How Can Two People From Different Sides Ever Fall in Love? - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

◎ Two adult males occasionally throwing a knee at each other ◎

“This is bad! Your relationship with Hollis has been discovered!”

Silver’s sudden call during work hours, coupled with her exaggerated wording, left Raven momentarily dazed.

What relationship did he and Hollis have that couldn’t be known to others?

That was the first thought that surfaced in Raven’s mind.

While reflecting, he looked at Hollis in disbelief; the meaning in the other’s eyes was uncannily consistent with his own.

At this moment, Raven still had the leisure to notice how close the distance between him and Hollis was—close enough to clearly exceed normal social distance. Any slight movement of any part of his body would touch Hollis.

He and Hollis did seem to have a relationship that couldn’t be known to others.

That was the second thought that surfaced in Raven’s mind.

“The moment you two left, rumors of your discord spread throughout the unit.”

“Calm down, Madam.” Two voices rang out simultaneously. Raven, who had just been advising someone to stay calm, was startled by her words. His tone spiked a degree, and he said syllable by syllable, “Dis… cord?”

“Exactly.” On the other end of the phone, Silver nodded heavily, recounting the sequence of events with clear logic.

“On the last day of the cross-party consultation meeting, someone saw you and Hollis arguing in a remote restroom in the Conference Building. Though by now, the story has spread to say you two had a physical fight.”

“Who?” Because he was too shocked, Raven’s voice turned a bit shrill. “Me and Hollis, fighting in a restroom?!”

Hollis likewise wore a bewildered and surprised expression. This kind of groundless news was simply.

“Absurd!” Raven thought of the same word as him.

“That’s what I said! You clearly aren’t Hollis’s match at a glance. Given your personality, how could you pick a fight you have zero chance of winning!”

Raven: “…”

It would be better to just let the rumor be true.

“Of course, while I think that, I certainly won’t say it. To the outside world, I’ve been saying your temper is so good, there’s no way you’d get physical with someone.”

After Silver finished evaluating one of the parties involved, the next was the other: “And Hollis just looks a bit serious; once you actually get to know him, he’s quite easy to talk to.”

Silver had said everything there was to say; Raven was left with nothing.

However, Hollis seemed to have something to say. His chest sounded like a broken set of bellows, emitting some unharmonious huffing sounds.

Raven nudged him with a knee, frowning as he glared at him.

Hollis covered his mouth forcefully and nodded, gently returning a knee to Raven.

Under the table, the two adult males occasionally threw a knee at each other.

“What’s that noise on your end?” Some “unharmonious sounds” still managed to escape through the gaps in his fingers, slipping into Silver’s ear.

Raven glanced at the open window. It was sunny with no wind or waves, yet he opened his lips to say: “The wind is too strong.”

It was blowing straight into a certain “gap” in a chest, sounding raspy and unpleasant.

“Is that so?” Silver didn’t probe further. Based on the purpose of her call, she pressed Raven on how to handle it: “What exactly did you two do in the restroom that day? If someone asks later, how should I answer?”

“What else can you do in a restroom besides use it?” Raven didn’t even know what to say anymore, nearly channeling Li Lan to ask back, “Could we have gone there to eat?”

But that was truly uncivilized and contrary to his gentlemanly style, so he kept his mouth shut tight.

Work had already run into trouble this morning, and now Silver had brought him such news. During these turbulent times, it was bad enough that his colleagues in the party couldn’t help; they just had to add to the chaos.

“We just met in the restroom and said a few words.” But he had to explain, and explain with selective editing. “It’s not like we’re strangers; could we pretend not to see each other?”

Silver said in disbelief: “That’s it? It could spread like this?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself,” Raven seemed to lose all his strength, his voice coming through the receiver sounding half-dead, which ironically made him seem unhurried, making the rumor-mongering colleagues seem like they were making a fuss over nothing, “Hollis looks difficult to get along with, so people misunderstood.”

At this point, Raven paused and looked at Hollis beside him.

The laughter from the “bellows” earlier still lingered on his face. Calling him difficult to get along with seemed like an exaggeration.

However, he did seem prone to causing misunderstandings; his reputation regarding his personality between the two parties had never been very friendly. But as Silver said, once you actually get to know him, he’s quite easy to talk to.

“The real situation is just like that.” Raven lowered his eyes, composing his emotions as he spoke to Silver, “If anyone asks in the future, just tell the truth.”

Silver had never believed they would clash in a restroom. The exaggerated tone when she called was just her brain failing to pivot, instinctively exploding with the raw feeling she had when she first heard it.

Regaining her composure, she realized the call was ill-timed, as she had assumed things were going smoothly on Raven’s end and they had signed the contract by now.

“What? Didn’t see anyone?!” Silver then voiced what everyone was thinking, “Are they about to go bankrupt? Can’t they find a single person who can make a decision?”

“Watch your words, Madam, you’re still at the unit.” Raven gave a kind reminder, then comforted her, “Don’t worry, just wait for good news.”

