Chapter 150: So It Turns Out I’m an Irrelevant Person

Chapter 150: Chapter 150: So It Turns Out I’m an Irrelevant Person

Seeing Adrian was still looking down, intently studying the photo frame in his hand, Caroline Whitman strode forward and snatched it away.

"Uh, this... Back when Ryan questioned why we didn’t have a wedding photo, I just randomly found a picture and Photoshopped us into it."

That’s right. The photo was a wedding picture of her and Adrian Grant.

It was Photoshopped.

Back then, Ryan had questioned why there were no wedding photos in the house.

So, Caroline had stayed up all night to Photoshop a wedding picture of herself and Adrian Grant.

It was a good thing she and Adrian had been classmates for a semester. They’d taken a group photo in lab class; otherwise, she wouldn’t have even known what he looked like.

Caroline had originally thought she could get away with it, but then the little guy demanded she put it in a frame and hang it up.

She couldn’t stand it when children cried. If a single photo could keep him happy, it was a small price to pay, so of course Caroline was willing to do it.

However, she had hidden the photo away when Adrian first came to visit.

She had completely forgotten about it, never imagining that the man himself would one day find it.

The embarrassment was on par with having a fangirl’s private fantasies exposed to the world.

Not that she was a fangirl.

But that inexplicable, sheepish feeling just couldn’t be helped.

Caroline casually flipped the frame face down and set it on a book.

Adrian didn’t say anything. His gaze merely followed her movements, then paused, his attention unwittingly drawn to the books on the shelf.

Seeing his gaze linger a bit too long, Caroline followed it. Her eyes landed on a solid row of "Mary Sue" novels—*The CEO’s Captive Love: Sweet Wife, Don’t You Dare Run*, *President Fuller’s Obsession: My Heart Is Set on You*...

"..."

This was mortification of the highest order.

Caroline nearly squeezed her eyes shut in despair.

She had bought all of them in the past to study the experiences of the "cannon fodder" characters in Mary Sue novels.

She wanted to see how the cannon fodder dug their own graves so she could learn how to avoid any entanglement with the heroine.

Caroline felt the plots in these books were the closest to the world she’d "awakened" into. So when she moved out, these shameful books came with her, destined to gather dust.

She just never in a million years thought that Adrian Grant would one day notice them.

And for such an embarrassing incident to happen on the very first day he moved in, no less.

If she had known, she never would have agreed to let them come over this morning. Or at the very least, she would have insisted on coming over to tidy up first.

Caroline forced a smile and said calmly, "I’ve never been a president before, so I wanted to see how other people do it. You know, learn from their experience."

"Well, President Whitman, your research methods are certainly... unique." Adrian’s lips twitched. He shot her a surprised, teasing glance.

’A little teasing was fine.’

At least she didn’t detect any mockery in his tone.

Just when she thought the ordeal was over, Adrian suddenly reached out a long, slender finger and rested it on one of the books. Before Caroline could stop him, he had already pulled it from the shelf.

He looked down, flipped through a few pages, and said with an amused tone:

"I think I need to properly learn how to be a CEO myself."

"..."

’As if you natural-born CEOs from these ’Mary Sue’ romance novels need to study,’ Caroline thought silently.

’On the other hand, you, the villain, could probably learn a thing or two from them about how cannon fodder antagonists dig their own graves. It might help you avoid the same fate.’

At that thought, Caroline’s hand, which had been moving to stop him, suddenly froze.

’Hey, that’s actually a good point.’

’She really did think Adrian could stand to learn how to avoid a villain’s self-destructive end.’

’Although, in her ’awakened’ memories, the guy didn’t die. He actually lived quite well, in fact.’

’Still, better safe than sorry.’

Caroline’s hand, which had been hovering in mid-air, slowly moved up to rest on his shoulder.

"You should read it carefully. I expect an 800-word book report when you’re done."

Adrian: "..."

For a fleeting moment, he found himself reviewing his entire professional career, questioning his own competence.

He had thought Caroline was joking, but when he looked up, he saw her dead-serious expression. He quietly closed the book and nodded.

"I’ll read it carefully."

Caroline’s sense of shame came on fast, but it faded just as quickly. Once she reframed her thinking, she realized there was nothing to be ashamed of about these books.

She decided that, whether it was the photo or the handful of out-of-place books, she hadn’t done anything wrong. Her intentions had been perfectly normal.

Having successfully psyched herself up, Caroline sauntered away, leaving Adrian standing there alone to contemplate the meaning of his existence.

...

「That night.」

Ryan had already gone to bed and fallen asleep.

When Caroline came out of the shower, Adrian was still in the study.

Since he’d arrived, aside from making brief appearances in the living room and kitchen for lunch and dinner, the man had spent all his time in the study.

If she hadn’t poked her head in a couple of times, she might have started to think he was mining for gold in there.

Caroline pushed open the partially-open door. Adrian had just ended an hour-long video conference.

He wearily removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Beside him lay the Mary Sue novel he’d pulled from the shelf earlier.

She wondered if he had even opened it.

Hearing the sound from the doorway, Adrian looked up. Caroline had already walked to his side, her fair, slender fingers gently pressing against his temples.

Before she could even begin to massage them, she suddenly felt a large hand settle on her waist.

Caroline flinched and dodged away.

"You haven’t showered. Don’t touch me."

’Hmph! I just showered and changed into clean pajamas.’

She was a bit of a germaphobe herself.

Adrian nodded thoughtfully. "You have a point. Being a germaphobe is the first requirement for being a CEO."

Caroline: "..."

’Wait, did he actually read it?’

Adrian stood up. "I’m going to take a shower."

"...You didn’t have to announce it."

But then Adrian looked down at her, his tone unreadable as he said slowly, "There’s nothing to be done. In the book, the CEO is a germaphobe, but he always makes an exception for the person he likes. Unlike me. I guess I’ll just have to go shower first."

Caroline: "..."

’Seriously? You really took it to heart.’

’But aren’t you identifying with the wrong character?’

With his glasses off, Adrian had a different, more refined air about him. The way his eyes, with their slightly heavy lids, stared at her created a subtle sense that he was the one being wronged, and... a sense of familiarity?

It made her feel as if she were the unpardonable sinner in this situation.

’Huh?’

’Wait a minute.’

’Where was that sense of familiarity coming from?’

Caroline looked at his face, and an image of Ryan’s little face flashed through her mind.

’That’s it! That sense of familiarity, that way of talking... he was just a life-sized version of Ryan, wasn’t he?’

"Don’t you dare play pitiful," Caroline said, quietly raising a hand to turn his face away so he couldn’t keep staring at her.

She let out a cold laugh. "Does the CEO in the book let just any irrelevant person into her house? Wouldn’t you call that special treatment?"

"Oh. So I’m an irrelevant person," Adrian said, his tone laced with disappointment.

Caroline choked.