Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Bare soul

Harper Vale served as the head secretary for the CEO’s office at the Caldwell Empire. From the very beginning, she had always fulfilled her duties impeccably, executing the tasks of a secretary with excellence while strictly adhering to the golden rules of her profession: never pry into the boss’s private affairs, and certainly never develop romantic feelings for him.

Today was no different from any other. Harper brought the schedule to the CEO’s office to report for the day. However, she waited for quite some time, yet her boss was nowhere to be seen.

Was CEO Caldwell absent today?

Harper had suddenly noticed that her boss had been acting rather strangely lately, he no longer dedicated all his energy and vitality to his work. Instead, he would often leave early or even take days off.

It was truly bizarre.

Just as her mind began to wander, Harper caught sight of Ethan Caldwell stepping out of the elevator. Her pretty eyes widened slightly in surprise. She hurriedly glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already past nine o’clock.

Oh, the boss was an hour late.

As Ethan approached, Harper flashed a professional smile, gathered the documents, and walked over to him. “Mr. Caldwell, here is today’s agenda. Please take a look and see if there are any issues. If everything is in order, I will notify the departments to head to the conference room.”

Ethan glanced briefly at the plan, nodded in acknowledgment, and walked straight into his office. Seeing this, Harper didn’t dwell on it. She simply took the plan back to her desk and used the internal line to instruct the directors of various departments to prepare for the meeting.

Harper had assumed her boss was merely running late today. Who could have predicted that as the meeting neared its conclusion, he would suddenly answer a phone call? His tone became incredibly gentle – a stark contrast to the demeanor he had just used to chew out the financial director. After speaking a few words, Ethan waved his hand for the other departments to continue their reports.

However, his expression grew increasingly impatient.

The moment the meeting ended, Ethan informed Harper to cancel his entire afternoon schedule, then immediately drove home.

Harper stood there, stunned for a long while.

Was even the CEO becoming lazy about work at the start of this year?

Back at the private residence, after hanging up the phone with Ethan, Julian Sterling headed down to the kitchen. The housekeeper had already prepared several dishes, consisting mainly of fish, which Julian wasn’t particularly fond of. He ate a small portion and put the rest away.

Once he was finished, he went out to the living room, turned on a trending variety show, and sprawled out on the sofa.

This was the life Julian had dreamed of so many times, and now, he was finally experiencing it.

He lay casually on the sofa, watching TV and laughing heartily, completely disregarding Edward’s affairs.

Who were the Sterlings again? He didn’t know them.

When Ethan arrived home, the only thing he saw was his little partner watching TV while snacking on fruit. Julian looked incredibly leisurely, bearing none of the aggrieved misery he had projected over the phone.

To be honest, there were times when Ethan couldn’t quite figure this person out. Rumors on the outside claimed that Julian was a fool, like loose mud that couldn’t be plastered onto a wall—completely good for nothing. On top of that, he was said to always wear a gloomy expression, dark and stagnant as still water, the kind of person no one could like.

However, after spending time living together, Ethan felt that Julian was actually quite intelligent. With this personality, how could anyone describe him as ’gloomy as stagnant water’?

If he had to make a comparison, Ethan felt that Julian was more like a fox: always wearing a foolish smile, yet secretly calculating quite a few things.

Hearing a noise, Julian turned his head. When he saw Ethan standing at the door, he wasn’t particularly surprised. Julian sat up straight, propped his arm on the back of the sofa, and looked at Ethan. “Why are you back already? Is there something wrong at the company? Or did you forget some documents?”

Ethan looked at Julian’s innocent face and, for some reason, found it amusing. He changed his shoes and walked toward the sofa, reaching out to pinch the cheek that was puffed out with fruit. He asked back, “You tell me, why did I come back?”

“You’re really hard to understand, how would I know?” Julian pouted, turning his head back to watch the TV. He continued talking to Ethan while watching, “The food the housekeeper cooked is still there; I put it in the kitchen. If you’re hungry, heat it up yourself.”

Oh, this brat. His attitude was getting worse by the day; he was about to turn the world upside down.

Ethan didn’t answer him. Instead, he walked around the sofa and sat down next to Julian, then asked, “About that situation over there, what do you plan to do?”

“Plan what? If I don’t like it, I just won’t go back.” Julian stuffed a piece of fruit into Ethan’s mouth. “I actually wish I didn’t have the slightest relationship with any of them.”

“You’re being remarkably blunt today. Not pretending anymore?”

“We’re only human; how can anyone wear a mask forever? I’m not like him. Doesn’t he get tired living like that for ten years?” The ’him’ Julian referred to was obviously Aaron. Today, Julian had determined that Aaron was no good. He even suspected that the tragic fate of the original owner had been single-handedly orchestrated by Aaron.

To possess such scheming thoughts at only a teenager… even if the actions were a bit clumsy, the fact remained: had anyone noticed him harming the original owner over the last decade?

Julian felt that right now, he had no one around him and couldn’t accomplish anything on his own. The only person he could trust and rely on was Ethan Caldwell. Therefore, he decided to reveal his true nature to him today.

Obviously, Julian wasn’t foolish enough to show absolutely everything, but he had to at least demonstrate to Ethan that he was a person with a brain, capable of calculation.

Julian wasn’t afraid of Ethan having a bad impression of him.

Born into a wealthy and powerful family, if one didn’t know how to scheme or maneuver, one would only meet the same end as the original owner.

“I know the Caldwell family rules, so Ethan, I’m telling you now.” Julian turned to look at Ethan, his expression becoming noticeably serious. “No matter what happens, you have to help me. If you don’t, this little young master will definitely cling to you for the rest of your life. Hmph!”

“That fierce, huh?” Ethan laughed, pulling him into a hug.

“Super fierce!”

He didn’t reply further, simply lifting Julian up to sit on his lap. Resting his chin on Julian’s shoulder, he asked, “Spit it out. What do you want to do? Don’t tell me you want to use that tiny bit of pocket money to topple the Sterling family?”

The ’tiny bit of money’ he mentioned referred to the funds Julian had used tricks to transfer from Ethan’s account into his own separate stock trading account.

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