Alice could barely manage to respond with a faint “yes.”
Ryan left the vice president’s office at the call of Lincon.
After a long time of feeling awkward and stiff, Alice finally gathered her thoughts and went in to tidy up Ryan’s desk.
To wrap up the day, she put the scattered pens into a pencil case for approval.
While roughly organizing the documents, Alice caught a glimpse of the calendar with her passing gaze.
One particularly striking red circle.
Alice had a feeling, with a woman’s intuition, that it was an unusual day.
What is it? What day is it?
Even after flipping the calendar back and forth, it remained clean.
“Now that I think about it, I feel like he took a vacation around this time every year.”
Alice paused her tidying and returned to her seat to message Vera.
[Vera, are you at your desk?]
[Yeah, why?]
Fortunately, Vera was at her desk and replied promptly.
[Do you know when the vice president’s mother passed away?]
[Well, I don’t know the date, but I just know it was in the summer.]
It was certain. The date circled was the anniversary of his mother’s death.
“If I ask him to take me along, will he take me?”
It was the first anniversary of his mother after their marriage. Alice thought she should go and pay her respects.
Although Ryan hadn’t specifically asked her to go with him, she still wanted to take the initiative to go together.
She had heard that neither Nathan nor Lincon had ever visited Harlow’s tomb.
It seemed that only Ryan visited every year.
Was he worried about the anniversary? Or was he concerned about going alone to pay his respects?
Well, for now, let’s just ask.
Alice applied for a day off on Monday, the anniversary of Harlow’s death.
A weekend that was nothing special passed.
It was a morning of a day off, but Alice was busier than ever.
She put on her wig with more care than usual and brushed it neatly. After polishing her glasses until they sparkled, she slowly placed them on her ears.
Alice appeared in the mirror, looking tidier than usual.
Pleased with her polished appearance, the corners of Alice’s mouth turned up in a happy smile.
“Is everything ready?”
Alice sat at her vanity, her ears perked up more than usual.
‘You said you have an appointment tomorrow, right? What time are you leaving?’
‘Around 8 or 9.’
Ryan never mentioned the anniversary. In the end, Alice couldn’t bring herself to ask if they could go together and barely managed to get the departure time.
It’s all or nothing, huh?
Whether to go to the columbarium together or not.
Even if he said he didn’t want to go with her, Alice was ready to accept it coolly.
Then, she would just rest at home.
Alice had gone out shopping over the weekend for the first time in a while.
She was concerned about her outfit. After all, it was the first anniversary since the wedding, and she couldn’t just show up in a billowy oversized suit.
So, Alice bought a pair of tailored suit pants and a black blouse. Neither the pants nor the blouse were slim-fitting designs, so they had enough room and were comfortable.
Clack-.
It sounded like Ryan was coming out of his room.
Alice also flung open the door.
Looking down from the second floor, she saw Ryan heading for the front door.
“Vice President!”
Alice called out to Ryan from the second floor. She hurried down to the first floor in quick steps. Ryan turned around at her call.
“Please take me with you.”
Alice jumped straight to the point, omitting the subject.
Ryan tilted his head at her words.
“Do you even know where I’m going?”
“You’re going to see your mother, right? To the columbarium.”
Ryan’s brows twitched.
It seemed like he was questioning how she knew, so Alice quickly answered.
“I found out somehow. I was going to ask you to take me yesterday, but… I didn’t want to burden you. No matter how I think about it, I’m a daughter-in-law now, and if I don’t greet her, what if she gets angry and punishes me?”
“That woman isn’t someone who waits for our greetings.”
His cold voice didn’t completely reject her, so Alice held onto a glimmer of hope. She spoke again.
“The chairman would be puzzled if he knew. If he finds out that his married daughter-in-law didn’t visit her mother-in-law on her anniversary… he would definitely think it’s strange.”
Ryan stared at Alice in silence. He seemed to be contemplating whether to take her or not.
“I’m all set as soon as I put on this outfit. I can leave right away.”
She had been preparing since early morning.
“Change and come back.”
That meant she could go with him. A smile quickly spread across Alice’s face.
