Chapter89 She Only Has Eyes for Our Captain
A familiar voice rang out, and Harrison instinctively looked over. Sure enough, it was Miranda.
Early this morning, he'd gone to the hospital with the sapphire necklace Ariana had picked out, only to find she'd already been discharged. The nurse told him Miranda had left.
An inexplicable anger simmered inside him. He felt like Miranda was deliberately avoiding him.
Not wanting to waste Ariana's thoughtful gesture, he'd planned to find another opportunity to give it to her. So he'd brought Ariana to this newly opened restaurant for a meal, never expecting to run into Miranda here.
What irritated him even more was that she was surrounded by several men.
His gaze swept past the crowd and landed on the man sitting beside Miranda. It was that cop from the hospital yesterday.
A toxic mix of jealousy and rage instantly surged from the depths of Harrison's heart.
Without thinking, he stood abruptly and strode toward Miranda's table.
"Miranda, when did you get discharged?" He spoke from above, his tone accusatory. "I went to the hospital to see you today. You weren't there."
Miranda looked up. When she saw it was Harrison, her brow furrowed immediately.
Just her luck, running into him even during a meal.
She couldn't be bothered to pretend. Her voice was flat. "When I got discharged is none of your business. Please don't interrupt our meal."
As soon as she finished speaking, Clifton picked up a fresh set of utensils and naturally handed them to her.
Miranda took them without hesitation.
The effortless intimacy between them stabbed straight into Harrison's eyes.
The fury in his chest burned hotter, nearly breaking through his rational control.
"Ha, Miranda, you really are something." He laughed bitterly, his mocking gaze shooting directly at Clifton. "After leaving me, is this the best you can do? You actually settled for this kind of man?"
He brazenly looked Clifton up and down, his eyes overflowing with disdain.
"Look at what he's wearing. Do those cheap clothes even add up to a hundred dollars? His salary probably can't even cover one meal at this restaurant."
Before Clifton could react to these insulting words, his team members couldn't sit still.
Bang! One of them slammed his hand on the table and stood up, glaring at Harrison.
"Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to talk about our captain like that!"
"Exactly! Watch your damn mouth!"
Several burly men stood up in unison, their aggressive stance making the air around them tense.
Miranda's expression also turned cold.
She stood up as well, looking directly at Harrison's all-too-familiar face. "So what if I'm willing to spend money on him?"
Clifton watched the woman once again shield him protectively, darkness churning in his eyes.
He leaned back leisurely in his chair, arms crossed, not looking angry in the slightest. Instead, a playful smile curved his lips.
His teammates could clearly see their captain was enjoying this.
Understanding immediately, they took turns addressing Harrison.
"Our captain’s lady is willing to spend money on our captain. How does that concern you?"
"Unless... you like ourcaptain’s lady but couldn't win her over, and now you're lashing out?"
One team member even looked Harrison up and down dramatically, then shook his head with obvious contempt.
"That must be it. Looking at you, how could you possibly compare to our captain? Our captain's pinky finger is worth more than you!"
Harrison had never been humiliated like this. Bombarded by their comments, his face flushed red with rage.
"Me?" He trembled with anger, pointing at himself arrogantly. "I'm the CEO of Whitmore Corporation! Would I be jealous of some lowly cop? Even if he's a captain, what does that matter? He'll never reach my level in his entire life!"
"So what if you're the Whitmore CEO?" Someone immediately shot back. "Even if you were the president, our captain’s lady doesn't like you. She only has eyes for our captain."
Not satisfied with just that, he turned to Miranda. "Ma'am, isn't that right?"
Instantly, all eyes focused on Miranda.
Miranda hadn't expected the fire to suddenly turn on her.
She instinctively looked at Clifton beside her and met his smiling eyes.
Her hesitation vanished.
Meeting Harrison's gaze, she nodded, her voice clear and firm.
"Yes. I only have eyes for him."
As her words fell, Harrison's face turned dark and ugly.
Hearing the commotion, the restaurant manager hurried over with security, a professional smile on his face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what seems to be the problem? Please don't disturb the other guests."
Only then did Clifton lazily lift his eyelids. He pointed at the furious Harrison, his tone completely neutral. "We're dining peacefully. This gentleman came over to disturb us."
After hearing a whispered explanation from a nearby server, the manager turned to Harrison with a polite but distant smile. "Sir, would you like to return to your table to dine, or is there something else you need? If not, to avoid disturbing other guests, I'll have to ask you to leave."
These words were essentially a public ejection.
Harrison's face alternated between pale and flushed. He glared daggers at Miranda and Clifton, but ultimately swallowed his humiliation and returned angrily to his seat.
As soon as he sat down, Ariana returned from touching up her makeup in the restroom. She immediately spotted Miranda at the next table, her face lighting up with delight.
"Harrison, what a coincidence! Miranda's here too."
She reached for the delicate jewelry box on the table. "Perfect timing. Why don't we go over and give this to Miranda now?"
"Don't touch it!"
Harrison frowned, stopping her movement.
Ariana jumped at his sudden outburst, her hand freezing mid-air as she looked at him with hurt confusion. "Harrison... what's wrong?"
Realizing he'd overreacted, Harrison took a deep breath and waved his hand irritably. "Never mind."
He grabbed the jewelry box and shoved it into Ariana's hands.
"Here. You wear it."
Though Ariana didn't know exactly what had just happened, she guessed it must have something to do with Miranda.
A flash of malice crossed her eyes, but when she looked up again, her face wore a pitiful expression.
She spoke softly to Harrison. "Harrison, will you help me put it on?"
Harrison paused for a second, then agreed. "Fine."
He deliberately glanced at Miranda before opening the box gently and taking out the sapphire necklace that sparkled brilliantly under the lights. He personally fastened it around Ariana's neck.
The cool gemstone touched her warm skin, and Ariana's face broke into a blissfully sweet smile.
Harrison's fingers brushed over the dazzling centerpiece stone as he spoke at a volume carefully calibrated to reach the next table.
"It looks beautiful on you."
He paused, then added pointedly.
"Unlike some men who probably couldn't afford a necklace like this even with ten years' salary."