Calista and Paul had chosen an upscale restaurant for lunch. As Calista exited the taxi, she spotted the man she was meeting waiting for her. Paul casually took the toolbox from her hand."How have these past few days been treating you?" "It's been going well," Calista replied. Paul led her inside the restaurant.He hesitated before warning, "My grandfather was quite sociable, so don't be surprised." Calista was puzzled. However, it all became clear when they reached the private dining room. She had assumed it would just be Paul's grandfather. To her surprise, the room was full of people. Paul cleared his throat."These are all friends of my grandfather. They had a golf game scheduled for this afternoon and shared a keen interest in art appraisal, so they decided to join us. If it's an issue for you ..." Calista shook her head."No worries. But I should mention that I'm not an expert in appraising artifacts, so my findings might not be entirely accurate." In reality, the
Lucian gave her a look that read, "That's such an obvious question.""Not a chance!"Calista was never going to let him stay here."One thousand dollars a night."He tried to negotiate."No. Who knows what you're gonna do to me.""Why are you so confident that I'm going to do something to you?"She naturally recalled the unpleasant experience, which made the corner of her lips twitch."Anyways, you cannot stay here."She had an idea to make the divorce happen—living separately from him for two years. Lucian's expression was icy as he became impatient."Mom knows that we're living separately.""It's still a no.""Ten thousand dollars per day."He offered so much that Calista finally gave in. Her attitude turned better as she accepted the offer. "The payment shall be made at the end of the day. No checks accepted. You can wire the money to me."While he was at a loss for words, she showed him her bank account number. He had a glimpse of it before shifting his gaze away.
Lily finally calmed down. She looked at Lucian."Lucian, I'm alright. Don't worry."Before Lily and Queenie entered the lounge, the latter revealed Lily's schedule implicitly through a call. Silence dawned upon the air. Even the music was stopped. Everyone present couldn't ignore the cold air flowing from Lucian. Sneering, Calista shifted her gaze and thought, "These two are shameless." "They're displaying affection in public when I'm around. I wonder how far they can go behind my back."As an afterthought, she deemed the divorce with Lucian was the wisest choice she had ever made. Lucian read her expression, and the others could tell that he was very upset.No one uttered a word. The invisible weight in the air loomed over them as it exuded from him. As the host, Andrew endured the pressure to relax the atmosphere."Mr. Northwood, have a seat."The main purpose of the entire plan was to win Lucian's favor. Although things were not going according to Andrew's plan, he was one
"Mr. Yarrow humiliated you under Calista's orders. If Mr. Northwood hadn't come, the investment would've gone out of the window.""You danced for nothing," Queenie said.Even though Lucian wouldn't do anything to Calista just because she said that, Queenie thought he would at least comfort Lily. Yet, he didn't say anything.Queenie looked at him only to see his distracted side. He wasn't listening to her.After making the phone call, Andrew asked carefully, "Mr. Northwood, it will take some time before the contract is printed. How about a drink together?""It's fine. Pass it to Ms. Yates after it's done. I have something else to attend to."Andrew was speechless by how quickly Lucian changed his attitude. Had he not been watching Lucian, Andrew would've thought that the person who wanted the contract clinched urgently was someone else.Lily stood up."It won't take long. We can go home with Queenie to drop her home along the way."Queenie's place was located along the way to E
Lucian hummed noncommittally. Calista waited, but he did not say anything else."Say what you need to say, then let go," she snapped impatiently.Lucian stared at her. Calista was frowning, her annoyance with him apparent. He pursed his lips. He did not like the way she was acting toward him.In the past, no matter how cold he was toward her, she had always been pleasant. But now …He frowned."Let's go."Calista was confused. Where did he want to go? What was wrong with him? Calista backed away warily, staring at him as if he were a pervert. Lucian did not like her instinctive reaction.Coldly, he said, "If you want to know who that person was, you'll follow me.""Just give me a name. It's not safe for us to be out alone at this time of the night."Lucian was furious. He gripped the handle of the door so tightly that the veins on his hands popped."Calista, what do you think I'll do to you?""How would I know?"Calista lifted her chin. Even though she was a good six inches
Nikolette tried to avoid answering him. She did not want to show weakness in front of Calista. However, the woman beside her opened her mouth. She was the waitress at the cafe."I'll talk! Ms. Everhart …"She tried to approach Calista, but one of the bodyguards pulled her back."I sent the audio recording to a friend by mistake, and then," she pointed at Nikolette furiously, "she came to me and forced me to sell her the recording. She said she's your sister, and the recording was damaging your reputation. I thought she seemed trustworthy, so I sold it to her. I didn't know she would be so evil and leak it to the press!"Not everything she said was true, but Nikolette did not refute any of it. She held her head high and looked at Calista haughtily."So what if I leaked it to the press? It's the truth anyway, isn't it, Calista? I didn't just leak the recording to the press, I also leaked the photos of you with Mr. Northwood. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to marry him, given your s
Lucian's lips were pursed tightly as he looked at Calista."Why are you interested?""I'm just …"Before she could finish, she grabbed the handle above her in horror and screamed, "Keep your eyes on the road, Lucian! You're driving! Look in front!Her voice was shrill to the point of breaking.The road they were driving on was not busy, but it also wasn't empty. Lucian kept staring at her without slowing down, so they were close to hitting the car in front of them.Calista closed her eyes tightly and screamed, "We're going to hit them!"The breaks squealed shrilly, but the impact did not happen. Apart from the strain of the seatbelt tightening around her, Calista did not feel any pain.Calista opened her eyes. There was only a very small distance between the Bentley and the car in front. If Lucian had hit the breaks just a second later …Calista was furious."Lucian Northwood, if you want to die, go and die somewhere far away from me. I have no intention of dying with you. Ot
Selena placed a hand over her chest as she got up. She felt overwhelmed by the information, to the point that she had lost her appetite. Calista moved to help her, but she turned her down."I need some quiet. Finish your food, then leave. I don't know how many more surprises like this my heart can withstand."Then, she waved a hand at Macy."Give them the invitation."Macy picked up an invitation from the coffee table and handed it to Calista before going to the kitchen.Technically, Lucian was her employer, so she should've given the invitation to him instead of Calista, but his cold smile terrified her.Calista opened the invitation. It was an invitation to an engagement party. When she saw the bride's name, she raised an eyebrow. It was one of her classmates from university.Lucian had been looking at her, so when he saw her expression, he asked, "Someone you don't like?""Not really. We weren't close."It was the kind of natural enmity between the top of the class and the