Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"Come on, let's celebrate our reunion and my upcoming farewell to single life - my treat! Then let's check out my new apartment so you know where it is. I'm telling you, my fiancé decorated our new place amazingly. You're definitely going to love it!"

I happily agreed.

Jonathan expertly led me to a Western restaurant on the top floor of the mall and ordered our food.

But just as I was starting to relax, I felt like everything today was working against me.

I picked up my water glass and took a sip. My eyes casually swept toward the restaurant entrance, and I nearly choked on the water!

The two people who had just walked in, being led inside by the waiter, weren't they Wellington and that red-haired woman?!

I was scared out of my wits and instinctively ducked down, hiding under the table.

Inside, I was screaming, Not them again! Harmony City is so big, there are so many restaurants - why did we have to run into them again?!

"Matilda? What are you doing?" Jonathan was startled by my sudden movement and asked in confusion.

I pointed shakily toward the entrance, "My boss is here again!"

Jonathan looked in the direction I was pointing, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"What a coincidence!" He smiled, his eyes clearly sparkling with gossip.

"So what if they're here? What are you afraid of? You were pretty tough confronting your boss downstairs just now. That line about 'just a boss' - so cool!"

"Jonathan! Stop it!" I was so anxious that I was almost in tears, pleading in a low voice.

"Let's go somewhere else, please!"

"Go where? We already ordered."

Jonathan remained unmoved, grinning mischievously as he suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist.

Caught off guard, he yanked me up hard!

I got up so fast I nearly knocked over my chair, fumbling to grab the table edge to steady myself.

And naturally, this commotion caught the attention of the two people who had just walked in.

I stiffly, bit by bit, lifted my head.

Sure enough, Wellington and the red-haired woman were standing right next to our table. Wellington's gaze had already moved past the waiter and landed precisely on my panicked face.

A clear flash of surprise crossed his ice-blue eyes, followed by a slight furrow of his brow.

The red-haired woman beside him also looked over curiously.

Our eyes met.

I wanted to evaporate on the spot, so embarrassed that my toes were curling.

I could only desperately shoot death rays at Jonathan with my eyes: You did that on purpose! You absolutely did that on purpose!

Jonathan completely ignored my glare, shrugged, and made an innocent expression like "I don't have eyes in the back of my head, how was I supposed to know they'd come here?"

I quickly let go of the table edge, instinctively wanting to cover my face, but then thought that was too stupid, so I just stiffly looked away and pretended to straighten my clothes.

Fortunately, Wellington only looked at me for a few seconds and didn't seem inclined to come over and say hello.

He quickly withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly to the waiter, and then sat down with the red-haired woman at the table right next to ours.

I collapsed back into my chair, my heart still pounding wildly.

This meal tasted like cardboard to me, and I couldn't sit still.

Although there was some distance between the two tables and I couldn't hear what they were talking about at all.

But my peripheral vision kept drifting toward them, intentionally or not.

I saw Wellington pull out the chair for the red-haired woman, saw him hand her the menu, and ask her something in a low voice.

He even quite naturally took the steak from in front of the red-haired woman and skillfully cut it into small pieces for her.

And each time I saw this, a voice in my heart kept reminding me, 'See? He can actually treat everyone the same way.'

Jonathan saw all my restlessness, but this time he was tactful enough not to call it out, just kept finding light topics to chat with me about, trying to distract me.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

I could barely wait until we finished eating. I immediately urged Jonathan to pay the bill, then pulled him along as I fled the restaurant.

Jonathan went to the underground parking garage to get his car and told me to wait for him at the mall's main entrance.

The evening wind blew with a chill. I couldn't help but hug myself, standing alone at the neon-lit mall entrance.

Around me were people coming and going, laughter and chatter, busy traffic, but I seemed unable to see or hear any of it.

I stared at the dazzling advertising boards across the street, a bit dazed.

I couldn't help wondering what the relationship between Wellington and that red-haired woman really was.

They couldn't just be ordinary friends, right? And it probably wasn't like the relationship between him and me either.

That woman's outfit and appearance were so refined and dazzling - clearly not an ordinary person. Maybe she was his arranged marriage partner.

I shook my head hard, so hard it made me a bit dizzy.

Matilda, snap out of it!

What's their relationship got to do with you?

It ended long ago - no, it never even started!

You were just his temporary amusement. Now he has a new companion who's more suitable, more fitting for his status. You should be glad, you should finally give up!

But that fine, dense feeling of loss at the bottom of my heart still made me feel terrible.

"Where did your companion go?" Just as I was lost in thought, a deep male voice suddenly sounded beside me.

I jumped, my whole body trembling, and whipped my head around.

Wellington had somehow also come to the mall entrance and was standing just a few steps away from me.

"Mr. Learmond?" My heart was racing, and I instinctively stepped back half a step.

"You... how come you..."

Seeing my intense reaction, he let out an almost imperceptible sigh. "Although you're not working on my team anymore, you don't need to be this afraid of me, do you?"

Afraid of you? I hate you! I'm disgusted by you! I want to stay far away from you!

I screamed wildly in my heart, but I didn't dare say it out loud. I could only lower my head, avoid his gaze, unconsciously twisting the hem of my clothes with my fingers, and answer dryly.

"No, you're my boss, I just..."

"Just what?" He actually pressed.

I got stuck, not knowing what to say.

Should I say I just think you're fake and disgusting?

Or should I say that even though I can see through your fakeness, I can't help thinking about you?

Suddenly, Jonathan's car pulled up in front of me.

He rolled down the window and waved at me. "Matilda!"

My savior!

Relieved as if granted amnesty, I immediately looked up and quickly said to Wellington, "Well, my fiancé is here to pick me up!"

The words "fiancé" slipped out, and even I was stunned for a moment, but I couldn't worry about that now.

Maybe this was for the best, just like when we dealt with that disgusting Jasper!

"I'm leaving now! Goodbye, Mr. Learmond!" I ran toward Jonathan, pulled open the car door, quickly got in, and urgently urged, "Let's go!"

Jonathan raised his eyebrows in surprise, glanced through the rearview mirror at Wellington still standing there, and drove away.

Halfway there, I realized something.

I looked at Jonathan somewhat apologetically, "I think I might have gotten you into trouble."