Chapter Thirty Five

They started driving towards the restaurant. They had picked a place far away from the office. Usually, Fan drove behind Stephen o the way. But Fan was sent to prepare Brielle's desk. Before he left, he arranged for other bodyguards to follow Stephen. It almost looked like a motorcade. Arranging so many people in his place, Fan seemed not to trust anyone but himself, on the off chance any mishaps occurred with Stephen in his absence.

Stephen steadily held the steering wheel. When he looked in the rearview mirror, he was speechless. He felt Fan had overreacted. who did he think Stephen was, the President of the country? With so many cars following him, the passersby might assume him to be a mobster. Stephen felt he must talk to Fan.

Suddenly, a slender figure caught Stephen's attention. Unconsciously he slowed down the car. But he then shook his head with self-mockery. The girl he was thinking of couldn't be here. She would still be in Paris, the romantic capital of France. How could she possibly appear in the streets of B City?

Before long, they arrived at their destination, a famous Spanish restaurant name Barcelona. Leah was depressed. She intended to sit beside Stephen, but to her dismay, Scott took the seat, and she had to drive behind them in her car.

As an old saying goes, some were sad but the others were happy. Scott was in a pretty good mood, giggling along the way. As flamboyant as he was, he usually didn't share a car with other men. But today, he had abandoned his dazzling Ferrari just to annoy Leah.

As they got off the car and walked towards the restaurant, they met Claire at the entrance, who also came for lunch. Stephen was a little frustrated to see her. He felt that luck was not on his side, as he kept running into people who he didn't want to meet.

"Huh! Mr. Chu, nice seeing you again!" Claire flashed him a coquettish smile and shot a glance at Leah. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Brook. What a nice surprise." Stephen's mouth twitched as he tried to smile. Claire was the last person he wanted to meet. But she appeared everywhere he went.

"Indeed it is. I see you've brought another woman with you, Mr. Chu. But why your taste in women is growing worse over time." Claire said mockingly with a smirk on her face and shyness in her eyes. She thought to herself. 'Leah, since you have the guts to show up here, I will show you how to behave.'

"So, Miss Brook! Which unlucky man is your prey today?" Scott always wore a smile on his face in front of other people. He was amused by the way Claire talked to Stephen.

"Rest assured, Scott. I'm not interested in sissy pants, so I won't prey on you." Claire glared at Scott. In her opinion, he was remarkable. She wondered who was able to tame him.

"Stephen, who is this young lady?" Leah was irritated by Claire's overbearing attitude. She wondered who this gorgeous woman was, and why Stephen and Scott tolerated her arrogance. She could tell that they had a good bond.

"Oh. Leah, this is the CEO of the S Group, Claire Brook." Stephen introduced Claire to Leah. He glared at Claire and wondered what she was up to. "Miss Brook, glad to meet you! I am Leah Yang." Leah extended a hand to Claire was cursing herself. She wondered what Claire mean by saying "your taste in women is growing worse over time?" She was talented, beautiful, and the daughter of an eminent family.

"Nice meeting you, Miss Yang. I've heard a lot about you, and now that we've met in person, I can tell that the rumors were true. You're as resourceful as I have heard." Claire's tone was deliberately condescending. She shot a contemptuous look at Leah as she spoke.

"Thank you, Miss Brook. But I'm no competition for you." Leah didn't sense the sarcasm in Claire's voice. She assumed Claire meant that she had heard of Leah from Stephen. The thought turned her crimson.

Scott couldn't help but guffaw. Claire was a ruthless woman. Her sharp tongue stung everyone equally. he was curious to know how Leah had offended Claire to deserve this cynicism.

Despite appearing indifferent, Stephen was also noticing the interaction between both women. It seemed like Claire already knew Leah, but seemingly, Leah didn't know her. And he could tell from claire's words that she was furious with Leah.

"Pff. pansy." Claire rolled her eyes at Scott when he burst into laughter. She was still angry about what happened last time. Scott was a little frustrated. How did he look like a pansy? why did she call him that every time?

