The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Aaron took the chocolate from Annie’s hand. Instead of eating it, he simply stared at it.
“Did you buy this? Or was it Marcus?”
“Actually...Marcus bought it for me,” said Annie truthfully.
Aaron raised an eyebrow. “So he won you over with this cheap chocolate? He might as well not buy it. Only chocolates from
master chocolatiers are good enough to eat!”
Annie did not like his attitude. “Mister Aaron, you can give me back the chocolate if you don’t want to eat it. But you should know
not everyone is rich or can spend thousands on a box of chocolates like you.”
Aaron smiled at Annie. “Well, that certainly doesn’t apply to you. Your Uncle Jeremy can even hire a master chocolatier to go to
your house to create custom chocolates right in front of your eyes, no?”
Annie’s eyes flickered. “I can do that, but...Marcus can’t! His family isn’t that rich, so he can’t be wasting money on frivolous stuff
like chocolates!”
Aaron chuckled softly. “How is it wasteful when he’s buying it for his girlfriend?”
“He’ll buy it for me if I say I want it, but I don’t want him to be spending money on me!” explained Annie.
Aaron smiled and shook his head. He then put the chocolate on the coffee table, stood up, and looked down on her
condescendingly.
“Don’t you know that it’s best not to marry someone poorer than you? Sure, you can try to be frugal once or twice, but as time
goes on, you’ll come to resent him for not being able to give you the good life.”
Annie did not dare to meet his gaze. She turned away and said, “How am I marrying someone poorer than I am? Weren’t you the
one who told me that Marcus came from a very good family? Both of his parents are intellectuals, and you even said he’s a very
talented young man.”
Aaron scoffed. “I’m only saying that from the perspectives of other female employees in the company. How the heck could I
guess that you’d fall in love with him so quickly?”
Annie did not like how he was implying that she dumped him and moved on to another guy very fast. It was not like they were
even together in the first place.

“I just want someone dependable and would love me for the rest of my life. In other words, money’s not really my concern.”
Aaron could not believe how naive she was. He leaned in closer and said, “Annie, even if you don’t choose me, you cannot be
won over by a guy who gives you cheap chocolate. You deserve better than this!”
Annie’s ears turned red. She instinctively backed away before laughing wryly. “Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
Aaron sighed. “I’m being serious. You shouldn’t trust men so easily. Not having the money to spend on you and not willing to
spend money on you are two different matters.”
Annie was a little taken aback by that. Frowning, she said, “I never thought I’d hear those words coming out of your mouth,
Mister Aaron.”
Aaron simply stroked her head and said, “Stay with him if you want. I promise I won’t try to ruin your relationship anymore. But
just remember this: I’ll always welcome you back.”
Annie was speechless. ‘What does he mean by that?’
...
For the next three days, Tommy would keep watch at Corinne’s apartment from morning until the other bodyguards hired by the
Holdens came to change shifts with him at night.
Corinne, Xante, and Aaron started to get used to this arrangement. After all, it was not like they could chase them away, and it
was not so bad to have free bodyguards looking after the apartment.
One morning, Tommy was standing guard at the entrance as usual while both Xante and Aaron had gone to work, leaving
Corinne alone with him.
The doorbell suddenly rang at around 10 o’clock.