Chapter Thirty Six

Claire was as quick-witted as ever. Brielle felt speechless. She changed her expression. If she is her father's daughter, she would still be her mom's daughter. What is the difference? "Emmm... Ok, I accept that you are smart. Now tell me, are you free this weekend?" Claire and Brielle haven't seen each other for years. Brielle missed her very much.

"Are you planning on standing me up again?" Claire complained sourly while putting the contract away. "I want to go shopping with you if you've got time, but I am fine if you don't want to come with me. There are many other things I'd rather do." Brielle knew Claire couldn't resist the temptation of a shopping spree.

"Brielle! I dare you! You must go shopping with me." Claire's booming voice caught Stephen and Leah's attention. No..., Claire immediately regretted uttering Brielle's name aloud. Although Leah was familiar with Brielle, she wasn't sure whether Brielle's name would ring a bell to Stephen. Claire's shout definitely caught Leah's attention, and the reason behind her hostility became clear.

"Aren't you afraid of being hunted down anymore?" Brielle didn't realize what an unfavorable situation Claire had put herself into. "I feel like I being hunting down now," Claire grumbled. Stephen, why were you staring at me? Am I doing something illegal?

Stephen was staring at Claire because he heard claire call Brielle's name, so he was trying to figure out what was going on. "What Someone is hunting you right now? Where are you? I am on my way!" Brielle jumped to her feet, taking Claire's words seriously. Claire was the only heir of an affluent family. There were many people out there who wanted her dead.

"Take it easy. It was just a metaphor." Claire stopped Brielle right away. She knew that Brielle would immediately come over and rescue her if she was in danger. "Claire, you think this is funny?" Brielle was pissed off by Claire's joke. As a soldier, she knew that in a real fight every second mattered. One second could make a huge difference. Last time when she was on a mission, she won her opponents over a second, had it not been the case, Brielle would be a corpse by now.

"You are overreacting. I didn't mean to worry you. Don't be mad at me." Claire acted like a quiet lamb when Brielle was mad. Usually, Brielle was amiable, but when he was pissed off, she became an entirely different person.

"So am I the one who should be blamed?" Brielle deliberately misinterpreted Claire's words and acted out because she was already displeased with Claire's attitude earlier. "Of course, it is all my fault! You never make any mistakes! Even when you commit a mistake, it is because of me." Claire smiled awkwardly, dodging Stephen's inquiring eyes.

Leah didn't notice Brielle's name at that moment as she was busy pleasing Stephen. "Claire, are you suggesting that I am an unreasonable person?" These occasional disagreements with Claire made Brielle's life less boring.

"Enough is enough." Don't take my concern for granted. You need to appreciate that." Claire warned Brielle in tooth-gnashing frustration, thinking that she would not have been so kind to Brielle if she knew that Brielle would push it further.

Stephen didn't catch any useful information from Claire. He believed that a gregarious woman like Claire would never befriend his unsociable wife. maybe the conversation he heard was just a figment of his imagination.

"Fine, I will see you the day after tomorrow." Brielle knew where the line was, and she did not intend to cross it. "Don't forget this time if you stand me up again, I won't spare you." Claire was not sure whether Brielle would keep her promise this time, so she warned her again.

"I swear on soldier's honor that I won't let you down this time." Brielle wondered, when did she become this untrustworthy person who had to swear to gain her friend's trust. "Ok, I will give you a second chance. See you soon! keep in touch!" When Claire hung up the phone, she noticed that everyone was watching her.

"Why everyone staring at me? Is something wrong?" Claire shrunk her neck, thinking that she did not say anything odd. "Emm... Miss Claire, do you always talk to your boyfriend like that?" Scott shivered. If his girlfriend treated him like this, he won't be able to deal with it."

"Who said that I have a boyfriend. Please don't comment on things that you don't know about. Sometimes ignorance could be a virtue." Claire rolled her eyes. "Oh! That wasn't your boyfriend?" Usually, devious people bring about such misunderstandings." Stephen said casually, trying to piss Claire off so that she'll tell him what he wants to know. He wondered why claire was so hostile towards him all the time.

"I am free to do whatever I choose. You have no right to judge me." "Your problem is that you overthink things. You are welcome to think freely and speak your mind but insulting me is not an option. Don't imposes your opinions on me. I am not going to accept any foolish remarks." Claire couldn't forget Stephen's gentle and loving tone on the phone and she was angry that he did not offer the same affection to Brielle.

Stephen didn't say much, but Claire continued to contradict him with a long list of arguments. he found Claire very irritable, and it made him smile gently. "Miss Claire, we do not have the right to interfere in your personal life, but it is your fault to mislead us. Please don't blame us for overthinking. Your behavior leads us to the wrong assumptions." Stephen stood up coolly and replied in a sharp tone. Not arguing didn't mean that he had a good temper. it's just that, he didn't want to argue with a woman, but Claire was too aggressive.

