MY UNKNOWN HUSBAND - Season 3 Episode 11

Albert turned around and saw a girl standing at the entrance of the alley. Her back was turned to the sunlight, outlining her figure in a soft, silver-white glow. She was like an angel without wings.

“Is that a child you’re surrounding? Shame on you! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?” With one hand resting on her waist, she pointed at the brawny men towering over Albert. Her tone was calm but assertive.

One of the men said, “You better mind your own business, or we will beat you together with this kid.”

Kristina cackled humorlessly. “Beat me? You guys must be out of your damn minds. It’s obvious you don’t know who I am. My name is Kristina Ye.” She spoke arrogantly and slowly walked toward Albert and the bullies.

At that time, she was a twenty-year-old young woman with wavy hair that fell softly on her shoulders. She was wearing a yellow A-line skirt and a pink top with bubble sleeves. She looked lively and bubbly but elegant at the same time. She had fair skin and a good figure. Her slender legs stood in a pair of white high-heeled shoes. She approached Albert and his bullies.

At that moment, Albert breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Kristina in that dark alley was like a spark of hope in a pitch black abyss.

“Come to me, boy.” Kristina waved at Albert with a sweet smile.

Albert was stunned and excited at the same time. He felt as if he was finally entering a warm, cozy home and coming out of a freezing, stormy night. He ran to Kristina.

Kristina thought that Albert must be scared to death at that moment. She grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her. She said, “Don’t be afraid. I don’t believe these people will dare to hurt me. If they give me so much as a scratch, my brother will hunt them down and punish them. My nephew will, too. He has just entered the police academy this year.”

The hooligans froze after Kristina mentioned her name. Everyone in Lexingport City knew about the city’s three most powerful families. As soon as Albert was safely tucked behind Kristina, the men whispered among themselves. Then, they turned around and scampered away.

Kristina sneered, “Useless punks.”

She turned around and gently said to Albert, “They’re gone now. You’re safe.” Lowering his head, Albert did not say a word. He stared at her hand which was holding his. Her hand was warm and welcoming.

He felt the heat in his hand run up his arm and to his cheek.

This was how it felt to touch the sunshine.

Seeing that Albert did not respond and afraid he still did not feel safe, Kristina asked, “What’s wrong? Are you still scared? Do you feel uncomfortable or in pain? Let me take you to the hospital.”

The hooligans froze after Kristina mentioned her name. Everyone in Lexingport City knew about the city’s three most powerful families. As soon as Albert was safely tucked behind Kristina, the men whispered among themselves. Then, they turned around and scampered away.

Kristina sneered, “Useless punks.”

She turned around and gently said to Albert, “They’re gone now. You’re safe.” Lowering his head, Albert did not say a word. He stared at her hand which was holding his. Her hand was warm and welcoming.

He felt the heat in his hand run up his arm and to his cheek.

This was how it felt to touch the sunshine.

Seeing that Albert did not respond and afraid he still did not feel safe, Kristina asked, “What’s wrong? Are you still scared? Do you feel uncomfortable or in pain? Let me take you to the hospital.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Kristina took him to the hospital.

Albert could have refused, but for some reason, he didn’t. He just let Kristina take him by the hand out of that alley.

For a moment, he felt that Kristina was sent there to save him.

He felt like he got himself thrown into a black chasm, and then Kristina came swooping in to shine a dazzling beam of light to help him climb out.

Kristina gave Albert hope not only during that incident but also for the following years of his life. She found him in the abyss, lit his way out, and held his hand along the way.

Since the incident in the alley, Albert had come every day after school to the coffee shop right across the Ye Group. Every day since she saved him, he quietly watched over Kristina. He waited for her to get off work and only went home after he was sure that she was safely in her car on her way home.

After a week, Noah discovered him. When Noah came to pick up Kristina one weekend, he noticed a pair of young eyes watching them from the coffee shop across the street. When he came to check on the young man, he recognized him.

“Albert? What are you doing here? It’s already six o’clock in the evening. Aren’t you going home?” When Kristina saw who Noah was talking to, she was surprised.

“I stay here every day to watch over you. I only head home when I’m sure you’re safely in her car,” Albert admitted with a smile.

Kristina was a little stunned but felt warm in her heart at the same time. “You wait here for me every day?” she asked. She found it a little funny that a young man of fourteen or fifteen was spending his after-school hours watching her back.

