Chapter 45 The Smell Of Home

A short sigh escaped Julia’s lips. She walked away, stepped inside the kitchen, and started cooking.
Water was dripping from the faucet while she was washing a handful of round, luscious red tomatoes,
and two deep green cucumbers. In a bowl, she beat an egg and added a pinch of salt. The egg white
was expanding while slowly mixing with the yolk. She then grabbed a sharp knife to cut a slab of meat
and eggplant. Before preparing the vegetables and meat, she had already put a small pot of rice on the
stove. After a quarter of an hour, the aroma of steaming rice occupied the kitchen. She finished cooking
three dishes, an omelet with tomatoes, cucumber salad, and eggplant with meat. Everything was
simple, yet fresh and mouthwatering.

At the table where Terence was sitting, he was watching Julia being in control in the pantry. He could
see how busy she was.

She was moving swiftly, however, still maintaining her grace. Her knife skills were precise, he noticed. It
was the first time Terence saw her cooking. 'She's pretty when cooking,' he thought.

Moving back and forth, Julia's bangs kept being untucked behind her ears. An impulse occurred to
Terence to come forward and brush her hair out of her charming face. But he decided to hold it in and
not to do it.

"All set. Let’s eat." Julia filled a bowl with rice for him. "I am in a hurry today, that’s why I only prepared
basic dishes. Please, make do with them."

"Only a bowl of rice?" Terence asked, frowning at her.

"I’ll have the instant noodles I cooked a while ago. I’m not into wasting food," Julia answered
indifferently. She had no appetite anyway.

Not uttering anything, Terence quickly snatched the bowl of noodles away from Julia. He stood up and
poured them into the trash can. Already in his seat again, he said, "Have some with me. I bet



everything you cooked is delicious."

A little astonished, Julia only stared Terence for a couple of seconds. She was wondering what he did
that for.

However, she didn’t bother to question him anymore. As requested by Terence, she picked up her
utensils and served herself small portions of each dish. After eating a few spoonfuls, she pushed her
plate forward. "I'm already full."

When Terence put his chopsticks down, Julia took it as a cue to stand up. She cleared the table by
piling the plates, bowls, and utensils. It seemed like she was very familiar with doing house chores.
Without a word, she washed the dishes.

At the time Julia stepped out of the kitchen, Terence was sitting on the sofa. He was holding his
business pad, scrolling and typing.

She hinted that the man was doing something work-related. Quietly, she walked away and took steps
going upstairs.

Walking to her bedroom, she couldn’t keep on thinking about their set-up. They were getting along as if
they had been married for years. But it was clear to Julia that they had already signed the divorce
agreement.

She reminded herself enough to keep herself awake and to not let herself be trapped in a relationship
that she shouldn’t and couldn’t have.

It was pitch black, she lay in the bed without even bothering to turn on the lights. Exhausted after
overthinking, she fell asleep. Being a light sleeper, she sensed that someone entered the room. She
felt a warm skin brushing against her back. She knew it was Terence. His weight made the bed shrunk



a little as he lay down. His presence made her anxious that she didn’t dare to look behind her. She
pretended that she was in a deep sleep.

After a while, Terence raised his hand and held her closer into his arms. Their bodies were pressing
against each other. It made Julia much more nervous, she didn’t move at all.

Waking up from what felt like a sweet nightmare, she moved her hands all over the bed while her eyes
were still closed. There was no one next to her. She opened her eyes and realized that Terence had
already left. She pulled herself up. Sitting on the corner of her now empty bed, she felt nothing but
sorry.

A day had passed. The sun was already setting, Julia still couldn’t stop thinking about the man who
slept next to her. She pulled her phone from her purse and dialed Terence’s phone number. However,
she hesitated to actually call him. Biting her fingernails, she gathered the courage to contact him at last.

Terence was in a meeting at that time when he saw his phone above the conference table lit up. It was
in silent mode, but the screen kept on blinking. He took a glance and saw the caller ID. He couldn’t help
smiling and immediately answered it in front of everyone. "Hello, what's up? "

Straightening the wrinkled part of her skirt, she said, "Uh… nothing important. I just want to ask if you
will come back for dinner tonight?" There was a hint of uneasiness in her voice.

"I'm in a meeting right now. Maybe. Just a little late, I guess," Terence said impassively.

"Well, if that’s the case, I won’t prepare dinner for you then." The disappointment was audible in Julia's
voice.

"Wait!" When he realized that she was about to hang up the phone, Terence hurriedly stopped her. "I
said I’ll come back late, but I didn’t mean that I won’t be there tonight."



She calmed a little when she finally understood what he meant. "Alright, you should go ahead and
continue whatever you're doing. I'll prepare for dinner."

After Terence hung up the phone, everyone else in the meeting room was awkwardly looking at
Terence. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. Everyone knew him for being stern and hard as a
rock. His gentleness, while he was on the line, surprised them.

He was totally immersed in his phone conversation earlier and kept smiling that he even forgot his
surroundings.

Jillian Yang, his secretary, cleared her throat to bring his boss back into reality. "Mr. Chen, the
marketing manager is waiting for your response."

Finally, Terence came to his senses. His face hardened and he became serious again. He turned his
head to his right. "I’ve already reviewed the promotion plan for the new products, but it won’t have
much impact. Why did the sales volume suffer a 3% deflation this month? What happened? Carey,
please, walk me through it."

"Here is the thing, Mr. Chen. Our new product…" Terence didn’t want any of Carey Zhang’s excuses.
He interrupted, "I don’t like any of your nonsense. You’ve been working for me for such a long time
now. I expected that you should already know every detail of it. Here’s a question, how is the case
going? Be honest with me, are you confident?"

"Yes." Carey Zhang nodded. "With the help of different media platforms, especially the Internet, actors
and actresses are no longer far away in our day-to-day life. We believe that they’ll appeal strongly. If
we can choose a spokesperson for this product, and use his influence on his fans group, we can agree
that we can open the market soon. I can assure you that our sales volume will increase by 20% next
month."



He handed over the documents to Terence's hand and continued, "Mr. Chen, we have discussed and
picked these candidates for our endorsement. You may evaluate it again. If you reach a decision about
who’s qualified, please, let us hear it soon. I will arrange a meeting with them ASAP."

Carefully, Terence turned the pages. One profile immediately caught his attention. "Since we are
promoting an active sports drink this time, this man is quite perfect for our product. His physique and
character descriptions are suitable for endorsing our new product. Set a meeting with him."

It was a relief for Carey Zhang that his boss finally agreed with what their department came up with.
"You really have exceptional standards for things like this, Mr. Chen. That is Samuel Ye, a well-known
actor. He is recently shooting a new film. I guarantee that he can deliver a great image, and at the
same time, our market will benefit from his wide fan base."

"Don’t just say it, put it into action." Terence squinted at Carey Zhang. "If the sales won’t improve after a
month, then you’ll be accountable for it, do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. I’ll do my best," he replied attentively with conviction.

"If no one has any more concern, I am concluding the meeting now. Let’s further talk about it
tomorrow." Terence looked at everyone. The office staff gathered their belongings and walked out of
the conference room.

His thoughts were all about Julia. Knowing that she would be welcoming him for dinner tonight excited
him more.

When he arrived home, the fragrance of delicious food was already filling up the room. He could
remember, he was twenty years old when he moved in. For so many years, he had been all alone.
Finally, he was not alone now, he felt home.


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