Attracted By My Ex-wife

Chapter 182 I Thought You'd Blame Me

"What does it have to do with you?" Thinking that Anne was only joking around, Kevin flashed an amused smile.

"I designed the main work of the M Group this time," she said matter-of-factly.

All of a sudden, the smile from his face had completely disappeared. 'This... she can't be serious, can she?'

Seeing that he was about to get angry at her, Anne bit on her lower lip. "That was my first design draft," she explained. "When I submitted it to M Group, our relationship was still in a bad place. Besides, I didn't have much confident in my work."

There was still a gloomy look on Kevin's face. Even though the M Group wasn't as well-known as the AN Group, it was still a reputable company, which was why it didn't make sense to him how she could go running to M Group when she claimed that she had little confidence in her work.

"Well, I'll have my assistant stop finding out the designer." Kevin stated with an exasperated sigh.

Daniel spent the whole afternoon looking up all of the designers at the M Group but still didn't find any clue. Kevin never expected that the one that they wanted to find was actually around him.

"I'm sorry, Kevin," Anne said apologetically. "I know I've hurt you with what I've done. It was all just a misunderstanding. You know I didn't mean to cause any damages to your company."

Smiling lightly, he walked towards her. However, since she still wasn't so sure how to read the expression on his face, she couldn't help but slowly step back away from him.

Rolling his eyes, he quickly closed the distance between them and held her arm. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I..." For a while, she hesitated. But when she looked carefully, there was a hint of playfulness in his eyes.

"Aren't you angry?" she asked warily.

"What use is there to get angry now?" With a shrug, he flashed a helpless but gentle grin at her.

She furrowed her delicate brows in confusion. It still didn't make sense to Anne why he wasn't mad at her. Seeing this, Kevin let out a small chuckle. "Since you were the one who designed this, I'm not really that worried anymore. I know that you weren't intending to harm the business. Plus, this is a good reminder that our ability in design needs to improve."

"Don't say that. Maybe it was just beginner's luck. It was my first design, after all." In truth, it was just a quick sketch she made out of a whim. When she was drafting it, she thought that it would be great if she would be able to sell it at least. It never crossed her mind that it would be such a big success.

"I know that this is the first time you've designed something and you still aren't that sure of yourself, but don't you think that this might be a good sign for you? You can do whatever you want, Anne. Don't worry about me or the company. I can see what a talented designer you are, and I'm here to help you in whatever way I can. If AN Group is not enough to get your career going, I can get you in touch with a better company." Kevin paused, lightly rubbing his chin as he looked at her thoughtfully. "Or better yet, we can create your very own personal brand," he added.

The solemnness in his voice finally made her feel relieved.

"I really thought you'd blame me for the decline in company's performance," Anne muttered sheepishly.

Now, she felt bad that she was so mean and defensive earlier.

"Do you really think I'm that unreasonable?" he asked in a low voice. Before she could reply, he bent down and gently kissed her lips.

The next day, everyone in the AN Group was jittery.

Autumn had just arrived, which brought upon a fresh, cool breeze that was rather pleasant to most. However, even though the weather was great and the sun was brightly shining in the sky, everyone at the AN Group was as restless as ever.

They knew that Kevin was angry yesterday because of how the company got severely outperformed by the M Group. Everyone wanted to make sure that they were on Kevin's good side, or, at the very least, got out of his way.

"Hello, Mr. Kevin." Daniel greeted with a smile as Kevin got out of the car.

"Get back to work and focus on the design you're making. Don't worry about that incident with M Group," Kevin said calmly, seeing through Daniel's unnaturally positive attitude.

"Mr. Kevin?" Daniel asked worriedly, his eyes filled with surprise and confusion.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Kevin asked, not bothering to look back at his assistant. Walking up to his desk, he sat down and opened today's newspaper to read the financial news.

"No, no, No. Everything's fine, Mr. Kevin. I'll go make sure everyone's doing their job." After saying that, Daniel walked out of the door and breathed a long, deep sigh of relief.

'That's so weird. Yesterday, he looked like he was ready to lash out at anyone he caught sight of. Now he's actually looking... okay.'

Even though it didn't make sense, Daniel thought that it was normal. After all, Kevin was known for being unpredictable most of the time. No one was really able to guess what went through in his head.

At least it looked like he was in a good mood, which meant that everyone in the company could take a breather.

As Kevin leafed through the newspaper, he suddenly remembered that Anne would be coming over later. Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

With a small smile, he put the newspaper down and made a quick call using the landline phone on his desk. All it took was one button for him to instantly get in touch with any department at the company. "Make me a summary of all the latest trends during Paris fashion week. And all the other popular trend in other countries while you're at it," he said over the phone.

"Also, if a woman named Anne Luo comes over to see me, send her in at once. Be polite to her," Kevin quickly added before ending the call. After that, the news about this 'Anne Luo' spread all over the company like wildfire.

People began to gossip at once. There were some who already knew that Anne was Kevin's ex-wife. Everyone began to speculate that they might have been reconciled.

It didn't take long before everyone at the company looked forward to her arrival.

At around ten o'clock in the morning, the woman they had been waiting for arrived.

The clothes Anne wore were very simple and modest. She had on her a little, black dress that went above her knees, paired with black, leather Doc Marten boots. Since it was getting a bit chilly outside, she also put on a tan-colored long coat that hung loosely on her body. Although the colors she was wearing were muted, it was still easy for everyone at the company to recognize her at a single glance.

