Chapter 84: The Forgotten Dinner

While the couple was having the best time inside their car, inside the Gil family villa, the atmosphere was awkward.

Mr. Gil was sitting in the main seat. His family was seated on the right while the elders were sitting on the left side of the table.

Then one of the elders spoke to ask him, "When will the guest arrive, Joel?"

"His assistant had spoken to me over the phone. His plane had just landed."

"Are you sure you informed them of the right time?" another elder asked.

"Affirmative."

The third elder present then sneered, "Are you confident that Mr. Lockhart will agree to your marriage proposal? He's young and far richer than us."

The Stevens Group's net worth was far better than their Gil Corporation. Although they heard rumors that they had issues with their cash flow and other internal issues before Xavier had taken over, the fact that he managed to prevent a big disaster to happen was commendable.

The culprits were now in jail and Stevens Group remained to dominate the business skyline in Oakridge City.

"Of course! The late Chairman Stevens and I are very close." Right after he said that his secretary came in and delivered the bad news.

Zarah and Xavier had already forgotten this dinner ages ago.

The elder who questioned Mr. Gil smirked as he saw the shift in Mr. Gil's expression.

"Dad? Is Xavier coming?" Crystal asked her father impatiently.

"Something came up and he won't be able to make it," he explained with a dark expression.

To compensate, Xavier asked Chris to deliver the expensive wine he bought at an auction overseas. It was not much of a big deal since Xavier had dozens of them he was storing inside his wine cellar.

However, this was his favorite wine as the vintner was his mother, Abigail Lockhart.

Xavier did not want to burn bridges with the Gil family yet as his wife was not done with them.

Once Zarah was done with them, he would not only burn bridges but would also snatch the wine back.

In short, Mr. Gil was the wine's temporary keeper.

Zarah who heard about this could not help but frown. With her head resting on Xavier's bare chest after they descended from cloud nine, she asked, "Are you sure that he would not drink it?"

"He would not dare," Xavier answered confidently.

"May I know why?", she curiously asked.

"He's a known wine collector and I am sure he knew the value of the wine once he receive it. He would rather keep it than waste a drop."

And besides, his mother had only made fifteen bottles of them before she died.

His mother was a well-known vintner when she went to Europe. The wines she made were top-class. She received world recognition and so the bottles of wine she made cost more than half a million dollars especially after she retired.

News of her death had spread and her wine costs more than a million dollars.

As Zarah heard Xavier's explanation, her eyes glimmered in admiration for her late mother-in-law.

As predicted, when CEO Gil received the wine bottle, he immediately beamed with joy and asked the head butler to hide it inside his wine cellar and be a part of his collection.

"Don't fret. There's still a chance. I'll make sure that he will not turn us down next time," Mr. Gil said to comfort his daughter.

Crystal believed in his words and she trusted him.

Celia Mayer, his wife looked at her daughter's expression and she sighed.

Should her husband fail to secure her daughter's future husband, she would ask her family to put pressure on Xavier.

She agreed that only Xavier was excellent enough to match with their daughter.

Although she was upset, Crystal's mood lightened up and she smiled.

For the sake of tonight's dinner, she purposely wore her best gown and dolled herself up.

She wanted to impress him.

She had been telling her cousins and friends at school that the mighty Xavier Lockhart would be joining their family dinner tonight to discuss a very important matter.

She had even taken photos and posted them on her SNS account.

Olivia who had been closely monitoring Crystal's SNS activity sneered when she read the post.

She knew that Xavier was returning tonight and Zarah was there to pick him up.

Considering the affection the newlywed couple had, she was sure that they would go straight to their rooms and lock themselves for the entire night.

Trixie was manning Secret Haven tonight and so she was left alone at their apartment.

Then, the doorbell rang and she went out to check who it was.

She sighed after she saw who it was behind the door.

She decided to open the door and then let her visitor in.

As soon as the door opened, she was greeted by a tight hug.

