Ch. 1721..1730

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1721-Jeremy shook his head. "I didn't hear anyone talking, but I did hear someone closing the door loudly. That was what woke up Benjamin and me."

Sophia recalled Adam did indeed close the door heavily when he went out.1 Oh, so that was what woke them up. That means Zachary must've not heard what Dad said,' she thought. She was afraid that Jeremy would overthink if he had heard what Adam said.

"Well, that's how Dad is. He does everything very roughly. Sorry for waking up you two," said Sophia with an apologetic smile.

Jeremy shook his head. "It's okay. Why didn't you ask your father to stay for dinner?"

A hint of anger flashed across her face when she recalled the fight she had with her father. "Oh, he said he has other plans." "Okay," said Jeremy. He did not really care whether Adam stayed for dinner or not. He asked because he wanted to dispel Sophia's suspicion.

Sophia sighed in relief. "Zachary, why don't you go watch telly with Benjamin for a while? Dinner will be ready soon." "Sure."

Francine hurried out of her chauffeured car and ran into a coffee house.

Chester had been waiting for her there for an hour, and he had already finished two cups of coffee.

"So… Sorry, Chester! I know I'm late again," said Francine between gasps of breath. She did not even dare to sit.

Chester looked up at her dolled-up face and smiled. "It's okay. Why don't you take a seat and catch your breath first? I've already ordered a glass of lemon water for you. You can order whatever dessert you want later."

Francine nodded and sat down. Looking at Chester's gentle face, she sometimes wished she was as unflappable as he was. He was probably the most emotionally stable person she had ever met. Unlike her, he did not seem to ever get rattled by anything.

"Here comes your lemon water. Drink up," said Chester, putting the glass of lemon water in front of her.

Francine picked up the glass of lemon water and took a small sip before saying apologetically, "Thank you for not getting angry at me for making you wait so long."

Chester smiled. "I understand you girls need some time to doll up. Plus, you were helping Corinne with her kids too, right? It's not like you deliberately made me wait.” Francine blushed. "What have I done to deserve such an understanding boyfriend like you?"

Chester reached out to stroke her head. "You're being silly again. It's just a simple fact that I like you, and you like me too. You don't need to do anything to deserve me. In fact, I should be the one asking what have I done to deserve such a cute girlfriend like you."

Francine blushed even more. She was completely smitten with Chester, thinking he was too sweet for words.

"So what do you want for dessert? Let's go watch a movie after this. I bought tickets to a movie I heard was really good!" said Chester dotingly.

Francine nodded. She picked up the menu and ordered a few of the desserts she liked.

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1722-Francine loved sweet stuff, and that was why Chester would always choose a place where they had good desserts for their dates.

After taking a few bites of her dessert, Francine suddenly let out a frustrated and melancholic sigh, prompting Chester to ask with concern," Why the sigh?

Something on your mind?" "I'm worried about my brother and Corinne…"

answered Francine. She was so worried that even eating the dessert could not cheer her up.

Chester knew Corinne and Jeremy were the two most important people she cared about, so he comforted her, "You need to trust in Corinne that she'll

handle this matter well. I'm sure your brother will come back safe and sound.

He's been alive in all the years he's been missing, which proves his life is in no danger for the time being. So don't worry too much."

Francine shook her head and pouted. "I'm not worried about that. I'm more worried that Corinne will fall in love with another man!"

Chester was first stunned by what she said, but then he burst out in laughter.

"More the reason not to worry, because that's never going to happen!"

Francine frowned. "Why not? How are you so sure?" "I've known Corinne for a long time, and she’s definitely not the type who will easily fall in love with another man. She had a lot of suitors back in school. All of them were handsome, rich, and talented. They kept trying to court her, but she was indifferent to every one of them. She won't fall in love with another man."

Francine bit down on her spoon unhappily. "You were one of her suitors too, weren't you?"

