Chapter 20: Dinner

(Alexander's POV)

After our encounter in the parking lot, she finally agreed to have dinner with me. We left her car there and used my car instead. Fortunately, after that earlier episode, she finally managed to calm herself down.

Silence is all that is heard on our way to the restaurant. I had already asked Secretary Lin to reserve a private room in the restaurant. When we arrived there, a few people were dining since it was already late in the evening.

"Good evening President Lu. It's a pleasure for us to have you here in our restaurant. Please follow me. I'll lead you to your table."

The manager guided us to the second floor of the restaurant. This is where all the private rooms are located.

I glanced at Catherine, who was silently following from behind. I stopped walking, which made the manager confused. "Is there something wrong President Lu?"

Ignoring him, I turned around, which surprised Catherine. Her widened eyes tell how afraid she was of me. "Why are you walking from behind? Are you my secretary or my subordinate?"

She shook her head. "So? Walked beside me."

The manager looked curiously and asked, "President Lu, is she?"

"It's none of your business. Where is the room?" He looked ashamed and coughed a little to hide his embarrassment.

"Of course President Lu. I'm sorry for my thoughtless action. Please follow me, we're already near."

**********

The manager left us immediately after getting our orders. It would take them a few minutes to cook the meal, so I ordered some wine for us.

"Would you like some wine?" I asked as I looked at her. No matter what she looks like, she's still very beautiful. Although she's only wearing some ordinary formal attire, even if it's not from a famous brand, it still made her dazzling. Her amber eyes that I liked so much are so mesmerizing to stare at, they glow whenever they are reflected by the light.

She looked uneasy when I kept staring, so she lowered her head again, which made her look adorable in my eyes."Ms. Su, can I ask you one thing?"

She raised her head before nodding. "Why did you run away during the Foundation Ceremony?"

She refused to answer back and looked away. That didn't bother me at all, since I had an idea why she was running away from me. Slowly taking a sip, I looked at her beautiful face.

I could feel her being tense just sitting there in front. I'm trying to appear less intimidating, but I don't think it's working just by looking at her reaction.

This woman in front of me is very different from the woman I met three years ago. She's more timid than ever. Maybe what happened to her had a huge impact on her. That's why her character completely changed. Different from the skilled doctor before.

After a couple of minutes, she finally decided to speak up. "What do you want, President Lu?"

I was taken aback by her sudden question. She was so silent this whole time that it made me think that it would remain like that this whole dinner.

Casually leaning back on the chair, I lazily looked at her and replied to her question with a question. "Guess Ms. Su. What is the thing that I want from you?"

(Catherine's POV)

Being timid and scared doesn't work for him. He wouldn't let me go if I showed him my weak side. After taking a few deep breaths, I looked at him with complete calmness and asked, "What do you want, President Lu?"

He lazily leaned back and answered with a question. "Guess Ms. Su. What is the thing that I want from you?"

I'm starting to lose my patience with his laid-back attitude. Although I'm still deeply scared right now, my patience is also running out. 'What the heck does he want from me? Is this how he treats his savior?'

"I don't know what you want, President Lu. I can't guess what's on your mind."

"Let's wait for the meal to arrive. I'm a bit starving already, let's continue the talk later."

I was about to rebut but our meal arrived so I didn't manage to speak my piece. He elegantly took his utensils and started eating casually. 'He's enjoying this.'

Without any other choice, I took my spoon and started eating silently. I'm sure I will get indigestion after this. I can't easily chew the foods going inside my mouth because of the tension I'm feeling. I'm not like the person sitting in front of me. I hope he will get choked up.

Nevertheless, no matter how uncomfortable I was feeling, I managed to finish the meal given to me. I cleared my throat to get his attention. "So, we're now done eating, can we now go back to our talk a while ago?"

He smiled and took his phone from his suit pocket. He typed in some words and suddenly, someone entered the private room.

"Here's the file, President Lu." After giving him the file, he went back outside right away. I'm guessing that it was his secretary.

Without opening the file, he put it on the table and pushed it towards it. I looked at him curiously, "What is it?"

"Open it." I slowly opened the file and saw pictures and documents inside. Different pictures showed up, which is frightening when I suddenly realized where those photos came from.

Images of the places that come from my distant memory years ago. There are pictures of the hospital where I work from, the house of my adopted parents, there's even the apartment I used to say after the trial. What's more frightening is there's even a picture of me during the trial.

"Why?" My breathing hitched as I tried to compose those words. My anxiety is starting to act up and I'm starting to lose my composure. I actually know that he really investigated me but I didn't know to what extent. Now I know it's everything.

"Relax Ms. Su. I'm not going to do anything about it."

I instantly looked at him. Anger is slowly showing in my eyes because of how easily he said it. 'How dare him to infiltrate my private life? Who does he think he is to look into my past life?'

"What do you mean by this President Lu?" I'm trying my best to control my voice here even though it's really hard to do. My rational mind is still working, which reminds me that he is still the President of Lu Corporation, owner of the university where I am working.

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. His dark eyes looked at me and unexplainable emotions were dancing around them. "Well, I just want to know the history of the person who saved me. I think it's my right to know, am I correct Ms. Su?"

I was not surprised when I heard it. This is the only plausible reason why he would go to great lengths just to have a background check on me.

"Fine, I was the one who saved you, and then what? Why are you doing this, President Lu? Can we just forget about what happened? I don't want to have any relationship with anyone from my past. There's no need for you to do this and I'm not asking for anything either. So, can we just move on and not see each other again?"

The emotions in his eyes instantly changed. He dangerously stood and walked over to my side. He bends his body forward, drawing closer to me.

I gasped in surprise at his sudden action and moved back. But my back instantly touched the backrest of the chair, which gave me no way to move.

His left arm held the backrest of the chair and the other on the table, locking me inside with nowhere to run. His face moved closer and closer until our faces were only a few inches away.

With this closeness, I can see how dark his eyes are and also how manly his scent is. This made my face flush and I immediately looked away. This is my first time being this close to a man. My courage earlier is slowly slipping away and I can't help but feel afraid.

"Forget everything and move on? You're ridiculous Ms. Catherine Su! Do you think that's possible? After all the efforts I made in finding you, you will just tell me to forget everything. I don't think I appreciate that kind of suggestion." He dangerously said. He didn't even budge when I struggled to free myself from him.

I was still not looking at him and just answered him in a low voice. "Then what is it that you want President Lu?"

Fortunately, he moved back away and went back to where he was sitting earlier. Relief flashed through me and I could finally grasp the air around me. I didn't realize that I unconsciously stopped breathing when he was close to me.

Before I could manage to compose myself, he suddenly threw another earth-shattering piece of news. "My grandfather is urging me to get married and I need you to be my bride."