My Only Love: The Targeted Heiress

Catherine has never tasted food served straight from the oven. Every day, aunt Len always prepared dishes at the right temperature so that Cathy and her siblings did not have to wait for boiling food to turn warm.

The temperature aunt Len prepared was neither too hot nor cold, the perfect temperature for someone like Cathy and her sisters to enjoy their meal that instant.

Therefore, Cathy had no idea that she had to wait before enjoying an unfamiliar soup that she had never tasted before.

When Vincent told her to taste the soup, Cathy promptly spooned the broth and put it in her mouth. When Vincent was about to stop her, it was too late. Her tongue was struck by intense shock as if her entire mouth was burning by flames.

"Hey, be careful. The soup's still hot." Vincent quickly took a glass of water and handed it to Cathy.

Cathy slowly swallowed the broth in her mouth while closing her eyes, feeling her throat burning as it went down through her throat.

Cathy immediately took a few gulps of drink then took a deep breath. Now her palate tongue felt sore due to the boiling broth that just entered her mouth.

She had never eaten food this scorching hot to make her tongue go numb.

"Are you okay?"

"It's too hot." Without realizing it, Cathy revealed her heart, wrinkled her forehead.

If it were her usual self, she would never complain even if the food she ate didn't taste good. But for some reason, the voice of her heart just came out when she heard the soft, caring tone of the young man.

When Cathy realized her mistake and wanted to fix it, Vincent had gotten up to ask something from a waiter. In the next second, the man returned with a small bowl, making Cathy confused.

Deftly, Vincent moved the broth with his spoon to a smaller bowl. He spooned it ten times then cut the fatty meat into small pieces. The cut of meat was also transferred to a small bowl.

Then he stirred the contents of the small bowl while blowing it slowly. After he felt that it wasn't too hot, Vincent handed it over to Cathy.

Seeing the man's attitude made Cathy blink a few times. It seemed like this is the first time anyone could understand her. If only the man hadn't asked for the smaller bowl, Cathy herself would have asked for it and did exactly what he did.

But, the man had done what she thought before she even asked.

Once again, her heart was pounding hard. Only this time, it felt warm... as warm as the sun rising on a cold morning. Not only that, her chest felt tight as if her lungs were bound by something twisted as if there was a complicated knot tied her. 

Her hands gripped her lower garment, trying to calm the rhythm of her abnormal heartbeat. Strangely, the rapid speed did not subside. On the contrary, the knot in her heart seemed to bound her heart tighter until finally...

"I think it's okay now. Now give it a try."

Snap!

Cathy felt herself hearing the sound of the rope breaking inside her head when she saw the young man in front of her staring at her with a gentle smile while handing over the smaller bowl.

At last… she realized that her heart had been captivated by that man.

***

After finishing enjoying their lunch, Cathy and Vincent walked to the bus stop.

"I should have paid for the food," complained Cathy made Vincent smile.

"You can do it another time."

"Another time?" Cathy looked at him with a confused look. And when she realized what he meant, her heart pounded expectantly.

Did he mean she would see Vincent again? Wait. Why was she expecting their next meeting?

"Where are you going after this?" Vincent asked, breaking her reverie.

"I'm going home. I want to make a review of my notes quickly for preparation when I return to work later."

Vincent nodded his head several times. "Then I'll take you home."

"Ah? No need. I can go home alone. I'm sure you're busy anyway."

"Not really. I'm a little relaxed today."

Cathy narrowed her eyes, looking at him suspiciously. "Vincent, what do you really do?"

"Photographer. Didn't you know already?"

Of course, he did. How could she not know? Thought Cathy to herself.

"Looks like being a photographer is hard, huh? It seemed like photographer services are not every hour needed."

Vincent scratched his head, which was not itchy. Will the girl think of him as lazy because he is often unemployed?

He didn't want to make a wrong impression, but he didn't want to reveal his identity as the Regnz family. After all, he still didn't know the nature and character of that girl. Because of that, he did not plan to reveal everything about his personal life to Catherine.

"Hmm... a job like mine is tricky. I have to wait for a call to ask for my services, then I work. If there is no request, I just take pictures of my surroundings."

"It must be hard." Cathy's gaze upon him was a look of genuine compassion.

Okay. One more point for the girl. Catherine did not look down on him even though the girl thought he came from the lower-class from her.

"To be honest, I'm unemployed, too." finally, Cathy told the truth.

"Didn't you say you were taking time off?"

"Yes, about that... My boss temporarily stopped me. He said I could go back to work after my sisters entered school. So you could say my boss gave me time off even though I didn't ask for it."

Hearing this, Vincent frowned. Wasn't his cousin's treatment of his employees too kind? Why does he feel like something going on between his cousin and the girl?

"Your boss is very kind, huh." Vincent realized his voice was a little harsh when he said it, but he didn't regret it at all. "Not only giving holidays for you and your sisters in Pina but also giving special long leave for you."

Cathy was a little puzzled by the change in the man's mood. She remembered the night when Vincent taunted her and attacked her with painful words. The current man's tone was almost the same as that of that night, and fear started creeping up on her unknowingly.

Did she do something wrong? Why did she feel like she was the cause of the man's mood swings?