Chapter 220 Professional Man-Stealer
After chatting for a while longer, Kismet finally stood up, smoothing down her outfit as she headed toward Emily's location. She wanted to orchestrate a perfect "chance encounter" with Emily, making sure she got a good look at this necklace and understood exactly who mattered most to Charles.
At that moment, Emily was sparring with Alice in the training ring, sweat streaming down her cheeks and dampening the hair at her temples. Despite this, her eyes remained focused, every movement precise and professional.
Kismet deliberately slowed her pace, walking over to sit in the spectator area beside the ring, pretending to watch the training. Every so often, she'd casually lift her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, ensuring the necklace's brilliant gleam caught Emily's line of sight repeatedly.
"Emily, what a coincidence running into you here!" When Emily and Alice paused for a break, Kismet walked over with a smile, her tone as intimate as if they were longtime friends. "I came by today to bring a friend some things—never expected to see you here."
Emily looked up, her gaze involuntarily drawn to the necklace around Kismet's neck. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible fist, sending waves of dense, prickling pain through her chest. But she quickly composed herself, responding flatly and offering no additional words.
Kismet acted as if she hadn't noticed the cool reception, actually moving closer and letting her fingers trace the ruby pendant with deliberate casualness. Her tone carried a hint of showing off, "Do you like this necklace too? Isn't it absolutely gorgeous? Charles bid on it at the auction. I actually mentioned to him at the time how the pigeon blood red was such a perfect shade and would probably suit me beautifully. I never imagined he'd actually buy it."
She paused, her voice taking on a dreamy quality. "You know, Charles and I grew up together, and the Windsor family elders have always thought we made a perfect match. Sometimes, I can't help wondering if we might actually end up together someday."
As she spoke, she watched Emily's expression like a hawk, noting with inner satisfaction how Emily's fingertips had gone slightly white from tension.
But then suddenly, she covered her mouth with her hand, putting on an expression of mortified panic. "Oh my goodness, Emily, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say all that—please don't misunderstand! I was just making casual conversation. After all, you're his girlfriend. I really do wish you both well and hope you and Charles can be happy together. Please don't let my thoughtless words affect your relationship."
The hypocrisy dripping from every word was so thick that even Alice, standing nearby, couldn't stomach it. She was about to speak up when Emily stopped her with a look. Emily swallowed the churning emotions in her chest. "I still have training to finish, so I won't keep chatting."
With that, she turned to pick up her sparring gloves and walked back to the center of the ring. This time, however, there was a barely perceptible stiffness to her movements.
Kismet watched Emily's retreating figure, a victorious smile curling at the corners of her mouth before she turned and left the training area. This was exactly the effect she'd wanted—to rattle Emily, make her lose focus during training, and hopefully impact her evaluation scores directly.
After Kismet left, Alice couldn't contain her disgust. "God, Kismet is so two-faced! She was obviously just showing off, but then pretends to be all supportive and caring. I bet that guy didn't even give her that necklace on purpose—she probably snatched it for herself!"
Alice was just a regular trainee who knew nothing about high society drama, but she could recognize a hypocritical woman when she saw one, and could easily read between the lines about the relationship dynamics between these women and Charles.
Emily pulled off her gloves and wiped the sweat from her forehead, exhaustion showing on her face. "However she got it, the fact is that the necklace is around her neck now."
She'd come to this training camp to prove she was worthy of Charles, to earn the Windsor family's approval. But now it seemed that maybe from the very beginning, there had been too many obstacles between her and Charles—like Kismet, like the Windsor family elders, and all those unresolved misunderstandings.
But quickly, her resolve hardened again.
Even without Charles, she was going to pass this evaluation. This wasn't just about her pride—it was about proving her capabilities. Even if she and Charles ended up breaking up, she wanted to leave on her own terms, with dignity intact, not rattled by some other woman's jewelry power play.
"Let's continue."
Since she was here, she might as well make the most of it. This kind of systematic training opportunity was too rare to waste.
Whatever happened between her and Charles in the end, the skills she learned here would be the one thing that could never betray her!
After leaving the training camp, Kismet didn't go straight home. Instead, she drove around town until evening, only returning leisurely to Windsor Group as the sun was setting. She deliberately removed the ruby necklace from around her neck, placing it carefully in an elegant jewelry box before knocking on Charles's office door.
"Charles, the auction house finally got their paperwork sorted out. I just went to pick up the necklace. I'm so sorry it took this long."
Charles was bent over documents when she entered, looking up to accept the jewelry box and glancing briefly at its contents.
The pigeon blood ruby necklace lay quietly on its velvet cushion, the color as brilliant as ever. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind—even the slowest auction house wouldn't drag paperwork out until evening, but seeing Kismet's earnest expression, he pushed down his suspicions and simply said, "Not your fault. Thanks for handling it. Just leave it on my desk."
"Of course, happy to help." Kismet smiled in response, her gaze sweeping across the desk calendar as she added with apparent casualness, "By the way, Charles, it's almost six o'clock now—the shoot at Skyline Entertainment should be wrapping up soon. If you're too busy, I could go pick up the children for you. I've been missing them anyway."
She'd calculated that Charles would definitely still be buried in work at this hour, expecting him to readily agree. But to her surprise, Charles refused without hesitation, "No need. I already sent Nathan to get them."
He couldn't quite explain why, but despite their childhood friendship, he always maintained his guard around Kismet.
Especially when it came to the children, he wouldn't budge an inch. He could see that the kids weren't particularly warm toward Kismet and were even somewhat resistant to her, so naturally, he wouldn't allow her to spend time alone with them.
Kismet's smile froze momentarily, but she managed to maintain her composure. "That's fine then. Nathan is definitely reliable."
After leaving Windsor Group, instead of going home, Kismet turned her car toward Charles' estate.
As soon as she entered the house, she headed straight for the kitchen and began bossing around the chef, "Don't make regular family food tonight—I'm planning the menu. Start with French pan-seared foie gras with blueberry compote, then Beef Wellington, medium-rare. Add truffle pasta with cheese, and finish with tiramisu for dessert."
The chef felt uneasy—Charles never let the children eat such rich food. But given Kismet's relationship with the Windsor family, he had no choice but to follow her instructions.