The dark night enveloped everything.
The esteemed Lindsey Family.
Quiet and serene.
In Young Master Lindsey's room, the atmosphere was subtly charged.
Ella Lacey, clad in a pink Hello Kitty pajama, was reclining on her bed, engrossed in her tablet...
...
...
...
With a soft creak, the door swung open unexpectedly.
Thoroughly engrossed and wearing her earplugs, Ella was oblivious to the intruder.
It was not until a tall silhouette swiftly loomed over her, casting a large shadow under the chandelier light, that she hastily shut her tablet and shrieked, "A ghost!"
"Seems like you're the one with a ghost in your heart!" The intruder tapped her forehead lightly with a long finger.
His magnetic voice rang out in the room, captivating her attention.
"Arthur, you're back," Ella replied, holding her forehead and innocently looking up. Her flushed cheeks resembled ripe tomatoes, her pupils reflecting an elegant and handsome face.
One that she knew all too well, icily aloof.
"What were you doing? Hand over the computer," Arthur Lindsey ordered, extending a hand. Long and fair, the proportions of his fingers were almost perfect, truly the epitome of masculine beauty!
Ella couldn't help but gawk at the exquisite hand in front of her. These days, the Paparazzi had been publishing extensive coverage of Arthur Lindsey's hands!
"I wish...um...
Sharp as Arthur was, he had already noticed the admiration in her eyes.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" The distinctive impatient tone of the CEO was chilling enough to make one's heart tremble!
"Arthur, do you... really want to see it?" Ella's grip on the computer loosened.
"..." Arthur was a man who never repeated himself, let alone allowed to be questioned. If anyone dared, they would face severe consequences.
After all, he's the tyrannical CEO of the Wales Group in the eyes of others!
Seeing Arthur's forbidding expression, Ella dared not delay any longer. Reluctantly, she surrendered her computer, conceding defeat—
The moment his stern expression softened, Arthur hurled the computer onto the floor, shattering it. "Ella, get out!" He snapped.
"Nope, it's the Year of the Monkey. I want to stay here and have your little monkey!"
As for the origin of Ella Lacey's name, it is tied to her background. She was abandoned as a baby and given the name 'Ella' by the orphanage director when she arrived. The director found a wooden tag with the word 'Luo/落' on her. At that time, two leaves fell outside the window. He then named her 'Ye Ye/叶叶', which combined means 'fallen leaf', symbolising her lonely and drifting life as an orphan."
Later, at the age of seven, she was taken away from the orphanage by the Lindsey Family.
At that time, she fiercely resisted, even though the Lindseys were a prominent noble clan in Yunhai City. With many close friends and kind caregivers at the orphanage, her home, why would she leave with strangers? The young and stubborn her held out for a month, unswayed by the promises of good food and fun.
Everyone thought it was a lost cause.
However, that day, a younger brother from the Lindsey family appeared, and with just a whisper in her ear, she foolishly followed him ....
Before he finished speaking, Arthur Lindsey forcefully slammed the door shut with a loud 'bang,' leaving Ella Lacey outside.
Leaning against the door, Ella began to play the family pity card, "Dad and Mom have taken a trip with my sister's family for holiday, and you know I'm afraid of the dark when I sleep alone, Boo-hoo-hoo..."
Ella Lacey was not lying, she had lived in a group in the orphanage when she was a young girl, sleeping together with her little friends to ward off the fear of the dark. Later on, when she moved to the Lindsey family, it was mostly Penny Sullivan, her mother, who accompanied her to sleep.
This trick seemed to work. From Arthur's quiet room came a cold response, "Find Aunt Zhou!"
Ella felt there was a chance as long as he engaged with her, so she continued, "Aunt Zhou and the other servants are on holiday, a long holiday. It was permitted by Mom, now it's just you and me at home!"
"..." Arthur, a recognized genius, immediately sniffed out a "conspiracy." Holding firm, he said, "Did Mom and Dad show you that video?"
Ella was so surprised that she was at a loss for words. Arthur's high IQ was definitely not for show - he really had an uncanny ability to predict events!
The exact words Mom had left her with were, "Ella, you're growing up. Observation and learning are mandatory, they'll always come in handy ..."
So, she obeyed her mother's words, studying diligently... Now, she continued to knock on the bedroom door unabashedly, "Open the door, open the door... If you don't let me in, I'll sleep outside your door tonight..."
No matter how she knocked on the door from all sides, displaying her fly-swatting prowess, the door remained stubbornly immobile.
Two hours passed.
Ella, like a gecko clinging to the door, was quickly losing strength from all the exertion. Feeling dizzy, her voice was as thin as a mosquito's, "Arthur... Young Master, Arthur… Open the door... You once said you would marry..."
At that moment, the bedroom door suddenly opened, and with the loss of support, Ella fell flat on the floor with a "plop."
The fall was so painful that stars danced in her eyes.
Arthur, fresh from a bath and dressed in an exquisite pure white shirt, looked dashing. Lying on the floor, Ella looked up at him, and the stars in her eyes turned into hearts.
"Want to come in? You can."
Arthur fought back the laughter welling up inside him, wondering if he had opened the door too forcefully. The first part of Ella, the young girl, that hit the ground was her chest... Was it all right? But his tone was still icy, "We're almost done revising for the first round of the college entrance exams, let me test you."
"Sure, I'll be your go-to." Ella, seeing a chance, was instantly energized, and in her excitement, she said the wrong thing. Embarrassing...
"..." Arthur was really tempted to crack open her head to see exactly what the young girl was thinking about all day.
"What is crust movement?" asked Arthur, freezing in place.
Arthur didn't quiz her about the popular subjects of language, mathematics, and foreign languages, especially in the math that always gave her a headache, but chose a more obscure geographical knowledge. This surprised Ella a bit, but now she had a secret weapon and she wasn't afraid of anything!
She furrowed her brows, her hands crossed behind her back, as if she was seriously considering the question.
Then, her right index finger touched her left ring finger, and in an instant, her consciousness jumped into a virtual space about one square meter in size. Inside was the geography textbook she had prepared. She flipped to the page about crust movement...and line by line, she loaded the information into her brain...
She said calmly, "Crust movement is the mechanical movement of the earth's material caused by internal factors of the earth. Through internal forces, it causes changes in the structure of the earth's crust and displacement of the material inside the crust, leading to the evolution of the lithosphere, provoking the birth and death of continents and ocean floors. It also forms trenches and mountains; at the same time, it can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions."
She said this definition word for word, smoothly and proficiently, as if she had mastered it completely.
Arthur nodded slightly, a trace of surprise passed through his deep, obsidian-like eyes.
"Arthur, I answered correctly, doesn't that mean I can sleep with you now?" Ella was so ecstatic that she couldn't contain herself.
"You sleep on the bed; I'll sleep on the sofa."
With a cold demeanor, Arthur picked up a khaki comforter and moved to the white sofa, issuing a warning, "Don't come near me within a step at night, otherwise, go back to your room!"