Serena's heart warmed unexpectedly. Serena suddenly thought of her marriage with Clint.
He had never, not once, stood against the world for her the way Xavier just did.
From the information she'd gathered so far, maybe-just maybe-his father's death really was related to her father, Bram. But even if that were true, it didn't justify him deceiving her feelings or deliberately hurting her.
Even if the older generation had their grudges, she knew nothing about it. So why should she be dragged into their battle?
If it had been Xavier instead of Clint...
At that moment, Serena was certain-he wouldn't have hurt her like that. He wouldn't have had the heart to.
With that thought, she quietly wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder.
For the first time in her life, she felt the desire to spend the rest of it with him.
"Xavier!" she called softly. It was rare for her to call his name like that.
His shoulder twitched noticeably, and his voice turned impossibly gentle. "Hmm?"
"I don't want you to fall out with your friends because of me. Christan might be arrogant and narcissistic, but I know your standards for friendship are really high. Anyone you've accepted as a friend must have some redeeming qualities."
"This time, you only went after Celia because of me. I really think there's no need to blow it out of proportion. I'm fine now-so let's just let it go. After this lesson, I don't think she'll dare act recklessly again."
He gently touched her cheek and said tenderly, "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I won't let things spiral out of control."
...
Ryder's Villa
Celia had locked herself in her room for hours.
No matter how much Mrs. Ryder knocked or tried to comfort her, she didn't respond or open the door.
Mr. Ryder had a bad temper, and Grandpa Bryan was too old, so Mrs. Ryder didn't dare call them over. She had no choice but to call Christan.
At that moment, he had just finished the heated call with Xavier and was still fuming.
Seeing that it was his mother calling, he took a deep breath to calm himself before answering. "Mom, what's wrong?"
"Christan... are you busy?" Mrs. Ryder's voice was hesitant.
He immediately sensed something was off. "I'm okay. Is it about Celia?"
Sigh-a long sigh came from the other end before Mrs. Ryder's voice broke with emotion. "Do you have time to come home?"
"What happened to Celia?!" he asked urgently, already moving toward the door.
His assistant, confused, quickly followed him. "Boss, where are you going? The producers will be here soon-we still have to negotiate the contract!"
Christan didn't even glance at him. "Mom, don't worry, I'll be right there."
After hanging up, he turned to the assistant. "Tell the production team I have an emergency. We'll reschedule the contract discussion."
"But..." The assistant looked distressed. "It took so long to finally arrange this meeting. If we postpone it, who knows when the next one will be? We might even offend them, and they may refuse to work with us again!"
Christan didn't respond. He just strode ahead.
The assistant kept talking as he followed behind. "Boss, this production company is really powerful. They're one of Ryder Entertainment's biggest competitors right now. If we partner with them, it'll really help solidify our position in the industry."
"But if we offend them and they end up siding with our rivals, that would be like releasing a tiger back into the forest..."
Suddenly, Christan stopped. The assistant, caught off guard, bumped right into his back.
Rubbing his sore forehead, the assistant brightened. "Boss, have you thought it through? Great, let's go back-those producers are probably here already."
But Christan didn't move. His face was serious as he said, "If you say one more word, you can stay and negotiate with them."
Before the assistant could even react, he turned and left.
The assistant blinked, stunned, then hurried after him. "Boss! Boss, wait for me! I don't know anything about negotiations! If you leave me alone, I'll probably say something stupid and get beaten up!"
...
Half an hour later, Christan arrived at the villa.
Mrs. Ryder was still outside Celia's door, knocking patiently.
"Mom!"
"Christan, thank goodness you're back!"
Seeing her son, Mrs. Ryder's eyes filled with tears. "Please talk to Celia. She won't open the door no matter what I say."
Turning to the tightly shut door, Christan asked with a frown, "How long has she been locked in there?"
"This morning, I went to get her for breakfast. She opened the door and said she wasn't hungry. After that, nothing. She hasn't made a sound since."
"I only found out later from the servants that more of Celia's scandals were exposed online today. I came to ask her about it, but... the door's stayed shut since. It's been hours."
Frowning, Christan thought for a moment, then gently pushed his mother back. "Mom, step back a bit-just in case."
Then he raised his leg and forcefully kicked the door.
Bang bang bang! After several hard kicks, the solid wooden door finally crashed to the ground with a thud.
Mrs. Ryder anxiously peeked into the room.
But strangely, there was no sign of Celia anywhere.
"Celia?! Celia!" she called out anxiously, but the room was silent. No reply.
"What's going on?!"
"Mom, did she go out?"
"Impossible!" Mrs. Ryder said firmly. "I've been outside this door all morning. Celia definitely didn't leave!"
Face darkening, Christan rushed to the window.
The window frame and latch were intact. He looked down-everything below seemed normal. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"She must still be in the room. Let's look around."
"Okay!"
Mrs. Ryder immediately joined him in searching every corner.
"She's not in the bathroom!"
"Not in the dressing room either!"
"Not in the study!"
After searching every room, Christan frowned. "This is strange. There are only so many places she could be. What, did she grow wings and fly away?!"
Just then, Mrs. Ryder let out a startled scream. "Ah!"
Christan quickly looked in her direction.
***