Chapter 57- darling

Chapter 57: Chapter 57- darling Tiffany was also very happy to hear that Karl had returned and readily agreed to Linda’s matchmaking plans. Their daughter Lilian was 23 this year and would soon be 24 after the New Year. Tiffany hoped her daughter could find a reliable partner to date first. Marriage wasn’t urgent—she thought the two should take their time to get to know each other, and after a year or two of getting along well, if they both felt the other was the right one, then they could marry. Otherwise, Tiffany believed that once a woman passed 25, it would become harder to find a good match. So she wanted to find a good man for her daughter early and settle things first. Although Tiffany and Linda had agreed on this, considering Karl had just come back to the country, had to adjust to the time difference, and needed to handle many affairs—such as registering at the university where he would teach—they decided to give Karl a few days to rest and settle in first. However, Tiffany still called Lilian to give her a heads-up and prepare her mentally. At that moment, Lilian was driving out from the underground parking of MOS Corp., heading to the tax office. When she heard her mother say Karl had returned and that she should prepare for a matchmaking meeting this weekend, she was so startled that her hands shook on the steering wheel, causing her beloved car to bump into a stone pillar ahead. With a loud bang, her body jolted forward and landed against the steering wheel, making her chest ache. "Lilian? What happened? What was that noise?" Tiffany asked anxiously over the phone. Rubbing her sore chest, Lilian replied, "It’s nothing, Mom. I still have things to take care of here, so I’ll hang up now." Then she ended the call, not wanting her mother to worry. Fortunately, she wasn’t driving fast and hadn’t hit another car—just the stone pillar. It wasn’t too serious, so she didn’t immediately get out, instead leaning over the wheel, rubbing her chest in pain. Even though those soft curves were usually supple, getting hit like this really hurt. She wondered if there would be a bruise. Suddenly, knock knock knock— Her car window was being pounded loudly. Just as she had calmed down, she was startled again and looked up to see Morrison’s worried face outside, knocking hard on her window. Quickly lowering her hand from her chest, she rolled down the window and asked, "Mr. Morrison? Is something wrong?" "Are you hurt?" Morrison asked immediately, his eyes scanning her up and down carefully. After dropping Karl off at the Mo residence, Morrison returned to the company. Just as he was about to enter the underground parking garage, he saw Lilian’s car coming out from a nearby exit. Immediately after, he noticed her car suddenly veer sharply and crash straight into a nearby concrete barrier. Seeing this with his own eyes, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest at the loud bang. He hurriedly stopped his car and rushed over, only to find her inside the car, head bowed, leaning on the steering wheel—looking scared like never before. Panicked and rough, he slammed on her car window and called out to her. So nervous was he that he forgot to check the severity of the accident: it wasn’t too bad, just a small dent in the front of her car. Hearing him ask if she was hurt and feeling a little soreness in her chest, Lilian awkwardly shook her head and replied, "I’m fine, really. Not hurt, hehe—" Morrison sighed in relief at her forced laugh, but his worry quickly turned to anger. He glared at her and ordered, "Get out of the car!" His face was dark and his tone sharp as he stood outside with his hands on his hips, looking as if she’d crashed into hiscar. Lilian wanted to get out to check the damage anyway, so she opened the door and stepped out. As she moved, a sudden twinge in her chest made her instinctively raise a hand to protect it—but seeing Morrison standing there, she quickly withdrew her hand. No sooner had she stepped out than he pulled her into his arms. Morrison inspected her thoroughly, and once he confirmed she was unharmed, he scolded her, "If you’re a bad driver, why are you making calls while driving?" He had seen her apparently talking on the phone in her car earlier. "Do you even know the traffic rules? Do you want me to take you back for a refresher course?" "With driving skills like yours, you shouldn’t be behind the wheel at all! Just sell the car already!" "Lucky this time wasn’t serious. What if it had been? What if something happened to you—what would your parents do? What about your brother? What about me—" Morrison caught himself mid-sentence. What about me had nearly slipped out, but he thought better of it and bit his tongue. Lilian stood there with her head down, taking the scolding quietly. She knew she was in the wrong. But honestly, her driving wasn’t that bad, okay? She’d had her license for years and could be considered a seasoned driver. It was just... she hadn’t expected that call from her mom to drop a bomb like that. She thought it’d be about dinner plans or something, not... a setup for a blind date. A blind date—with Karl. Being asked to go on a date with her ex-boyfriend’s younger brother? Of course she was shocked. Anyone would be. Back around New Year’s, her mom had mentioned setting her up with Karl, but he hadn’t returned all this time. Over half a year had passed, and Lilian thought her mom had long forgotten the idea. Clearly not. But she wasn’t about to explain all that to Morrison. Morrison was still fuming, ranting on and on, when a MOS Corp. employee happened to pass by the scene. The employee stopped and asked with concern, "Boss, what happened?" Morrison scoffed. "This employee here managed to crash into a concrete divider. Don’t you think she deserves a lecture?" Lilian wanted to melt into the pavement from embarrassment. Did he really have to say that in front of people? The employee cast a quick glance at Lilian’s flushed face before driving off, silently offering her his sympathy. Getting scolded by the boss was never pleasant. Once they were alone again, Lilian looked up at him in frustration. "Are you done yet? Because I need to leave. I’ve got business at the tax office." She turned to head back to her car. She’d already taken a look earlier—aside from the front being a little dented, the car was still drivable. She’d deal with repairs later, after she got her errands done. "You really think you should still be driving in that state?" Morrison shot back. Morrison yanked her back before she could reach the car. Lilian huffed, "What’s wrong with me driving? I won’t be on the phone anymore, okay? I’ll focus." But Morrison wasn’t having it. He snatched her car keys right out of her hand and immediately pulled out his phone to call Sean. "Come down. Handle Lilian’s car," he instructed curtly, then without giving her a chance to protest, he dragged her toward his own car and practically shoved her into the passenger seat. "I’m taking you to the tax office." Lilian was on the brink of collapse. "Hey—hey! Seriously, I can go on my own, alright? I can call a cab, you don’t have to go out of your way, Mr. Big Boss." At that, the so-called Big Boss tilted his head and asked with an unreadable expression, "What did you just call me?" Lilian blinked. "I said... ’darling’?" Morrison nodded, quite pleased. "I like that." Lilian froze. "Wait... what?" Oh no. Did he think that was some kind of term of endearment? She rushed to clarify, waving her hands. "No, no, that’s just a super common word people use nowadays. Everyone calls everyone ’darling’ these days. You walk down any street and—bam—someone’ll call you that just like that." As soon as she said anyone on the street could call him that, Morrison’s face darkened. Visibly. His expression turned downright stormy.