s child and after seeing your father’s will, you should know that your chances of winning against her are close to zero."

The more Ella spoke, the further Mo Jun was shocked.

Some of the information she mentioned are things that he also discovered a few days ago yet she seemed to know.

She seemed to know the entire situation like the back of her hand.

The Mo siblings resented their father for getting a mistress their age as soon as their mother died.

But they had never expected him to fall sick and pass away suddenly when he was in the pink of his health over the past few years.

And before they could grieve properly, Jenny showed up at the Mo Estate with her lawyers, claiming that both the house and the company now belonged to her.

How could Mo siblings believe that their father would treat them this way? Despite their strained relations, they had shared familial affections for years.

But then, Jenny dropped another bomb. She was pregnant with their father’s child.

And... Mo Jun had no trouble believing that his father had decided to name Jenny’s child his true heir before his death.

"Do you want it all back?"

Ella’s voice broke Mo Jun’s trail of thoughts.

He looked at her quietly for a moment before he opened his mouth, "Of course. I won’t let that woman have a single penny. The Mo Entertainment, the estate, half of it contains my mother’s assets too, her lifelong efforts..."

He trailed off when he caught Ella looking at him with an approving smile, "What do you want?"

"I want to help you," Ella straightened up on the chair, curling her palms under her chin.

Mo Jun narrowed his eyes, "And you think you are capable of that?"

"Wasn’t I capable of shocking you just now? Trusting me right now will be like a leap of faith for you, you might fall or you might soar high in the sky."

As she spoke, Ella stood up, "It is up to you to decide which one is more probable given the current circumstances. Take your time."

"Ella, what’s in it for you?" Mo Jun asked just as Ella turned to leave.

"You will know in the future."

...

Once Ella reached the Eve Mansion, she freshened up and climbed on her bed.

But the moment her head hit the pillow, her phone blasted up with a series of texts and a call.

Ella picked up the phone and checked the caller ID that flashed the name ’Jerome’.

Ella swiped the call up and immediately Jerome’s excited voice rang through her room,

"Miss Yu, I have been trying to contact you for days! But I couldn’t get through at all..."

"Ah, I am sorry for that..." Ella sat up on the bed, "I had my exams so I mostly stayed off the phone during this time..."

Well, that was a lie. She indeed stayed off her socials after she scheduled some posts for the past few days.

But ignoring calls here and there was intentional on her part.

Maybe, her head was overwhelmed due to the exams, or work... or a certain someone’s presence. And it made her want to avoid the phone so that she did not spend hours staring at a chat where her texts went unreplied.

"I see, I see. Does that mean you haven’t seen the public response?" Jerome’s excitement did not dull in the slightest.

Ella blinked slowly, "I haven’t... But now that you are here, tell me. How did the launch go?"

"Miss Yu, in the past 4 days, we have had to restock the products thrice and it’s about to be out of stock again..."

Ella’s lips parted in shock.

"And it’s all thanks to you. If not for you, Lilac would not have overturned its reputation that was going downhill."

"I doubt it’s just me. The products are genuinely good," Ella touched her face as she spoke.

"No, that’s not it... You haven’t seen it, have you? The reviews are filled with mentions of you and most of them are your followers..."

After talking to Jerome, Ella logged in to her socials and sure enough, what he said wasn’t untrue.

She had expected to pique people’s curiosity but she had never thought that they would put such faith in her.

It was bizarre how these people mocked her, laughed at her, claimed to hate her yet...

Ella chuckled. How silly.

Ella scrolled through the comments and responses for a while but soon, the exhaustion of the past week caught up to her.

Her body was too tired. Her limbs felt heavy, and the soft sheets beneath her felt like quicksand, slowly pulling her in.

The glow from her screen faded as the phone slipped from her hand. And she drifted off to sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, a subtle shift in the air stirred her.

A gentle touch grazed her ankle, feather-light.

Ella’s brows twitched, but her body remained still, her mind foggy.

Another caress, gentler this time, traveled up her leg, and her eyes fluttered open to a dim, hazy glow seeping in through the curtains.

And there he was.

Adrian.

Sitting at the foot of her bed, looking unreal beneath the moonlight.

Hair tousled, shirt half-unbuttoned, eyes smoldering with that unreadable intensity he always carried.

Her lips parted. With slow movements, she reached her arm out to him, like she always did in her sleep.

Adrian met her halfway, his fingers curling around hers, before lifting her arm to place a soft kiss along its length. Her breath caught.

"It must be a dream..." Ella mumbled, still dazed. She pulled him closer, looping one arm around his neck.

Adrian looked into her eyes deeply for a moment, his gaze dipped to her lips.

Their lips met, gentle at first, then deeper, desperate. Her fingers curled in his hair.

"I miss you," she whispered against his mouth, feeling the man stiffen.

Ella couldn’t resist those words from slipping from her mouth.

Strange. Strange that she never thought she would miss him like this.

She was confident that she’d be held up in her affairs, too busy to care whether he is around or not. Yet, he repeatedly proved her wrong.

Regardless of what she did, Adrian played in the back of her mind like the lyrics of her favorite song.

It was as frustrating as it was endearing.

"I miss you so much..." Ella mumbled again, dazedly.

He grunted softly at that, voice thick and needy, before he captured her lips again.

The kiss turned rough, heated, his hand slipping under the sheets, pulling her flush against him.

Suddenly, something snapped in Ella!

Her eyes widened. Her lips throbbed with a dull ache.

She could actually feel everything. The weight of his body. The scent of his cologne. The heat of his mouth on her skin.

He was real.

Adrian was really here.

"You... You...!" Ella stuttered as she gently pushed the man away from her.