Chapter 77 They Are All My People
Everyone in the private room froze.
Aria turned her head and saw who had arrived. Her pupils contracted slightly.
Vincent stood in the doorway, wearing a sharply tailored dark suit. His chestnut hair was slicked back with gel, a few strands falling across his forehead, adding an edge to his otherwise gentle-looking face.
For a moment, Aria almost thought it was Arthur.
Vincent's eyes swept over the mess in the room before finally settling on the gold-chain man's face. He spoke coldly:
"What exactly is going on here?"
The muscles on the gold-chain man's face twitched, his confidence instantly deflating: "Mr. Sterling? What brings you here?"
"I'm asking you." Vincent walked in, his leather shoes stepping on a cigarette butt. "Who gave you permission to bring someone to a place like this? Who said you could force drinks on her? If I hadn't come, what were you planning to do next? Get handsy?"
His tone was calm, not even raising his voice, but the men who had been jeering just moments ago now hunched their shoulders and kept their heads down, not daring to breathe too loudly.
The gold-chain man's forehead broke out in sweat: "Mr. Sterling, I... I thought since Ms. Hall is an important guest, I should give her proper hospitality."
"Proper hospitality?" Vincent seemed to laugh, though his mouth smiled, his eyes remained cold.
"Trapping someone in a private room and forcing drinks on them—you call that hospitality?"
The gold-chain man immediately fell silent.
Vincent didn't look at them anymore. He turned to Aria, his tone softening: "Ms. Hall, I apologize for frightening you."
Aria looked at him but didn't respond.
Vincent sighed lightly: "They're not educated and are used to doing things carelessly. They don't know proper manners. I'll deal with this properly later."
He spoke casually, as if handling some trivial matter.
Aria slowly withdrew her hand from her bag.
"I had no idea Mr. Sterling had this kind of position. I thought you were just a coffee shop owner."
"That coffee shop is one of my businesses." Vincent smiled slightly. "I have several operations in this area, but as you can see from the environment here, this kind of district doesn't even show up on maps in our part of town. I can only hire people like this."
He showed a bitter smile: "I never imagined they would give Ms. Hall trouble."
Aria said flatly: "It wasn't really trouble, but the environment here isn't great. Let's find another place to talk."
If she stayed any longer, she might actually throw up.
"Of course." Vincent immediately agreed, stepping aside to clear the doorway. "My car is outside."
As Aria walked out of the private room and through the lobby, Lucy was anxiously peering inside.
Seeing her come out, Lucy hurried over: "Aria! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Aria said. "Let's talk somewhere else."
Only then did Lucy notice Vincent behind her. She paused: "This gentleman..."
Aria said: "This is Mr. Sterling, he's... I guess you could say he's a friend of mine. Mr. Sterling, this is my assistant, Lucy."
Vincent smiled and extended his hand to Lucy: "Hello."
Lucy reached out and shook his hand.
...
The two cars drove out of the narrow alley one after the other. After about twenty minutes, they stopped at a private café.
Vincent led them into a private room by the window. Next to the window was a plastic bamboo decoration. When the wind blew, the bamboo leaves made a rustling sound. The air was filled with a faint floral fragrance.
"Ms. Hall has had a scare. Have some coffee to calm your nerves." Vincent personally poured the coffee with smooth, flowing movements.
Aria picked up the coffee cup but didn't drink. She just held it to warm her hands.
"Mr. Sterling." She set down the cup. "Can I assume that the person who wants to sign a contract with me is you?"
Vincent was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Yes."
"I do need to organize several events, and I originally planned to come directly to your studio to discuss it, but..."
He smiled: "But last Saturday, I noticed your husband seemed to have quite an issue with me. If I showed up uninvited, I was afraid he'd misunderstand, so I could only use this method and have my people handle it. I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
He looked at Aria with sincere eyes: "In the end, it's my fault for not thinking things through. I apologize."
Aria smiled too.
"How could this be Mr. Sterling's fault? If anyone's to blame, it's my husband for being too petty. He almost cost me business. When I get back, I'll definitely have a good talk with him."
"I'm afraid after Ms. Hall talks to him, Mr. Grant will have even more of an issue with me." Vincent joked, then like a magician, pulled out an elegant box from beside him and pushed it toward Aria.
"This is my apology gift. I hope Ms. Hall will like it."
Aria was somewhat surprised. She opened the box to find a Hermès scarf inside.
Classic orange packaging, exquisite printed pattern, giving off a faint fragrance. It looked like a small gift, but Aria, having grown up in a wealthy family, knew exactly how much this scarf cost.
She glanced at it and pushed the box back.
"Mr. Sterling, you're too kind. Today was just a misunderstanding. How could I accept such an expensive gift from you? Besides, you're my client. If anyone should be giving gifts, it should be me giving to you."
She had directly shifted the topic to business.
A flash of surprise crossed Vincent's eyes.
Aria pulled out her tablet. "This is the proposal I designed for your company. Please take a look. If you have any other requirements, we can continue discussing."
Vincent glanced at it briefly and said halfheartedly: "Looks good."
"Then can we sign the contract?"
"Well..." Vincent rubbed his thumb, thought for a moment, and smiled: "I just realized that if we sign the contract like this, we'll definitely need to communicate frequently afterward. I'm worried Mr. Grant might have feelings about it."
"How about this." He pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Aria: "This is my assistant's number. You can discuss the contract with him."
Aria looked at him, her eyes flickering slightly, then smiled and handed the card to Lucy beside her.
"In that case, I'll have my assistant handle the follow-up on the contract too."
"That works." Vincent shrugged, then seemed to remember something. "However, there's something I hope Ms. Hall can pass along to Mr. Grant."
Aria was somewhat surprised but still said: "Please go ahead."
Vincent spoke sincerely: "Please tell him that Ms. Hall is both beautiful and talented. Any man would easily be captivated by her. He shouldn't be jealous because of this—he should feel honored."
Aria's expression remained calm, showing no reaction. She wasn't happy or shy, as if she hadn't heard that it was actually a compliment at all.
This made Vincent somewhat awkward. He seemed stuck, the smile on his face becoming slightly stiff.
"Alright, I'll pass along Mr. Sterling's words."