Alice, standing next to him, looked serene and captivating in her sparkling, navy blue dress.
Bethan looked away from them and felt a sudden twinge of pain shoot through her heart.
“Bethan?”
Theo’s questioning voice rang out. Bethan immediately came to and realized that the elevator door before her had already opened.
She exhaled and hastily entered the elevator as though running away from something.
“This Mr. and Mrs. Allen that you’re meeting with seem like strange people. “
Alice pursed her lips in indignation. “They’d already decided to send one of their subordinates to meet with us on their behalf, but they oh -so suddenly changed their minds and decided to come themselves.
“They agreed to meet at Bamboo Palace, and I even went all out and decorated the entire place to welcome them, but they changed the venue at the last minute. Don’t you think they’re a little stuck-up? It’s not like they’re the only people that can provide the specific kind of special ore we’re looking for.”
Brettley hung up the phone indifferently. “Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Allen changed the venue due to private matters.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “Haven’t they been living overseas for a long time now? What kind of private matters would they have to attend to here in Banyan City?”
Brettley did not answer and instead strode toward the elevator, appearing unconcerned. “Well, you’ll know soon enough.”
Brettley had just found out the vendor that would be providing Morrison Group with the precious ore they needed…was Theo’s family business.
This would be interesting.
“Dad, Mom, this is Bethan.”
As soon as they arrived at the booth upstairs, Theo smilingly introduced Bethan to his parents.
“Ms. Bethan, please take a seat! “
Theo’s mother, Celeste, beamed at Bethan and invited her to sit.
“Where are you from, Ms. Bethan?”
“How many family members do you have?” “How did you and Theo meet?”
As soon as Bethan sat down, Celeste bombarded her with a series of questions that left her a little unnerved.
It was, in fact, Bethan’s first time meeting a boyfriend’s parents. Even though she had been married to Brettley in the past, Brettley grew up with a single parent, and his father did not pay much attention to him at all. Therefore, Bethan never had to experience the awkwardness of meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time.
“I’ve looked at your portfolio, Ms. Bethan. Your designs are absolutely beautiful! You truly are a talented jewelry designer! “
Theo’s father, Nathan, chimed in and praised Bethan as he stroked his beard. “
Ms. Bethan, our family runs a business selling ores meant for jewelry making. In the future, if you and Theo get married, we can build a jewelry company of our own! “
Bethan’s heart sank as soon as she heard that. She frowned and asked, “Uncle, did you just say…that your family sells ores to jewelry companies?”
If she remembered correctly…
Brettley had a business meeting with a vendor that would be supplying valuable ores to the Morrison Group this very night.
“Yes, that’s correct. “
Nathan stroked his beard and let out a hearty laugh. “Although we work with a lot of big companies, we’ve always been very low-rofile and discreet. Not even Theo knows about all this! I wouldn’t have told you this if I didn’t know you were a jewelry designer.”
With that, he gave a triumphant smile and added, “In fact, besides meeting you, we’re also here tonight to discuss a collaborating opportunity with a very well-established company! “
Bethan’s hand, hidden underneath the table all this while, gripped the hem of her shirt tightly. If her suspicions were right…
“The company we’re going to be working with is Morrison Group from Banyan City! “
As soon as Nathan proudly declared the name of the company, Bethan and Theo’s expressions darkened, but Nathan did not seem to notice that. Instead, he lowered his head to glance at his watch and remarked, “Mr. Morrison called a while ago to tell me he’s already downstairs. What’s taking him so long?”
As soon as he finished his sentence, someone knocked on the door. “Hello, is this Mr. Nathan Allen’s booth?”
Bethan and Theo exchanged glances as soon as they heard the voice coming from the other side of the door. They were more than familiar with it.
“Yes, it is!”
Nathan leaped out of his seat excitedly, strode over, and flung open the door.
A young couple stood outside the door. The man was tall and slender with an aura of sophistication about him, while the woman looked serene and charming.
