Chapter 54
Ainsley took a deep breath, straightened her clothes and hair, and walked over quickly.
"Mr. Brown, what a coincidence." Ainsley showed a gentle smile on her face and handed over the desserts in her hand. "I made some desserts myself. I know you like sweets, so I brought them specially for you."
When William saw it was her, he frowned, his eyes showing a hint of impatience. "Ms. Smith, I don't need them. Please take them back."
"Mr. Brown, I made these especially for you. Please accept them." Ainsley refused to give up and insisted on handing the desserts to him.
Seeing this, Chase quickly stepped forward and positioned himself between William and Ainsley. "Ms. Smith, Mr. Brown said he doesn't need them. Please don't make things difficult for us."
"This is just a small token of my appreciation, not anything expensive. Why can't you accept it?" Ainsley said somewhat emotionally.
"Ms. Smith, Mr. Brown has an important meeting to attend. He doesn't have time to deal with this here." Chase's tone turned cold. "Please leave, or we'll have to call security."
Ainsley looked at William's cold eyes, then at Chase's serious expression, knowing that insisting further would be useless.
She felt both angry and wronged, tears welling up in her eyes, but she held them back.
"Fine, I'll go," Ainsley said through gritted teeth, glared hard at William, then turned and ran off.
After running a few steps, she stopped, threw the desserts hard on the ground, and they scattered everywhere, just like her shattered self-respect at that moment.
William watched her retreating figure, his expression unchanged, and said to Chase, "Don't let her in again."
"Yes, Mr. Brown," Chase replied and bent down to clean up the desserts on the ground.
William walked into the building, his impression of Ainsley even worse now.
He hadn't expected Ainsley to be so persistent and to speak so poorly of Ophelia, which really disgusted him.
Meanwhile, Ophelia was in a meeting, completely unaware of what had happened on William's side.
After the meeting ended, Della came up to Ophelia, looking gossipy. "Ms. Blake, I just heard that Ainsley blocked Mr. Brown downstairs at the Brown Group early this morning and tried to give him desserts, but got chased away by Mr. Brown's assistant."
Ophelia was stunned. "Ainsley? What did she want with Mr. Brown?"
"Who knows, probably trying to pursue Mr. Brown," Della said. "I heard Mr. Brown completely ignored her and told Chase not to let her into the Brown Group anymore."
Ophelia was somewhat surprised, not expecting Ainsley to be so direct.
She felt strangely uncomfortable but couldn't describe the feeling.
"Ms. Blake, do you think Mr. Brown really likes you? Otherwise, why would he be so cold to Ainsley but so nice to you?" Della said gossip.
Ophelia glared at him. "Don't talk nonsense. William and I just have a pure business relationship."
"Business relationship?" Della raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe it. The way Mr. Brown looks at you is different, full of tenderness, completely different from how he treats Ainsley."
Ophelia's cheeks flushed at his words. She ignored him and turned back to her workstation.
She took out her phone, hesitated, then sent William a message: "I heard Ainsley came to see you today?"
William replied quickly: "Yes, she brought something over. I had Chase return it."
"She didn't give you trouble, did she?" Ophelia asked.
"No, just a bit persistent," William replied. "Don't worry, I've had Chase handle it. I won't let her bother me again."
Looking at the message, Ophelia felt slightly relieved, but also somewhat conflicted.
She knew Ainsley had always targeted her, and now Ainsley had set her sights on William, too. It seemed there would be plenty of trouble ahead.
Early the next morning, when Ophelia arrived at the Smith Group, she saw a delivery at the front desk.
It was an elegant black gift box with no sender information.
She opened it to find a champagne-colored haute couture dress, sized as if custom-made for her.
At the bottom of the box was a card in William's handwriting:
"Friday night business gala at Emerald City, the Brown Group is one of the hosts. I need a female companion. The formal dress has been ordered in your size, so feel free to wear it."
Ophelia's fingers brushed over the dress fabric, her cheeks warming. She knew about this gala—Emerald City's annual business highlight. The Smith Group, as a core enterprise, had to attend. She just hadn't expected William to send a dress directly.
She picked up her phone and messaged: "The dress is beautiful, thank you. But I can go to the gala myself, no need to be your date to avoid misunderstandings."
William replied instantly: "The Smith Group and the Brown Group's tourism project is at a critical stage. We attending together will give our partners more confidence. Besides, you can't wear business attire to an evening gala, right?"
"Just think of it as for the project." He added another line, followed by a pitiful emoji.
Looking at that emoji, so unlike his usual cold image, Ophelia couldn't help but smile. She did need a suitable dress. After hesitating, she replied: "Alright, thank you."
"Friday at seven, I'll pick you up." William's message carried an undeniable certainty.
Friday arrived quickly. Ophelia put on the dress, simply pinned up her hair, wore pearl earrings, and was somewhat surprised when she stood before the mirror. The dress perfectly outlined her figure, the champagne color making her skin look fair, gentle yet capable.
Just as she finished getting ready, the doorbell rang. William stood at the door in a black handmade suit that made him look tall and straight. Seeing her, a flash of amazement crossed his eyes, then he smiled: "Very beautiful."
"Thanks for the dress." Ophelia instinctively smoothed her skirt.
"I meant you." William's gaze was serious. "The dress just adds to your beauty."
Ophelia's cheeks grew warmer. She turned to grab her evening bag: "Let's go, don't be late."
William naturally extended his arm. Ophelia hesitated, then lightly took it, and they walked out of the villa side by side.
The gala was held in a top hotel ballroom. As soon as William and Ophelia entered, they attracted everyone's attention.
"That's the Smith Group's vice president, right? Young, beautiful, and such a good presence."
"Next to her is the Brown Group's William? They look so perfect together."
"I heard they're collaborating on a tourism project. Looks like this partnership is solid."
Hearing the comments, Ophelia instinctively wanted to let go, but William gently held her hand: "Don't be nervous, just treat it as regular business."
She steadied herself and followed William to greet the other guests one by one. Daniel walked over with a smile: "Mr. Brown, Ms. Blake, you two really are a perfect match. With you two joining forces on this project, it's sure to succeed."
"Mr. Wilson is too kind," Ophelia responded politely. "We'll need your continued support going forward."