There was just something with the way she carried herself. Her aura made it clear that she was a very capable and strong woman.

Meanwhile, Anne couldn't help but think that it had been a long time since she came here to work. 'I miss Emily,' she suddenly thought. 'I'm not even sure where she is now.'

Brushing off these thoughts, she went over to the front desk. "My name is Anne Lou," she said in a business-like tone. "I'm here to meet with the CEO."

The receptionist nodded happily and made a quick call. Not a while later, Daniel came out to greet her with a smile before taking her directly to Kevin's office.

"Why are your employees so enthusiastic all of a sudden?" As soon as Daniel closed the door behind him, she shot a curious look at Kevin.

From the way she remembered, most of the employees here always looked serious. At times, they even looked rather sad and depressed.

"Maybe it's because they knew you were coming here," Kevin replied.

It was no secret to him that his employees loved it when they had something to gossip about. Although it was something that annoyed him a bit, he figured that there was really nothing he could do about it.

"Looks like you're in a good mood, too. I never imagined you tolerating your employees gossiping like that," Anne praised, her tone light and playful.

"People have their own hobbies and interests. Of course, it's still vital that everyone gets their job done. Human nature is just something we can't stifle, and, unfortunately, gossip is one of human's nature." Pausing, he lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry," he added as he looked back up at her. "I'm sorry for what happened with Emily."

"So now you believe me when I said that I didn't hurt Ruth?" she asked carefully.

"Of course not. You were there, but I know that Cherry was as well. Even though there's not enough evidence to prove it, I know that you wouldn't hurt other people like that." After he had gotten to know Cherry more, he now knew that the incident with Ruth must have been one of her many tricks.

Even though Anne nodded indifferently, she couldn't help but feel touched with his word.

Before, even though they were intimate with each other, there was no trust in their relationship. After getting separated, they finally found out the value of having faith in one another.

"Thank you for that. Well, moving on... Do you have the information I requested?" Anne asked.

"I've already asked someone to take care of it. Maybe they haven't finished sorting it out yet. Why don't you take a seat while we talk for a while? Standing up, Kevin went over to make some coffee. As she looked at him, she noticed how his slender physique had a refined temperament to it. Maybe she just wasn't paying attention before, but it was the first time she had seen him this way.

Or perhaps it was because their relationship wasn't that good before. Back then, they only saw the worst side of each other.

"Okay." Quietly, Anne sat down on the plush, leather sofa. A little while later, Kevin joined her and handed her a cup of coffee.

"Do you have any plans to study abroad?" Kevin suddenly asked as he sat down next to her.

"Why do you ask?" She smile awkwardly, her hand that held the coffee suddenly freezing in place.

"Your talent is promising, especially since you're only self-taught. If you study some more, I'm sure you'll be able to grow more as a designer," he explained bluntly.

However, Anne raised her brows and smiled. "Do you think that it's my dream to become a designer?"

"Is it not?" This was not the answer he was expecting. He thought that she would just either say yes or no, but he was definitely sure of himself that she would want to pursue a career in design. "Of course not. I don't have some sort of 'big dream'. Now that I think about it, it was because I was forced to grow up at such an early age.

I was worried for my mother, which was why I knew I had to take it upon myself to be more mature and sensible. I had to start earning money so that she wouldn't have to work so hard. Before I knew it, I became such a workaholic. The only reason I taught myself how to design was because of our child. I wanted to have him in my life so badly that I had no choice but to try and stand up for myself."

For a while, Kevin was silent. Although he was shocked by her words, he carefully took them in. "Well, do you think design is something you'd want to do now? Is it something that interests you?"

"I don't know. The only thing that interests me now is having a normal and stable life. Trey told me that he would give me two percent of the profits my design generates. That's enough for me since I'll be able to support the baby. It's also better this way that both of the baby's parents are here to raise him attentively," Anne said honestly.

As he heard that, his eyes lit up, thinking that maybe she was indicating something. "Have you ever thought of marrying me again, Anne? We'll be able to give our child a real, happy family."

"I'm sorry," she muttered, stunned at how he had mentioned this all of a sudden. This thought was actually something that had never crossed her mind since she gave birth to the baby.

"Give me a few days to think about it first, okay?" she added reassuringly.

At that moment, the door suddenly opened. It was Daniel, and in his arms was a thick stack of magazines, design cases and folders filled with research. When he saw Anne sitting so closely with Kevin on the couch, he immediately felt flustered. He knew that he shouldn't have entered so rashly. It was just that his hands were so full that he couldn't find a way to knock on the door.

"Mr. Kevin, here's all the information you wanted," Daniel said coolly, knowing that there was nothing he could do at this point.

"Okay. Now, leave." There was a slight coldness in Kevin's voice that Daniel knew all too well.

After he quickly made his leave, Anne grabbed one of the magazines and began reading. As she had her eyes glued on the pages, Kevin was carefully looking at her. "Have you ever considered coming back to work at the AN Group?" he asked after a while.

Anne paused, and cast a sidelong glance at him. "It's something I haven't considered yet," she said, smiling.

Slumping back on the sofa, Kevin couldn't deny that he was a bit sad to hear this. But then, she turned to look at him, beaming from ear to ear. "But now that you've made me think about it, I guess I'll come back," she stated. "After all, I'm one of the shareholders in this company. It makes sense, don't you think?"