Chester looked at her nonchalantly. "Here you go again. Haven't I already explained it to you? Yes, I used to like her, but I didn’t go after her. Jeremy got to her before I could even profess my feelings for her. I've also moved on from her a long time ago. You're the only woman I love now, Francine."

Francine immediately felt a warm, fuzzy feeling washed over her when she heard that. It was easy for her, or any woman for that matter, to feel insecure in a relationship, so she would need to hear Chester tell her he loved her over and over again to feel secure. Fortunately, Chester was a very patient man.

"Hurry up and finish your cake. The movie's about to start," he said.

"Okay!" said Francine with a blush. She then shoved what was left of her cake into her mouth.

Chester laughed out loud at how comical she looked. "Careful, you don't want to choke yourself. You didn't need to finish the whole cake in one go."

Francine turned her face away in embarrassment, and it was exactly then she saw an old acquaintance walking past the coffee house window, causing her eyes to widen. Her whole attention was completely gripped by the person. She stood up and took a peek outside the coffee house.

Thinking it was weird, Chester waved his hand in front of her. "What's the matter? What did you see?"

Francine snapped out of her shock and frowned. "I saw someone who shouldn't be walking free around the street. Sorry, Chester, but I can't go with you to the movies. I have to go and make sure I really did see who I thought I saw. Sorry again. Bye."

After that, she hurried out of the coffee house.

Chester was very confused. He noticed she had forgotten to take her bag, so he picked it up and ran outside to give it to her.

Francine ran toward the direction she saw the old acquaintances walk in, but after looking around, she could not find her anymore.

She stopped to catch her breath.

Chester came up running behind her and said, "Who the heck did you see just now to cause you to run out like this and forget your bag?"

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1723-Francine took big gasps of air and said, "I saw the woman who tried to come in between Jeremy and Corinne. She should still be in jail! Why did I just see her?"

Chester did not really know what was going on, but he still comforted her,"

Maybe you saw wrongly?"

Francine was starting to suspect she had mistook the passerby for her old acquaintance as well. After all, that woman would not be let out of jail so soon.

'I hope it really wasn't here for Corinne and Jeremy's sake. Sophia's already enough of a headache for them, so if that woman comes back, there'll be no end to their troubles!' thought Francine.

She was getting ready to go to the movies with Chester when she saw Anya sitting and talking to a man at a coffee house behind Chester! Her eyes widened in shock. This time, she was sure it was definitely Anya.

'When did she get released from jail? She should be locked up forever for doing so many evil things!' Chester noticed the shock on Francine's face, so he turned to look at where she was looking. He, too, saw Anya, but he did not know her.

Anya must have sensed them staring at her as she turned to look outside of the window.

Francine quickly buried her face into Chester's chest to escape notice.

Anya continued her conversation without suspicion with the man she was with when she saw it was just a young couple hugging outside.

After that, Francine quickly dragged Chester to an inconspicuous corner to spy on Anya.

Anya was sporting a short bob with no layers. She looked like she had just been released from jail. She had lost the luster of the rich young lady she once was.

The man sitting opposite her also seemed familiar to Francine, but she just could not remember where she had seen him before.

"Francine, just what are you looking at?" asked Chester helplessly.

"Shh! Don't talk so loud, or well be discovered. You see that woman in there?

She used to be crazy about my brother and even used me to drive a wedge between him and Corinne. I hate her so much!"

Chester looked at Anya and found she had a very unkind face, so he hated her for Francine's sake too.

"She tried to kill Corinne too, but good thing Corinne was smart enough to expose her plot! After that, Jeremy sent her to jail to receive her just punishment. I didn’t expect she'd be released so soon. I hope she doesn't cause trouble for my family again!"

Chester finally understood why Francine was acting so shocked. He nodded and said, "I see."

Francine kept her eyes fixed on Anya and the man while racking her brain to remember where she had seen the man before.

"Your brother sure knows how to get women to like him, huh? No wonder Corinne is having such a hard time…" said Chester ruefully.

