Chapter 232: Mutual Honesty
"You're friends with Mr. Crawford, right? How long is Mr. Crawford planning to stay in Goldenvale this time?" Finn asked.
Yosef swirled the wine glass in his hand and said, "At least a year, at most five years."
Finn was somewhat surprised.
"Why so long?"
Probably feeling this sounded inappropriate, he added, "Mr. Crawford is so busy . Can he really put aside Thornfield's affairs and stay in Goldenvale for that long?"
"It's not for fun," Yosef said. "He has two important things to do."
"Which two?"
"Samuel has pretty much sorted out Thornfield's business. Even when he's not there, someone can handle things for him. So his task for the next few years is to develop the Goldenvale market. Expanding his business territory naturally takes some time."
"What about the other thing?"
Yosef smiled, showing a set of bright white teeth.
Blindingly bright.
"The other thing is personal."
This really hooked Finn's interest.
Finn knew he shouldn't be this eager, but on this matter, he really couldn't control himself.
"What personal matter?" he asked.
Yosef smiled slyly again and said, "Finn, I'll tell you everything, but you have to tell me something first. That's only fair, right?"
Finn knew in his heart this was a trap, but he still nodded.
"What do you want to know?"
"It's simple. I just want to know whether we can continue being friends, or if this is just a one-meal relationship?"
On the surface, he was asking about their relationship.
Underneath, he was asking which side Finn stood on - the Hays family or the Porter family.
Finn looked deeply at Yosef.
Yosef was really good at pretending.
Thinking he was a fool, when he was actually an old fox.
He had underestimated Yosef.
But this question wasn't hard to answer.
"Whether we're friends or not depends on your attitude, not mine."
"What do you mean?"
"I was sent to temporarily replace Marlon. As long as you don't interfere with my work, we can peacefully coexist."
Peacefully coexist.
Yosef carefully considered these words, then raised his glass.
"Don't worry, we want to be friends withyou too. We definitely won't interfere with your business."
Finn didn't drink.
He just continued with his earlier question.
"What personal matter does Samuel need to handle?"
"Didn't realize Finn was so interested in other people's personal matters."
Finn felt annoyed.
Just as he was about to lose his temper, Yosef spoke up, "Actually, this personal matter is his major life event."
Finn's eyelid twitched slightly.
"What major life event?"
Yosef said, "Didn't you see her yesterday at the detention center entrance? Samuel's fiancée. He came to Goldenvale to pursue Ms. Richardson. He fell in love with the Richardson family's Ms. Richardson at first sight. Fortunately, fate smiled on him, and his proposal was successful."
Finn, who hadn't touched a drop of alcohol until now, picked up his wine glass and drained it in one gulp.
Yosef applauded.
"Finn, what a drinker! Come on, let me fill it up for you again."
Finn didn't refuse.
His alcohol tolerance wasn't great, and he soon felt a headache coming on.
"I'm heading back first."
In his hazy consciousness, he was helped into the car by his assistant, and after that, he lost all awareness.
Meanwhile, Yosef, who had a high alcohol tolerance, soon took a car to meet Samuel.
"He kept asking about you and Ms. Richardson. Later he got drunk and mumbled 'Amelia' in his confusion."
Samuel's brows furrowed tightly.
"What right does he have to call her that?"
"Samuel, is now the time to worry about such things?"
Samuel glared at him.
"Weren't you the one who brought this up to make me angry?"
Yosef sighed.
"Fine, my fault, okay?"
He brought up the main issue, "According to him, as long as we don't annoy him, he'll stay neutral. He won't help us, but he won't harm us either."
Samuel said coldly, "If he wants to harm us, he'd better have the ability!"
Yosef reminded him, "He doesn't need to harm us. He just needs to side with the Hays family, and that would make things very tricky for us."
Samuel opened his mouth but didn't argue this time.
He just felt Finn was even more annoying.
"However," Yosef said, "I can tell he still has feelings for Ms. Richardson."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I have a bad idea. If we want him to side with the Porter family, having Ms. Richardson talk to him might be the best and smoothest approach."
"That is indeed a bad idea!" Samuel glared hard at Yosef and said, "I don't want to hear such words a second time."
Yosef had guessed it would be like this.
He sighed and said, "I'm tired, drank too much. I'm going back to lie down."
He was about to leave.
"Stop."
"What?"
"Amelia mentioned to me that she had Stella contact you. Have you talked?"
Yosef nodded, "She asked me to do something, and I've already started helping her with it."
Samuel acknowledged and said, "She told me Stella is trustworthy, so just do as she says. But after you achieve the goal, you can't stay in Goldenvale anymore."
Yosef grinned, showing his teeth.
"What? You'll miss me?"
"Get lost! Go back and get those porcelain veneers removed, they're blinding."
