Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 660 Several Scenes (Part Two)

***

Since Molly was spared her commute for that day, she was an hour early to work. She felt sad for the people who were crowding at the bus stop.

"Have you had breakfast?" Eric asked as he turned his head to look at her. Without waiting for her to answer, he continued, "I just got off my flight and haven't had breakfast yet."

Molly glanced back at Eric and it was quite easy to tell that he just wanted to have breakfast with her but still she said, "No, I've eaten."

"Okay then, just come with me while I eat," Eric smiled shamelessly. "After all, you're a bit early and you still have a lot of time."

"..." Her eyes still sullen-she was too exhausted both physically and mentally to argue with him anymore.

The car stopped at the gate of A-magic. Molly squinted as she gazed at A-Magic. It looked different from when she had been here five years ago. She got off the car still unable to take her eyes off it. It still looked luxurious but maybe what was different was all the memories she got here, whether it was with Eric or Brian. Well, maybe she couldn't ever forget just because it was with Brian.

"A cup of milk, pineapple bread, and one Set Meal A,"

Eric told the waiter without even looking at the menu. The waiter nodded and left. They didn't have to wait much because soon the waiter came back again this time with Eric's food in hand.

Eric placed the cup of milk and the pineapple bread in front of Molly and said, "Eat with me." He said in this charming way of his that made it impossible for people to say no to him. Suddenly, he had a serious look on his face, "Is Brian... hurting you? You look so thin you could be blown away by any gust of wind!"

"Nothing to worry about, Eric, no wind, no anything," Molly answered.

Eric looked flummoxed for a moment then he widened his eyes with a grin plastered on his face, "Are you sure?"

It wasn't until that moment that Molly was able to look at Eric from head to toe. He was wearing a dark gray suit with black trimmings. He looked sensible and intimidating in his perfectly tailored crisp suit. Her eyes fell on the logo on his chest. She recalled that before every time they attended black-tie events, he would wear a shield-shaped logo of the Dragon Empire Group whereas today there was just a "Z" logo on his chest.

But if she wasn't mistaken, there was also a "Z" in the center of the dragon on the shield-shaped logo of the Dragon Empire Group.

"Is that the exclusive logo of the power holder?" Molly asked.

Eric nodded, averting her gaze by lowering his eyes.

Molly raised her brows as she eyed him, "How can you be so chill when you've just taken over the office?"

It took a while for Eric to realize what Molly had meant. Despite the bitterness in his heart, he wore a knowing smile on his face. He lifted his elbows so that they were on top of the table and leaned his body towards Molly as he spoke gravely, "I have to go to B City at around ten. I just made a detour so I can see you first. But it seems like you're not as happy seeing me and that makes me kind of upset."

Molly didn't know what to say. She looked flummoxed, "Can you please be serious?"

"I am serious," Eric insisted, slightly glancing towards their food as if he was hinting at something. "Come on, let's just eat," he said. He continued speaking when Molly picked up the pineapple bread, "I've been so busy lately with everything about the National Congress. As the new power holder, I have a lot of trips to make and my first stop is the State Parliament." He suddenly looked solemn. The State Parliament played a very significant role in their matters at hand, their business dealings, with everything basically.

'If what happened in Sun Island is Brian's gift to me for being the new power holder then dealing with this issue now is my gift to him and her then...' Eric's train of thought trailed off.

"You didn't need to do that just to see me," Molly said flatly as she lowered her gaze. "You have a lot more responsibilities now. Stop wasting your time with detours like this just to have breakfast with me. Value your time, Eric."

Eric gave her a small smile before lowering his eyes and speaking in an empty tone, "Molly, you can't just will yourself to choose what you do or what you won't do. But isn't that good? Because you get to live your life how you want it," he said, raising his eyes to look at Molly whose eyes were fixed on her food in front of her. "No one has the right to judge how anyone chooses to live their lives-whether they choose to live in happiness or in pain," he finished.

As soon as Eric finished talking, Molly shifted her gaze to meet Eric's eyes. She panicked when she saw how serious Eric was. Even though he was really talking about himself, she still felt as if he was saying that in response to her life. As if he could see right through her. "Molly," Eric said in a low voice, "I have no intentions, okay? Just forget the past. That doesn't matter anymore. Just know that I'm still that person you can always count on. I will appear by your side whenever you need me, okay?"

By the time lunch rolled around, Molly was still thinking of what Eric had just said to her earlier. She wasn't sure if she knew what he meant at first. It was not until later that she knew what Eric meant. Eventually she would realize that she was on the receiving end of two different men's love, each loving her in their different ways.

***

The conference room at City Hall.

Edgar asked Jennifer angrily, "In the first half year, there have been 23 burglaries, 38 registered fights with weapons between groups of people, five attempts at drug dealing, was it? No, six, including the one happened last night! And that's not even half of it so can you please tell me what you've done!"

Jennifer was unfazed by Edgar's anger while everyone else in the room was trembling. Ever since she took a seat at the table, Edgar had been pounding on her replaceing fault in whatever she did. She knew he was just trying to get her to quit. Just slightly raising her eye brows as a cheap response to Edgar's uncalled-for anger, she spoke calmly, "I'll see to it that these figures be fixed by the second half of this year."