I'm Your Sister, Brother Chow novel Chapter 40

"See you," Vivian said in a whisper, before handing the phone back to the receptionist. "Thank you. Can you please tell me where his office is?"

The receptionist came out from behind the counter and led Vivian to the lifts. "Take the lift to the 37th floor and then turn left. You'll see Assistant Ethan's office further down the hall," she said. "Make sure to be as quiet as possible. The chairman's office is connected to Assistant Ethan's and he doesn't like it when people are noisy."

"Their offices are connected to each other?" Vivian thought in a panic.

As soon as she heard what the receptionist said, Vivian found herself tensing up again.

With the receptionist's help, Vivian entered the lift and pressed the button for the 37th floor. Her heart wouldn't stop thumping loudly against her chest.

"It should be fine," Vivian thought, "Assistant Ethan said that Brother Chow wouldn't come out of his office. He wouldn't know if I kept my voice down."

As she stood outside Ethan's office, Vivian braced herself and knocked on the door, twice.

She heard Ethan's voice almost immediately. "Come in."

Vivian pushed open the door and was greeted by Ethan, who had just got up from his desk. "Hello, Miss Vivian, please make yourself at home."

Vivian gave him a tight smile and walked in quietly. The first thing she saw was another door right opposite Ethan's desk which had a name plate with 'Chow Howard' written on it.

Vivian felt even more nervous when she saw his name. She hurriedly handed the box to Ethan. "Please give this to Brother Chow for me," she said. "You can have some too. There's plenty inside."

Ethan saw her nervous look and decided to tease her a little. "Did you make these by yourself?" he asked. "I wouldn't dare to take any from him. You don't have to be so nervous, by the way. I've just sent in a stack of documents for him to sign. He won't be coming out anytime soon."

Just as Ethan said the last few words, the door to Chow's office suddenly opened with a soft creak.

Ethan and Vivian glanced over in deep shock.

Chow stood at the door with a document in his hands. He frowned when he saw the two of them together. "Vivian? What are you doing here?" he asked. "And why are you both standing so close to each other?"

Even Ethan could feel the chill down his spine when Chow looked at him with his cold eyes.

Ethan hurriedly took a big step backwards before walking over with the box of macarons. "Mr. President, here are some macarons that Miss Vivian personally made for you," he blabbered. "I was just about to send them into your office, but you came out right then. W-What a coincidence!" Ethan started laughing nervously.

Chow shot Ethan another look that made him shut up immediately.

Ethan scratched his nose awkwardly and suddenly thought of something. "Ah! There's something else I need to take care of right now. I have to leave immediately!" he said in a hurry. "Why don't the both of you have a nice little chat? It's teatime anyway and these macarons would make a great snack. Here, Mr. President!"

With that, Ethan quickly pushed the box of macarons into Chow's hands.

Chow's expression was still stoic and cold, but he took the box from Ethan nonetheless.

Ethan quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned around and left the office in a hurry. All of a sudden, the office turned incredibly quiet. Only Chow and Vivian were left staring at each other in the silence.

Chow's face was still showing a cold expression. It felt as if the temperature in the room had just dropped below zero.

Vivian felt uneasy as she waited for the other to say something. She fiddled with her fingers nervously.

Chow threw a sidelong glance at her before walking back into his office.

"Come in," he suddenly said, voice still icy as ever.

Vivian had intended to go home as soon as she'd delivered the macarons, but she dared not go against his orders now.

She followed Chow into his office with her head hung low, keeping a fair distance between him and herself.

Chow walked to his desk and turned to look at her. His face hardened when he saw her trembling at the door. "What are you doing, standing so far away from me?" he barked at her. "Come here!"

Vivian immediately scooted over with a red face, still keeping her gaze lowered.

"Did you make these yourself?" Chow asked, looking at the box of macarons in his hand. He raised his eyebrow at her curiously.

Vivian nodded shyly. "I just learned from Aunt Blaine today," she answered in a low voice.

Hearing her words, Chow's face expression finally relaxed a little. He opened the box and was greeted with an array of colourful desserts.

Chow narrowed his eyes and looked at her with a hint of surprise. "You made these macarons? Are they even edible?"

Vivian didn't know how to answer him. She started stammering in reply. "I-It's my first time making them, I-I don't know—"

"So you mean that they must taste really bad?" Chow interrupted with a snicker. 

Despite saying that, he still plucked a macaron from the box and lifted it to his mouth before taking a bite.

Almost instantly, the sweet aroma of the macaron filled Chow's entire mouth. He was pleasantly surprised that a first-timer could make such a perfect, crunchy, chewy macaron.