Out of Control: Into Your Everything-Chapter 125: Mutual Affection

Ryan Ford: "?"

Scarlett Shaw: "My boyfriend and I are mutually in love. Ryan, seriously, stop bothering me."

Ryan’s usually flirtatious eyes suddenly went wide, "We’ve known each other for years, and less than a year after we break up, you’ve already dated two guys? Scarlett, are you trying to kill me?"

Scarlett: "..."

"Anyway, give up on chasing me, okay?" she said.

Ryan might be rattled, but he wasn’t stupid.

He glanced at Scarlett and said, "Back before New Year at the company, wasn’t Aaron Carson still your boyfriend? How come you switched so fast? Did you actually listen to me and dump him, then lie about it to trick me?"

Scarlett couldn’t be bothered to deal with Ryan.

She just thought to herself, really ought to have Julian Ford personally go break the news to his little brother.

Of course, there was also the possibility Ryan didn’t know she and Julian were done, since you never knew what Julian was thinking, and who could guess if he might suddenly hit her with a cliff-edge breakup.

Just imagining that pissed Scarlett off.

Annoyed, she shot Ryan a withering glare.

Ryan’s temper, which was about to explode, faded out at Scarlett’s glare, for no reason.

At the same time, he became even more convinced of his previous suspicion—

Scarlett claiming she had a boyfriend was a lie. She was definitely, one hundred percent, still single.

Thinking this, the discomfort and frustration in Ryan vanished instantly. He pulled the car over and said, unusually calm,

"You don’t want me to drive you, fine. But since we’re working together, at least let me be able to reach you, yeah? Can you take me off your blacklist?"

"You’ve got Chloe Grant acting as your spy, and you’re worried about not finding me?"

Scarlett undid her seatbelt and replied, unmoved.

"You seem to have had no trouble tracking me down. Next time you need me, just keep using this same technique."

Ryan, stubborn: "But what if you need to contact me about something?"

Scarlett: "If you don’t come talk to me, why would I bother to reach out to you?"

Ryan: "..."

Shot down by Scarlett till he was speechless, Ryan sulked but didn’t actually get angry. He looked at Scarlett, a touch of surprise entering his gaze.

The surprise made him realize he’d probably never truly known her all these years.

Before, he’d thought she was a cute little bunny—obedient, maybe a little feisty sometimes, but harmless, no real threat.

Just a little trick and you could catch that bunny easy.

But now, every time he locked horns with her, Ryan felt she was growing stronger, more ambitious, and one day, she’d soar like an eagle, beyond anyone’s control.

Ryan had no clue what Scarlett was thinking.

She just took advantage of the pause when the car stopped, opened the door, didn’t look back, and strode straight to the subway entrance.

By the time Scarlett got home, it was nearly midnight. After wandering around all day, she collapsed onto her bed and instantly fell asleep, waking up close to noon.

She fished her phone out from under her pillow and checked WhatsApp. Julian Ford had messaged her a few hours ago.

Just two simple words:

Arrived.

Scarlett was a little surprised.

Yesterday, coming out of the airport, she’d meant to tell Julian to let her know when he landed, but then Aaron Carson had called out of nowhere and she totally forgot.

She hadn’t expected Julian to actually reassure her for once.

Scarlett sent Julian a "just woke up" reply.

Five minutes later, her phone buzzed—Julian was calling.

She answered before she could even think: "President Ford."

There was a two-second silence on the other end.

Then she heard Julian’s cold voice: "President Ford?"

Scarlett: "..."

Julian: "Your reaction tells me you seem to have forgotten I’m your boyfriend."

"No way."

Scarlett rubbed her nose and insisted,

"It’s because whenever you call, it’s usually bad news. Habit, I guess."

Scarlett honestly felt a bit surreal at the moment.

Long-distance couples chatting away on the phone... With Julian, even she, as his girlfriend, thought it was kind of creepy.

How could her tongue not slip?

"Didn’t you seem pretty reluctant to say goodbye at the airport?" Julian suddenly asked. "And yet, as soon as we’re apart, you stop contacting me?"

"..."

Yesterday there’d been that sudden drama, and Scarlett truly forgot.

Plus, in that moment, Julian had been standing right in front of her, easy to get emotional. Now that he was gone, it was only natural the feeling faded.

Scarlett didn’t say any of this, but Julian seemed to guess anyway. He said, "So basically, your feelings for me are a lot less than you show, huh."

Julian made the statement as a fact.

No room for Scarlett to argue.

And his voice was flat, so calm you couldn’t even tell if he was pissed.

Over the phone, Scarlett couldn’t figure out what Julian was thinking. But since they were a new couple, and she still genuinely liked him, she didn’t care about the flat tone. Smiling, she said,

"What about you? Do you like me way more than you let on?"

Julian didn’t give her any face at all, "Woke up and you’re already daydreaming?"

"..."

Scarlett silently rolled her eyes at him for a second, about to bring up all her boyfriend rules she hadn’t finished telling him, when Julian changed the subject: "After the airport yesterday, where’d you go?"

The question instantly made Scarlett nervous.

Yeah, she’d met with Ryan, nothing shady about it.

But Julian could be petty.

If he found out she’d gone a whole day and night with no news, didn’t even bother to check up after his flight, and was "hanging out" with her ex, she couldn’t imagine what kind of savagery he’d throw her way.

"Went to see my aunt."

Scarlett told half the truth.

Right after she spoke, she faintly heard a stranger’s voice coming from Julian’s side. The guy was speaking English, and Scarlett caught what he said: "You’re still in a meeting?"

Julian: "Yeah."

Scarlett glanced at the clock—over on Julian’s end it must be almost midnight. He must’ve landed and jumped straight into work without even catching his breath.

She was about to say something caring when Julian cut her off, tone cool: "Hanging up."

Scarlett: "Oh, okay."

Ryder Bell, who’d summoned Julian back to finish the meeting, noticed that Julian had just checked his messages, paused the meeting, and stepped out to make a call. Teasingly, Ryder said, "Who’s the big deal who can make you walk out of such an important meeting just to make a call?"

Julian’s expression didn’t change. Calmly, he answered, "Girlfriend."

Ryder’s eyes went wide: "?!"

Back on Scarlett’s end, it was only a few minutes after Julian hung up that she realized—

He’d probably, actually, just seen her message during the meeting and stepped out just to call her.

Her heart, which had been a little bummed at Julian’s cold, boyfriend-unlike attitude, instantly felt full. Delighted, Scarlett sent Julian a message:

I’ll seriously miss you.

Sitting next to Julian, still mentally recovering from that cold slap in the face of romance, Ryder glanced over to see Julian looking down at his phone, the corners of his lips just faintly curved.

The sight was honestly wild.

He’d been working with Julian for years, used to that distant, aloof, high-and-mighty vibe.

Even when he "smiled," it was the kind of cold smile that made your hair stand on end, stifling the room.

Never seen him smile this gently before.

Even the sharp lines of his profile looked softer.

Ryder was floored, and maybe he was staring too hard, because when Julian glanced up at him, he’d already wiped away the smile, switching right back to his icy demeanor.

Ryder: "..."