Francine pouted at him. "Nonsense! He didn't go out of his way to make those women like him. It's just he's such a catch that women like to throw themselves at him!"

Chester sighed. "I hope you're not as popular as your brother when it comes to the opposite sex, or else I'd have to spend all my time being jealous."

Francine was a little surprised to hear him say that. She started blushing and said, "Stop teasing me like that." "I'm not teasing you. I'm telling you I'd really be jealous." "Ahem. Don't worry. I'm not as popular as my brother. No one ever liked me before."

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1724-So I'm not someone?" asked Chester sarcastically.

"Okay, okay. Stop teasing me. I have to keep my attention on Anya to see if she's upto no good again!" said Francine shyly.

"Sure," said Chester. After that, he quietly observed Anya with Francine.

What they saw was Anya talking seriously-sometimes gritting her teeth- to the man opposite her as though they were deep in an important conversation.

The man opposite her looked to be in his early forties. He would nod and bow to Anya from time to time. It was obvious he was working for her.

After 15 minutes or so, the man got up and left, leaving Anya alone in the coffee house sipping her coffee in a daze and lost in thought. Not long after that, she left too.

Francine wanted to follow Anya after she came out of the coffee house, but Chester stopped her.

"She's going to find out we've been spying on her if we tail her now," he said.

"I just want to see whether she's going home or meeting up with someone else,"

replied Francine worriedly.

As a third party, Chester was able to remain level-headed.

"Since she's already out of jail, it’ll be easy for your family to get someone to look into her. You're only going to expose yourself if you follow her now, and it'll be harder to know what she's getting up to."

After thinking about it, Francine thought Chester was right. It would indeed be easier for her to expose herself in broad daylight. What if her impulsiveness cost them the whole operation?

Thus, she called Xante instead to ask her to look into when Anya was released and what she had been up to so far.

Xante was also shocked to hear Anya had been released from prison.

Since the matter concerned Corinne, she immediately agreed to look into it.

Francine still did not feel any better after hanging up the phone. All sorts of thoughts raced through her mind at what could happen.

Chester stroked her head gently. "There, there. You've done all you could.

Now, we just have to wait patiently for the news."

Francine snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her ever-gentle boyfriend. "Sorry, Chester. The movie probably started by now."

Chester smiled kindly. "It's okay. I don't have to watch the start of the movie to know the ending. Let's go. We should be able to catch the second half of the movie if we go now.” Francine nodded guiltily. "Okay. Don’t worry, Chester. Well watch the second half of the movie today. Next time, I'll treat you to another round to watch the first half."

Chester was amused by her. "Sure. I look forward to that."

The two of them chatted all the way to the cinema.

Meanwhile, in Newmoon Group’s building.

Xante became restless after getting the call from Francine. Like her, she was worried that Anya would cause trouble for Corinne again, exacerbating her already tricky situation.

Just right after Xante had instructed her subordinate to look into Anya, Sunny pushed open the door to her office and swaggered in.

"Hey, Xante!"

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1725-Xante had just returned to her office from the hospital for some silence, yet it did not take long for Sunny to appear! She had never had such a clingy boyfriend before.

"What are you doing here? You should be keeping your father company in the hospital!"

Sunny shrugged. "He's fine. You have no idea how cooperative he is right now.

Ever since Corinne went to see him, he became a completely different person.

Not only is he taking his medicine, but he got his appetite back again! He wants

to recover faster so he'll be discharged and make up for lost time with Corinne.

So there's nothing to worry about."

Xante frowned, wondering if he remembered he had another sister.

"Xante, why are you looking at me like that? Am I not welcome here?" asked Sunny with a pout.

Xante glared at him and scoffed. "Actually, you came at just the right time.

I have something to ask you."

Sunny's eyes immediately lit up. "What is it? I'll tell you anything you want to know!" "Tell me, do you know where your sister is?" asked Xante seriously.

"My sister? Are you talking about Corinne? Didn't you see her just now at the hospital? Why are you asking me that?"

