Chapter 130: She Now Has a New Family
Every gallery exhibition was handled by Jennifer and her team.
Since Samuel didn't start the gallery to make a profit, and Elijah wasn't specifically in charge of exhibitions, no one knew Jennifer had been overcharging by so much!
She had been secretly stealing money from the gallery all along!
"It's nothing, you can tell just by looking."
She reviewed all the art exhibitions the gallery had held over the years.
By coincidence, several materials were developed by Galactic Aurora Collective. After testing, they didn't meet Catherine's standards, so the patents were sold to other labs.
No one knew the costs of those materials better than she did!
Plus, the markup in Jennifer's quotes was really outrageous.
Those material patents were indeed sold to the Hughes family's company, while the successful products from Galactic Aurora Collective's experiments were sold by their own company.
Charles had several material companies under him that had long-term partnerships with Galactic Aurora Collective.
"Ms. Windsor, Jennifer was taken away, but will the people under her leak information about the exhibition? Will our exhibition tomorrow be affected?"
Elijah never expected Jennifer to be that kind of person!
If she could steal money from the gallery for so many years, she might also leak business secrets to the Hughes family's gallery!
"It's fine, I've already made changes. We'll start setting up once the materials arrive."
"Okay!"
Though Elijah still felt uncertain about tomorrow's exhibition, seeing Catherine's calm expression suddenly filled him with confidence!
Catherine was so capable, maybe she had some ace up her sleeve she hadn't revealed yet?
After handling the gallery matters, the moon hung high outside the window.
Annie knocked on the office door. "Ms. Windsor, Mr. Howard is here to pick you up for dinner."
Dinner? Tonight they were supposed to eat at the Windsor family home. Looking at the time, the family had probably called several times already.
She checked her phone and sure enough, there were several messages from Marcus asking why she wasn't home yet.
"Catherine, why aren't you home yet?"
"Buy me a box of macarons on your way home, I'm craving them."
"It's okay if you can't get them, don't go out of your way. Just hurry home!"
A faint smile appeared on Catherine's lips. She could already picture Marcus chattering away in front of her, eagerly wanting dessert.
"Grandpa, I'm coming home now. Don't wait for me to eat, you all go ahead."
Marcus replied almost instantly: "We must wait! Come back soon!"
Catherine got up and put on her coat, continuing to discuss tomorrow's exhibition setup details with Elijah as she walked out.
Annie followed behind with a professional smile.
Catherine was so charming when she worked!
Just listening to her arrange work, Annie could feel the personal charisma Catherine radiated with every gesture. It was absolutely captivating.
"Ms. Windsor, don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on things. You go home and have dinner."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
Catherine walked toward the Cayenne parked by the roadside. Annie had already opened the car door and bowed slightly, waiting for Catherine to get in.
Alexander sat inside the car, his eyes never leaving Catherine for a second. Even after she got in, his gaze remained intense!
Every time he saw her, he couldn't bear to look away. He always felt he could never look at her enough!
"Is it okay if we stop by a dessert shop first? My grandpa wants some dessert from there."
Annie immediately spoke up: "Of course! Absolutely!"
If Catherine asked for it, buying dessert was nothing at all.
Alexander looked at Annie strangely, wondering why his assistant was being so enthusiastic toward Catherine.
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me. Whatever you say, Mr. Howard will definitely agree!"
Annie's heart trembled. She saw Alexander looking at her unfavorably in the rearview mirror. Had she said something wrong?
After thinking for a while, Annie figured it out. She was probably too enthusiastic toward Catherine, making Alexander jealous. Who could blame Catherine for being so charming!
To protect her job and future, Annie chose to be a qualified assistant and please Alexander at all times.
Sure enough, after she said that, Alexander's expression improved considerably!
"Does Catherine like any particular dessert?"
"No, I don't like sweets."
But when Elodie was alive, she also loved macarons. Seeing Marcus say he wanted some made Catherine's heart feel sweet too.
Her current family was also wonderful!
It's just that no one could replace Elodie's place in her heart. Though Elodie would never have the chance in this lifetime to ask her for two macarons again.
Thinking of Elodie, Catherine's eyes showed a hint of melancholy.
Alexander squeezed Catherine's hand and put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.
"Let go."
"Let me hold you for a bit, just a moment. You might not know this, but looking at all those financial reports is really tiring."
The Howard Group's workload was too heavy. Before meeting Catherine, Alexander basically lived at the office, rarely even going home.
But after meeting her, he always wanted to go home!
Even though his home was still cold and decorated luxuriously enough to be a showroom, without the feeling a home should have.
But just standing in his room looking at Catherine's lit bedroom, watching the pink lace curtains being drawn, the flickering lights had accompanied Alexander through countless days and nights.
He really looked forward to the day when he could live together with Catherine!
Until then, even just looking at her room across the large garden was enough!
Catherine was at a loss for words. She didn't push Alexander away from this intimate gesture.
She just said flatly: "If there's too much work, you don't have to do it."
"Heartless." Alexander's breath fell on her neck, warm and ticklish, like a feather brushing past, making Catherine unconsciously scrunch her neck.
His voice was low and seductive, with a subtle teasing quality.
"I work hard to have more time to spend with you."
Otherwise, why would he pile all his work together?
"But now it seems my fiancée is also a workaholic. Looks like I'll need to make an appointment to go on a date with you in the future."
He had waited outside her office for a long time. The gallery office had floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and Alexander could see Catherine's busy figure inside just by looking up slightly.
It turned out that even just watching like this, he could feel his heart beating. Every time he saw her, he couldn't control his crazy heartbeat!
At the dessert shop, Alexander held Catherine back: "I'll go buy them, it's windy outside."
The night wind in Imperia City was indeed a bit strong, and the evening was cool. He didn't want her to get out and be in the wind.
Catherine had to wait in the car, watching Alexander get out in his well-fitted suit and stride into the dessert shop.
Alexander seemed to become the center and focus of any crowd wherever he went, with all the surrounding lights becoming his backdrop!
Ten minutes later, Alexander got back in the car with a large pile of desserts.
"Why so many?"
Marcus needed to control his blood sugar and couldn't eat that many sweets.
"I bought some for everyone. When you were preparing gifts, didn't you tell me to remember your family? They'll be my family too."
His tone was gentle, his expression tender.
"Catherine, I love you, and I'll love your family too."