Chapter 4: The Old Memory

Her mind traveled into the past until she shook his head, coming back to the present. She patted her face to stay awake and a scarlet flush was creeping into her cheeks.

Now she was in the lumber room. She was to prepare Elias's outfits, which was also a part of her routine tasks. Because he was the CEO of the big company, it was very important to dress well. So, Becky Scarlett, assistant to the CEO's wife, would prepare clothes, iron them, and hang them on the hangers for him. Next, she went to a jewelry display and reached down to pluck a pair of buttons from the jewelry lying there. Suddenly, she paused when she closed the door. She simply reached down to the jewelry display with her other hand and took a paper box away.

The paper box placed in it was completely inappropriate. She opened the paper box. It was a ring that had been in her lumber room in a jewelry case. It related to the ring he wore on his middle finger. It was a diamond ring. He had worn it for eight years. There were many people guessing who was the owner of the other ring. While for him the ring was an important symbol of his love for his wife, the accurate history was the other owner only let it shine on her hand for only one day.

After the wedding ceremony ended, she never wore it again.

She took out the ring that was still almost new. She could see the soft and beautiful curves inside the ring when light struck it, and bounced from the writing on the ring into her eyes.

She smiled a bitter smile. She did not dare think about it even in her dreams, whose name this would be.

__________

When Elias woke up, it was already the next morning. He turned his head to the left. There was no one beside him. He lost in thought and raised his eyebrows, and then he left his bed to go to the bathroom.

After they got married, Becky didn't live with the husband's family. He bought a small apartment building and lived with her. There were four floors in this building, but so far only the second floor had been furnished, and they lived in it. The first floor was for a garage. The third was empty, and the last floor was for the gym. However, he had applied for permission to build a single-storey extension to their house. About the second floor, there was a living-room, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. And every bedroom in their house had its own private bathroom. She had everything prepared beforehand for him, from a towel, a tube of toothpaste, to a toothbrush. She had squeezed even a toothbrush with toothpaste on it.

After Elias freshened himself up, he left the room and entered the kitchen. Breakfast was already available. She placed a bowl of steaming noodles on the table. However, there was just one portion and the person who should be here and eat with him was gone. Then, he sat back in his chair, picked up a spoon and tried to taste the soup. This soup was a spicy variation of a traditional favorite. Next, he flavored soup with onions. Tasty, delicious, the scent made his mouth water. He guessed chef Olly Wilson, of the South of Houston restaurant, created this steaming noodle.

After eating, he picked up the dishes and chopsticks to wash, and then he placed them on the rack to dry. Next, he went to the dressing room. He tried on several suits that were ready to be prepared by Becky and finally picked out a blue one.

The mention of Becky gave him a confused feeling. He still did not understand. How can someone who is always presented in his surroundings get away from him so well? He could not see even her shadow?

He was quiet for a moment. He ran his eyes over the room and back to the wardrobe.

It had been eight years since they started living in this apartment. Although his clothes were always new and expensive, she had little in the way of clothes. She cared little about clothing. She also had many old-fashioned clothes, so she often tried to turn the old clothes to an advantage.

She only dressed to kill whenever she attended a formal reception, because she was his assistant.

At the beginning, the dressing room had not been repaired yet, so he bought this wardrobe for temporary use, and they just stuffed their clothes into it. Then, when the dressing was already repaired, he had no further use of this wardrobe. However, she put all of her clothes in it since he didn't know when. Everything was like there was neither hide nor hair of her in this house.

Elias Sophronia, who was a self-opinionated, arrogant, mean person, also wanted to become powerful. They could call his personality to be positively old-fashioned. He was the eldest son of the Sophronia family. Although he cherished his little sister very much, there was too big an age difference between them. Since he was a child, he had an outstanding family background. He received the best education, and of course, he also had more endurance than others. Only the top could be worthy of his time and talent, only outstanding ability was worthy of his social status. Therefore, he always insisted that his partner in life had to be an extraordinary and excellent person and she should be a woman of top position.

Perhaps because everything was going smoothly in his early twenties, their first meeting became a major turning point in his life.

He found an extraordinary woman. Her family background, educational level, and even her appearance were fully appropriate for his ideal wife. They quickly "established" a love relationship. And then, while his heart sank at the prospect of introducing her to his family, he lost touch with her. And not because of his family's interference. That woman took all his money and vanished with another rich man. His dad became angry and beat him. Then, he broke his leg, and they whisked him off to the hospital. When he was sent to the hospital, he talked deliriously, "Susan, Susan… Why did you leave me?"

When that woman left him for another man, he received endless sorrow and ignominious defeat.

Becky Scarlett was his benefactor. Her presence made him happy. It had been a very hard time, but they came through it together. And after so many years had passed, they were still together. From an extraordinary and excellent private assistant to become his considerate wife, she was his only trust, lover, and his partner in life.

However, there was some doubt in his mind. Was he the one who held the key to her heart?

Meanwhile, Becky went to McDonald's for a burger and a coke and hung out with a couple of neighbors she knew. That place was near her apartment. Therefore, every morning when she woke up, she would freshen herself up, prepare breakfast for her boss, and then go to McDonald's for her breakfast. After finishing her meal, she paid with a hundred-dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred-dollar bill, but she had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back.

She walked into the park for about thirty minutes to arrive home. It was time to drive her boss to work.

She had to wear an office uniform when working. She straightened her glasses, got out, and walked around the car to open the door for him.

"Sir. Please step into the car." She talked him down.

Elias Sophronia, who wanted to talk to her, was reduced to silence. They used to be an intimate couple in the past, but now they talked no more.

Finally, he managed a feeble smile. He could not seem to put together a coherent sentence, so he just replied, "Okay!"

He carefully sat down in the back of the car, which was wide enough for three people. Next, he looked at her in the rearview mirror, her slanting brows rushed together in a cold frown. Suddenly Becky, his black hair and breathtaking wife, turned to look at him. No, not to look - to glare, with dark, cold eyes.

Recently, a traffic jam had happened in the city during rush hour, so she always tried to avoid it as much as possible. So, she drove carefully, neither too fast nor too slow. But many years ago, she did not have enough experience to be his professional assistant like she was now.