"Miss Brook, now that we have met, may I invite you to join us?" Stephen broke the ice. As he spoke to Claire, he raised his eyebrow, and a wicked glint flashed in his eyes. Claire was hard to manage. She was indeed a fierce woman.

"That sounds good. I never refuse a free meal. Nothing better than men burning themselves towards me, like moths to fire." Claire wouldn't favor dining with them if it were only Stephen and Scott eating here. But since Leah was with them too, she definitely wouldn't walk away. She wouldn't miss any chance to beat down a Yang.

Stephen was speechless after hearing her words. How some she was so hostile to everyone? It sounded like they were also a pair of desperate men pursuing her. Leah was vexed. The more people dining with them, the less chance she had to be alone with Stephen.

Scott smiled before he spoke. He fiddles with his gleaming ear stud with one hand. Eyebrows raised, thin lips parted, he spoke in a low sensuous voice. "Miss Brook, you are magnificent; indeed it is a complimentary dinner. But today's dinner is on Miss Yang. According to your theory, she is the one who's desperate to be taken advantage of by the charming Miss Brook." Scott flashed a smug grin. It felt great to ridicule other people. No wonder Stephen always mocked him.

That said, he thought, 'Huh. Leah Yang, you've been ignoring me this whole time. Now you'll know what happens to people who ignore me.' "Oh? The lunch is on Miss Yang? I'm sorry, Miss Yang, I didn't expect you to be a person without self-respect. You know, a girl should always know better than to sell herself short. And in fact, very few women demean themselves by paying for futile love. My speculation is cliched but reasonable. Don't take it personally." Not a single word of Claire's apology sounded remorseful.

Susie's face fell when she heard the sarcastic tone of Claire's speech. her lips parted, but she couldn't utter a word. Her hands clenched into fists, so tight that the blue veins protruded under her skin.

"Oh, I see. Have a nice meal! I'm sorry if I disturbed you." She didn't hang up the phone. because during the call this morning, she had hung up the phone first, she had hung up the phone first. But later she remembered that he had forbidden her from hanging up the phone before him, come what may. So she waited for him to end the call first.

"Okay! I'll ask Fan to arrange a computer for you, and I'll try to come home early today." Stephen's charismatic smile had Leah spellbound. She was wondering who Stephen was talking to because he was kind and gentle on the phone. But that didn't matter, because one day that tenderness would only belong to her, thought Leah.

"Mr. Stephen is quite the ladies man! you probably have many lovers! You already have one beside you. It seems that you have one hidden in your house too. I wonder where you get the time and energy to deal with them all." Seeing that Stephen has hung up the phone, Claire began to sneer at him. Her tone was a little harsh. She didn't know that Brielle was already living with Stephen, so naturally, she took it his house. She felt pity for Brielle, so she gave a crude reaction without much consideration.

"Miss Claire, you seem to care a lot about my private life. Are you feel jealous? Or have you fallen in love with me?" Stephen joked. He already knew that Claire was not interested in him. He had met her several times, yet he didn't spot any trace of admiration in her eyes, perhaps that's why he could joke with her intrepidly.

Claire stared at him and remained silent. "Damn you jealous!" Claire cursed him in her heart. The day she felt jealous of this deceitful scoundrel, the sun would rise from the west. Only inane women would make the mistake of falling in love with him and feeling jealous!

No! She reminded herself to stop thinking like this because the inane woman she was thinking of, was non-other than her best friend Brielle. "Mr. Chu, can't you stop being so narcissistic? I wish you'd change your ways because I'm sick of hearing your self-absorbed, egotistical babble." Claire stared at him with contempt. Is being creative such a big challenge for the CEO of an international company? Did she have to teach him to behave creatively? Claire thought.

