That evening, Noah received a message from Elena. As he read it, his brows drew together in confusion.
"Mr. Hale, there's a message from Ms. Elena," he said carefully.
"You don't need to tell me every time. Just treat it like any other appointment," Adrian replied without looking up from his work.
"There's something else, sir," Noah added, sounding uneasy. "She sent a few instructions about how you should present yourself when meeting her grandfather."
Adrian raised an eyebrow. He was confident there was nothing wrong with his appearance; everything about him, from his style to his posture, was always impeccable. Yet this woman thought she needed to advise him? The same woman who couldn't stop staring at him every time they met, as if he were the only man worth looking at.
If it had been anyone else, he would have ignored the message and refused to meet again. But Elena was different from her step-sister and he had promised to take her home.
"What are her instructions?" he asked, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.
Noah hesitated before reading them aloud. "You're not going to use a luxury car. Instead, she wants you to take a mid-range one so you don't attract attention. You also shouldn't wear an expensive suit or any designer accessories. She said you should dress like someone with an ordinary office job."
"In short, avoid anything that might reveal your identity as a wealthy person. You need to maintain the image of a typical white-collar worker or an emerging businessman, but nothing more than that. The rest of the instructions will be given when you two meet."
Noah finished and glanced at his boss, waiting for a reaction.
Adrian's lips curled slightly in a mix of amusement and disdain. "Her expectations of her husband are so lowly; no wonder she ended up with that idiot Reed Brown."
Noah wasn't sure how to respond. Was his boss's pride wounded because she asked him to act like an ordinary man?
The next day, right at eleven o'clock, Adrian arrived at the hospital. Elena was waiting for him in the parking lot so they could go in together.
A black mid-range sedan entered the parking area and parked near where Elena's car was parked. Leaning against the bonnet of her car, she noticed a familiar figure stepping out of the black sedan, and once again, she found her eyes glued to him.
He was dressed in a simple white perfectly fitted shirt and black pants, along with black leather shoes, following her instructions to tone down his usual pricey appearance. But even in this understated outfit, he looked strikingly handsome.
Elena gulped as she watched him walk towards her. Their eyes met, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She realized that his pricey look wasn't just about the clothes and accessories he wore—it was the man himself. His noble and rich presence was something that couldn't be hidden, no matter what he wore.
He stopped in front of her, noticing that her gaze was still fixed on him. "Had enough?" His deep, dignified voice echoed in the parking lot and snapped her back to reality.
Flustered, she quickly averted her gaze. "You... I told you not to look so pricey, and here you are, ignoring all my instructions," she said, trying to sound annoyed as she turned back to face him. "Being the ultimate boss, it must be impossible for you to follow anyone else's instructions, isn't it?"
His hands tucked into his pant pockets, Adrian looked directly into her eyes. "I'm wearing the most ordinary clothes I own. If you want something lower than this, you might as well hire a homeless person and bring him to your grandfather."
"I don't have time to search for a homeless person who looks like that jerk Damien Voss," she retorted and turned to walk towards the elevator. "Now you are here, let's not keep my grandpa waiting."
She knew she was being unreasonable; thinking it wasn't his fault he was born handsome.
Noah handed over the basket of fruits to Adrian. He accepted it and followed Elena, while Noah stayed back, hoping everything would go smoothly so that later Elena would comply with their plan to find Damien Voss.
According to Noah's understanding of her, Elena was difficult to deal with and highly unpredictable.
Inside the elevator, Elena spoke up, "I'll be addressing you as Damien in front of my grandpa. Just letting you know beforehand so you won't be caught off guard." She didn't wait for his response and continued, "Since we're supposed to be a newlywed couple in his eyes, I might have to act a little sweet with you, so bear with it."
Adrian finally turned to look at her, his expression unreadable, as if she had said something absurd.
"What?" she asked defensively. "We have to look natural, so I have to act sweet."
"I was just wondering if you even know how to be sweet," he replied, a hint of teasing in his voice.
"Who doesn't know how to be sweet? It's not some mystery that only certain people know," she shot back.
"Not sure about others," he said with a slight smirk, "but you certainly don't seem to know."
"How can you say that when you don't even know me well?" She challenged me.
"One glance is enough to know you well," he replied, his tone confident.
"You..."
Ding!
The elevator reached their desired floor just as Elena was about to say more. Exhaling through her mouth, she tried to calm herself before stepping out.
Adrian followed her as he heard her say in a low voice. "This time around, none of my family members are here, so you don't have to worry about dealing with them. If Grandpa asks something and you're not sure how to answer, just leave it to me. I've already told him not to pressure my husband with a barrage of typical elder questions, so he'll go easy on you."
He frowned inwardly at the words 'my husband' but kept quiet. The whole situation already felt odd to him—his step-sister would soon be calling him her husband,
They arrived at the door of one of the private rooms. Before knocking, Elena turned to him. "Ready?"
In response, Adrian offered her a questioning look as if she was an idiot to ask this to him.
'This overconfident man!' she frowned inwardly and knocked on the door before entering the room.