“You must be Mr. Morrison! “
Nathan immediately extended his hand out to shake Brettley’s. “Please come in! “
Brettley offered a small smile and eyed Bethan, who sat inside the booth. She wore a formal and elegant skirt, and she even put on makeup. She looked much more stunning than how she usually looked at work.
It was clear that Bethan had put in the effort to look good for Theo’s parents.
Brettley narrowed his eyes and pulled Alice into the room impassively.
Alice strolled in with a smile on her face, but as soon as she caught sight of Theo and Bethan in the corner, she froze. After a moment, however, she plastered a smile on her face and greeted, “Hello, Mr. Allen. Nice to meet you. I’m Brettley’s wife.”
She then glanced at the two people sitting in the corner. “And these two are…”
Celeste immediately stood up and pulled Theo and Bethan up with her. “Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, I’m Nathan’s wife. This is my son and our future daughter-in- law!”
Everyone in the room fell silent as soon as they heard that.
Brettley narrowed his eyes and shot Bethan a cold glance.
Bethan frowned and looked a little pale while Theo furrowed his brows and tugged on his mother’s arm. “Mom, please don’t say nonsense like this. Bethan and I –“
“Oh, I didn’t know you were engaged.”
Alice let go of Brettley and sat down next to Bethan with a gentle smile. “Congratulations.”
She looked up at Nathan and Celeste, who both appeared surprised by that. “
I ‘m not sure if you know this, but Bethan and I have been friends for a very long time now.”
She smiled faintly at Bethan. “How long have we known each other now? Six years?”
Bethan forced out a smile and glanced at Alice. “More than six years. I think we’ve known each other for… eight years now.”
The color drained from Alice’s face.
She had claimed to have known Bethan for six years, which was when Bethan gave birth to Neil and Nellie so that it would match up with her lies. She had previously accused Bethan of getting close to her and stealing her children, so she had to make sure the lies were aligned.
However, Bethan had declared their first meeting as eight years ago. That was when Bethan and Brettley got married!
“Eight years?”
Brettley sat down and cast Bethan a stern look. “Alice, didn’t you and I get married eight years ago?”
Alice immediately stiffened. She knew Bethan had said that on purpose to trip her up and force her to invent another lie!
Alice smiled, squinting her eyes into slits. “I think Bethan is mistaken. Eight years ago? We didn’t even know each other at that time.” “Maybe she knew of you, but you didn’t, “
Brettley interjected before Alice could finish her sentence. He fixed his gaze on Bethan and asked, “How did you get to know Alice eight years ago?”
Bethan frowned and met Brettley’s gaze. “What do you think, Mr. Morrison?”
Brettley stared at Bethan’s face and recalled what Jude had said to him earlier this afternoon…
“Anything can happen, but I do hope that beautiful employee of yours isn’t Hailey Walter. Otherwise, it’d be disgusting to know that you slept with the woman you hate the most, multiple times.”
Brettley continued to stare at Bethan stiffly. Eight years ago was indeed the first time Hailey ever met Bethan Peterson.
Theo seemed to detect the hostility in Brettley’s eyes and immediately interjected, “Aren’t you here to talk business with my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Morrison? Why don’t we discuss that now? We have plenty of time to catch up in the future.”
Alice feared Bethan would accidentally say something to expose her, so she hastily agreed with Theo. “He’s right. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are here today to talk business. Please, don’t let our chatter interfere with your work progress! “
Brettley narrowed his eyes and glanced at Bethan one more time before he finally turned around to talk to Nathan. After a while, they started to discuss the ore extraction process as well as negotiate prices. Alice did not understand anything, Theo did not want to, and Bethan refused to have anything to do with Brettley.
Therefore, the six people within the room got split into two distinctive groups: three discussing business, while the other three dug into their meal.
Seeing that Brettley was focused on his conversation, Alice smiled and pretended to adjust Bethan’s shirt button, but she whispered underneath her breath threateningly, “Watch what you speak! If you dare to expose me, I ‘ll make you and your two kids pay for this!”
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.