Rachel’s face was distorted with rage. My mind was torn in two at that moment. Half of me wanted to leave, but the other half couldn’t just let her have her way.
I grabbed the coffee on the table and poured it on top of her head. I stared at her long and hard while the coffee dripped from her long hair, all over to her white dress. She looked terrible. “Ms. Zimmer, stop doing something like this. You are embarrassing yourself.”
She glared at me in a fit of vicious anger. “Scarlett! Do you have a death wish?” she roared and tried to push my body away with both hands. Before I could react, someone pushed her down to her chair.
The chaos attracted the attention of customers in that café. Marcus’ unannounced presence clearly surprised me.
He gazed down into Rachel’s eyes and said icily, “I advise you to look in the mirror before you boast about your looks.” He couldn’t care less about Rachel, who was trembling with anger. Instead, he took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders to cover my stained dress. “Let’s go.”
We walked out of the café, and I thanked him when we reached the parking lot. I tried to return his jacket, but he refused to take it. “You don’t have to return it now. You need it more than I do,” he said.
Confused, I shrugged and forced the jacket onto him. “I’m fine. The villa is just a couple of blocks away,” I said. Rather than insisting, he merely stared at me helplessly. He was clearly disappointed.
At the villa, Nora was still asleep. So I sat in a daze in the living room.
I wonder why Rachel is here. Did she come all the way to A City just to find Ashton?
I knew her very well. She would never swallow her pride to do something like that, especially after how Ashton had turned her down.
What exactly brought her here?
My head was pounding from those mere thoughts. Just when I was about to get comfortable on the couch, the phone rang. That must be Nora.
“Have you eaten?” It was Ashton. I froze for a moment.
“I’m not hungry.”
“I’ll take that as a no, then.” His stern voice surprised me. Before I could respond, he continued, “I asked Joseph to bring you some food. He will be there in a minute. Be sure to eat them, or you’ll have to deal with me.”
My expression was one of annoyed disbelief. What am I? Five? I pursed my lips and muttered, “I will. You don’t have to be so rude.”
Right then, the doorbell rang. “There he is. Open the door and eat up.”
“Fine!” I pouted, got up, and answered the door. Joseph stood there with his hands full of boxes of food, fruits, and greens. “Ashton, I’m hanging up now. Bye.” I quickly reached out to help him carry all the stuff.
Joseph passed me the lunch boxes and said, “Mr. Fuller picked these up for you when he was having lunch at Sea View. He thought you might like them.” Then he went straight to the kitchen and stacked the fruits in the fridge.
I opened up the lunch box and found a large serving of meticulously crafted seafood meal. I couldn’t help but said, “They look delicious, but I don’t think I can finish them.”
Joseph smiled. “Mr. Fuller wants you to enjoy it with Ms. Oberick.” I nodded. Initially, I wanted to call Nora, but I figured she might still be asleep. So I decided to wait until she woke up.
I looked at him while he unpacked the grocery bags and put more fruits and vegetables into the fridge. “Why did you buy so many vegetables? We don’t usually cook dinner.”
“Mr. Fuller said you should fill up your kitchen because you will need them later,” he replied.
I nodded, then I instinctively asked, “Did you guys have a business meeting at Sea View?”
“That’s not it…” I could feel a hesitancy in his voice. “Ms. Larson and Mr. Quinn were there, too. They were having lunch together,” he explained while continued to store the vegetables.
I was a little surprised. “Rebecca was there too?”
He nodded. “The Lavelian Village project was stalled, and the headquarters is waiting to receive a confirmation from Mr. Fuller. To speed things up, Mr. Quinn had no choice but to hand the documents to him personally.”
I mumbled a response and didn’t pursue further.
“Mrs. Fuller, don’t get the wrong idea. Mr. Quinn brought Ms. Larson along for his trip to A City because he was worried about her. He just wanted to keep her by his side. This has nothing to do with Mr. Fuller.”