Xante frowned. "I'm not asking about that sister! I'm asking about your other sister, Anya! Did you know she has been released from prison?" "What?! Anya's out of prison? When?” asked Sunny in shock.

"'Why are you asking me when I'm the one who asked you in the first place?"

"Because I have no idea either! I didn't hear anything about this matter from anyone. Xante, how did you know Anya is out of prison?" asked Sunny in confusion.

Xante did not doubt him. "Someone saw her in a coffee house just now."

Sunny frowned. "That's weird. Why didn't she come home, then? My mom's not in the city. She has been sent away to live in the countryside villa. Anya didn't come home, nor did she go to the countryside villa. So what is she doing out all alone? Where is she staying?"

Xante pinched the bridge of her nose. "I shouldn't have asked you. Instead of answering me, you just piled on more questions on me! How should I know anything about what's going on in your family?" "Well, my family is going to be your family one day too, Xante. Have you forgotten we're going to get married soon?” Fed up with his nonsense, Xante simply turned around so she did not have to see his face. That way, she could focus on figuring out what Anya was upto.

However, Sunny walked up to her and said, "Xante, are you worried Anya's going to do something bad to Corinne again now that she's out?"

Xante raised an eyebrow coldly. ‘What do you think? Have you forgotten all the things she had done to Corinne in the past?"

Sunny started to worry, too. "I know she has done a lot of bad things to Corinne in the past, but I think she has changed! After all, she must've reflected a lot during her time in prison."

Xante could not help but laugh. "Is that so? You're too blinded by sibling love to give an objective opinion. Haven’t you heard of the saying that a leopard doesn't change its spots? It'll be easier for her to go to the moon than to change her nature."

As much as Sunny did not like other people speaking ill about Anya, he knew reason was not on his side. After all, Anya was as evil as she could be in the past.

"That's enough, Xante. I know what you're worried about. I'll ask my family whether they know what Anya is up to later. I'll update you as soon as I get any information. Also, I'll bring her back home so that we can keep an eye on her. Is that good enough for you?"

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1726-"You better keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't come up with another scheme to hurt the boss! She has enough on her plate as it is!" warned Xante.

Sunny's expression became serious. "I know Corinne is really worried about Jeremy, so you have my word that I'm not going to let anyone else bother her."

Xante sat down and adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses. "I hope you can tell the right from the wrong this time instead of unconditionally protecting Anya."

Sunny used to think Anya was the kindest and gentlest person in the whole world. It was not until later that he realized she had been corrupted by their

mother, who taught her to be selfish and entitled. Anya ended up as a person who would do anything or use anyone to achieve her goals.

"Don't worry; I won't do that. Even though they're both my sisters, I know very well in my heart who's right and who's wrong."

Xante fixed her troubled eyes on him, and they gradually calmed down.

That night, Francine immediately went to look for Corinne to tell her about Anya after she got home.

Corinne was surprised to hear Anya was out of prison as well. After thinking about it, she narrowed her eyes and said, "Okay, thanks for telling me."

Her reaction was so unusually calm that it made Francine think she herself was overreacting.

"Corinne, aren't you scared Anya's going to hurt you again now that she's out?"

Corinne put her hand to her forehead and said tiredly, "She would've succeeded in hurting me years ago if she was that capable. Plus, I can't control her any more than I can control the weather. It's not like I should keep hiding just because she wants to hurt me. We'll just have to take one step at a time and see how it goes."

Francine frowned, troubled by the rising problems. ’Ugh! Why did Anya have to appear just when Corinne finally reunited with Jeremy? Corinne hasn't even gotten rid of Sophia, and now there's another trouble waiting for her. When is it all going to end?' 1 Corinne raised an eyebrow when she saw Francine's sad face. "What's the matter? You should be happy Anya's out. After all, didn’t the two of you used to be best friends?"