"What the hell? Let go of me!" Olivia protested but the latter didn't budge.

She then smelled a strong scent of alcohol coming from the woman.

"Are you drunk?" she asked but Kelsey didn't answer her.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked again but Kelsey didn't answer.

Kelsey was taller than her and perhaps because she was drunk, she was heavier than normal.

"I'm sorry," Kelsey mumbled drunkenly.

Olivia stiffened as only she could understand what Kelsey meant.

Meanwhile, inside Secret Haven, dressed in her lady's trousers and mint green button-up shirt, with its sleeves rolled into three fourth around her arms, Trixie was behind the bartender station mixing cocktails for her patrons.

The business was booming as usual.

She suddenly saw from the corners of her eyes a familiar figure.

She asked one server to check on table number eight.

The person at table number eight was Natalie.

She could not accept what was happening to her that was why she decided to drown herself in alcohol.

She thought Josh would accept her totally after knowing that she was pregnant yet she was wrong.

He didn't want anything to do with her or their baby.

After confirming the person on table number 8, Trixie left the bartender station and approached her.

Natalie was on her nth glass when she heard someone speaking beside her.

"Alcohol is not good for the baby, Natalie."

As she heard one of the Irving twins speaking to her, Natalie looked beside her and then said, "Oh! Are you Trixie? Or Olivia?"

Trixie grabbed the chair and then sat across her without asking for permission.

"I've heard that you're pregnant with Josh's baby," Trixie stated and Natalie frowned.

She had only told Zarah about her pregnancy. It was highly likely that Zarah told them about this.

'Is she trying to mock my situation now?' Natalie asked her.

"Natalie, I'm here to help."

Although Natalie had done many unforgivable things, she was carrying Josh's child. She could be lenient with her for the sake of the baby.

Natalie laughed after she heard Trixie. She thought she was hearing a joke.

"Help? What can you do? I need Josh," she slurred.

Trixie pursed her lips as she observed Natalie.

"Josh can't help you now," she said honestly. Her brother was now in rehab. And besides, she didn't have any clue about their relationship.

"It's all that b*tch's fault! She had taken away everything from me!" Natalie emotionally said.

But then she flashed a mocking smile as she knew it was pointless to tell this to Trixie as she was best friends with Zarah.

"Zarah has nothing to do with Josh now. Zarah had already broken up with him. She had let go of my brother completely."

"But she changed Josh into someone I no longer recognized!"

"After you hurt him, do you think he'll be the same? Josh changed drastically after you betrayed him. Zarah had to walk on thin ice just to please him."

"He loves her now!"

Every time they had s*x, Josh would utter Zarah's name and it made her disgusted.

Whenever Josh got drunk, he would call Zarah's name and he would push her away!

It broke Natalie's heart to know that the man she love had someone else in his heart. And that person was not her!

"She did break up with him but she steal his heart away."

"Then I think you should give up on him. Think about the baby. He or she needs you now."

"He didn't want it!" Natalie cried.

Trixie thought that Natalie might get rid of the baby since Josh didn't want to take responsibility. This was the last news that she didn't want to hear.

"Josh had a lot of things in mind right now. Give birth to his child. Perhaps his mind would change once he sees the baby."

Trixie thought that Josh would change his mind once he sees the baby.

And besides, this baby was the direct descendant of the Irving Family.

"Do you think so?"

"Yes. If you have difficulties, go to the Irving Residence. You're carrying their descendants. So, they will not let anything happen to you."

She heard that Natalie had a rough time with the Holland Family after her grandmother knew that she had gotten back with Josh.

She only received a small chunk of inheritance from Isaiah's will. Given that she had lived a life full of luxury, it would not take for the money to run out.

"Don't think of my brother for now. Think of the baby," Trixie advised and she asked the waiter to clean out the table and then escort Natalie to Irving Residence.

She also phoned her father about this so they would not be shocked to see Natalie at their doorstep.

