Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 35: What Am I to You?

"I..." The assistant hadn’t even spoken when he met Ian Preston’s gaze, which scared him into immediate silence.

Thea Lynch noticed something, turning to look at the man next to her.

There was a little less hostility in Ian Preston’s eyes, but when he met hers, there was no trace of emotion.

That’s normal. Thea paused for a moment before realizing why the assistant was so afraid—Ian Preston had troubled him before.

"Ahem." She lowered her head, pretending to cough to cover her mouth, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Ignore him for now. We’re at work."

As Coronet’s Crown Prince, Ian Preston never considered other people’s feelings. Thea was concerned he might trouble her assistant here.

It’s not about anything else, but this occasion really isn’t appropriate.

They were working, still socializing, and if interrupted by personal matters, it would leave a poor impression on Valiant. While they definitely wouldn’t mind Ian’s rudeness, what about Stratus?

For a company, its image is especially important.

With the atmosphere suddenly becoming tense, the situation seemed off. Thea withdrew her gaze from him and then picked up her wine glass with a smile, "Mr. Wan..."

A light "clink" sound was heard as Thea’s lifted wrist was pressed back down.

Her hand shook, and the wine glass almost slipped from her grasp.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a restrained voice.

In a tone mimicking hers, Ian questioned back: "What are you doing?"

"Proposing a toast." What else could she be doing? Isn’t this normal behavior?

These days, not only during this type of business interaction, even at family gatherings, one can’t avoid the toasting segment.

As long as the other party wasn’t forcefully pushing alcohol or getting handsy, Thea thought it was no problem. She’s there to work, not to act like a princess, and she’s clear on that.

So she wasn’t opposed to toasting.

The people sitting opposite are all industry leaders; two of them are heads of Valiant’s research department and her seniors.

Ian assumed the three others were demanding it, so when he looked up at them again, his gaze was anything but friendly.

"Mr. Preston." The opposite party tried to explain.

"She can’t drink." He said, taking the wine glass from Thea’s hand. "I’ll toast for her."

"!!!" Their seats seemed to have springs; the three were so frightened they immediately stood up, "No, no, no! Mr. Preston, what are you doing?"

"We should be the ones toasting you!"

They stepped forward, nearly grabbing the wine glass directly.

Unfortunately, Ian didn’t heed them, he tilted his head back and finished off half a glass of wine, calmly saying: "It’s okay, I’m not representing myself."

"She represents Stratus, I represent her."

Upon hearing this, Thea’s hand froze mid-air as she tried to stop him.

——

After the socializing ended, the three from Valiant were already drunk. Thea signaled to the assistant to escort them, intending to stay behind to settle accounts with Ian.

"Why did Sango come?"

"Tell him to leave."

The two spoke almost simultaneously, one after the other.

Ian drank quite a bit earlier, his brows filled with hostility. Thea gave in first, explaining to him: "He’s my assistant, here with me on a business trip."

"Dare you use such scum?"

Ian knew she still remembered what happened years ago.

"I didn’t know at first that the assistant I hired was him." She leaned back, arms crossed, her tone slightly cold:

"Later, I felt that letting him go right away would be too easy for him. If I dismiss him now, Stratus would have to pay him a big severance.

More importantly, after he knew I was his superior, he’s been living in fear every day, cautiously looking at my face, forced to earn a living in my hands, isn’t this good?

I have other plans.

Once he can’t stand it and resigns, with the non-compete agreement, he won’t be able to survive in this industry. These are the tricks Sango taught me back then."

Straight "execution" is really too easy for such trash; slow dismemberment is better.

The phone on the table buzzed, Thea picked it up and checked.

Assistant: "Foreman Lynch, I’m not feeling well, so I’ll return to the hotel first."

Seeing this message, Thea smiled and showed it to Ian, "Look."

"Sango, was his dropout related to you?"

Ian wasn’t surprised she knew about this, he tossed the unlit cigarette in his hand onto the table.

"It was related to me."

"He’s genuinely terrified of you, even says you’re his nightmare." Mentioning this made Thea want to laugh.

"But it’s understandable, you don’t even have to do anything, just standing there is already intimidating enough."

Ian caught the underlying teasing in her words but didn’t take offense, joking with her: "Is that a compliment?"

Thea shrugged, "Of course. After all, not everyone has that kind of aura. Sango’s imposing presence seems to be innate, when I was young, just like them earlier, I didn’t dare speak to you."

When she mentioned this, a complex emotion flickered in Ian’s eyes, somewhat surprising.

Seeing him staring at her resolutely, seemingly disagreeing with her words, Thea sat upright, suddenly wanting to go through old scores with him.

"From childhood till now, among several brothers, you’re the coldest, always indifferent to me. When I was scolded by my brother, even the ’bad’ fifth brother would defend me, except you, who acted as if nothing happened, staying detached."

Always the posture of being unconcerned and hanging aloof.

"How come I didn’t know?" The man furrowed his brows, looking at her with confusion and grievance, as if Thea truly wronged him. "Are you sure you didn’t say it backward?"

He chuckled and counterattacked: "How come I remember the indifferent one was you?"

For a moment, looking at him, Thea’s eyes filled with sympathy, but shortly hearing his latter words, she felt he was truly unreasonable.

"I’d love to talk to you, but you never showed me a good face." She rolled her eyes at him, speechless.

"Today, I even said that you’re so completely different from Valiant’s Mr. Shen, despite being similar in age. He’s an outsider and always approaches me with a gentle attitude, whereas you, look at you, still maintaining this cold demeanor."

Ian: "He’s like that to everyone. Also, he has a girlfriend."

"...Did I ask about this?"

"The way you said it, it feels like you have a good impression of him."

Thea gave him a sarcastic smile: "Sango said it, so it’s true. But I indeed prefer gentle people."

Ian understood the implied criticism, pondering quietly over the word "gentle."

"If someone smiles at you and treats you nicely, you’ll like them?"

Thea found the question somewhat childish. The alcohol started affecting her, making her feel dizzy. She grabbed her bag and stood up, "Sango, it’s getting late, let’s go."

At the doorway, not hearing footsteps, Thea turned and saw the man still seated, she raised her voice to call him.

The man seemed to snap back to reality, slowly lifting his head, his gaze wandered for a few seconds before locking onto her figure. Perhaps because of her blurry drunken vision, Thea seemed to see Ian’s eyes tinged with a hint of red.

Suddenly, he asked her: 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"All these years, always following behind you, almost giving you my life. What do I count as?"