Francine snapped out of her thoughts and said sheepishly, "I… I was too young to know who's good and who's evil then, Corinne. It's been so many, so why don't you let go of the grudge? I'm fully on your team now!"

Corinne burst out laughing. "Oh, quit your pouting! I was just teasing you.

Besides, you just came back from a date, right? You should be basking in happiness. Go wash up and have an early night, Francine." "You're making fun of me again, Corinne!" grumbled the blushing Francine. She was about to turn around when she saw Bryan and Christine sleeping soundly on their beds.

It was a very peaceful scene, yet Francine could not help but anxiously ask, "Corinne, where's Joey?"

Corinne's eyes sharpened at this. The reason she was sitting on the sofa and not sleeping yet was because she was not used to Joey not sleeping with them.

"He said he wants to learn to be independent, so he's sleeping in his own room from now on," replied Corinne.

"What? Isn't he the dingiest to you? Why would he want to learn to be independent? Did you say something to him today?" asked Francine in shock.

Corinne shook her head. No. I don't know what's going on either, but I thought no harm in letting him try since he insisted.” Francine deliberated the manner. "Hmm, makes sense. He's the oldest, so he should lead by example."

She then went out.

Corinne remained sitting on the sofa in a daze. After a while, she got worriedly to go check on Joey.

The three kids would usually sleep with her in the same bed, with Christine on her right, and Bryan and Joey on her left. All three of them wanted to sleep close to her, but the sensible Joey would always let Bryan take the space next to her while he slept next to him. It was also Joey who would turn off the light at night.

Thus, Joey’s sudden decision to sleep alone caused Corinne to reflect upon whether she had done something wrong as a mother to upset him.

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1727-Corinne kept thinking about what she had done wrong while walking to Joey's room. She did not knock once she was there. Instead, she tried the doorknob but found it to be locked.

■Joey locked the door?' Corinne was shocked. She did not expect a kid so young to lock the door while sleeping. It would be a lie to say she was not disappointed as well. Sometimes, it was not the kid who relied on his mother but the mother who relied on her kid for emotional support.

It was difficult for Corinne to know her dingiest kid suddenly did not need her anymore.

She stood by the door for a long while, and no matter how she thought about it, she could not help but worry about Joey. Thus, she climbed into Joey's room through the balcony from the study next door.

Inside his room, a frowning Joey was curled up sleeping in his bed with a teddy bear in his arms. It was obvious he was insecure, but even so, he still forced himself to be independent by locking the door.

Corinne could not help but see herself in him. She, too, knew what it was like to have to force herself to be independent at such a tender age. She adjusted his blanket and went out of his room through the balcony again.

That night, she did not sleep a wink.

The next morning, Xante called Corinne to give her a status update.

"Boss, Anya's out of prison. Apparently, her sentence was reduced for good behavior."

Corinne, who was having her breakfast, was not really that surprised when she heard that. "Is that so? Where's she staying at the moment? Did she go back to the Riveras' mansion?" "No. She has rented a small place outside and is working in a fast food restaurant."

That, Corinne was surprised to hear. After all, Anya had grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, so even if she had changed in prison, it was still quite surprising she would work in such a down-to-earth job.

'The Anya I know will think that job is beneath her. Does that mean her reformation is a success?' wondered Corinne.

"Boss, I've already instructed my people to keep an eye on her, and they found nothing out of the ordinary about her day. She'd go to work every morning and would buy something to eat along her way back home after work." "Okay, I understand. Continue to keep an eye on her, and call me if she does anything out of the ordinary." "Yes, Boss! By the way, there's also been progress on the matter you asked me to do last time concerning Adam Group. I'll email you the report later."

Corinne narrowed her eyes. "Okay. Good job."

After hanging up the phone, Corinne finished the sandwich she was eating in two bites, excused herself from the table, and ran to her room to check her email.

Adam came back because there was a problem with selling off all his assets, which was what Sophia was supposed to do. It interested Corinne that he was in such a hurry to get rid of all of his assets.