A boyfriend should be doing that for her, not a kid.

Kristina knew of Albert’s family’s situation. She had heard some rumors here and there. She could not help feeling a bit of sympathy for the boy. After all, Noah had also come from a somewhat miserable family.

“Albert, if you want to see me, just go to my office and find me, okay?” Kristina smiled gently at him the way a sister smiled at her brother.

With Kristina’s consent, Albert started coming to the Ye Group to see her anytime he wished. At that time, Kristina was not yet president. She was a department manager, so she was not so busy and had a lot of free time.

Once, Albert answered his homework incorrectly because of his carelessness, and Kristina tutored him in her office. Enjoying all the time he had been spending with Kristina, Albert started messing up his homework on purpose so that he had an excuse to see her. Kristina did not mind and taught him patiently.

One time, she playfully knocked him over the head and teased him with a smile, “What are you doing? Don’t you remember the formula for geometric progressions?”

“I seem to have forgotten it. Just remind me, and it’ll come back to me.” A hint of slyness flashed through Albert’s eyes.

As expected, Kristina just shook her head and resumed tutoring him. She could not help smiling and teasing him more. “You make mistakes answering such simple questions. How can you inherit the family business in the future?

Look at Mr. Shi. I was still in high school when he graduated from college. When I started working for the Ye Group, he already brought Time Group to a higher level. You should follow the lead of men like him.”

Feeling cold in his fingertips, Albert looked up at Kristina and asked, “Do you like him?”

Kristina whipped her head at him and chuckled. “I just said he’s a good businessman. It doesn’t mean I like him, you silly boy.” She smiled and gently patted Albert on the head. “He’s very good at what he does. He’s powerful, and I admire him. That’s all.”

Albert suddenly said, “I’m not a boy anymore. I’m seventeen already.” “Seventeen is still young. I’m turning twenty-three this year. That’s old.”

Kristina rolled her eyes.

Albert lowered his eyes, his eyelashes covering his emotions. At that moment, he swore to himself that he would become a more powerful man than John.

Albert lowered his eyes, his eyelashes covering his emotions. At that moment, he swore to himself that he would become a more powerful man than John.

Kristina was almost twenty-three years old. Her elder brother Howard began choosing a suitable groom for her from a pool of either young and promising businessmen or men from rich and influential families.

She did not like any of her brother’s choices, so she quarreled with him. One day, she locked herself up in her office and cried for a long time.

Albert found her when he came to see her after school. When he entered her office, he found used tissues scattered everywhere and heard soft sobs coming from under the desk. He quickly walked over and stooped down.

He found Kristina sitting under her desk with her knees to her chest, tears streaming down her helpless face. The tissue in her hand was already soaking wet. Her red eyes looked like leaky faucets.

“What happened?” Albert asked, frowning. His usual smile was gone, and only anger could be seen in his eyes.

When Kristina raised her head and saw Albert, she felt so embarrassed that she stopped weeping. It was outrageous for a grown woman to cry like mad in front of a child.

“Don’t look at me. Turn around.” Although her voice was heavy and aggrieved, she meant every word she just said.

As expected, Albert listened to Kristina and turned around.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here today? This is so humiliating.” With a slightly uneasy look on her face, Kristina crawled out from under the table, climbed to her feet, and dusted herself off. She straightened her collar, wiped her face with the already wet tissue in her hand. “I’m fine.”

Albert turned to look at her once again. It made him angry seeing her like this. He asked coldly, “Did you have a fight with someone?”

Kristina shook her head and answered, “No.” She took a deep breath and continued, “My brother asked me to go on a blind date. I didn’t want to. I’m only twenty-three years old. I don’t understand why he itches so much to marry me off to some guy I don’t even know. I’m positive that it’s all Julie’s idea, though. She wants me to be wed so that she can sink her claws in Noah’s properties. I’m the only one standing in her way after all.”

Thinking of Julie, Kristina got so angry that she tore up the tissue in her hand. “She really pisses me off! She even insinuates that no one wants to marry me! The nerve of that woman!”

A smile slowly spread across Albert’s face. Kristina looked so cute when she was angry.

He turned his head toward Kristina’s window and watched the sunset. He thought about that day when she saved him from those thugs in the alley. Albert did not know it then, but Kristina had planted a seed of love in his heart the moment she held his hand in hers. Sometimes, falling in love at first sight was the deadliest thing.

“I want to marry you.”