Chapter 88 Turning Things Around
Time flew when one was waiting silently. In the blink of an eye, more than ten minutes went past.
Calandre glanced at the time. “I think Mrs. Hadley must have gotten lost. Forget about the gift. Thank you for attending my birthday party, Mr. Hadley.”
Nathaniel inclined his head a fraction. He understood that the woman was indirectly taking her leave, but Christina was not back yet.
Thus, he parted his lips lightly. “I believe my wife will be back very soon since she promised to go and prepare a gift for you.” In other words, he was asking her to wait a while longer.
Madison furtively balled her fists.
Why is he still adamant about believing that Christina will be back when Mrs. Cha**agne is no longer taking offense to the matter? It only takes a few minutes from here to the door. Therefore, Christina can’t be gone for so long. Who knows, she’s aware that she created a mess and made a run for it because she was afraid and cowardly. No matter what, I’m never allowing her the opportunity to make a comeback!
“Mr. Hadley, perhaps Mrs. Hadley is feeling under the weather and left ahead of us. I’ll choose a new gift and have it delivered to Mrs. Cha**agne’s place tomorrow.”
Ignoring her entirely, Nathaniel continued staring at Calandre calmly, awaiting her answer.
Calandre stilled for a moment. “Okay, I’ll wait for another five minutes.”
Inwardly, Madison was downright chagrined.
Hmph! Even if Christina comes back, it’s very likely that shell embarra** herself. That perfume I chose was a limited edition, priced at over a hundred thousand. How could a country bumpkin like her possibly have the money to buy an even more expensive gift?
A few minutes pa**ed, and the time was almost up. This time, no one would be able to convince Calandre to stay any longer.
Despite the displeasure within her, she did not show on her face. “This matter won’t affect our collaboration.”
It was undeniable that their interactions had been exceedingly amicable throughout the years they had worked together. Furthermore, she was the kind of person who would never allow her personal feelings to affect her work.
At that precise moment, a flurry of frantic footsteps split the air. The few of them promptly swung their gazes over.
Christina had returned, her initially bound hair draped behind her shoulders. She had to keep her movements measured since she was wearing a gown to she could only trot.
Reaching them, she held the tiny gift box in her hand out. “This is my actual gift meant for you, Mrs. Cha**agne.”
Madison gaped at the gift box, shocked beyond words Where did she buy this gift?
Unconvinced that Christina had the ability to conjure something out of thin air, she scoffed with a
sneer on her lips, “I’m really curious about the gift Mrs. Hadley prepared.”
Christina blinked at Nathaniel before replying, “You’ll know when you open it.”
Calandre was likewise very much curious. She opened the box, revealing a beautifully-cut gemstone brooch within.
Under the reflection of the lights, it shimmered brightly.
The most noteworthy aspect of the brooch was the uniqueness of the silver needles used in securing the gemstone. Like a diamond ring, it was affixed with a few silver needles. That was the first time Calandre had seen such a distinctive brooch.
“I made this myself. May I put in on for you?” Christina offered.
Never having expected her to be so skilled with her hands, Calandre nodded fervently. “Of course,”
Christina took a step forward and unfastened the brooch before pinning it to the woman’s deep V- neckline. In an instant, the plunging neckline became a shallow one. It made for a slightly S**y sight yet still as elegant as ever.
Calandre’s lips curved into a smile, and her eyes shone as she looked at Christina. “Thank you. I love it! If there’s a chance, I’ll definitely invite you to my jewelry store for a look!”
Earlier, the seam of her gown’s neckline burst. Consequently, the neckline turned a bit too low, making it easy for her to flash her a**ets. Since she was in public, she was too embarra**ed to tug at her gown and could only leave it gaping.
To her surprise, not only did Christina notice it, but she especially made a brooch for her to alleviate her predicament.
Turning her gaze to Nathaniel, she commented, “Your wife is truly a thoughtful and meticulous woman, Mr. Hadley. You must be blessed.”
A tad embarra**ed by the high praise, Christina blushed deeply.
Conversely, Nathaniel took her hand unabashedly and lifted his chin confidently in agreement. “Thank you for the compliment.”
Calandre walked away with a smile, in a far greater mood than she was earlier.
When Madison saw Christina resolving the crisis so effortlessly and even winning Calandre’s approval in the process, her fragile heart seemingly fell from a great height and shattered into a million pieces.
Christina surreptitiously breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m tired, Nathaniel. Can we go home now?”
She had devoted all her focus to the task earlier, so she was exhausted right then.
Upon hearing that, Madison hastily interjected, “You can go home first if you’re tired, Mrs. Hadley. A few CEOs who wanted to collaborate with Mr. Hadley on new projects just now are still waiting, so he probably won’t be able to leave anytime soon.”
It’d be great if she’d leave quickly so that I can spend time alone with Nathaniel!
Lifting his hand, Nathaniel glanced at the priceless watch on his wrist before he made to leave with
Christina on his arm. “Stay and discuss the new collaboration projects with the few CEOS, Madison. I’ll be leaving first.”
“What? You’re leaving me here alone, Mr. Hadley?” Panic deluged Madison, and her voice turned somewhat aggrieved.
In normal circumstances, Christina would have undoubtedly urged Nathaniel to stay. At that very moment, however, she said nothing but waited quietly for the man to make his decision.
From the instant she saw Madison wearing her nightgown in the study back then, she had been on guard against her.
Perhaps it was her womanly intuition, but she sensed that the latter’s feeling toward Nathaniel had far exceeded that of a subordinate toward her superior.
For that reason, she felt downright uneasy to allow Nathaniel to be alone with Madison.
“I want to sleep, Nathaniel.” No longer as mature as she was a while ago, Christina appeared very much like a baby who had stayed up past her bedtime. She stuck out her crimson-colored lower lip, her voice. soft and girlish.
“We’ll go home right now.”
As soon as Nathaniel said that, he strode out while dragging her along. If the situation permitted, he actually wanted to carry her in his arms.
A chilly gust of wind blew past. Madison watched as Nathaniel brushed past her while holding onto Christina intimately.
She could seemingly feel a drop of something hot skimming across her cheek.
As the car sped along the road, Christina clung to Nathaniel like a lazy baby koala.
She was dead on her feet, and it was incredibly comfortable to use the man’s chest as a pillow.
“When did you learn Ferropenian?” Nathaniel asked as he was curious.
Considering the fact that there were outsiders present earlier, he had restrained himself from putting forth that question.
With her eyes half-closed, Christina murmured, “I especially learned it in order to attend a Ferropenian design lecturer’s cla** in the past.”
There was no interpreter in the cla** at that time, so she could only bite the bullet and learn Ferropenian in order to understand the lecture.
Chuckling softly, Nathaniel stroked her head. I have no idea how she managed to learn a foreign language, attend cla**es, and even work part-time at the same time.
“What about the brooch, then?”
At that, Christina giggled. “That was thanks to your geinstone barrette.”
She removed the gemstone from the barrette before setting it on a sewing needle. It was a rather time- consuming process.
Fortunately, I chose handicrafts as an elective course at university!
When Christina thought of everything Madison did that night, she shuddered from the depths of her
heart.
Frustration lingered within her, but perhaps Nathaniel’s chest was too comfortable, for she fell asleep moments after resting against him. :
Even when the car drove into Scenic Garden Manor, she remained dead to the world.
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