?<strong>Chapter 481:</strong>


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    Although shecked the courage to speak to Ken directly again, she quickly shifted her focus to Allison.


    “Ken has such a… unique way with words. I’ve always thought I might be the only one who truly understands his personality,” Carole ventured yfully. “Ms. rke, you wouldn’t know this, but most people see him as cold, even ruthless. I, on the other hand, know just how caring he is toward his grandmother.”


    Carole subtly implied that she was familiar with Ken. Allison’s gaze, steady andposed, barely shifted at Carole’s words.


    “It sounds like you have a rather unusual bond with Mr. Lloyd,” she replied, her eyes tracing the light that settled along Ken’s strong profile. Her gaze held a serene calm. To Allison, Carole’s attempts at subtlety seemed clumsy, almostughable, not even on par with Mny. A smirk flitted across Carole’s face, satisfied with what she took as Allison’s concession.


    “Well, I suppose I’ve seen a side of him that others haven’t had the privilege of knowing.”


    At that, a soft chuckle escaped Allison’s lips.


    A side of him that others didn’t know?


    Her mind flitted back to memories — private moments in a secluded room, Ken’s breath drawn sharp and ragged, even the faint trace of red at the corners. In those intense encounters, he was both the one inmand and the one surrendering to the thrill of control. The tools hanging on the wall revealed a truth that bordered on the forbidden.


    And then there was the night with the assassin in Athton — Ken’s relentless fury, his merciless precision that left no room for second chances. It was far from the gentle image Carole imagined.


    Oblivious, Carole only saw the silent exchange passing between Allison and Ken, a potent undercurrent thrumming in the unspoken nces they shared. Just as quickly, their eyes broke away, as if the moment had never existed.


    Carole asked, “Ms. rke, were youughing just now?”


    Allison’s chin rested on her hand as she casually stirred her coffee. “Yes, theedian in the theater next door told a great joke,” she replied.


    Carole blinked, momentarily thrown off bnce by the cool indifference in Allison’s tone.


    Allison’s words hit their mark: she was the joke!


    Carole’s hands tensed on the table, her smile forced. “Ah… I see.”


    Inwardly, Carole’s mind raced. Something about Allison had felt off from the beginning. Even while abroad, she’d had Ken watched, tracking any hint of distraction. And since that first sh with Allison in the office, she’d dug for information.


    She soon learned that Allison and Ken had far more history than she’d imagined.


    But it didn’t matter. A woman raised in an orphanage would never be weed into the Lloyd family, no matter her connection to Ken!


    As Carole opened her mouth to say more, Ken interrupted, saying, “Miss Perry is here on behalf of the Greenfield Group to discuss a coboration.”


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