Chapter 263

Zinnia finally got the balloon she liked.

“I’ll tie it for you.” Yannis took the pretty balloon from the vendor and held the thin string between his fingers. It was a helium balloon, so it needed to be tied down.

Zinnia rolled up her sleeve, showing her wrist. Yannis lowered his eyes and tied the balloon string around it.

Zinnia watched his long fingers looping the white string. There were moments when their skin touched.

She could feel the soft pads of his fingers brushing against the delicate skin on her wrist. His nails were neatly trimmed, with pale pink nail beds. Zinnia suddenly thought even his fingernails looked nice.

“Do you want anything else?” Yannis asked. Worried the string might come loose and the balloon would fly away, he wrapped it twice around her wrist and tied it in a neat bow.

“Nope.” Zinnia glanced at the bow on her wrist, then followed the string up to the bright sunflower–shaped balloon floating above them, smiling softly.

“Then let’s go home.” Yannis took her hand, and together, they walked back.

Jackson went to Nathan’s company in Mealinia. It was really quiet there. He could only hear the sound of his leather shoes hitting the floor.

“Mr. Lynn, Mr. Moore is waiting for you inside,” Nathan’s senior assistant said.

Led by the senior assistant, Jackson entered the top–floor office. As soon as Jackson walked in, the assistant closed the office door.

Jackson glanced around the office. It was way too cold and empty. Right in front of him was a black chair with its back to him. There was no movement at all.

“Nathan, you finally decided to see me,” Jackson said sarcastically. “I’ve been waiting for you for over a month. How do you plan to make up for the time I’ve wasted?”

After he finished speaking, the office was silent for a few seconds before a reply came.

“If I don’t see you, you’ll be upset. If I do, you want me to compensate for your time,” Nathan’s cool voice echoed in the empty office, with a hint of helplessness. “Just go back. Since you haven’t seen me yet, no need for compensation.”

Earlier, Jackson had been clamoring to see Nathan. But now that he was actually there, he wanted Nathan to compensate him. Nathan shrugged his shoulders, almost not wanting to deal with Jackson anymore.

He couldn’t possibly use money to make up for the time Jackson had lost because he planned to leave all his money to Zinnia. Nathan even thought that not asking Jackson for a meeting fee was already being generous.

Of course, Nathan couldn’t say that. If he did, Jackson would definitely start a fight with him. And with Nathan’s current physical condition, he was no match for Jackson. Plus, if they fought, Jackson would notice something was off.

“Nathan, I’ve been looking for you for seventeen years.” Hearing his seemingly gentle but actually somewhat sarcastic words, Jackson felt a bit frustrated.

Every time Nathan spoke to him, his words were full of sarcasm. The elders all said Nathan was a gentleman, but Jackson, who had grown up with him, knew that Nathan could sometimes leave people speechless with anger.

However, seeing that Nathan was safe and sound, Jackson felt a little relieved. What he didn’t know was that he was too quick to be happy.

“Turn around already. Stop playing games,” Jackson said as he sat down in the chair opposite Nathan, staring at him with a look of disdain because Nathan still wouldn’t turn around.

“You’re still the same as when you were a kid,” Nathan sighed, slowly spinning his chair around to finally face Jackson.

Jackson looked at him sharply. As soon as he saw that familiar face, his jaw tightened and his breathing became a little more rapid.

“Why do you look so bad?” Jackson asked.

Nathan’s face was handsome but pale, which added a few more doubts to Jackson’s originally gentle eyes and made him unable to say the jokes he had prepared. Jackson’s expression became serious in an instant, with only worry left in his heart.

Nathan not only looked pale but also seemed very thin. Jackson stared at him without blinking, as if trying to see something unusual about him.

“Just an old illness,” Nathan said lightly. He pressed his fist to his throat to hold back the urge to cough. His long eyelashes drooped a little, hiding the emotions in his eyes.

Before Jackson could ask anything else, Nathan smiled and said calmly, “Long time no see, Jackson.”

Seeing Jackson, Nathan was calmer than he had imagined. Maybe it was because they had really been too close in the past. Even after not seeing each other for more than ten years, there was no excitement when they met again.

They both felt that it was only natural for them to meet again.

“How have you been all these years?” Jackson asked.

This meeting was much calmer than Jackson had imagined. There was no surprise, no unexpected events, no anger, and they didn’t even have a fight.

Jackson had originally planned to punch Nathan when he saw him again. His fists were clenched so tightly at his sides that they hurt, but seeing Nathan’s pale cheeks, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

They sat facing each other. Both of them were good–looking. It was no surprise that their eyes met. One pair of eyes was calm and composed, while the other was steady and stern.

It seemed like time had slowed down. After seventeen years, the two former close friends finally met again. The feeling was both familiar and strange.

Jackson watched Nathan across from him. More than ten years had passed. His childhood friend had long lost the gentle and refined look he once had.

Now, Nathan’s gaze was cold. There was no more of the warm smile he used to have. It was like a piece of jewelry had been soaked in cold water, losing all its warmth.

Nathan was wearing a black shirt with the buttons fastened all the way up to the top. He looked a bit cold and heartless, but he was still noble and had a great style.

However, Jackson remembered that Nathan used to love white and blue clothes.

After his family was destroyed and he narrowly escaped death, Nathan had lived under a false name for seventeen years. All these experiences had slowly changed Nathan, who used to be a gentleman, into the cool and emotionless person he was now.

His former gentleness had completely disappeared. The only thing that reminded Jackson of the past was Nathan’s handsome face.

“I’m doing fine,” Nathan said with a gentle nod.

“Why didn’t you come back all these years? Why didn’t you look me up?” Jackson’s voice was a little deep.

Nathan knew that Jackson would help him. No matter because of the relationship between their two families or the bond between them, the Lynn family would never leave him behind.

But he had disappeared for seventeen years. If it weren’t for Zinnia, Jackson might not have found Nathan at all.

“Because I could handle it on my own,” Nathan tilted his head and looked out of the floor to ceiling window.

“Nathan!” Jackson got so angry that he stood up and grabbed Nathan’s collar all of a sudden. Nathan was forced to tilt his head back and his face turned red. He looked into Jackson’s eyes full of fury.

“Do you think you can get rid of me with such an off–hand answer?” Jackson really wanted to punch Nathan. He tightly controlled his clenched fists. Now he understood why Zinnia had been like that. It was because of Nathan.

Zinnia never knew how to ask for help when she was in trouble. She always wanted to sneak away by herself. She was just like Nathan, both of them were the kind of people who worried others.

“I have too many enemies and I don’t want to involve you guys,” Nathan explained.

“Do you think I’m afraid of your enemies?” Jackson asked through gritted teeth. The thing he had worried about most these years was that Nathan would die somewhere unknown and he wouldn’t even be able to collect his body.

“I know you’re not afraid of them, but I don’t want to involve the Lynn family,” Nathan’s expression didn’t change. He was just breathing a little fast because his collar was grabbed. He raised his hand and slowly pried Jackson’s fingers off.

Jackson looked at his pale face and couldn’t help but lower his eyes. But then he saw Nathan’s hand, which was as white as if he were ill.

Jackson frowned, feeling that Nathan wasn’t as strong as when he was a child. Finally, he let go.