Even if lived abroad for most of the time, the income from the assets he was trying to sell was quite a considerable sum. There was no need to sell them off at all.

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1728-'Something must be wrong with his assets for him to be in such a hurry to sell them off!' thought Corinne.

She was carefully reading the report Xante sent her when her phone rang. She kept her eyes on the laptop screen while her hand moved to find her phone.

"Hey, Corinne. What are you doing now?" greeted Jason through the phone.

She had not seen him for so long that she almost forgot he existed.

"Why are you calling me?’ she asked indifferently. She was in work mode.

Jason sighed with mock disappointment. "Corinne, can't you be nicer to me?

We're business partners. Is this really how you want to treat your business partner?"

Corinne raised an eyebrow. "How should I treat you then? Should I call you Jayjay in a sickeningly sweet voice?"

Jason smiled. "Yes, you should! I'll be very happy if you call me that!"

Corinne was not in the mood to talk nonsense with him, so she said, "If you don't have anything important to say, I'm going to hang up the phone now."

"Wait, no! I'm calling you to talk about work. I thought I'd lighten up the mood since we're friends. Well, that certainly backfired on me."

Needless to say, Corinne found it annoying as usual. "So what about work?" she asked.

Jason feared she might really hang up on him, so he said seriously, "It's not convenient for me to talk about it over the phone. I'm going over to your office later, and we can talk then. Remember to make time for me." Corinne frowned.

She was losing her patience with him. Why did he go through all that trouble just to tell her that? Thus, she simply hung up the phone.

She continued to read the report Xante sent her. After she finished, she got the gist of what Adam was up to. She then changed into her work clothes and went downstairs. She tasked the servant to drop the kids off at kindergarten before leaving the house.

Once she arrived at her company, she was raring to start work, but Jason was already waiting for her at her office. Her expression immediately darkened when she saw him.

Being the smart guy he was, Jason could instantly tell his presence was not appreciated. Nonetheless, he did not care. He smiled nonchalantly and said, "Corinne, you're late by a minute! It's not a good look to the staff if the president of the company is late. We should lead by example!"

Corinne glared at him and said sarcastically while opening her door," Thanks for the reminder, but why don't you worry about yourself first? It's Monday morning, so you should be in your own office instead of here. How is that leading by example?"

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1729-Jason shrugged and grinned nonchalantly. He then followed Corinne into the office.

"I am working, though. It's part of my job to come here and talk to you about work. Hence, I am leading by example by being a hardworking employer."

Corinne walked to her desk. She could feel Jason moving closer to her. It was an annoying habit of his; he would deliberately try to get close to her so their bodies would touch while talking.

She turned and casually pulled out a chair. "Mister Jason, please have a seat.

We should treat this as a business meeting since we're going to talk about work.

I'm afraid that it'll be hard to draw a line between personal and work if you're too close to me."

Jason smiled and sat on the chair. "Thank you, Corinne."

Corinne walked to her desk and sat opposite him. "So, what do you want to discuss with me?" she asked while looking at him lightly.

Jason's expression turned serious. "It's about the piece of land in Serenity Bay we're going to develop. I was thinking we could section out an area to build an art gallery. What do you think?"

Corinne gave his idea some serious thought before saying, "Which area do you have in mind." "It's difficult for me to explain which area. If you're free, maybe we can go over so I can show you the area. It'll also be easier for me to explain some of the ideas for how I want the art gallery to look like."

Corinne looked at the time on her wristwatch. "I'm not free in the morning. I have an important meeting later."

Jason shrugged. "It's okay. I have nothing important to do anyway, so I'll wait here for you. We can go for lunch and then to Serenity Bay after you've finished your meeting."

Seeing that Jason was not going anywhere, Corinne said, "Well, if you insist.

But I must warn you that it's going to be a long meeting. You can wait outside in the lounge area. Feel free to leave anytime you feel bored."

