Mr. Villain's Lovely Wife

Chapter 200

"To be honest, you are so different from the woman that I was expecting to meet today. But I can't say I am disappointed." Ian Morcant smiled. "Tea?" He offered the current tea before him. "I brewed it myself."

"I can see that," Izzy gave him a smile.

"It's Silver Needle-harvested in Fujian, China. The leaves are only picked for a few days each spring,” lan said, carefully pouring the tea into the smaller cup in front of her. "The growers claim that the best batches come from a specific altitude, around 1,200 meters. They dry the leaves in natural sunlight. No machines. No shortcuts."

Izzy accepted the cup but didn't drink yet.

lan leaned back slightly in his chair. He rested one arm along the edge of the table. “The first time I had it, I was nineteen. I was visiting an investor in Hong Kong, someone who believed in formalities. He poured me a cup and said, 'Don't speak until you taste it.' I thought it was odd. But I did as he asked."

He looked at the tea in his hand, fingers wrapping around the delicate porcelain.

"I didn't get it at first. It tasted like nothing to me. Subtle. Almost too quiet to notice. I told him so. He smiled and said I wasn't wrong-just impatient." lan's mouth twitched slightly, not quite a grin. "He explained that some things don't hit you with flavor or strength. Some things ask you to slow down. To pay attention." Izzy nodded once. She finally took a sip.

lan continued, "Later, when the investment went bad, that same man refused to pull out. He said the company needed time. He waited. Three years later, it was one of the best decisions he ever made."

Izzy set her

cup

down.

"I still don't love tea," lan said. "But I make this one when I know I need to stop and think. Not react. Just observe."

He looked at her for a moment, not with suspicion, but with focus.

"I knew who you were on paper. In reports. In summaries. I didn't expect this version of you in the boardroom today. That's not a criticism. It's just an observation."

away. She let him

you to walk in and ask

tilted her head slightly. "Is this your way of telling me I made an

"It's my way of telling you people will start testing you differently now. They've seen enough to worry. You

"Good," she said. "I'd be

didn't press further. He simply took another sip of

and already sitting at the head of a multimillion-dollar company. On paper,

at the tea again before setting it down. "You're talking like someone who isn't close

your research

cufflink, a subtle motion more out of rhythm than need. "I wouldn't deny it. The one who wanted

back slightly, not defensive, just thoughtful. "That's not what I meant." "I know," lan

the others on the board. There was no need to fill every silence. No sharp movements, no visible posturing. He

thought about Liam-how he always entered a room like it owed him something. His confidence was loud, sometimes reckless, always deliberate. Ian wasn't like that. He didn't announce his presence. He just

stood out to her more than she

Instead, she looked down at the tea, then back at lan. "Then why did Gregory choose

refilled his cup with quiet precision. Then he

he said, "is something I've been asking myself since the day I

She waited for something to hit-flavor, bitterness, anything. But it didn't. It was quiet,

She smiled to herself.

noticed. "What do

I'd get at a wellness retreat. The kind where they tell you to listen to your body and

gave a small nod, as if that was

not that patient either," she added. "I like things that make

hands loosely in front of him. “Most people do. That's why not

him again. "So, you're saying

saying people will expect

once. That sounded