Chapter 207 I Pester Him
Harriet was held and kissed by Tristan for quite a while before he let her go.
The next second, she felt herself lifted off the ground as Tristan scooped her up horizontally and headed toward the lounge.
"What are you doing?"
"Didn't I tell you? Making those rumors come true."
The lounge door was quickly shut and didn't open again.
Two hours later, Harriet lay exhausted on the soft bed, looking at Tristan, who seemed completely energized, totally speechless.
Tristan got dressed. "I still have a meeting. Rest for a bit, and we'll go home together after I'm done with work."
"Aren't you having dinner with Finnegan and the others?"
"I'm not going."
Harriet smiled. "You should go, or people will say you value romance over friendship."
"Then come with me."
"I'm not interested."
"You haven't seen Finnegan in a long time. Let's all get together."
Harriet thought about it and agreed. "Okay."
Harriet lay there for a while before going to the bathroom to shower.
In the evening, the two left Apex Global Group and headed straight to the restaurant.
Quinlan had booked an upscale restaurant. The private room had floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, offering a view of Emberfall's beautiful and bustling nightscape.
When they arrived, Finnegan and Quinlan were already sitting and chatting.
Quinlan seemed surprised that Harriet had come. Her smile froze for a moment, then she quickly called over a server. "Sorry, we have one more person. Could you please bring us another set of utensils?"
Harriet smiled faintly.
She had been to this restaurant with Niamh before. The service was excellent—the servers would bring extra utensils without being asked.
Quinlan was deliberately emphasizing that she was the extra person.
Tristan clearly didn't catch the undertone in Quinlan's words. He pulled out a chair for Harriet. "Sit."
"Thanks."
Harriet sat down and started chatting with Finnegan.
Quinlan, being left out, looked even more upset.
She hid the darkness in her eyes and smiled. "I'll order. Tristan, do you still like the same things as before?"
Tristan spoke up. "Give me the menu. Let Harriet order."
Quinlan had no choice but to pass over the menu.
"I'm fine with anything." Harriet looked at Tristan. "You decide."
"Okay."
Tristan ordered Harriet's favorites and instructed, "My wife's steak should be cooked medium-well."
Quinlan actually laughed out loud and said with disdain, "Who eats steak medium-well?"
Harriet ignored her and looked directly at the server. "Can you not do medium-well?"
"Of course we can." The server said respectfully, "Does Mrs. Lancaster have any other requests?"
"No, thank you."
The server quickly left.
Quinlan took a sip of water and said, "Ms. Getty, let me remind you, a medium-rare steak has the best taste."
Harriet smiled faintly. "Ms. Stewart likes to lecture people, but everyone has their own preferences. I'm just a country bumpkin, not as high-born as Ms. Stewart. I just like my food well-done."
Tristan frowned and looked up at Quinlan.
A strong sense of pressure hit her. Quinlan felt the coldness coming from Tristan, trembled in fear, and quickly explained, "I was just trying to remind Ms. Getty."
"You really think she hasn't seen the world and needs your reminders?" Tristan said coldly. "Showing off your superiority to my wife?"
"How am I showing off?" Quinlan quickly tried to smooth things over. "Tristan, I was just being helpful. Ms. Getty is reading too much into it. I never said anything about being high-born."
Harriet smiled and held Tristan's hand. "Tristan, you scared Ms. Stewart. She's nervous."
Only then did Tristan drop it and turn to chat with Finnegan.
Quinlan gritted her teeth secretly.
Finnegan laughed. "Harriet, if it weren't for me, who knows how long you and Tristan would have kept misunderstanding each other. When you two get married, I want to sit at the main table."
"Deal." Harriet raised her glass. "Finnegan, I'm toasting you. Thank you."
"My pleasure."
Harriet took a sip of wine. "This meal's on me. Don't be shy."
"We're friends, of course I won't be shy."
The three of them chatted happily, with only Quinlan like an outsider, unable to get a word in.
But originally, she was the only woman in this small group, the most special one.
Now, Harriet had clearly replaced her position and become the center of attention.
Even Tristan, who was usually cold to people, looked at Harriet with incredibly gentle eyes.
Just thinking about how they were husband and wife, sharing a bed and doing the most intimate things, made Quinlan's teeth itch with hatred!
Halfway through dinner, Harriet got up to use the restroom.
When she came out of the stall, she saw Quinlan standing at the sink washing her hands.
Harriet casually walked to the counter, washed her hands at the spot farthest from her, and turned to leave.
"Harriet." Quinlan stopped her. "Have you always been this much of a show-off? Hooking Tristan isn't enough, you have to cling to Finnegan too. You're really good at playing both sides."
Quinlan said mockingly, "I don't get it—do women like you take pride in entangling men? The more male attention you attract, the happier and prouder you feel?"
Harriet turned around and looked at her calmly. "I came out with my own husband and had dinner with his friend, maintaining perfectly normal social distance at the table, and you say I'm clinging to him?"
"Harriet, look in the mirror. You can barely hide the greed in your eyes." Quinlan walked up to her and sneered. "Then again, someone from a small family like you, finally latching onto someone like Tristan, getting a taste of high society's luxurious life—of course you'd be hooked."
Harriet remained calm. "I heard you're Tristan's cousin, which makes me your cousin-in-law. There doesn't seem to be any conflict of interest between us, so why do you have so much hostility toward me?"
Harriet looked at her. "Or is the conflict between us not about interests, but about feelings?"
Quinlan crossed her arms. "No wonder my aunt says you're good at overthinking things. She's absolutely right."
"Looks like you two have talked. You're not denying what I said either, so you know about your aunt wanting you to have Tristan's baby?"
Quinlan immediately denied it. "That's not true. Don't make things up!"
Harriet smiled. "A cousin having her cousin's baby—any normal person would be shocked to hear that, but you didn't react that way. So you knew all along."
"So you like Tristan and want to have his baby. Mrs. Gemma Lancaster can't make that decision alone, so naturally she had to get your agreement. You two planned this together."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Quinlan denied. "Or do you think making up stories to Tristan will let you smear me?"
"Harriet, what are you anyway? Have you ever helped Tristan's career even a little bit? When I was working my ass off for Tristan abroad, what were you doing?"
"You were in Emberfall being Mrs. Lancaster, living a pampered life like a parasite feeding off him."
"Do you know that every penny you spend of his money, I helped him earn?"
Harriet listened quietly. "Are you done?"
"What?"
"In the past, what you said might have actually made me feel ashamed, but now..."
"Now what?" Quinlan said righteously. "Now you're still being a parasite, enjoying the privileged life Tristan gives you, aren't you? Oh, I forgot to tell you—even your marital home, Cloud Bay, was named by me."
Harriet froze.
Quinlan, seeing her reaction, was very satisfied. "Harriet, don't think you're the special one. You're actually nothing, just a pretty face."
Harriet collected herself and smiled faintly. "Right, I'm nothing—just Tristan's legally married wife."
Quinlan fell silent.
Harriet raised an eyebrow. "As Mrs. Lancaster, enjoying the treatment that comes with this position is perfectly normal. There's no need to pretend to be noble and mistreat myself every day."
"And you, although you're Tristan's cousin in name, you're also his employee. Working for Tristan is your job."
"But from what you just said, people who don't know better would think you're the one supporting me."
"Also, Tristan is where he is today because of himself, not because of your hard work alone."