At present, he became a good chef and a whole new person because of her and their children.
After lunch, Brettley sat down on the sofa and called Jude
Jude was so overjoyed to hear that Brettley had returned, he almost wanted to reach into the phone to hug him. “Where are you guys? I’ll go pick you up right now! Don’t worry-I promise I won’t let your father know about this, and I’ll try my best to lose the reporters following me too! Don’t worry, my friend! Give me your address right now!”
Brettley could not help curling his lips into a smile when he heard the excitement in Jude’s voice. “This is precisely the reason why I didn’t ask you for help and went to John instead.
He and Jude had known each other for many years, whereas Brettley had only gotten to know John from Bethan and Anne Therefore, Brettley should have sought out Jude’s help instead when deciding to return to Banyan City, but he chose not to, precisely because he did not feel confident letting Jude handle this.
“Why don’t you trust me? Jude was upset to hear this. “I’m your best friend””
“It’s not you that I don’t trust, it’s the people who are following you around. Do you honestly think I don’t know about you rejecting Miss Chance? Ever since you rejected her offer of marriage, you’ve become one of the most sought-after bachelors in Banyan City. Everyone is on the edge of their seat, waiting to find. out whether you’re secretly seeing someone else, which would explain why you rejected Miss Chance. Do you think I’d dare to ask for your help knowing this?”
Jude fell silent upon hearing this. A split second later, he let out a sigh and lamented, “You’re right. I’ve become the talk of the town but I truly do not want to marry that woman. She’s too deceitful.”
He sighed again. “Well, why did you choose to come home all of a sudden? Do you intend to give your father a surprise at his wedding?”
Brettley narrowed his eyes and smirked. “I guess you can say that.”
He had indeed planned to give Adrian a surprise, but that did not mean it would be a good one.
“I guess things in Saigen City have been going well.”
Jude had already known of Brettley’s intentions for going to Saigen City in the first place and thus did not seem at all surprised at Brettley’s sudden return. I’ve also managed to gather some evidence about Adrian’s wrongdoings in Banyan City over the past year, but since you don’t want me to find you, I won’t as for that John fellow you mentioned how can I get in touch with him?”
Brettley furrowed his brow, but before he could even answer, Bethan piped up. “I’m going shopping with my friend later. Why don’t you meet me at the shopping mall and hand me all the documents there?”
Jude raised his brows at this. “Brettley is forced to stay at home and does not even allow me to visit him for fear of being recognized-yet you’re planning to go out shopping with your friend later?”
Bethan rolled her eyes and pursed her lips slightly as she continued picking out her outfit. “Why can’t [ Everyone here knows Brettley, but only a handful can recognize me. Besides, even if they recognize me. they’d only seen the version of me with a full face of makeup in Brettley and I’s wedding photos. How can anyone recognize me if I go out bare-faced?”
Jude chuckled at this “Are you trying to say that you look horrendous without makeup?”
“She’s absolutely stunning even without makeup.”
Brettley interjected. “However, there are plenty of pretty women in this city, and she and Anne will not draw too much attention. I don’t want Bethan to be bored to death at home, so I’ve allowed her to go out for a shopping spree”
Jude was amused by this. “So what are you trying to say-that your wife is pretty or not? First, you claim she looks beautiful even without makeup, yet now you say that she won’t stand out among the crowd if she goes out bare-faced?”
Jude chirruped, “Did you hear this, Bethan? He’s a hypocrite!”
Bethan chuckled at this. “I don’t mind. Perhaps I’m not that pretty in other people’s eyes, but as long as he thinks I’m beautiful, that’s all that matters.”
With that, she picked up her coat and turned around. “Well, I’ll be off now!”
Jude sighed when he heard the door close behind her. “The truth is, I’m kind of envious of you and Bethan’s relationship, but…”
He paused and finally said, “I truly do not dare to get involved with Miss Chance, yet the woman that I love has been chased out of Banyan City by my parents due to her family background. The truth is, you really need to be lucky to find someone whom you love and who is suitable to be with you.”
Brettley smiled at this. “What did Miss Chance do to make you hate her so much?”
Brettley, too, knew who this woman was. After all, there were only so many people in Banyan City’s upper class, and the Chance family had worked with Morrison Group on many occasions too, therefore Brettley was familiar with their daughter, Vanessa
Chance.
“Don’t even bring this up.”
Jude sulked at this. “I’ve never been tricked by any woman before in my life, and she’s the first one! She may look naive, but she’s a deceitful and sly woman!”
Brettley was even more curious to hear about this. “How is that so? Did she trick you into sleeping with her?”
Brettley’s question seemed to stab right at Jude’s weak spot, and he immediately frowned. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Where are Bethan and her friend going? I’ll meet her there to hand the documents to her.”