Natalie became sobber a little bit with Trixie's words.

That was right! Josh hated her because he thought she went through an abortion and then slept with Paul which was untrue.

She would give birth to this baby and then for sure, Josh would no longer refuse the baby.

As she looked at Natalie's departing back, all she could do was sigh. She was doing this for the baby. The baby was innocent after all.

Trixie returned to behind the bartender station without knowing that someone was observing her from the VIP table.

He had been observing her for quite some time now. Kelsey would never expect to see him here as her brother had no business engagements in Oakridge City.

"First Master Dawson, do you like her?" His companion asked the man immediately.

Tyler Dawson didn't answer but his gaze was fixed on Trixie.

He had a great impression of her.

"I can help you with her," the man confidently said and this caught Tyler Dawson's interest.

However, he snorted immediately.

"I don't need anyone's help when it comes to pursuing a woman."

He was the young master of the Dawson family. He was used to getting what he wanted without anyone's help.

Like a man of his word, Tyler got up and headed toward the bar.

The live band was playing and the audience was pumped up.

He cruised his way through the crowd and finally reached his destination.

Through the dim lights, Tyler observed Trixie's facial features.

He was satisfied with what he saw.

"Can I help you with your order, sir?"

"Can I have a glass of Autumn please?", his melodious voice rang.

"As in the season's name," Trixie asked with a chuckle.

"Yes."

"Coming right up!"

As expected, he observed the way Trixie prepared his drink.

His hot gaze turned Trixie uncomfortable.

'As expected! He's one of those f*ck boys in town.'

"Are you the lone bartender here?"

"No. Usually, there're two of them. The other is on the way while the other one can't make it tonight," she answered honestly.

After she made his drink, she gave it to him.

"Your glass of Autumn is done and served."

"Thank you."

"What time will your shift end?"

"Ahm. I'm sorry but I don't disclose information to customers." Trixie heaved a sigh of relief after she saw that the bartender on duty had arrived.

"What a shame," Tyler Dawson said in disappointment however Trixie flashed an apologizing smile.

The last thing she wanted to deal with right now was a drunk customer who only wanted to go under her pants.

"Max! Please take over."

"Yes, Boss T!"

"Max can take your next order in case you wanted another one," she told him.

"You're leaving?" Tyler asked as he didn't want her to leave yet.

"I have other matters to attend to. I'm sorry if I can't keep you company. I hope you enjoy it and have a great night! Excuse me."

Trixie didn't hold back and left the bartender station.

"Don't go!"

Max the bartender chuckled and was in the mood to give the customer a piece of advice.

"Our boss disliked it when someone tried to flirt with her."

"Oh! So she owns this bar?" Tyler finally understood why Max addressed her as 'Boss' earlier. It turned out, she was one of the owned this establishment.

"She's one of the owners," Max confirmed.

"Can you help me get her number? I'll give you a huge tip," he offered and Max refused him right away.

"It's best to express your sincerity. Perhaps the boss will be moved," he advised instead.

He was not the only man who tried to hook up with their boss. He should make an effort to prove that he's different.

Faced with the staff's rejection, Tyler was extremely annoyed.

However, he was also challenged. He had never paid attention to women before.

This was the reason why he asked his companion earlier to not bring him into the usual bar as he disliked women who would hover around for his attention.

Nevertheless, he didn't expect that the tables had turned and he wanted to get a woman's attention instead.

He saw in her eyes that she was not playing hard to get. She disliked him. Perhaps he made a wrong impression and he was willing to correct that.

He was sure that his sister would laugh at him should she know that he was willing to use underhand tricks just to be noticed by a woman.

Indeed, the woman he chose to fancy was not ordinary.

"If I say that I'm serious, will you help me?" Tyler asked him and Max only smiled in response.

Of course, he would protect his bosses from people like them.

Tyler knew that Max would not help him and so he devised a plan in his head. The first thing he should do was to learn from the expert.

***