Chapter 3

Audrey Clendon was a student in Emilie's class. She was often ill and took sick leave from class almost every other day. The longest medical leave that she had taken was the one right before the summer holidays. She didn't even attend the final exams. Emilie wasn't surprised at all that she wanted to take a year off from school. However, she was very cautious with Ian Tournox. She told him, "I need to give Audrey a call to confirm this."

She took out the class contact book from her drawer and flipped through it. However, Ian Tournox simply dialed the number on his phone and passed the device to Emilie over the table. "Ms. Audron, I have her number here, you may call her with my phone."

Emilie hesitated for a brief moment before reaching out to receive his phone. As she did so, she took a glance at his hand. It was clean, with slender and long fingers. It looked like the fingers of someone well-groomed who came from a decent background. Her suspicions and fear waned a little more. She took the phone from him and called the number that was already on the screen.

A ringtone came through. It wasn't long before it was picked up by Audrey. Her answer was pretty much the same as Ian Tournox's. Perhaps the girl was feeling a little nervous, as her voice sounded slightly higher than usual and a little tense. A lot of students were afraid of their teachers for no reason at all. This was a habit that formed when they were younger, and they couldn't shake it off even after they had entered college.

Emilie was used to hearing her students speak like this. She briefly asked Audrey about her condition and consoled her gently before she ended the call. When she looked up, she saw Ian Tournox, who was still standing right across from her, looking at her with a faint smile. His face still evoked fear from the deepest recesses of her mind. She pressed her lips together as she passed the phone back to him. "Thank you, Mr. Tournox. Please come with me to the office to get the request form for her leave."

She brought him to the office to get the necessary documents and informed him about what he would need to prepare. "You will need the doctor's memo and diagnosis report from the hospital for her medical condition, as well as an official letter that advises her to take a year off from school. The request form also needs to be signed by her personally. When all of that is done, you should bring the documents and the form back to me, I'll bring you to see the principal to get it approved."

Ian nodded before asking her, "Ms. Audron, would you mind leaving me your phone number?"

Emilie was rather reluctant to agree to that. "You may reach me at my office number."

Ian smiled and didn't insist.

Out of courtesy, Emilie walked him out of the office. But before he left, Ian asked her, "I'm sorry for this abrupt question, but do I look a lot like someone else to you?"

Emilie was startled for a moment by his question. He continued, "And you're really afraid of that person, am I right? Did he hurt you?"

Emilie appeared docile and easy-going on the outside, but inside, she was strong and rather assertive. She had always had a good temper, yet what he said triggered something within her - she almost wanted to snap at him and reply in the fiercest tone possible: "Mind your own business!" However, her upbringing and manners didn't allow her to do that. All she did was raise her eyebrows slightly and act as if she hadn't heard his question. She asked, "Pardon? What did you just say?"

Ian Tournox just smiled. He reached over to shake her hand before bidding her farewell, "I said goodbye, Ms. Audron."

Emilie still had an instinctive fear toward this man. The moment her hand touched his palm, she shuddered and immediately tried to pull away from his touch. She hurriedly replied, "Goodbye."

He smiled but didn't say anything more. Instead, he just turned and left.

For the rest of the afternoon, Emilie couldn't focus on anything. Kevin called to check on her and ask if everything was alright. When she was about to get off work, he even drove over to the school to fetch her. The happiness she got from her husband's care suppressed the unreasonable fear in her heart. She went down with her purse to meet him. When she got into the car, she couldn't help but ask in a playful tone, "So what do I do about my car?"

"Leave it at school," Kevin replied.

Despite already knowing the answer, she asked in response, "Then how am I supposed to get to work tomorrow morning?"

Kevin imitated her tone of voice and said, "Well, I'll send you to work tomorrow!"

The couple couldn't help but start laughing. After the fun exchange, Emilie went silent for a while, she announced out of nowhere, "Kevin, I want to get a PhD, I don't want to be a school counselor forever."

She only had a master's degree. In order to become a lecturer, she had to get a PhD, at the very least.

Kevin was always supportive of every decision that she made. Upon hearing that, he asked, "Sure, which school would you like to study at? Do you need me to contact a mentor for you?"

Emilie shook her head. "I think I'll return to my alma mater and study with my former professors."

Since she already had decided to pursue this, she decided to call her teacher to ask for her opinion the very next day. Her teacher was excited for her when she heard that Emilie was willing to study for the doctorate degree. She told Emilie that she would like her to sit for the entrance exam which was to be held in the spring of the following year. Right now, it was already mid-September. The deadline for the registration ended in October. There was already a ton of materials that she needed to prepare. Emilie soon felt like she was overwhelmed with work. She pleaded with Kevin to help her with the preparations.

