Chapter 197: saturday VIII

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: saturday VIII

The idea that, if they built it properly, the system could eventually continue without her lingered in Vivienne’s mind.

That, at least, was the goal.

Build it properly once.

Then let it run.

No constant Foundation intervention.

No endless follow-ups.

No having to spend every Saturday chasing businesses for reports.

The thought was oddly comforting.

Their discussion finally seemed to have reached its natural end.

Vivienne closed her notebook.

"Finally."

Damian glanced at her.

She let out a long sigh.

"Ugh."

A faint smile tugged at his mouth.

"What?"

"I’m already getting a headache."

He looked at the neatly organized pages in her notebook.

"This is your project."

Vivienne stared at him.

"I know."

"You’re the one who proposed it."

"I know."

"And you’re complaining about it already?"

She laughed.

"Yes."

Damian shook his head, amused.

Vivienne looked toward the driver.

He was focused on the road ahead.

She lowered her voice.

"It’s just so..."

She leaned slightly closer.

"...boring."

Damian went still.

Her face was suddenly much closer to his.

Then she leaned nearer still, careful to keep her voice low enough that the driver couldn’t hear.

"And tedious."

Her breath brushed lightly against his ear.

"Ugh. I wish I didn’t have to do this anymore."

Damian’s entire attention short-circuited.

For one brief second, he forgot about the project entirely.

All he could register was the warmth of her voice against his ear.

The faint tickle of her breath.

The fact that she was close enough that he could smell her perfume.

Julian’s advice came back to him.

Stay close.

Don’t retreat from every opportunity.

So he didn’t.

He remained exactly where he was.

Vivienne pulled back slightly.

Damian turned toward her.

Their faces were closer than either had expected.

His pulse quickened.

Don’t retreat.

Stay close.

Damian leaned toward her.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

His lips brushed the outer edge of her ear as he lowered his voice.

"What part of this do you find boring?"

The contact was brief.

So brief that it could easily have been mistaken for an accident.

It wasn’t.

"And which part do you not want to do anymore?"

Vivienne froze.

The warmth of his breath lingered against her ear.

Her heart gave one hard, startled beat.

She pulled back just enough to look at him.

Damian was watching her.

Calmly.

Almost innocently.

As though he hadn’t just deliberately invaded the very space she had entered first.

Vivienne’s cheeks warmed.

What was he doing?

She knew Damian.

He was always teasing her.

Always finding some way to make her flustered.

This had to be another one of those moments.

She laughed softly at herself.

She was getting flustered over Damian.

Ridiculous.

She leaned toward him again, lowering her voice.

"All of it."

She whispered the words near his ear.

"I wish I didn’t have to be responsible for anything."

A tiny pause.

"I’m having a headache just listening to all these smart-sounding conversations."

Damian couldn’t help it.

He laughed.

A quiet, genuine laugh that escaped before he could stop it.

There she was.

Vivienne.

Not Lady Beaumont.

Not the polished project leader who could sit through an hour of Foundation discussions without missing a detail.

Just Vivienne.

Complaining about work.

Being dramatic.

And somehow making him want to hear every complaint she had.

He smiled.

"You don’t sound like someone who proposed the entire initiative."

"That’s because I was possessed when I wrote it."

"Possessed?"

"By ambition."

She sighed dramatically.

"Or stupidity."

Damian laughed again.

Vivienne smiled.

For a moment, he simply looked at her.

Then a thought settled quietly in his mind.

So this was why.

All those reports.

All those carefully prepared proposals.

The way she had thrown herself into the Foundation work.

He had assumed she genuinely loved this.

That she enjoyed the responsibility.f

That she cared deeply about every detail.

Perhaps she did care.

But apparently...

She had simply been willing to endure all of it for something she wanted.

Anthony.

The realization came with a faint sting.

She must have worked this hard because she had wanted to prove herself.

Because she had wanted to build something impressive.

Because she had wanted to be someone worthy of the future she had imagined with him.

And now that future was gone...

The enthusiasm had gone with it.

Damian looked at her again.

There was something unexpectedly endearing about the realization.

Vivienne was a romantic.

He already knew that.

But now he understood something else.

When she loved someone...

She didn’t love halfway.

She would throw herself into things.

She would work too hard.

She would endure things she didn’t particularly enjoy.

She would give more than was required simply because it mattered to the person she cared about.

Even if she complained about every minute of it afterward.

His expression softened.

Perhaps that was what he found most dangerous about her.

And perhaps...

What he liked most.

Because if she ever loved him...

Would she do the same?

The thought came so naturally that he almost smiled at himself.

He quickly pushed it aside.

Too soon.

Much too soon.

For now, he was simply glad to know another side of her.

Vivienne leaned back into her seat.

"Anyway."

She picked up her notebook.

"Enough about work."

Damian smiled.

"Agreed."

She glanced at him.

"You know, you’re surprisingly easy to complain to."

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn’t."

"I’ll take it anyway."

She laughed.

The sound settled comfortably between them.

Outside the window, the countryside continued to roll past.

The journey felt shorter now.

Much shorter.

Until, eventually, the driver spoke from the front.

"Sir."

Damian looked up.

"We’re approaching the restaurant."

Vivienne immediately brightened.

"Already?"

Damian glanced out the window.

Ahead, the familiar country inn came into view.

The same quiet stone building.

The same ivy climbing along one side.

The same flower boxes beneath the windows.

Vivienne smiled.

"Oh."

"Here we are."

The vehicle slowed as it turned into the gravel drive.

Damian looked toward her.

Lunch had arrived.

And Damian found himself wondering whether the next part of the day could possibly be better than the first.

--

Tbc