The Enticing CEO’s Chosen Bride

When Boyd caught sight of Yasmine the next day in the same spot as before, he breathed a sigh of relief. He thought for sure she would pull a Houdini on him—vanish to avoid the awkwardness. Thankfully, she hadn’t.

But as he exhaled, his heart wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels of joy. With her eccentric way of thinking, she probably had bigger fish to fry than dodging him. What that was, though, remained a mystery.

Yasmine was a lone wolf, never leaving a sliver of opportunity for anyone to get close. Boyd was much the same. Even when girls from his class tried chatting him up, he’d leave them hanging without a second thought.

Over time, they had become two distinct fixtures in the classroom landscape, much like in their childhood. Except now, they no longer spent hours trying to read each other’s minds.

Life marched on in an orderly fashion, with the occasional novelty, but nothing that stirred the waters too much. Their interactions were like parallel lines—never meeting.

Derek thought Yasmine would show some different colors around Boyd, but the outcome was a letdown. That woman was as immovable as a mountain.d2

Two people who had known each other since they were tots, not exchanging a single greeting in months—unbelievable.

The place where Boyd and Yasmine actually had a proper conversation wasn’t in the school where they could easily bump into each other but in the library, a mere four or five stops away from school.

The library was a legend in P City, unrivaled in its reputation.

Boyd only agreed to come because, well, it was the library. Otherwise, he would’ve stayed put—the school library was a fine spot in its own right.

Disinterested in the ground floor’s leisurely sweets, he went straight upstairs to find a book. After picking something at random from the finance section, he was about to settle down when he spotted a glass-enclosed corner near the leisure area windows. It was brimming with potted plants, basking in sunlight, with a simple set of table and chairs in the center.

No one was at the table, and it looked like a cozy spot. He pushed open the glass door and stepped inside.

As soon as he entered, he saw a cream-colored plush carpet spread out on the floor by the window, with a couple of beanbag chairs. There was someone comfortably settled in one of them, their hair falling languidly over the blue fabric. They were turned away from him, supporting their head with their hand on a propped up elbow. Just as he noticed, they were nonchalantly flipping a page. Sensing an intruder, the person on the beanbag instinctively looked over, hair shifting aside to reveal a face that had become all too familiar to him recently.

Her hair was down, adding a softness that wasn’t there when it was usually pinned up high.

Yasmine paused when she saw Boyd, her indifferent eyes halting briefly before she looked around nonchalantly. “You seem to be lost,” she said, turning her head back. “Don’t forget to close the door on your way out.”

But the door didn’t open or close after that.

Yasmine sighed, placed a bookmark in her book, and closed it, flipping over on the beanbag to look at Boyd, who had made his way to the center of the glass room. “What do you want?”

Boyd eyed her languid form. “Are you planning to ignore me indefinitely?”

Yasmine raised an eyebrow, taking a sip from her milkshake beside her.

“It’s not like I have much to say to you.”

“You don’t have anything to say to me?”

She gave him a once-over and smiled. She stood up from the beanbag and sweeped her hair back from her forehead, only to let it fall back, partially covering it again. Her eyes had a mocking glint.

Boyd pressed his lips together, knowing this was the reaction he’d get from Yasmine.

“Yeah, nothing, na-da.”

quietly. “How have you been

away excess branches with a pair of scissors. “Good. Living without a

lightened. “I thought you’d continue pretending

nodded. “I did consider it, but it seemed like it would

“Talking to strangers, I manage a few words. If I treated you as a stranger, I wouldn’t be able to avoid you. So, now

I

at him, and nodded calmly. “Even though I now find it a bit childish and laughable to still be bothered by something that happened at the age of ten after nine years. But, you know, it has been held on for so many years, and suddenly letting go now makes me feel that all these

Worse than strangers. It was

I supposed

Once she set her mind on something, there was

stranger to you, nor

brows knitting together.

I apologize. But you could at least leave

his gaze to hers. “Everyone makes mistakes, so they all deserve

a moment, then chuckled. “Don’t

even. “I have no

“What if I disagree?”

with me today because you’re afraid of an

Yasmine muttered, “I never thought that in nine years, you’d turn into someone

a smile.

Yasmine snorted. “Who knows?”

pause before

pick up the book from the beanbag. “What about

around you. As far as I know, Bryson has always been the one looking after

before speaking, “Can’t you get your

“You’re living together now?”

“Uh-huh.”

by your side all

you getting

while and finally shook his head, “Just curious about how your

“It’s been good.”

She reached for her milkshake, but there wasn’t much left, and it was lukewarm at best.

me buy you that

Yasmine didn’t respond.

declared determination to be persistent, she felt that any word

the ground floor, where

seeing you with milkshake a

today,” Yasmine sighed, as if resigned, “Can’t afford to

words caught Boyd by surprise. So she cared about the

number to find a seat, but were met by

“Boyd?”

over to see a girl standing up from the next table, with long hair, smooth skin, and a slender figure that screamed innocence and charm. At that moment, those clear, inquisitive eyes