The Retired CEO's Guide To Being Spoiled-Chapter 211: The Gamble of Affection
"Yes, yes, I am only a hooligan exclusively for you. So, has my baby stopped feeling sad now?"
"I already told you that I am not sad at all, did I not?"
"Alright, you are not sad, it was merely my own vivid imagination, is that acceptable? Once you arrive at the Caldwell Empire, just take the exclusive executive elevator straight up to my office. I still need to attend a brief discussion with the management board on the lower floor before I can finish up. You can just go inside my office and rest for a while. Helen Lloyd has just bought some piping hot crab noodles specifically for you, right from that exact restaurant you mentioned liking so much the last time. Try it and see how it tastes; if doing takeout still manages to preserve the authentic flavor exactly like dining in, then we will make sure to order it to the house much more frequently next time."
Only at this exact moment did Julian suddenly come to the stark realization that he and Ethan Caldwell had actually been completely engrossed in their lively conversation for quite a long while, and the car had already smoothly glided right up to the very base of the magnificent, towering skyscraper of the Caldwell Empire. The driver skillfully began to turn the steering wheel, making a smooth descent directly into the underground parking garage. Julian hurriedly bid his farewell to Ethan Caldwell to prepare himself to step out of the vehicle: "I understand. You can just go ahead and continue with your meeting. We will see each other in a little while."
"Ok, I will see you in a little while."
The man on the other end of the line still did not take the initiative to end the call, it was Julian himself who had to actively hang up first. He genuinely did not know exactly since when, but whether it was their brief, fleeting phone calls or their endlessly long, drawn-out conversations, Ethan Caldwell was always the one who patiently, quietly waited for him to disconnect the line first before finally hanging up himself.
One truly had to acknowledge the undeniable reality that this older man was exceptionally delicate and profoundly observant, knowing exactly how to effortlessly make another person’s heart flutter violently over the absolute smallest, most seemingly insignificant actions. Naturally, Julian was more than intelligent enough to clearly discern that the entire time just now, Ethan Caldwell had been utilizing the most incredibly gentle, profoundly soothing method to thoroughly coax his supposedly gloomy mood. That was precisely why the man had actively initiated the call so immediately and engaged in idle chatter with him for such an extensive period of time.
It was blatantly obvious that he had initially only intended to put on a pitiful, deeply tragic theatrical performance to secure a bit of sympathetic trust, yet in the absolute end, he had never genuinely expected to be so profoundly, thoroughly coaxed in return to the staggering point where even his own guarded heart genuinely began to tremble and flutter.
Julian let out a very faint, incredibly helpless sigh. It seemed that in this current lifetime, he had truly, undeniably encountered his own absolute greatest nemesis.
There were certain profound matters, such as the deeply complicated romantic entanglements between lovers, for instance, where Julian was always someone who viewed absolutely everything through a highly rational, crystal-clear, and deeply objective lens. He was certainly not some naive, newly matured youth who was only just beginning to experience the dizzying throes of first love; he was definitely not at the foolish level where he would be completely unable to clearly distinguish and perfectly comprehend the heavy implications behind this level of excessive, deeply crossing-the-line care and attention. In fact, both Julian and Ethan Caldwell could secretly, clearly perceive that the unspoken romantic feelings deeply simmering between the two of them were undergoing some incredibly distinct, profoundly undeniable transformations with each and every passing day.
It was fundamentally no longer rigidly confined within the incredibly strict, utterly sterile boundaries of being mere legal spouses on a worthless piece of binding paper; instead, there were genuinely invisible, profoundly powerful threads of connection blossoming directly from the deep, soul-stirring harmony of their genuine affections stemming from the very bottom of their hearts.
However, it was precisely because both of them could feel the sheer, overwhelming danger of that profound connection far too clearly that each man inherently knew they had to desperately try their absolute best to fiercely suppress it. Genuine, unadulterated love was something that, within the treacherous, deeply calculating upper-class society they inhabited, a world thoroughly saturated with endless, ruthless scheming and cutthroat mutual benefits, was considered to be something far too distant, excessively luxurious, and practically mythological in nature.
Hearing about it sounded exactly as though it were a fanciful concept that exclusively existed within the pages of some overly romantic, highly idealized fairy tale specifically written for naive children.
Absolutely everyone clearly understood an unspoken, profoundly strict ironclad rule: those individuals who firmly held immense, world-shifting power and carried monumentally heavy responsibilities exactly like them were fundamentally never permitted to allow themselves to easily fall into the perilous, all-consuming depths of profound love. One’s own family and direct blood relations were inherently already far too massive of a glaring weakness for their ruthless enemies to viciously exploit. If, at this critical juncture, there suddenly appeared another highly specific individual whom they deeply placed within the most guarded core of their hearts, someone they were entirely willing to passionately pour all of their affection and blind trust into loving, then it would essentially be absolutely no different from voluntarily taking the entirety of their painstakingly accumulated, lifelong wealth and blindly throwing it all into an incredibly risky, deeply perilous gamble.
Such was the harsh reality of human life. Out of ten high-stakes bets placed, one was absolutely bound to suffer agonizing, devastating losses at least nine times out of those ten.
Both Julian and Ethan Caldwell were completely sober and sharply lucid enough to acutely feel that this particular, highly adventurous emotional investment was far too intensely dangerous for the both of them. The absolute best course of action was to simply not dip their hands far too deeply into these treacherous waters. It was just that human emotions were sometimes so overwhelmingly, terrifyingly potent that there was absolutely no viable method to utilize cold, hard rationality to completely, flawlessly control them.
So be it, the vast, unfolding future stretching out ahead was still incredibly long. He would just allow the steady passage of time and the inevitable, upcoming events to naturally attempt to provide the final answer as to what the ultimate, concluding outcome would actually be.
Julian exhaled a very long, incredibly heavy breath in order to completely expel those vague, deeply distracting thoughts from his clouded mind. Shortly after, he firmly grabbed his backpack and pushed the car door open to gracefully step outside. In this vast, unpredictable world, there were inherently far too many unexpected things that occurred completely outside of one’s own desires. There were a great multitude of complex situations where simply saying no did not actually mean one could genuinely, successfully refuse them.
If today he saw that absolutely everything was still progressing in a highly joyful, incredibly smooth manner, then he should just desperately try his absolute best to fully, wholeheartedly enjoy this beautiful, fleeting moment. Who could ever truly know exactly how completely upside down absolutely everything would violently turn tomorrow or in the distant, unforeseen future.
There was absolutely no pressing need to deliberately place such an incredibly heavy, profoundly exhausting mental burden upon himself regarding this deeply complicated matter.
Julian stepped into the exclusive, highly secure executive elevator with an air of complete confidence, pressing the button to ascend directly up to Ethan Caldwell’s own private, highest executive floor. While it was explicitly designated as a private executive floor specifically to guarantee the absolute highest level of strict confidentiality and personal privacy, in reality, there were still a few small, highly sophisticated meeting rooms deliberately arranged there strictly for the purpose of accommodating urgent, highly confidential emergency meetings, alongside the impeccably organized workstations designated for the elite secretarial team. Usually, the highly capable individual permanently stationed at this specific desk to formally receive and respectfully welcome the most distinguished, highly honored VIP guests was Helen Lloyd.
