Bonnie stopped in her tracks at once. Her brows couldn’t help but knit tightly.
‘I’ve rarely seen him this furious. What on earth is happening in there?’
Ivor stared at the irreparably damaged painting with menace.
“I’ve reminded you guys over and over again. You have to keep the painting somewhere safe. How did it end up in this mess?”
Floyd hung his head and spoke in a cautious tone. “I-I reminded them about it as well. However, the person in charge of the painting had a high fever last night.
“He must’ve been very sick because he forgot to store the painting somewhere safe. What’s worse, it rained the whole night last night. That’s how the dampness in the air got to it and damaged it.”
Ivor took a deep breath and rubbed his brow aggressively. For a moment there, he was at a loss for words.
That was when Bonnie walked into the villa. She looked at him and realized that he was still gripped with anger. “What’s going on? Why are you this furious?”
He didn’t want her to worry about this kind of stuff. So, he sidestepped her question and said, “It’s nothing. I was just lecturing a staff member who didn’t know how to follow my orders.”
“This isn’t like you at all. You have never been this upset over something so trivial. Hurry up and tell me everything. What on earth happened here?” Her eyes were filled with skepticism. Obviously, she didn’t believe a word he said.
“It’s not a big deal. Really. It’s just that the past couple of days haven’t been easy. That’s why I lost control of my temper.” He had decided he’d take the secret to his grave and not tell her about it. ‘She has enough stuff to worry about every day. I don’t want to add to her burden by bugging her with my stuff. I know her research institute is conducting research on the latest nanomaterial. That alone is enough to keep her hands full.”
“Just a couple of bad days?” She looked at him skeptically. “What happened in the past two days?”
He breathed out and smiled. Then, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.
“You haven’t been visiting me for the past couple of days. I missed you so much that I can’t eat or drink anything. Do you think I’m going to have good days in that state?” She rolled her eyes at him hard.
“I haven’t seen you for a couple of days, but it seems you’re still very smart-mouthed.”
She might’ve said that, but she still found it hard to believe his explanation.
“Are you sure that that’s the real reason and not anything else?”
“Of course it is. Why would I lie to you?”
Ivor knew she was highly intelligent. He was scared that she might see through him. Then, he saw the food container in her hands and changed the topic immediately. “What’d you bring, Bonnie?”
She went along with him. “I made you some cold soup. Just as well, too. It’ll help cool you down.”
A big smile formed on his face.
“I guess we’re really soulmates then. I was just throwing a tantrum, and here you are, serving me cold soup. You’re such a peach, Bonnie.”
Raising her brow, she said, “I think you got it wrong. I didn’t mean it’ll cool down your temper. I mean a certain passion of yours instead.”
For a moment there, he didn’t quite get it.
“A certain passion? What do you mean?”
She glanced at him and said, “Well. You tend to be handsy when you see me. Then, you’ll be having trouble controlling yourself. That’s why I think it’s better to think ahead and introduce you to some cold soup before you lose control of yourself and do the unthinkable to me.”
