CEO

Chapter 22

Walking to the door of the private room, the environment on the second floor was indeed much more elegant, with fewer people compared to downstairs. As the door opened, the people inside warmly exclaimed, “Mr. Lucas, Mr. Lucas is here!

“Scott, you’ve really changed a lot, so handsome, rich, and charming. I bet the girls who like you are lining up, right?”

Scott jokingly replied, “Well, I wouldn’t know. I’ll have to check later.”

“In that case, you’re still single, huh? Ladies present, take note, Scott is a good catch. You should seize the opportunity!”

They chatted with Scott for a while before noticing Nina behind him. They seemed to realize something and said with a smile, “We have another distinguished guest today, Nina is here too.” Nina apologized, “Sorry for being late.”

“Nina, you’re not being very considerate. You rarely attended previous gatherings. If it weren’t for Scott, we probably wouldn’t have seen you at all.”

“But, Nina is still as beautiful as ever.’

“Beauty is an asset indeed. She’s the secretary of Mr. York from the York Corporation, and she’s here with Scott.”

It had been a long time since they last met, and they began discussing. There were some unkind words in their conversation.

Nina could accept it. After working for many years, she had long smoothed out her mentality. Her job seemed glamorous, but only she knew that she was just a worker.

Scott stood with one hand in his pocket, fearing Nina would feel embarrassed. He smiled and intervened, “Is everyone here? Today, it’s on me. Feel free to eat without worrying about saving me money.” “Scott, you’re a big boss. Of course, we won’t worry about saving money for you.

Nina looked at everyone present. Some hadn’t changed much, while others had changed significantly- some had slimmed down, others had gained

weight, some had become homemakers, and others had been polished by life, becoming much more composed.

Nina wanted to find a secluded corner to sit, but Scott said, “Nina, sit next to me.” As the host of the party, Scott took the prominent seat, attracting attention. With Nina beside him, they both stood out. Among the old classmates here, there were probably a few who wanted to build a good relationship with Scott for their future prospects, so there was bound to be some drinking and chatting. It seemed there were only these two available seats.

Nina could only sit down.

Everyone noticed Scott’s attention was on Nina, leading someone to joke, “Scott, who would have thought? After all these years, you still can’t forget about Nina. You even remember to take care of her at gatherings.”

“Do you all remember? Scott once wrote love letters back then. I even saw them. I wonder if those love letters ever reached Nina’s hands.” Their gaze shifted

towards Nina.

Nina became the center of attention but didn’t quite understand. Her relationship with Scott back then wasn’t that good, was it? Even if he wrote love letters, it

couldn’t have been for her.

Nina smiled faintly, “How could that be possible? You must have mistaken

something. If Scott had a crush, it definitely wouldn’t be me.”

Scott poured a glass of water in front of Nina and advised, “You shouldn’t drink

alcohol. Have some water instead.”

“Nina, Scott, you two aren’t together, are you?” They saw how Scott cared for Nina and boldly speculated, “You’re just not telling us to avoid gossip.” Nina was startled by their abrupt words and instinctively denied, “No…”

“I bet you two are definitely together!” They loved to join in on the excitement, paying no heed to her explanation, and shouted in unison, “Kiss, kiss!”

As they clapped and cheered, the noise reverberated loudly. This was why she disliked attending gatherings with classmates. Besides the competitiveness in careers and high salaries, there was also the love for gossip and making baseless assumptions.

Even the quiet folks outside could hear the commotion.

“Nash, this restaurant is delicious. You should try it later. If you like it, we can come again next time.”

At that moment, Miranda followed behind Nash, walking towards the second floor. She was very happy; originally, they had planned to dine together tomorrow, but she wanted to meet him tonight, and he immediately agreed.

At this moment, they heard the noisy voices coming from the private room.

“Scott, if you’re a man, spill it. Are you and Nina dating?” Someone in the private room boldly asked, fueled by alcohol.

This remark caught Nash’s attention, causing him to stop in his tracks. The private room wasn’t completely enclosed; it had screens and several curtains

partially covering it, creating a shadowy effect inside. Yet, Nash still spotted Nina sitting beside Scott.

She was sitting next to Scott, their intimacy apparent as they attended gatherings together. They were supposed to be old classmates, but in the eyes of others, they looked like a couple!

His sharp gaze pierced through the curtains. Feeling extremely uncomfortable inside, he tugged at his tie in irritation.

The suggestion to “kiss” pushed his anger to its peak.

Miranda naturally heard it too, her lips slightly curling, “Isn’t that Nina? Why is she with another man? Nina, after all, has a family. It’s not quite appropriate for her to attend gatherings with other men without explanation. By not clarifying, it makes it seem like they really are a couple.”

After speaking, she instinctively glanced at Nash’s expression.

Deliberately phrased that way, she

wanted Nash to know that Nina hadn’t denied their relationship.

Nash’s expression turned extremely unpleasant as he coldly said, “Don’t bother about her!”

Seeing him unhappy, Miranda quickly added, “Okay, then let’s go eat our meal.”

They walked past the entrance of the private room. Inside, Nina couldn’t suppress

everyone’s voices. While Scott was relatively open-minded, able to

withstand everyone’s teasing, Nina was a girl, and her reputation was also important. She didn’t want rumors to spread and tarnish her image.

Seeing everyone getting too carried away, Scott set down his glass, not as amiable as before: “Stop making wild guesses. Nina and I just added each other on WhatsApp. What do you think our relationship

is?”

Upon hearing this, it seemed the jokes had gone too far. Someone chimed in, Oh, so that’s it. We got excited for nothing.”

“Nina, we were just joking earlier. Hope you don’t mind too much,” someone else said.

Though uncomfortable, Nina remained gracious, smiling as she responded, “You all were too loud just now. If you had heard my voice earlier, there wouldn’t have been such a misunderstanding for so long.” The ladies present, seeing that there was no real issue, became interested. “Since that’s the case, and Scott isn’t married yet, we single ladies might have a chance.

Scott toyed with a small object in his hand, a slight smirk playing on his lips as he immediately responded, “I already have someone I like.”

Just moments ago, there was a lot of noise and teasing, but now, with his formal announcement, everyone fell

silent. It was evident that Scott valued this person greatly.

Nina, too, turned curiously, surprised to learn that he indeed had a girl he liked.

“Scott, so you really do have someone you like. Who is she? Do we know her?”