chapter 23

"Lucy!"It was Linda Grey, one of the residents living in the same apartment complex as hers, one floor below.Linda Grey was curious, looking at the crowd gathered in front of her apartment. She was shocked to see Lucy standing with a handsome man in front of a super lavish car.Who is that man?"Linda Grey," Lucy greeted and waved her hand.Linda alternated her gaze between Eric and Lucy."Hey. I just returned and saw this crowd…" When she looked closely at Wei, she felt her heart skip a beat."Lucy...who is he?"Lucy didn't know how to answer. It would be troublesome if his identity as the CEO was out.She recalled Frank Lucas's message, more like his threat.How am I supposed to cover up an excuse for this car? She sobbed.Linda giggled. "He seems like some top boss of a company.""No he isn't!" Lucy burst out, feeling panicked. Then she cleared her throat. "I mean to say that he is a really, really poor man…"In this whole conversation between them, it was the first time that Wei finally took the trouble to turn his head. He quietly glanced at Lucy who told an incredible lie about him.Linda frowned. "With this kind of car?"She nervously laughed. "What can I say? He is a really pitiful man," she gave a sad look. "This car belongs to his distant uncle. He works in his Uncle's company. But he is ashamed of him being so poor, that's why he sends his car to maintain his wealthy image. He lives a pitiful life, abused by his Uncle. They got into a fight and he kicked him out of his house to live here in our apartment. He just shifted yesterday."Her mouth slightly twitched. She found it hard to digest that this man who possessed such an incredible aura could be... abused?But since he didn't retort to what Lucy said, she had to believe it."That's horrible," Linda looked at him and stepped forward. "Hello, I am Linda Grey. I live one floor below Lucy's home."She smiled and put her hand forward.Eric didn't respond. He didn't even react.She awkwardly stood like that for a few seconds.Lucy coughed and whispered. "That um boss...the handshake…"Eric looked at her and parted his lips. "I don't like others touching me."Linda Grey widened her eyes. Her mouth opened in shock."Ah...I am sorry…"Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.Lucy was dumbfounded.Ah?She recalled the time she touched his shoulder and then when she grabbed his pants to get up.Suddenly, she could feel sweat form on her forehead. So, all those times, I actually pissed off Boss? But he didn't say anything!She wondered why she wasn't fired yet. Then she shuddered as she recalled what happened last night with the water crisis.If he was so serious about that non-existent culprit then what about me?Is Boss actually planning to make me go through that punishment which the supposed culprit would have had?Suddenly, she didn't feel so excited about sharing this ride with him.Is he going to dump me to his S3 team?Lucy quickly said, "Boss. I-I remembered. We don't have classes in the morning haha. So, I can take the bus. I won't be late."Eric's lips stretched into a thin line. He blankly looked at her. There was a strange sensation he felt that he never did before.He took out his phone and typed one message. Lucy couldn't see what he typed or to whom, but she was getting increasingly nervous.Is he calling his S3 team to kidnap me now?She alertly looked around as if a line of black cars and helicopters would come any second and surround her. Suddenly, the loud ring of her phone snapped her out of her daze.Ah? Assistant Frank?As soon she touched the green button, his loud voice screeched in her ears, making her almost deaf."Lucy Hale! How dare you reject Boss's gracious offer? Step into the car right now or you are fired!"