SWNOVELS Chapter 250 :Faith
"Would you believe anything that I say at this point?" Ace asked as he cocked his head a little to the side to observe my reactions.
I didn't have any answer for him because I wasn't sure about that myself. Ace's intense gaze continued to rest on my face while I chewed on the inside of my lower lip as I hesitated.
"I'm willing to listen. So please, tell me what is really going on..." I replied after trying my best to pick the right words.
"It's still true. Elizabeth and I may have a very complicated relationship but we are not involved with each other in the way that you think. I've met her many times, but it was all for work," he replied to my earlier question calmly.
"And you can't tell me what work you two have been working on, right?" I asked although I already knew the answer.
Ace just nodded his head at me once and that was his response to my question. Now it was up to me whether or not I would believe him. Ace didn't say anything else but his eyes were still on my face while I wondered what he saw there. According to him, I wasn't very good at hiding my thoughts and feelings from him. Multiple emotions must have flickered across my face as I tried to understand myself and what I was feeling.
I wanted to believe him, but could things really be this simple?
I glanced down at my hands and found that they were balled into tight fists. The silence between us stretched on as the atmosphere got more tense than it was before. Ace didn't explain himself or anything any further. It was as if he was leaving it to me to choose whether or not I would believe him.
"If I choose to believe you, will there come a day when you'll tell me what is going on?" I asked after a while of thought.
"You'll find out at the same time as the rest..." he replied seriously.
I wondered who he was referring to and when that would be.
"When will that be? How long will I have to wait?" I asked as I tried to stop the feeling of hope that welled up in my chest.
"It'll probably be around the end of Project Alpha, which is probably around a month's time..." Ace replied.
A month's time....
A month wasn't that long; however, I knew that it would probably feel like an eternity if I waited with something like this on my mind.
"Will you really step down from your position as CEO then too?" I asked as I stared right into his eyes.
For some reason, I felt so miserable about that fact that he was throwing away his career. To be honest, I had to side with his father on this one. I truly thought that there wasn't anyone else better-suited for this position than Ace. To me, he was the perfect CEO for this company and I had imagined that he would be leading the company right up to his retirement and not just for a few years like this.
"I will. I did announce it to the world just now," Ace replied without even a hint of hesitation.
"I see..." I murmured as I looked down at my hands again.
"Don't sound so sad. It's nothing more than a job and a position," Ace said without much care.
"Do you really think that? Is it really just a job?" I asked in wonder.
To me, I wouldn't say that my job was just a job. To put it simply, there are far easier jobs out there that required fewer working hours to get the same pay. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that most people who chose this profession had a passion for it and that was what made me wondered if the same did not hold for Ace.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. It's giving me a headache. I just managed to escape from my dad, at least for the night. Tomorrow, he'll come after me for sure," Ace brushed off my question before he heaved a long sigh.
I nodded a little to myself as I decided to let the whole thing slide for now. It wasn't like I didn't get the answer that I was looking for; however, it was as Ace had said, it's all up to me whether I chose to believe him and trust in him or not.
I truly wanted to believe that there was nothing but business going on between Ace and Elizabeth; however, no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't understand the linkage between these two. The world of business was just too complicated for me and that was probably why I had chosen to stick to the creative side of projects rather than any business development or strategy side. This was just all too complicated and hard for me to figure out.
"You must be tired. Let's shower and go to bed," I said before I sighed in resignation.
It was impossible for me to decide just yet whether I would believe Ace or not. Maybe it didn't matter what I thought. If I trusted in Ace's words, then in around one month's time when Project Alpha came to an end, then he would tell me everything, more like, I would find out the truth along with the rest of them.
I glanced up to find Ace standing right in front of me. His shadow loomed over me and the light behind his head hid his facial expression from me. My eyes shifted from his face to the hand that he had held out for me before a questioning look formed on my face.
"Come, Rina. Let's take a bath together," Ace said invitingly, and I could tell that he was smiling although I couldn't quite see his face.
I blinked rapidly as I stared at his outstretched hand. We were just arguing a moment ago and this shift in pace was hard for me to keep up with. With a small sigh, I placed my hand into his and he pulled me up onto my feet.
--To be continued...