Love Began with the First Meeting novel Chapter 197

Lenny didn't know what Eric was talking about but she kept her mouth shut. She didn't ask him anything. She never did - she never asked him questions she didn't want answers to.

"Let's just--- go back," Eric started pulling Lenny towards where they were parked. When they had gotten inside the car, Eric remained quiet - keeping his eyes towards the city, the light reflecting on his blue eyes. He was deep in thought.

Truth be told, Eric only came to the island to check what he could invest in. With the booming economy here, he figured it was worth a try. The Eastern District's success was practically overnight. Eric thought, 'This entertainment center right here, in the Southern District, will soon be like the Eastern one. I need to act fast. Such a booming island has any reasons to attract Dragon Empire Group to penetrate it, but how can a place have a dark auction club but no casinos?'

Eric didn't realize that they had already arrived at the Seaview Hotel - he was so caught up in his own thoughts. Eric bid Lenny good night and paid Brian a visit in his room.

Eric didn't realize that the elevator door had already opened. He was able to step out just as the elevator doors were closing. He spotted Tony along the corridor," Is Brain here?" Eric asked.

"Mr. Brian Long is out with Miss Xia," Tony responded. Tony bowed his head as he spoke.

Eric scrunched up his eyebrows - thinking. This was unusual, he hadn't expected this. "Brain brought little Molly here?" Eric asked, he was confirming.

"Yes, sir," Tony answered solemnly. "It was an official decision of Mr. Brian," Tony added.

Eric smiled," Thanks, man," he said, reaching out to shake Tony's hand. Eric didn't know what to make of this and he felt that Tony could somehow sense that he was bothered by what he had just told Eric. He covered his jealousy under his smile.

"Do you know where they're going?" Eric added. He had just thought to ask. 'Maybe, it could help, ' Eric thought to himself.

"They went to the seaside," Tony responded. Tony wasn't sure what to feel about Eric asking all these questions. He also wasn't sure if he was at liberty to inform Eric of Brian's whereabouts.

Eric smiled in response and walked away. He headed straight to his car in the parking lot and drove to the seaside.

QY was a large island - it was more than thrice the size of Dragon Island. Despite its vastness, only a third of the island could be used because the rest was a collection of mountains where it held its riches in mineral resources.

The eastern part of the island faced the direction of the sea - this is where the island gets majority of its economy: from the tourists. Recently, though, Aaron attempted to develop the eastern part however the government didn't allow him to. Aaron had originally planned to turn the project over to Brian to build new casinos and attract more investors for Dragon Empire, but the locals were strongly against it. They didn't want to urbanize that particular part of the island and they didn't trust other people who came to their island.

'I had known earlier that they were just at the seaside, I wouldn't have driven back to the hotel, ' Eric thought to himself, grumpily as he drove in his car.

Molly was clad in a flowy, white dress that hung perfectly on her body - some embroidered flowers were sewn on the chest area. The dress was a gift from Brian.

She was barefoot - her feet had been buried deep where the water met the sand. The water exposed her foot every time it touched the sand. It was a cool, windy night and the soft roar of the crashing waves delighted Molly.

Molly doesn't remember ever being at a beach since she was a little girl. If any, her memories were so vague and so far out that they were almost a dream to her. Having grown up and lived at the city most of her life, Molly had little chance to visit the beach. She even had less chance to visit when she moved to A City.

"Oh!"

Molly let out a small scream as she felt something dig into her foot - she lifted the pained foot only to find a brown, sandy seashell. Her eyes sparkled as she cupped the shell in her hand.

The shell looked so small cupped in her hand - only some inches larger than her thumb nail. It was adorned with intricate patterns as if someone had done it by hand. Molly's heart grew soft as she continued to appreciate the simple beauty of the shell with the soft waves crashing in front of her. Brian was looking at her from a short distance, and this scene had deeply rooted in his memory.

"Wow, what is that little thing?"

Eric poked fun at her as he grabbed the shell from Molly's hand. He stood in front of Molly and looked at the shell 'robbed' from her. "Eric? Why are you here?" Molly blurted out surprisingly.

Mindlessly tossing the shell into the air and catching with his other, Eric stepped closer to Molly "I'm here," he whispered. "Because you're here," Eric finished.

Molly's face froze," This isn't funny at all, Eric."

"It isn't?" Eric asked, obviously bothered. "Why? What are you doing here? Why did my brother bring you here?"

"Ask him yourself," Molly dared him. "I was working when he dragged me out here out of nowhere. I didn't wanna go but he threatened to fire me!" Molly was indignant.

"What? Really?" Eric got over his shock quickly when he realized something, a light bulb practically switched on his eyes - "You can come work for me" "You can be my..." Eric said," ... personal assistant," he finished.

"I..." Molly trailed off.

"She can't do that," He pulled Molly closer to his body never taking his eyes off Eric, unblinking. "Have you ever been to the dark auction club?" Brian asked Eric grimly.

Brian had said it as a question but he already knew the answer to that.

Eric shrugged, unfazed," Brother! How come you know about the club?"

"Don't play with me, Eric," Brian gritted through his teeth. He put his arm around Molly as they walked towards the lounge chairs by the beach - his expression unreadable. Molly could do nothing but followed him - her expression uncomfortable.

Eric felt something drop inside him when he saw Molly's face. He shrugged it off and followed suit behind Brian.

"My brother, have you seen Aaron yet?" Eric glanced at Molly before answering," No, I haven't," Brian's eyes were looking straight ahead, emotionless. Brian turned towards Molly and noticed how uncomfortable she was. 'I was supposed to meet Aaron today but...'

he thought to himself, 'This girl's going to change everything. I even changed my plans for her, ' He couldn't quite ascertain his own feelings yet.