"You're such a hypocrite!"
Seeing Samuel's face darken further, he quickly ran off.
Soon Jeremy came in, reminding Samuel it was almost ten at night and time to go home.
Samuel said he wasn't sleepy yet.
Jeremy smiled wryly and said, "If you don't leave, no one in the secretary's office dares to leave."
He added, "I've arranged everything for the Flame Key Culinary Showdown. Do you want to tell Ms. Richardson after work?"
Samuel indeed put down his pen.
"I'm leaving work now. I'll drive myself, you can go straight back to Rosevale Manor."
"Yes."
Jeremy responded, his eyes full of satisfaction.
He had bet with York on whether Samuel could leave work before ten at night.
He brought up Amelia, and sure enough, he won the bet.
Jeremy winked at York who was entering.
York gritted his teeth.
"You're too sneaky!"
"How is bringing up Ms. Richardson sneaky? Let's go! As agreed, you're paying for tonight's expenses!"
York had to accept his fate, but he brought up Byron.
"Should we bring Byron?"
He quite liked Byron. Byron was smart and pleasant to talk to, at least more pleasant than Jeremy.
Besides, pleasing Byron meant pleasing Amelia. Two birds with one stone.
Jeremy said they should ask Byron first.
So he called to ask, but learned that Byron wouldn't be going out recently.
"I need to study cooking," he said.
Jeremy understood, "Then work hard. After the competition ends, I'll take you out to eat."
"Okay, Jeremy."
After hanging up, York asked curiously, "What competition?"
Jeremy didn't tell him.
"You'll find out when the time comes."
On the other side.
After leaving the office, Samuel first went to a nearby flower shop, then went to find Amelia.
When he arrived at the Richardson Manor, he learned Amelia had gone out.
He wasn't annoyed and patiently called to ask where Amelia was.
After two seconds of silence, Amelia suddenly said, "I'll give you an address. Come over. Come alone, don't bring anyone. I'll wait for you at the entrance."
Samuel didn't think much of it. After receiving the address, he drove there.
About an hour later, he arrived at the destination.
It was an abandoned factory in the suburbs.
He was finally puzzled, why would Amelia be here?
But he had a vague guess in his heart.
His heartbeat inexplicably quickened.
After getting out of the car, Amelia's voice came over.
"Over here!"
She walked over from under a streetlight, her whole body bathed in orange light, looking especially gentle.
Samuel's heart stirred. He stepped forward and hugged her tightly, then kissed her.
This kiss was especially passionate.
Neither Amelia nor Samuel were foolish people. They both understood that with this trip, their relationship would take another step forward.
Because Amelia had told him the address of the Shadow Operations Division.
This kiss was like a storm, intense and long-lasting before it finally subsided.
Amelia was almost breathless.
She only managed to stand steady with Samuel's arm for support.
"Want to go in and take a look?" Amelia offered.
But Samuel shook his head and refused.
"No need! This is already wonderful. Amelia, I will never let you down."
He had long guessed that Amelia was the leader of the Shadow Operations Division.
But he had promised her not to investigate anything about her.
And now, she had revealed everything to him.
But while Amelia trusted him, the others in the Shadow Operations Division might not all trust him, after all, he was an outsider with a special status.
So he didn't want to put Amelia in a difficult position.
That Amelia was willing to take this step already moved him deeply.
Before this, he had been worried that Finn might snatch Amelia away again.
But now, he had no worries at all.
She had shown her complete sincerity to him.
No matter what Finn did, he could never be his match.
"Thank you, Amelia." He kissed her forehead and said, "Thank you for trusting me."
Amelia smiled slightly, her eyes bright.
"You trust me too. You gave me all your money."
The trust fund had all been transferred to her hands, even though they weren't married yet.
Samuel had shown such sincerity, she couldn't give nothing in return.
So she told him about what she cared about most, the Shadow Operations Division.
Samuel was also very tactful and didn't actually go in.
Samuel really considered her feelings.
Amelia called Byron to say she was heading back directly, then got in the car with Samuel.
Although Samuel had already guessed her identity, now that it was confirmed, he still felt shocked.
"No one would have thought that the leader of the Shadow Operations Division would be a woman."
Amelia gave him a sideways glance.
"What? Looking down on women?"
"I just admire you. You were trafficked to the countryside, went from having nothing to where you are now. You must have suffered a lot, right?"
Amelia felt her nose tingle inexplicably.
She thought of a saying online: Others care about how high you fly, but he cares about whether you're tired from flying.
"It's all in the past," she said.
The two drove back to the Richardson Manor and kissed again in the car.
But Samuel was very restrained. Every time they were both about to lose control, he used all his willpower to stop.
"I came to tell you that Byron's matter is settled. He can participate in the Flame Key Culinary Showdown."