“So I really was being petty.” Emery pressed her lips together. She finally decided to come clean and apologize. “I’m sorry for what I did. I can’t believe that even as an elder, I still acted this way. I promise that no matter what happens in the future, even if Xavier takes over my company, you can ask for anything. I won’t say no.”
To me and Ashton, Emery was always ready to help, but it was a different level of sincerity when she made such a promise to our next of kin.
“Thank you, Aunt Emery,” Summer said before suddenly thinking of something. “Actually, there’s something I need help with right now.”
“Right now?” Emery raised an eyebrow before agreeing nonchalantly. “Of course! What is it?”
“I need your help looking into the background of the deputy president of Luscious Wines. I’m very sure that he was the man who left with Quince just now.”
“You mean Lexis?” Emery seemed to know who Summer was talking about. “Are you planning to buy his wine or something?”
“That was what I planned on doing,” Summer said with a nod. Then, she started looking hesitant. “Out of all the samples I received, Luscious Wines had the best quality overall.”
Emery nodded. “It’s an old brand, so they have a good reputation. However, recently, the management has become obsessed with abusing their power and being up to no good, so their reputation has been getting worse recently. Of course, their reviews have also been unsatisfactory. People who are interested in wine could taste even the slightest bit of impurities or lack of quality control, so choosing Luscious Wines is still quite a risk.”
“Thank you, Aunt Emery. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on signing any contracts so soon, so nothing’s going to happen yet.” Summer chuckled before asking another question, “Still, Luscious Wines is at the top of the industry. If something happens to them, the other smaller companies probably won’t be able to avoid it either. What do you say we weed out their little plans first so we can find out what exactly they’re up to?”
Emery looked at Summer as her eyes gleamed in surprise before smiling. She stirred her coffee as she said, “I knew you were naturally gifted at these things. I’ll do the background checks on these people as soon as possible, so all you need to do is just be the boss of your center and earn more money that we can all split and enjoy together.”
I looked at them helplessly as they playfully bantered back and forth. I jokingly knocked on the table and said, “Excuse me, you two big shots, it’s mealtime. Put the business talk aside and join me for a nice meal, yeah?”
“Haha. Look, your mom’s getting jealous,” Emery said mockingly.
“I bet Mommy’s just hungry.”
“I am! I could down a whole ten-course-meal right now.”
Lunch would have been a fun affair if it weren’t for the reappearance of someone I wish we could forget about.
We had just finished eating and were about to leave. Emery fished out a card from her purse and was about to pay when a hand suddenly blocked her way.
Lucas walked out from behind the waiter and stood next to the table with a grin on his face. “What a coincidence, Stovall! Fate is really a fickle thing, huh? We seem to bump into each other no matter where we go.”
I did my best to squeeze out a smile. “Yes, it does seem that way. This restaurant was strongly recommended by a friend, so I came to check it out.”
Lucas smiled at me ambiguously before looking at Summer. “You see, dear? I’ve already told you how close your mother and I are. We’ll eventually end up collaborating anyway, so have you changed your mind yet?”
As usual, his tone was laced with cockiness. I had no idea where he had gotten the audacity to sound so confident from.
Summer just smiled and didn’t reply. She glanced over at me and Emery, and we all understood each other’s thoughts almost instantly. We decided to stay quiet since there were some things that were better off not said.
Lucas didn’t seem to feel awkward even at the lack of a reply. He tilted his chin and paid our bill. He had clearly learned quite a lot about Chanaea’s customs during his time here.