Leah quietly listened to Claire and the others. She felt that they got along well with each other but in a strange way. They were neither lovers nor friends, but she could perceive their unusual chemistry.

Claire felt perturbed, realizing how rude she had been. However, she felt embarrassed to make an apology, because she didn't know what to say. Claire intended to defend Brielle, but in doing so, she had offended Stephen who was a big shot of the City. She knew Stephen would mind.

"Excuse me. I have to leave. Good day everyone." With these words, she left hurriedly. Clare had the ability to admit and correct her mistakes. Whenever she lost her temper, she would leave the room. She would never invite humiliation her way. Though, she always escaped from Stephen in a flurried haste.

Stephen didn't mind her leaving abruptly as he was used to it. Scott concealed his smirk. Stephen was the most brute man in the world who had a sharp tongue. Scott was no match for him when it came to debate and discussions, let alone Claire.

"Let's go back." Stephen glanced at the expensive watch on his wrist and stepped out. After hanging up the phone, Brielle went upstairs to look for Ariel, wondering what the little guy was up to. She gently pushed the door, only to find that it was locked.

Brielle knocked on the door and waited for the door to be opened. "Mommy, what's wrong?" Ariel gaped at Brielle, pretending to be sleepy. "What were you doing? Why was the door locked?" Brielle popped her head inside and examined the room.

"I wasn't doing anything. I was just sleeping." Ariel stuttered, giving no definite reply. He couldn't tell his mother that he was making plans with his online friends to bring his parents back together. Could he tell her that? Of course not, significant punishment. It would be terrible.

"Is it necessary to lock the door when you're sleeping?" Obviously, Brielle didn't buy it. "Why shouldn't I? You also lock the door when you and dad asleep, right? I have a personal life. You can't deprive me of my privacy." Just this morning, he tried to open the door to his dad's room, but it was locked for the first time in days.

"Oh? Would you tell me your secrets?" Brielle's face reddened. She was burning up at the thought of what she did with Stephen this morning. She pinched Ariel's face lovingly, wondering when this little guy started to have secrets.

"Ha-ha! Mom, I just need two things from you. First, you can't enter my room without my permission. Second, don't rummage around my room after you enter." Ariel scratched his head, thinking if he had missed something.

"Okay, just two things I can live with that." Brielle smiled tenderly. "Mom, how would you like going out for a bite with dad tonight?" Ariel looked at Brielle expectantly. A romantic evening always began with a nice dinner.

"Why do you want to eat out? Are you tired of eating at home?" Brielle was baffled because Ariel had never proposed to go out for dinner. Were his habits changing because of the time he spent with Stephen? "Yeah. I want to eat something different tonight. Let's pick up dad from work and go out to have a fun dinner, okay?" Ariel shook Brielle's hand hard. He wouldn't give up until his goal was reached.

"Dad keeps busy. We can't go to his office without telling him in advance." Brielle liked the idea, but she was hesitant as she was uncertain about Stephen's attitude. She didn't know whether Stephen sincerely loved her or not.

"It's okay, mom we won't disturb his work if we go upstairs when he gets off the clock." Ariel continued to persuade Brielle. This was part of his plan. He wanted all the women at the office to give up the idea of playing up to his dad as his dad was still a married man.

"Fine, I'll call daddy to see if he can have dinner with us tonight." Although Stephen had just called to say that he would come back early, no one could predict what would happen next in the business world. Some unexpected business could come up at any time.

"Don't bother. Mom, I have already asked Uncle Alex. Daddy is free tonight." If Brielle called Stephen, Stephen wouldn't be surprised. Ariel had just discussed this plan with his friends. He wanted to put it in motion at the earliest. "Uncle Alex? Who is he? You know him?" Brielle was confused. A lot of things had happened when she was absent. Ariel's world had changed immensely.

Alas! If Brielle knew how Ariel dealt with those women who flirted with Stephen, she would be shocked. "Uncle Alex is dad's assistant. he knows dad's schedule very well." Ariel grinned wickedly.

"Do you often go to dad's office?" Brielle asked casually while unconsciously tapping the table, and making a soft, melodious tune. "Yeah, dad often takes me there. It's really fun." Ariel smiled innocently. It was indeed fun. He drove a woman mad just a few days ago.

Brielle was lost in her thoughts. When she'd take Ariel to Stephen, she didn't expect that Stephen would be very welcoming towards ariel as Stephen wasn't too fond of either one of them. She still remembered how scared she was about Stephen refusing to accept Ariel, so she left hurriedly before he was ready that day. She didn't want anything bad to happen. But it seemed that now Stephen was very nice to Ariel, or else he wouldn't take him to his office. No one would allow someone he didn't like to stay too close to him.