Ice and Fire

Chapter 921 An Indifferent Lover (Part One)

"Aunt Selina," Lawrence called. "I have my concerns."

"Oh, do you mean Aria?" she suddenly blurted out. She could sense what was bothering Lawrence at

that moment as if she could read his mind. As his Aunt, she had been turning a blind eye on

Lawrence's relationship with Aria and had always respected her nephew's choice for a girlfriend. She

may be old, but she understood that people have the right to choose who they date. But marriage was

a different thing. And when it came to the topic of Lawrence settling down with Aria, Selina had always

offered her unsolicited advice whether Aria deserved to be a part of the Chu family.

Lawrence nodded but didn't say a word. He tried to avoid Selina's gaze by looking outside the window.

He didn't want to look into her eyes, afraid that she could read his mind.

Selina sighed and said, "I believe Aria is an exceptional woman. She's simple, kind, smart, and without

any bad intentions. She's pretty, too. But, there's no denying that her family, you know." Selina didn't

finish what she was about to say.

"I understand, Aunt Selina," Lawrence sighed. He also believed that Aria was an exceptional woman

and would be the best wife for him, but being a part of the Chu family, there was more to marrying than

being just in love. "Do you think Mom and Dad would approve of her?" He looked at his Aunt Selina's

eyes with a hopeful look on his face. He was silently praying to get her to side with him on this matter.

Lawrence always knew that there were only two people in the world who could understand his feelings

and read his thoughts: his mom and Aunt Selina.

Selina let out another sigh, crossed her legs and rested her hands on her lap. She finally said, "You

know very well that your father is a principled man and his approval doesn't come easy. As for your

mother, I've known her to be very understanding and loving, so if you will tell her how much you love

Aria, she would understand."

Selina was suddenly struck with an idea. She smiled at Lawrence and said, "How about you take the

initiative of telling your parents about your relationship with Aria? That way we can see what they think

about her. What do you think?"

"I would like to, but I'm afraid that Dad will get mad," Lawrence replied with a worried expression on his

face. He had the same idea for quite some time now, but he couldn't bring up the topic to his family,

worrying that his father would not approve his relationship with Aria.

"Well, I couldn't agree with you more. But you know what they say, 'no guts, no glory'," Selina said,

leaning her back on the chair.

Lawrence didn't say a word. He was deeply lost in his thoughts when his phone rang. He took it out of

his pocket and looked at the caller ID to see who was calling. The screen displayed the name of Anna.

He looked at his phone for a moment, hesitating to answer the call. He wished that the ringing would

stop, but it continued.

"If you need me to leave, just say it." Selina said as she saw the hesitation on her nephew's face.

"No need, Aunt Selina," Lawrence replied, gesturing her to stay. He finally answered the call.

"Hey, Lawrence! Did I catch you at a bad time?" Anna asked.

"Hey, what's up?" Lawrence replied calmly without changing the expression on his face.

"So, I will be hosting a business fellowship party at my house in three days," Anna merrily said. She

paused, waiting for Lawrence to respond.

When Lawrence sensed that Anna was waiting for him to say something, he then replied, "Yes, I heard

about it. Aunt Selina just told me today."

"Fantastic! So, I can expect you there, right?" Anna asked, hoping that Lawrence would say yes.

"Only if I am invited," Lawrence said.

"But of course! I have the invitation card from my father in my hand as we speak. I'll have this sent to

you later. Sound good?" Anna continued. Her sweet and calming voice sounded clearly from the other

side of the phone.

"Don't bother. Just tell me where you are and I'll come to meet you after I finish my work," Lawrence

offered. He didn't want to bother Anna that much as he knew how busy she was preparing for the

fellowship party.

"Sure, that'll be wonderful. You can also ask Mike to join us so we can have lunch together. I haven't

seen him in a long time," Anna suggested.

"Okay. I'll call Mike later," Lawrence said obediently.

"Then it's settled. I'll send you the details of the restaurant then.

See you later. Bye!" Anna said and then she hung up.

As soon as the phone call ended, Lawrence put down his phone on his desk. He turned to see Selina

looking at him with a sly smile on her face.

"Was that Anna?" Selina guessed but she already knew the answer. It wasn't natural for Lawrence to

be obedient and tender to any woman except to her and his mother, Cherry. So that could only mean

that the person he just spoke to was special to him.

"Yes, that was Anna. She just invited me and Mike for lunch today," Lawrence replied, looking back on

the papers he was working on.

"Well, if that's the case then you must hurry and finish your work. You wouldn't want to make a woman

wait for you," she said. She stood up and walked towards the door.

Before she could open the door, she heard Lawrence called for her, "Aunt Selina, I'm sure you know

what happened between me and Anna, right? So, what are your thoughts?"

Lawrence sensed that Selina would like to say something about this matter, or she wouldn't bother to

mention Anna's name. But if there was something he appreciated about Selina, it was that she would

give her honest thoughts on everything.

"Well, I heard that Anna is back here in the country for good and I thought you guys were back

together. So, I thought to ask how things were going and if I could arrange the wedding preparations

now. But since I learned that it was not the case then I decided to put things aside until you have made

up your mind," Selina said. These words reassured Lawrence and knowing that Selina understood him

lightened the burden he was carrying on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Aunt Selina. To be honest, I don't know what I should do, but one thing's for sure, Aria is

the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love her so much." Lawrence became more

certain of his feelings from that moment.

Selina was glad to ease Lawrence's burden somehow. She patted his shoulders and gave him an

encouraging smile, saying, "That's my boy! Just follow your heart and you'll be perfectly fine. I'm sure

you can solve any problem you encounter along the way. I trust and believe in you, my sweet child."

"I will and thank you," Lawrence said confidently. Selina's encouragement lifted his spirit and he was

now certain what he needed to do to get his parent's blessing to marry Aria.

Lawrence went back to his work as soon as Selina closed the door behind her. He had never felt this

motivated before. He always felt good whenever he talked about his worries to Selina.

Lawrence had just read over the last contract when he glanced over the clock on his table and saw that

it was already 11:00 a.m. 'Wow, time really flies when you're having fun. I needed to finish this now," he

thought to himself. He signed the contract and put everything in a box for filing. He was about to leave

his office when Mike stormed in. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

"Hey! You're still working, Mr. Lawrence? Mike quipped him as he walked towards Lawrence.

"Hey, Mike. No, I'm almost done," Lawrence replied as he handed over the box to Ivy.

Mike stared at Ivy as she collected the box of documents from Lawrence and wondered what she

would do if she got fired from the company one day. 'Will she take revenge on that person?' he

wondered to himself.