Chapter 108

Jonathan didn’t shoot down my request. Instead, he asked me, “Where do you want to stay?”

I replied, “A small apartment in the west part will do. I don’t need much space; a studio is enough.”

He didn’t agree right away, but he didn’t dismiss it either. He calmly remarked, “A studio is too small for two. I’ll have them arrange a larger apartment.”

I lowered my head in silence. The whole reason I asked for a studio was because I didn’t want to stay with him. If we were moving into a full-fledged apartment, he expected me to live with him.

Seeing I wasn’t saying anything, Jonathan raised my chin. “I’ll have them get a place ready. We’ll move in tomorrow after everything is set.”

I lowered my gaze dejectedly. “Forget about it. Living here is fine, just don’t let Alicia come around and annoy me.”

If he insisted on moving out with me, then there was no point. Living with him outside the Ford residence would have been much worse. We would just be in each other’s faces all the time.

At least the Ford residence was big enough. It was hard to intrude on someone unless it was intentional. If Alicia could stay out of my face, it beat sharing a place with Jonathan outside.

I had no choice but to give in. Jonathan didn’t say a word and just rubbed my cheeks gently. “Just stay put at the Ford residence. Go back to work when you’re ready.”

He still believed I would go back to Millenia Corporation and be his secretary. I didn’t say anything, but I felt kind of disheartened.

After a moment, I inquired, “Does that mean I can head out tomorrow?”

He stared at me in silence without responding to my question. He didn’t agree, but he didn’t object either. I knew that meant he was giving silent approval, but it all hinged on how I behaved.

I paused for a moment before asking, “What about Aria?”

Jonathan’s expression softened. “I took care of that. There was some tension between the Zimmers and the Guzmans, but it’s fine now.”

I looked down with a conflicted expression. “Did you cut a deal with the Zimmer family or the Guzman family? No way they would just drop it for nothing.”

He nonchalantly remarked, “I gave something to each of them. They couldn’t swallow their pride, so giving them the right benefits was the only way to shut them up.”

I was torn. “Honestly, I thought you would side with the Zimmer family and come down hard on the Guzman family again, just like before.”

Jonathan sounded completely detached. “We’ll be stuck in this mess endlessly if it keeps up. Aria made the first move, so the Emmer family won’t let her off easy. But knowing her, there’s no way she is apologizing to Alicia.”

I sneered. “You sure know Alicia inside out. I figured with how much you defend her, you would push the Guzmans to give in to the Zimmers.”

He suddenly turned to me. “Do you think I’m that naive?”

I didn’t say a word and pursed my lips.

Jonathan suddenly chuckled. “This isn’t as simple as you think. I could pressure the Guzmans to apologize to the Zimmers, but what would I get out of it? It’d just make things worse between them.”

After a pause, he locked eyes with me, like he was trying to teach me something. “When it comes to politics between families, all the talk of right and wrong boils down to personal gains. As long as everyone wins, no one is going to be upset or dissatisfied.”

His words left a bitter taste in my mouth. I looked at him. “Then what about the way you treat Alicia? Is that business only? It sounds like you’re just making an excuse for yourself.”

He admitted it without hesitation. “I don’t make excuses. She is special to me. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble."