Chapter 14 Did the Flattery Get To Your Head?
“You and Alison seem close, Mr. Adkins,” Kian stated. He seemed to be testing a guess he had.
“Yes. We’ve known each other for a long time.” Charles did not plan to hide that fact. “We’ve always been close.”
Kian leaned over and mumbled into Brayden’s ear, “I think they’re just friends. If they ever felt anything for each other, they would have gotten together long ago. Why would they wait until now?”
“Scram.” Brayden was in a horrible mood.
Alison would never be happy to suffer alone. She would always ensure everyone around her was equally discomforted as well.
She turned to look at Raymond who had not been speaking much before. After greeting him, she said, “You’re an admirable man worthy of a woman’s trust for the rest of her life.”
Raymond stared at her in confusion.
Everyone else was equally confused.
No one present in the room understood what she meant by that.
“What do you mean?” Raymond unwittingly glanced at Brayden. As expected, Brayden did not look pleased at all.
“I saw the show you were on,” she replied before continuing in a way that hinted at an implicit message. “I find what you said on the show to be very admirable.”
Raymond remained dumbfounded.
“What did he say?” Kian asked.
“The cast was chatting after they completed their mission. One of the topics they were debating was if a man’s first love returned after he had gotten married, should he choose to be with his first love or stay with his wife? I find Mr. Cooper’s points quite agreeable,” she explained, clearly enunciating every word spoken.
The moment she said that…
Kian subconsciously looked at Brayden. Was Brayden not the man in question?
Raymond also realized what she meant as well.
During the discussion, everyone was talking about how every man who chose their first love was a scumbag and that all current significant others would always lose when the ex cried.
He vaguely recalled saying something along the lines of “he was not scum”.
At that thought, he suddenly recalled the words Brayden spat out at him during the meal. “How could a scumbag still be in the mood to drink?” Did that mean Alison had watched that episode in front of Brayden?
“What did you say?” Kian asked, nudging Raymond with an elbow.
It was at that moment when Raymond regained his sense of rationality. After a moment of contemplation, instead of answering Kian’s question, he turned to say to Brayden, “I think you’re making a mistake with your actions.”
Brayden speechlessly stared back.
Kian was rendered speechless out of shock.
“Did the flattery get to your head?” Brayden was increasingly infuriated by the events of the evening.
However, Raymond did not want to say too much about the situation since there was an outsider in the room. Hence, he merely pinched his brows in exhaustion.
During that show, Alison and Brayden were not going to be divorced yet. Hence, his answer had been objective and without bias.
Now that he knew Brayden was divorcing Alison just to get together with Julia, he knew Brayden would regret the decision in the future.
“I have matters to attend to.” Brayden stood up and then said to his two friends, “Don’t forget about what I told you.”
They hummed in acknowledgment.
When he walked past Alison, his deep, dark eyes darted over to look at her before he turned to say to Charles, “If you wish to be with her, Mr. Adkins, you had best be ready to have every cent squeezed out of you. She would not be satisfied with a meager amount.”
“Everything I have is hers as long as Aly wants it.” Charles was not joking when he said that.
Brayden’s hands clenched into fists as they hung down his sides.
Kian and Raymond glanced at each other in surprise. That statement conveyed a rather shocking piece of information.
“Let me wish you all the best in advance then,” Brayden mockingly spat out before striding out of the room. His heart felt heavy for he was unable to find anyone to argue with.
Soon, Charles left with Alison.
They headed back to the car.
She shot Charles a disapproving look. “Why did you tell him that?”
“I am here to represent Carl. He told me to say that,” he replied with an elegant smirk. “Still, the state of your relationship is worse than I expected.”
“It was not like this before.” She leaned back in her seat. “What on earth soured his mood tonight?”
“Jealousy,” he honestly stated.
Her lips twitched.
Without hesitation, she immediately responded, “You’re good at making things up.”
All Brayden thought about was his precious first love. There was no way he would be jealous.
“He is currently jealous yet oblivious to his own emotions,” Charles analyzed. There was an interested lilt in his voice. “He’ll only realize it once he truly loses you.”
She silently stared at him.
Charles had been so convinced of his lie that he assumed it was true.
“You wouldn’t say yes if he asks to remarry you, right?” he asked a more concerning question.
“I won’t,” she swiftly answered honestly. “If what you say actually happens, then it has nothing to do with me. I had given him six months. He refused to cherish the chance I gave him.”
“Good.” Her answer calmed him down.
“When will you be heading back to Imperia?” she asked.
“I’ll wait until you’re formally divorced,” he replied.
She stared at him, confused.
His smile was very kind and gentle as he looked at her. “It’s what Carl wanted. I also have two deals to negotiate here in Riverton.”
“Fine.” She did not say a word more.
Charles was an outstanding prodigy in the legal world, but he was also a very important figure in the world of business.
Ever since he was a child, he was the child everyone praised. Her b*stard of a father loved him so much that the two were close. However, she did not allow her poor relationship with her father to interfere with her relationship with Charles. She did not demand Charles to never listen to Carl either.
The two of them did not exchange another word until he dropped her off outside her mansion’s gates. As she stepped out of the car, he called out, “Call me if you need anything. I’ll always be here.”
He knew just how capable she was, and he was confident she was capable of resolving her relationship issues with Brayden.
However, it was one thing to know that and have faith in her, but it was another to provide her with a sense of safety.
She smiled. “Okay.”
Their “reluctant parting” was witnessed by Brayden who was watching from the upstairs balcony. His hand clenched around the railing. He was so engrossed with the scene before his eyes that he did not hear a single word the other person on the phone said.
There was only one thought in his mind.
He wanted to properly interrogate Alison and ask her exactly how she became friends with Charles.
“Boss?”
“Boss, are you listening?”
“Boss?”
Conner called out to him several times on the phone.
His report was finished over a minute ago, yet Brayden had not said a word.
“What is it?” Brayden asked. He waited until Alison headed into the house before leaving the balcony to walk back into the house.
Conner was rendered speechless.
Did Brayden not hear anything he said just now?
Despite the urge to complain, he repeated his report once more for the sake of his salary. “The police said that the suspect behind Miss Shaw’s car crash has been captured. They’re asking if you’d like to make a trip over to the station.”
“No.” Brayden walked downstairs. He was insistent on getting an answer out of her. “Have them act according to normal procedures.”
His answer made Conner suspect there was a sudden change in Brayden’s attitude regarding the case. However, he did not pry. “Very well.”
Brayden hung up and headed into the living room. Meanwhile, Alison had just taken off her shoes and was walking into the living room as well.