Silver understood they had found a backup plan. Putting her heart at ease, she left a mysterious remark: “Fine. On the day you return, I’ll pick you up and give you a proper welcome-home celebration!”

The call ended. Raven only felt mentally and physically exhausted. Catching a glimpse of Hollis looking thoughtful in his peripheral vision, he thought the man was about to offer some profound insight. Instead, after acting deep for a long time, Hollis finally squeezed out:

“Logically speaking, they should be shipping our CP instead.”

Raven remained silent, simply swinging his knee to give him a heavy blow.

At dusk, a trace of light remained in the sky, while the ground was already brightly lit.

Beneath their usual suits and leather shoes, Raven and Hollis had both swapped for more casual ties as they headed together to Victor Junior’s “hiding place.”

Getting out of the car at the magnificent main entrance, Raven looked toward the distant castle structure with a playful expression: “So this is the ‘important meeting.'”

Hollis’s contact hadn’t just sent Victor Junior’s itinerary; they had also secured two invitations for them.

Among the crowd of luxury cars coming and going, they were the only ones who arrived in a taxi.

The taxi could only drive to the gate. Raven and Hollis walked to the final destination.

“Modern craftsmanship is truly impressive; it can present any style for you.” Raven hid all his emotions behind his lenses, pointing in a certain direction as he said to Hollis, “Look, there’s even a Chinese garden over there.”

No matter how bright the night, it couldn’t compare to the day. Hollis focused his gaze and only saw a blurred silhouette. Retracting his gaze, he could clearly see Raven’s vaguely hair-raising smile.

It had been a long time since he’d seen him smile like that; he actually felt a bit nostalgic.

“It doesn’t match.” If he couldn’t see it clearly, it didn’t match. Hollis nodded, confirming his subjective judgment.

Raven smiled: “Oh, is that so? What ‘brilliant insight’ does the young master of the Lancelot family have? Let’s hear it.”

Hollis felt he had been too blunt; it was better to see such a smile as little as possible.

“You know I’m my father’s son?” His tone was somewhere between surprise and ‘I knew it.’ “Because of the same surname?”

However, Raven could hear it—the relationship between the father and the son was indeed tense, as if Voldemort had been reincarnated as his father, whose name must not be spoken.

In the face of such a relationship, human ethical systems seemed fragile and thin, almost “breaking at a touch.”

“Yes. I not only know you are your father’s son, but I also know you are your grandmother’s grandson.”

Hollis finally realized the ambiguity in his words and couldn’t help but laugh out loud, nudging Raven with his elbow: “Be serious. When did you find out?”

“On the last day of the cross-party consultation meeting. Your father called, and I was the one holding the phone for you.” It was also on this day that the “public restroom discord” rumor began to spread.

A surname can be a coincidence, but being equipped with a father named “Peyton Lancelot” was too much of a coincidence.

Add to that the connections Hollis displayed today, and Raven had reason to believe that this Peyton was that Peyton.

The identity of the only son of the media tycoon could finally be fully confirmed.

“Let’s go, Young Master Hollis.” In front of the real young master, Raven instinctively felt guilty about all those times he’d called him “Master” before. Now he just wanted to set the record straight. “Mr. Victor Junior is waiting for us inside.”

Despite not intentionally hiding his identity, Hollis felt inexplicably nervous.

So nervous that his mind was full of another matter entirely. He hurriedly asked Raven for a guarantee: “The promise you made me to grant me one request after this is successful does it still count?”

Raven’s head was full of work, and he even forgot to ask what the request was, agreeing instantly: “Of course. Before you, my word always counts.”

Entering the interior of the castle, with carved beams and painted rafters, the scent of money hit them in the face.

A room full of people in formal attire and drifting fragrances nearly triggered Raven’s facial recognition issues.

He took a sharp breath and, using the shadow cast by the crystal chandelier on a statue, whispered into Hollis’s ear: “Should we split up, or find someone to ask?”

Hollis’s head was hurting more than his. Looking around, aside from being able to distinguish male from female, everyone looked the same to him.

Given their current identification capabilities, splitting up wouldn’t necessarily be efficient.

“I think it’s better to find someone to ask. Wait here a moment; I’ll give him a call.”

This “him” was the contact Hollis used to get the two invitations. As for the name or status, Raven didn’t know yet.

He thought Hollis found it inconvenient to say, while Hollis was waiting for him to ask. Unexpectedly, things had come one after another, constantly interrupting their progress, and they’d forgotten to mention it proactively in the rush.

Calling “him” was also to save time; in an unfamiliar environment, it was best to directly find someone who could provide help.

For now, this was the only way.

Raven nodded, telling Hollis to go ahead without worry; he would stay right here and wait for him to return.

However, in the next second, he suddenly spoke, stopping Hollis in his tracks: “Wait a moment. It seems we don’t need to make that call.”

Hollis turned back in confusion, only to see Raven shoot him a look, gesturing for him to look in a certain direction. Hollis did as told. Under the blurred light and shadow, a spindly Christmas tree was walking toward them with flamboyant flair.

As the Christmas tree drew closer, Hollis realized it was actually a human dressed like a Christmas tree.

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