The couple rolled up their sleeves and got to work together. At night, as they were sorting out the materials, he suddenly said to her very seriously, "Emi, let's work a little harder to get pregnant soon. That way, when you sit for the entrance exam next year, you can bring our kid along with you, and that could be considered preschool education!"

Emilie was startled for a second, but she thought that that was actually not a bad idea. So the couple tossed the papers aside and got into the bed to procreate.

It was one week later when she received the call. She was back at her alma mater inquiring about the PhD program when her phone rang. The number displayed on the screen was unknown. She was worried that something had happened to one of her students, so she quickly picked it up.

"Hello, Ms. Audron."

The deep voice of a man came through the phone, but somehow it contained an air of coolness which was rare in the summer blaze. Emilie felt her heart tighten a little when she heard the voice. Unable to control her reaction, her own voice became a little unnatural. She responded, "Hello, Mr. Tournox."

"You remember my voice, Ms. Audron," Ian Tournox commented.

Emilie had no intention of engaging in small talk with him. She quickly asked, "Mr. Tournox, when would you be able to submit Audrey's documents and the request form? We have regulations and procedures at school, the request for suspension of studies needs to be submitted at least two weeks before the beginning of the school term."

"I just came out of your office, Ms. Audron. Your colleague told me that he didn't know when you would be coming back, so I had to call your phone directly," Ian explained. He paused for a moment before elaborating, "I got your number from Audrey."

Based on the school rules, school counselors had to be present in school to take charge of the class. However, because counselors often had to travel to various places outside of school to help deal with the problems of different students, the school wasn't very strict about this. Emilie often went out for her own private matters without taking official leave. "I'm so sorry about that, but I'm outside right now. How about this, can you leave the documents at my office first? Is that alright?"

"No, I don't think so," he rejected her almost immediately.

Emilie didn't know how to respond.

He said, "I'll be going on a business trip tomorrow, and I won't be in Southton for the next few weeks. Ms. Audron, would you mind coming back to school right now? I'll wait for you here."

That was a rather abrupt and unreasonable request, but Emilie didn't want to start a conflict with the family of her student. Moreover, she should not have been out in the first place. She thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Alright. Then, please wait for me for about half an hour, I'll head back right now."

She got in the car and started the drive back to the school. When she parked the car behind the faculty staff office, it was almost exactly half an hour later. Just as she was getting down, a large, tall man in a black suit came out from a black car parked at the roadside. He held onto the car door and called out to her, "Mr. Tournox is in here waiting for you."

Emilie could tell at a glance that the car was very expensive. On top of which, there was the large man who looked exactly like a bodyguard. She paused for a moment before walking forward hesitantly. The window of the car rolled down slowly and revealed the handsome, perhaps even flawless face behind it. Ian Tournox nodded and greeted her, "Hello Ms. Audron, good to see you, you're very punctual."

Emilie sized him up cautiously. Upon closer inspection, this person didn't really look exactly like the man from back then. His features were more gentle and his face gave a more amicable impression as a whole. His eyes were far less aggressive, and his brows exuded the composure and mannerisms of a gentleman. There was not a hint of the cruelty and ruthlessness that she had witnessed back then.

"I'm so sorry to call you back here. But I'll be leaving the country tomorrow and won't be able to return for a while. That's why I wanted to complete all of the necessary procedures for Audrey today," Ian explained as he gestured at his assistant to pass a file containing the documents to Emilie. He requested, "Please check if anything is missing."

Emilie went through all of the documents inside the folder. After which she informed him, "You'll need to come with me and get the principal's signature before we can get this approved at the administration office."

Ian nodded. The assistant quickly came forward and opened the car door for him. Only then did Emilie notice that Ian was dressed very formally today. He was wearing a crisp black tuxedo and exuded the aura of a successful businessman. He looked like an entrepreneur who could be featured on the cover of a Forbes magazine. Ian seemed to have noticed her gaze, and explained nonchalantly, "I just attended a meeting."

He followed her to complete the necessary procedures for the request. As he walked beside her, he chatted with her casually, "Ms. Audron, you look very young, did you just graduate from college?"

Contrary to his assumption, Emilie was already 27 years old. Moreover, she had started her studies a little earlier than usual, having graduated with her master's degree more than four years ago. However, she had no interest in chatting with Ian. So she lifted the corners on her lips slightly and showed him a smile that could not get any fainter as she replied, "No."