"So, Miss Claire, what would you like? I will do whatever you wish." Stephen lifted his hand to look at the time, with a little frown. his manner seemed casual and languid. Claire moved her lips, but she didn't utter a word. She knew Stephen's words were too ambiguous; they could easily mislead anyone.

"Miss Claire, did you bring the contract with you? If you have it here, we can take this opportunity to sign the contract." Scott's remark broke the ice between Stephen and Claire. Claire felt pleased to change the topic. She didn't want to think about who Stephen was calling.

She replied, "I didn't bring it with me. But my office is not far from here. I can ask my secretary to bring it here if you have some time to spare." Truth be told, Claire wasn't an unreasonable person. The only reason she was so mean to Stephen was that she didn't like his ways and the company he kept.

"That would be better. It will save me from going to your office again in the afternoon." Scott sighed with relief, as now he wouldn't have to go out in the sweltering hot weather. "Okay! I will call my secretary and have the contract delivered right now," said Claire. She fetched her phone and dialed the familiar number.

Leah stole a glance at Stephen; she found him lost in his thoughts. he looked absent-minded. "Sir, do you have anything important to do? If you have any urgent business to attend to you can leave." Just leave a car for me." Scott had seen the grand fleet of cars escorting Stephen on the way here. he felt a surge of panic long after they had arrived at the was not the spotlight of such a dramatic scene. If it were him, he would undoubtedly become overwhelmed. Therefore he asked Stephen to leave just one car for him.

'Oh, no I'm okay. I will go with you." Stephen suddenly came out of his deep thoughts and replied. he raised his head and looked around the place, his eyes finally noticing Leah. he was thinking about a question in the past few minutes. he wondered why Brielle's family hadn't appeared in his life all these years. Even if Brielle had intended to avoid them, still how come they didn't know of Ariel's existence? Stephen often wondered about this question. At times, he felt he knew the answers, but before long he found himself perplexed again.

It was rare for Brielle to have so much leisure time. The sudden break made her feel that she had nothing to do. After she hung up the phone, she sat there for a while in a state of trance. She found that Ariel had stopped paying heed to her. Recently, he seemed to have a lot of things to do. He always stayed in his room and kept the door closed. It looked like he had much to learn. Brielle seldom saw him now. The laid-back saw him now. The laid-back and feckless life made her feel that time flew rather slowly.

She thought for a while and picked up the phone. She dialed Claire's number with her slender fingers. She was prepared to be scolded by Claire because she had broken an appointment with her.

"Hello!" Claire was busy talking to Scott about the contract, and she picked the call without noticing who was calling. " Claire, it's me. Are you busy?" Brielle curled up her neck; she was waiting for Claire to howl at her. As expected, a sudden furious roar sent a shiver down Brielle's spine She had an impulse to hang up the phone when she heard Claire's roar.

"Damn it, Brielle, you flaked out on me again. Don't expect that I will forgive you this time." After Claire had vented out, she realized that her voice had been too loud. She looked around had been too loud. She looked around and found that Stephen didn't notice her. he was on another table speaking softly with Leah. She instantly felt relieved.

Scott sitting quite close to Claire as they were discussing the contract. he had heard Claire's offensive language. But he did not know the Brielle whom Claire was talking to. he merely frowned when Claire cursed and then continued to scan the contract.

"My dear seat friend Claire, just spare me this time, please! I promise it will never happen again." Brielle said. Brielle only revealed her lovely side when she was with Claire. Judging from her cute voice, no one could imagine that she was a stern and cold female colonel.

"get away from me! I will not be the daughter of my mother if I trust you again!" When Claire heard how Brielle was trying to make peace with her, she felt delighted. yet, her reply came out in a firm tone.

"Oh! Claire. if you are not the daughter of your mother, then who calls you a daughter?" Brielle smiled when she heard Claire had brought up her dearest mother. It seemed that Claire was really angry with her this time. "I'm still my father's daughter. You're so stupid!" Claire said nonchalantly. At the same time, she glanced at the contract, took a pen, and signed her name on the contract.