Love at First Novel

Chapter 18

“I wasn’t at the shop tonight. My friend wanted to attend a dinner party and asked me to tag along. Oh, right. Mr. York, I want to ask you about something, but I’m not sure if it’s something you‘re comfortable answering.”

Taking the seat opposite Zachary, Serenity stared at the man with her big bright eyes. The man was aloof, distant, and nasty toward her. She knew he built a wall around him to keep nobody out but her.

However, he was blessed with good looks. His face was aesthetically pleasing as if she was looking at a beautiful scenery.

“The party was held at the Wiltspoon Hotel. I heard the hotel belongs to the wealthiest family in the city. Guess what? The heir of the family attended tonight too. His last name is York, but I think you‘re unrelated to that family, right?”

Without batting an eye, Zachary blasély replied, “We were related five hundred years ago.”

Serenity heaved a sigh of relief and responded with a smile, “I knew you have no relations to the wealthiest family in town.”

Seeing that she was glad and relieved, Zachary somehow had to ask, “Don’t you want me to be related to them?”

“It’s nighttime now.”

Serenity added with a smirk, “Quit daydreaming.”

“If you’re linked to the wealthy Yorks, would you marry a stranger like me? Without a doubt, the Yorks are the crème de la crème in the social hierarchy, and I’m way at the bottom of the barrel. Even if

you’re only a cousin of the uncle to the grandfather of the family’s heir, I’d think you’re out of my league. I wouldn’t feel comfortable living together.

“Since you have no relations to the wealthy York, I don’t feel the strain as we run in the same circle.”

Zachary pursed his lips without a word.

“Your Nana said you work at a major corporation. Have you heard about the heir to York Corporation? He was there tonight. People were all over him as if he was the king. Jasmine and I had to get on our tiptoes, but we couldn’t get a look at his face.”

Zachary kept his lips tightly pressed with his brooding and icy eyes.

“They said that the heir always has bodyguards following him around so no women could get close to him. Jasmine asked around and found out that the heir was single and not involved in any scandal. I guess he doesn’t even have a girlfriend.

“Mr. York, do you think it’s a matter of sexuality or something else since the heir is still single despite his age?”

Her words nearly startled Zachary to bite his tongue. Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

Zachary could burn holes through Serenity with the stare he was giving her right now.

: How could she question his manhood right in his face?!

Taking his glare as surprise, Serenity broke it down for Zachary. “For a man of his stature to refuse approaching young ladies, he must not be interested in them. No wonder he’s not married even though he’s not getting any younger. Ordinary people like us will never understand the world of the rich.”

Resisting the urge to strangle her, Zachary asked coldly, “How do you know he’s not young at all? It doesn’t mean he swings the other way just because he steers clear of women.”

“He’s the head of the York family. We‘re not living in romance fiction. It takes time for a successor to mature and prove his worth in taking over the family business. They’d be at least thirty-five before that can happen. That’s reaching middle age. To a young girl like me, that’s old.”

It was not as if he could correct her that the heir of the Yorks was only thirty years of age, and only five years older than she was. He was not old at all.

A while later, he callously inquired, ‘You seem fascinated by the heir.“

“Not at all. This was the first time I got firsthand gossip about a major CEO. Where there are people, there’s gossip. I was just giving my two cents. Mrs. Lowe was hoping Jasmine could charm the heir, but Jasmine has no intention to marry up. The world of the rich and powerful is beyond us all.”

Serenity had heard about the hardship Mrs. Lowe faced when marrying into a higher social class. The Soxes were multimillionaires, and although they made their money through opportune property investments, the family had amassed a fortune. Despite being rich, Mrs. Lowe had to jostle through adversity to integrate into the cultured class. Ordinary girls such as them should not believe in fairytales.

“It’s late. I’m going to shower.”

Serenity and her husband chatted for a bit until there was nothing to talk about. At the end of the day, they were still strangers.

Getting up, Serenity went to the balcony to take in her laundry. “When you were renovating, you should’ve gotten the builder to install two rails as drying racks.”

Zachary remained silent. He bought a move-in-ready property. These trivial matters were usually not his concern, so how would he know the rails had to be installed on the balcony for drying clothes?