MY UNKNOWN HUSBAND, VOLUME 2 - Season 4 Episode 18

In the study, John, who was dealing with some documents from work, raised his head and asked Henry, “Where are Nina and Chester?”

“They are in the man-made forest.” Henry pushed his glasses up. “Do you need me to call them back?”

“No, thanks,” John said as he stood up. “I’ll go there myself. Carry on with the work.”

Henry was taken aback.

‘You don’t have to remind me so particularly, Mr. Shi.

I already know!

All you do is leave work early and push all the pending business affairs over to me.’

After John walked out of the study, Helen asked, “Where are you going, Mr. Shi?”

“The forest.” He picked up his coat from the sofa just in case.

Helen stopped him in his tracks. “Mr. Shi, Mrs. Shi and Chester are by the lake.”

John’s grip on his coat tightened, creasing the fabric.

After a short pause, he turned on his heel and strode back to the study. “It’s time for dinner.”

“Yes. I’ll call them back right away.” Helen sighed as she watched John’s retreating back.

John was afraid of water. He hadn’t wanted the artificial lake in the first place, but Nina had grown up in an island. He was sure she would love it, so he ended up having it made anyway. Though it was man-made, and a lake to boot, it held saltwater, which had been acquired and transported with great pains.

As soon as the artificial lake was ready for use, however, John never went to the forest again.

Helen could tell at a glance that he wanted to play with his wife there as well, so she had kindly suggested that John tell Nina the truth. Nina’s background in psychological studies might even help him.

John had refused, of course, in the same way he had always refused any efforts made by his family to have a psychiatrist check him.

He had always been a prideful man, and he would never admit his weaknesses so easily.

Helen rushed over to forest. At this moment, Adrian came to the North Yard.
No sooner had he stepped into the main building of North Yard than he started to look around for John. “Mr. Shi, where are you?”

Adrian couldn’t wait to see his new hairstyle. When he looked at the photo carefully in the car, he found that John looked quite manly in crew cut.

Hearing Adrian’s voice, Henry turned to John with a twinkle in his eye. “Mr. Shi, Mr. Song is looking for you.”

“Go and greet him first,” John replied calmly. “I’ll come out later.”

“Yes, sir,” Henry answered carefully and stood up with some caution.

He could tell that John knew something about him.

“Mr. Song.” Henry bowed politely as he emerged from the study.

“Oh, you’re here too.” Adrian sauntered over to the assistant and draped an arm over Henry’s shoulders. There was a smirk on his lips, and a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Is Mr. Shi in the study?”

Henry stood stiff and awkward, a direct contrast to Adrian’s carelessness. “Mr. Shi will be coming out later.”

“Okay.” Adrian looked over to the door curiously. It was still slightly open, but not enough for him to catch a glimpse of what he had come to see. He had no choice but to walk back to the couch and sit patiently.

Henry prepared tea and handed a cup to him. Instead of sitting down as well, though, he remained standing to the side, ever the respectful assistant.

Adrian had been Henry’s assistant in the past, so this came only as a natural course of things.

The air between them was quite awkward because of that incident.

For his part, Adrian had never viewed nor treated Henry as a subordinate, so the latter’s actions were making him a little flustered. Distracted, he took a quick sip of the tea, unmindful of the fact that it was a piping hot beverage. He burnt his tongue, of course, and had to spit out the tea in his mouth.

“Are you okay?” It all happened so suddenly that Henry forgot to use honorifics. He squatted down in front of Adrian and handed him a tissue.

“It’s fine.” Adrian was still in a bit of a daze as he wiped his lips, but he took full notice of Henry’s nervousness.

They locked eyes accidentally, and it occurred to Henry that he had crossed the line. He stood up abruptly and maintained his distance.

Adrian sighed. He stood up with a playful smile and placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Really? Are you so afraid of me now? I’m not the one who’s been forcing you to deal with documents every day, you know. Besides…”

Adrian paused, and a hint of bitterness played in his smile. “I was really drunk that night, and mistook you for someone else. Well. I have expressed my apologies. So don’t be so wary of me. I was just really drunk that time.”

Henry’s breath caught in his throat, but he quickly covered it with a smile. “I know.”

Of course, Henry knew that Adrian had just been drunk.

“That’s good. Don’t be so afraid of me. You know we had a good relationship going between us. We can just go back to the way we’ve always been.” Adrian patted him on the chest and immediately pulled away.

“Damn it! Is that static electricity? I’d better stay away from you.” Adrian let go of Henry just as he saw Nina enter the room.

He hurried over eagerly. “Mrs. Shi, may I ask you something? Did Ms. Shi really cut his hair?”

“Yes.” Taking a glance at Adrian, Nina found that he had a ruddy face and a pair of charming eyes.

Adrian was no longer the playboy, but the CEO of the Song Group. It was to be expected for a number of girls to fall in love with him.

“Did you come all this way to see his hair?” Nina asked.

“Of course, it’s a once-in-a-century occurrence.” A pensive look came over his face as he paused. “Mrs. Shi, let me tell you something. You know, Mr. Shi hates…”

“Ahem!” The cough sounded urgent.

It was came from Henry, a desperate warning to Adrian not to risk his life. John exited the study.

As if on cue, Adrian turned and met John’s cold eyes. He couldn’t help the shiver that went up his spine, and he promptly shut his mouth and flashed an awkward smile instead.

“What does he hate most?” Nina prodded innocently. She disliked it when people stopped telling stories halfway. Her curiosity was always piqued pointlessly. She had always thought it to be a rude and irresponsible act.

John looked at Adrian pointedly.

Nina looked between the two, not missing their silent communication.

“Don’t mind him,” she said to Adrian with confidence.

Everyone in the room knew their place. They were in no position to go against John’s orders in any way, but this applied to Nina as well.

When it boiled down to a choice, they would rather offend John than Nina. Adrian knew it too well, so he tried again.

“Mr. Shi hates…”

“It’s high time for Henry to get married.” John’s words stunned everyone, which successfully diverted Adrian’s attention.
Adrian himself found his sentence dying in his throat the moment he heard Henry’s name.

Adrian looked over at John in surprise and panic.

Did John know something?

Seeing John open his mouth to speak again, Adrian interjected in a rush. “Mr. Shi hates anyone else who tries to gets close to you. I’ll just go sit over there.”

He managed to say it all in one breath, and moved to another chair across the room in one fluid motion.

“I know,” Nina sighed. John had always made it a point to let people know.

Since that conversation was over and done with, she naturally zoned in on what her husband had said. “I also think that Henry should get a girlfriend already.”

“Well…I…” Henry stammered, embarrassed.

“He already has a woman he likes,” Adrian interrupted, rising from his newly designated chair and walking over to Nina. He brandished his phone at her. “This is the woman in question.”

Lit up on his screen was the photo he had saved. “What do you think?” he asked in a rather unnatural voice. “Is she beautiful or what?”

Henry frowned as he came closer to peer at the photo. The moment he looked into Adrian’s phone, he stopped breathing.

“Blurry.” John glanced at Adrian, who was trying his damnedest to act nonchalant even though his discomfort was palpable in the air.

Nina was studying the photo carefully, and after a moment, she looked up at Adrian. There was a wealth of meaning in her eyes as she looked at him.

Nina had somehow deciphered a message from that single, blurry picture, and her tone was calm when she spoke. “That is not a woman. That hair is just a wig. Those pair of eyes are very distinct. Adrian, don’t you think this person resembles you very much?”

“Me?” Adrian’s expression froze. He pulled his phone back to look at the photo closely himself. Those eyes really did look like his.