She walked very briskly. She was even half a step in front of him despite being smaller and having shorter legs. When she went up the stairs, she walked even faster, nearly running up the steps. She only realized that he wasn't following her when she reached the turn at the end of the flight of stairs. She couldn't help but turn and look at him, feeling slightly puzzled.

He was still standing at the foot of the stairs. He raised his head and looked at her impassively, "Ms. Audron, I'm actually not in that much of a hurry."

Emilie felt a little embarrassed. She realized that her behavior was a little overboard. But she was still deeply terrified of him. To the point that even though she knew he had nothing to do with those men, she still shuddered in fear the moment she heard his voice. The sight of him evoked an uncontrollable sense of horror. Even just talking to him and maintaining a normal conversation was the result of her trying her best to control herself. Otherwise, she would have screamed and run away.

She didn't answer him. Instead, she just waited for him at the corner of where she was standing.

He walked up the stairs slowly. When he caught up to her, he asked, "I'm really very curious, why are you so afraid of me?"

"It's just a misunderstanding." Emilie lowered her head to avoid looking at him. She paused for a moment before explaining, "It's just that there's something very urgent that I need to attend to after this, so I got a little hasty."

"Oh, I see," he nodded slightly as he spoke. Then he apologized, "I'm so sorry about this Ms. Audron, for making you abandon your own matters and having to rush all the way down here just for this."

Emilie tried her best to smile and replied, "It's no problem, this is part of my job."

The whole procedure went pretty smoothly. The principal just happened to be in, and Ian Tournox had prepared all of the necessary documents. After they got the signature that they needed, Emilie brought Ian out of the office. She said to him, "Now, all we have left is to send the request form to the administration office, and we'll be done after they confirm all of the details and approve it."

When the two of them walked out of the staff office building, Ian's car was already waiting at the roadside. He turned to her and asked politely, "Is the administration office far from here? Would it be faster if we head there in the car?"

The office was indeed a distance away from the faculty staff building. She wasn't willing to go there on foot like this, walking side by side together with him. However, she was even more reluctant to get into his car with him. She pressed her lips together tightly, then thought of a workable idea. She told him, "You can drive there. Just drive along this road here, then turn left at the second junction. That'll be the administration building, it's very prominent. You can wait for me at the entrance. I'll be going over in my own car. After we're done with submitting the form, I can drive straight out to continue with what I have to do. That'll save us some time."

Ian didn't refuse this arrangement. Emilie went round to the back of the block and drove to the administration building in her own car. When she arrived, Ian was already standing by the stairs, waiting for her. His tall, slender figure and good looks attracted the attention of quite a few students. She hurriedly walked over and said to him, "Let's go, Mr. Tournox."

With her around, the request for suspension of studies was approved rather quickly. The young female teacher at the administration office could barely tear her eyes away from Ian. While he was completing some final paperwork, she pulled Emilie aside and tried to find out more about him. "Who is this man? I've never seen anyone more handsome!"

Ian seemed to sense that she was talking about him. He turned toward them and gave a smile. This smile was so seductive that the female teacher almost wanted to jump on him and declare her love. She clutched onto Emilie's arm tightly and wouldn't release her. She whispered to Emilie, "Quick! Do you have his contact number? Give me his number!"

Emilie felt both awkward and amused. She had received a call from Ian before, so of course, she had his number. However, she felt that it wasn't quite right to just give his phone number to a stranger without his permission.

Emilie's colleague shook her arm profusely and tried again. "Ms. Audron, please, I'm begging you, you're already a married woman. Couldn't you please give the single people a chance!"

"This is the cousin of one of my students, I don't really know him well enough. You should go and ask him yourself." As she spoke, Emilie suddenly had an idea. She sneakily tried to help her colleague by giving her suggestions, "How about you ask for his contact in an official capacity, then just save it for yourself? Then when the request for his cousin is approved, you can call him up and tell him to come over and get it. I believe you don't need me to teach you the rest right?"

As part of the school's standard operating procedure, the request had to be sent back to the school after it had been approved, before the counselor would inform the student. Emilie's colleague was a little unsure about this suggestion. She asked, "Is that really alright?"

Emilie tried to hide her laughter by pressing her lips together. She gently nudged her on the shoulder and persuaded, "What's wrong with that? Just treat it as helping me with my work!"

Ian had just completed the necessary paperwork. He turned and looked toward Emilie, which prompted her to ask her colleague in a very formal manner, "Is there anything else that you need from us?"

Her colleague cleared her throat and said, "Um, please leave me the contact details of the student's representative."

Ian smiled and wrote down his handphone number on a piece of paper before passing it to her.

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