Jason crossed his arms. "Why do I need to wait in the lounge area when we know each other so well? Can't I just wait in your office and maybe drink a few cups of coffee?" "Mister Jason, you're not young anymore, so you should know to respect other people's boundaries. Even though we're business partners, we're also each other's competitors. Do you really think it's appropriate for you, the president of another company, to wait alone in my office when we have so many overlapping projects? Not to mention, I have so many confidential documents in here, so how can I not worry?"

Jason spread out his hands helplessly. "Corinne, how can you still not trust me when we've known each other for such a long time? You should know I'm not going to snoop into your confidential documents." "It's fine if all the confidential documents are mine. You can snoop all you want then. But all the documents here belong to Holden Group, and they concern the survival of the company. I have to be accountable to the company shareholders and employees. From one president of a company to another, I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. If you still insist on waiting for me to finish the meeting, please go to the lounge area. Otherwise, please go back to your company."

Jason sighed and stood up helplessly. "I feel so wronged! I swear I'm not here to steal your company's secrets." "It doesn't matter whether that's true or not. All I'm saying is that it's best if we keep a clear boundary with each other. At least that way, we won't give others any chance to gossip about US." "Fine, I'll wait in the lounge. But you should know how chilled to the bone I am by your attitude…"

Jason knew Corinne was not joking. He would not be surprised if she asked security to escort him out.

Seeing Jason leave her office to go to the lounge area, Corinne said in a loud voice so that her staff could hear, Mister Jason doesn't like the cold! Remember to turn on the heater for him."

Jason turned around in shock. "Corinne, it's scorching hot outside! Why did you ask your staff to turn on the heater for me? You don't want me to wait for you that much?"

Corinne smiled. "Didn't you just say you were chilled to the bone by my attitude?

Well, you won’t be anymore with the heater turned on."

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1730-Jason frowned for a second before shrugging and smiling. "Fine. Turn on the heater all you want. But remember to come find me after you're done with your meeting."

Corinne nodded, if you're still here, that is."

Jason grinned. "Don't worry. I will be here."

After that, Jason followed Corinne's secretary out of the office.

'Finally, some peace,' thought Corinne. She did not waste any time getting to work. She turned on her laptop to do some paperwork in preparation for the

meeting later.

Collaborating with Talbot Group was something the board of directors unanimously approved and was not something Corinne decided alone.

As much as she did not like Jason, she was immensely grateful for him helping her out in the past. However, she could not return his feelings. Thus, when Jason proposed the two companies working together to develop the piece of land in Serenity Bay, Corinne immediately agreed to bring up the idea in the board of directors meeting. As to whether they would give her the green light, that was something she had no say in.

In the end, the board of directors thought the land owned by Talbot Group would provide a strategic advantage to the company should they work together, so the project was given the green light.

However, Corinne did not expect that the project would give Jason a legitimate reason to pester her.

Corinne forgot all about Jason after he left her office. She quickly finished her work and went to get some documents from her secretary before walking over to the meeting room.

It was close to lunchtime by the time Corinne finished her meeting. All in all, the meeting took up two hours of her time. She wanted to go back to her office to rest, but her secretary reminded her Jason was still waiting for her in the lounge area.

"He's still here?" she asked with a frown.

Her secretary nodded. "Yes. He's been waiting for you in the lounge area all this time." "Didn't I tell you to turn on the heater?" asked Corinne with annoyance.

"I did! I turned it all the way up to thirty-five degrees Celsius, but he didn't seem to be affected by the heat!" 'What? He still stayed even with the heater cranked up that high? Anyone in their right mind would have left by now! Could it be that he has fainted already?’ thought Corinne.

She quickly went to the lounge area. A flood of heatwave immediately washed over her when she pushed open the door, causing her to sweat.

'How could he possibly take this heat?' She walked in but found no sign of Jason after looking around. 'He must've secretly slipped out with his tail between his legs.' She breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to leave the room when someone jumped out and pounced on her. She did not even have the chance to react before she found herself pinned to the wall.