Brettley curled his lips into a smile and, after giving Jude the address of the shopping mall Bethan had gone to, tried to resume their conversation. “Did you at least use protection? No matter how unwilling you may be to do so, you will have to marry her should she get pregnant.”
Jude was silent for a moment before finally scoffing, “Shut up, you prick. You’re just laughing at me!”
With that, he hung up.
Brettley smirked when he heard the dial tone, then proceeded to continue organizing his documents.
Bethan and Anne, having not seen each other in a long time, spent hours at the shopping mall, having the time of their lives. Anne seemed to have bought their entire family’s wardrobe for the entire year!
After a few hours, Bethan received a call from Jude, telling her that he was waiting at a cafe on the first floor.
Bethan and Anne stowed their items away, then proceeded to make their way to the cafe. Jude was waiting for them at.
When they arrived, Jude was sitting across from a gorgeous woman-but neither of them seemed to be in a good mood. It appeared as though they were engaged in a solemn conversation.
When he saw Bethan and Anne, Jude immediately glanced at the woman, frowning. “The people I’m meeting have arrived.”
Then, he got up, strode over to them, and handed Bethan a folder. “Well, everything is in here.”
Bethan took the folder from him and glanced at the woman he had been talking to. “Who is that?”
Jude snorted and replied in a disgusted tone, “That’s the deceitful woman that I mentioned before, the one who’s been trying every way possible to trick me into marrying her.”
Bethan let out a gasp in acknowledgment. “Is that the woman who got you drunk and tricked you into sleeping with her?”
The color drained from Jude’s face when he heard this. “Yes, that’s right.”
“She’s quite pretty.”
Bethan glanced first at Vanessa, then turned to gaze at Jude. “You two will make a good couple.”
Jude rolled his eyes at this. “Well, I’m handsome, so of course I’ll look good with anyone.” 1 Then, as though to prove his point, he shifted his attention to Anne and added, “Your friend and I will make a good couple too.”
Anne, who had been listening in silence all this while, never expected the conversation to suddenly shift onto her. She quickly waved her hands in dismissal and said, “You can’t just say things like this out of the blue, Mr. Smith. I have a one-year-old with my husband.”
Jude paused, then glanced meaningfully at Anne. “Well, that’s a shame. If you were single, I might consider getting to know you through Bethan.”
Anne smiled at this. “Unfortunately, you missed your chance, Mr. Smith.”
Then, she glanced in Vanessa’s direction and added, “That Vanessa Chance-I’ve met here before, and she’s a nice person. Why don’t you consider getting to know her better?”
Jude could not help rolling his eyes at this. “You don’t know her at all. She does look like a nice person, sure, but she’s absolutely despicable.”
Then, he sighed and decided not to continue this topic any further. “Well, I’ve given you what you wanted, and I need to get back to my conversation with her. Please excuse me.” 1
With that, he returned to their table and continued talking to Vanessa.
Anne and Bethan exchanged knowing glances. They both thought Jude had come all the way to meet them and thus had stowed their shopping bags away, intending to sit and have a chat with Jude.
Neither of them expected that Jude would have decided to meet with someone else here.
The two of them finally decided to sit down a short distance away from Jude and Vanessa for some coffee. Not only would they be able to catch up on what had been going on in their lives, but they would also be able to spy on Jude and Vanessa at the same time.
After sitting down and ordering their drinks, Bethan turned to glance at Jude and Vanessa, who were still engaged in a seemingly intense conversation. “Have you met Vanessa Chance before, Anne?”
“Yes, I have.”
Anne nodded. “Jude says that she’s a despicable woman, but I disagree-she was a nice person when I met her. I first met her because she had a friend who wanted to undergo plastic surgery at the hospital I worked at. At that time, her friend claimed that since she wanted to go into the entertainment industry in the future and thus didn’t want anyone to find out she had undergone plastic surgery, she wanted to register for our services with someone else’s name.
“Therefore, Miss Vanessa offered to let her friend register under her name. “
Finally, she sighed and could not help adding, “The truth is, I think it’d be far more troublesome for her to lend her name to her friend, and the ironic part is, her friend still hasn’t managed to get into the entertainment industry until now.”
Bethan furrowed her brow and was about to sneak another glance at Vanessa when she caught sight of a woman in a trench coat walking through the cafe entrance with a man, smiling.
That woman…was none other than Jacqueline Grace, the woman Adrian was getting married to!
However, the man who was with her at this moment was not Adrian.
Bethan’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Do you know them?”
Anne, following Bethan’s gaze, also caught sight of the couple walking through the doors. However, she could not see the woman’s face from where she was sitting and could only make out who the man was
She raised her brow at this. “Hey, isn’t that James Shore?”
Bethan froze and turned to glance at Anne. “Do you know him?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.