Chapter 173 The Rumors
It was clear that Catherine’s question was directed at Branden. Branden knew it too, and so he turned to look at Catherine.
“Are you full?” Branden inquired in a deep voice. Catherine nodded silently. She decided that if Branden had any further business to be done over here, she would leave first.
To her surprise, Branden stood up after she nodded. He even took the initiative to help Catherine with her coat. It made everyone present stunned as this was unusual for him. Usually, others would be helping him.
Seeing that the two of them were about to leave, Triston became anxious. He finally came to his senses and decided to indulge himself after resting for many days. Hence, he set up this gathering.
They had only just started eating, and now Branden wanted to leave. “Mr. Duncan, Catherine, why don’t you stay a bit longer?”
Upon hearing this, the two paused in their steps. Catherine looked at Branden, indicating that he could stay. Branden turned and glanced at Triston with his cold eyes, but his voice was surprisingly gentle. “She has to get up early tomorrow.”
With just one sentence, Triston felt goosebumps all over his body. Branden’s behavior made Triston jealous. Triston thought, “Having a girlfriend, is it impressive?
“Understanding her thoughts without her needing to say it out loud. Is it impressive?
“Understanding your girlfriend’s every move. Is it impressive?
“Well then. He is indeed impressive.”
Triston stared at their receding figures with a face full of frustration. He frowned uncontrollably. This display of affection made him lose his appetite. The dishes on the table no longer seemed appetizing.
Aidan rested his chin on his hand and asked, “Mr. Lambert, how did Mr. Duncan become such a devoted boyfriend? I don’t get it. It’s strange.”
Triston shot him a disdainful look and mockingly retorted, “It would be stranger if you would understand what happened.”
Feeling like he had just been ridiculed, Aidan was not pleased at all.
“Mr. Lambert, what’s your problem? Do you think I’ll go easy on you just because we haven’t seen each other in a few years? How would I not
understand? Look at the way Branden is acting. He’s like a man possessed. Is that normal?” Hearing that, Triston snorted. He took a swig of his drink to mourn his lost youth and scolded Aidan thereafter. “If you can get me a girlfriend like Catherine, I’ll give you a makeover.”
Triston thought, “Aidan is clueless. If one meets the person he likes, anything goes.”
Taking him as an example, he had preserved his virginity for so many years, and now it was gone. He felt miserable. It was extremely miserable for him!
Watching Triston downing drink after drink, everyone in the room started to look concerned. Triston became like this after Branden and his girlfriend display their affection for one another openly.
“Are the rumors true?
“Was Triston secretly in love with Branden all along, and his rebellious image a facade to hide this forbidden inner longing?”
Those were the thoughts running through the onlookers. Everyone thought that they had stumbled onto a big secret. Triston was oblivious to the speculation and the dramatic image he was creating unwittingly. He continued to drown his sorrows in alcohol.
At the same time, in the car. Catherine was resting against the window when she suddenly heard a faint vibration. Though the sound was barely audible, it resonated clearly within the quiet environment.
Paxton was the first to reach for the phone. After confirming the message, he turned to Branden. Branden didn’t stop him from speaking. Paxton realized Branden didn’t intend to hide things from Catherine, so Paxton explained the situation.
“Mr. Duncan, we’ve found a way to contact Simons. We offered 10 million dollars, but there was no response.”
Branden’s face darkened. His voice was cold and low. He said, “Double the offer. If 10 million dollars weren’t enough, he would give 20 million dollars. If 20 million dollars still weren’t enough, he would up it to 100 million dollars.
There was nothing he couldn’t do. Catherine was sitting beside Branden and enjoying a lollipop that Branden had insisted she take. She nearly choked on her saliva due to the unexpected turn of events.
Sensing her discomfort, Branden poured a glass of warm water and handed it to her. His voice was infinitely gentle. “Are you okay?”
Catherine was too embarrassed to look at Branden. She waved her hand and replied softly, “I’m fine.” Branden took the lollipop from her mouth and tossed it into the nearby trash bin. “You’ve had enough of these.
Catherine had a low blood sugar problem. As such, Branden would insist that she eat some candy every time she was with him. The candies he gave her were never too sweet, just within her tolerance level.
More importantly, they made her feel comfortable after eating them. So, she had never refused. Every time Branden handed her one, she would just suck on it.
It seemed like Branden misunderstood and thought she had choked on the candy. However, Catherine hadn’t choked on the candy. She was shocked by Branden.
She realized that the idiot who offered her 10 million dollars yesterday to breach a firewall was none other than the person sitting next to her, Branden.
In the hacker world, her code name was Simons. Yesterday, she received a message from the black market. It was from a broker she had worked with before, one of the few who could locate her.
The broker told her that someone was offering 10 million dollars for her to join a team and breach a firewall. The message also included a link. The ID was familiar, and she immediately recognized it as her base.
Unable to hold back, she cursed at her computer in frustration. They are paying Catherine to breach her base’s firewall and uncover her true identity. These people were idiots.
The only thing she hadn’t expected was that the person she had cursed at wasn’t someone else but was sitting beside her.
Catherine wanted to ask Branden what he was thinking when he decided to attack her base’s firewall out of the blue. However, she believed that if she asked, given Branden’s intelligence, he would figure out everything.
In that case, she decided it was better not to ask. She didn’t want to reveal her identity so soon. If Branden wanted to find out, she would leave him be.
If he did manage to find out about her identity, it would be a testament to his abilities. At the same time, Johnathan was at the Swanns’. Johnathan wasted no time in finding Rachael. This beating he had just endured wouldn’t go unnoticed.
“Mom, you have no idea how close I came to losing my life. Catherine, that jinx, was truly intent on killing me. If I hadn’t begged her in front of everyone, you might not have a son right now,” Johnathan complained.
Hearing her son’s lament, Rachael’s eyes turned red with empathy. She would close one eye to it if her son were grumbling to her in his usual playful manner. But now, he was beaten up to a point where he couldn’t even sit down properly.
Johnathan was Rachael’s lucky star and precious son. He was the apple of her eye that she couldn’t bear to see get hurt. She couldn’t help but feel heartbroken.
Unable to hold back any longer, Rachael abandoned her usual elegant and refined image. She turned her anger toward Korbin. “Did you see it?
Our son almost got killed by that jinx. How long are you going to keep tolerating this?”
Rachael exploded when there was no reaction from the latter. “Korbin, in the business world, everyone fears you. They call you a strong man in the business arena. I never thought you were just a creep. You didn’t even dare to stand up to a girl!” she shouted, disregarding all decorum.
At this moment, to Rachael, Catherine was no longer her daughter. She would not even be considered as a stranger. In her eyes, Catherine was a jinx.
For Rachael, Catherine was the jinx set to plague her. Catherine was an enemy that had to be eliminated.
