The beautiful mont was interrupted by the growling of Sumr Lancaster’s stomach. Embarrassed, she let go of Kenneth Yates and shyly lowered her head.
"You must be hungry. Co on, I’ll take you to lunch." Kenneth Yates smiled, patting Sumr Lancaster’s head and taking her hand.
"Are we going to the employee cafeteria?" Sumr Lancaster hesitated, pulling on Kenneth Yates’s hand to signal him to wait.
"Either is fine. What do you think?" Kenneth Yates didn’t mind either way. His priority was Sumr Lancaster; as long as she was happy, he was happy.
"If you show up in the employee cafeteria, it’ll probably cause a commotion. Let’s eat out instead." Sumr Lancaster carefully watched Kenneth Yates’s expression. ’Lunchti is supposed to be for resting. Is it rude of to make him go out to eat with ?’
"Alright, let’s go." Kenneth Yates pulled Sumr Lancaster straight into the private elevator. During the ride, he called Zane Fletcher to tell him he wouldn’t need him to prepare lunch.
Downstairs was an elegant Italian restaurant. It was already past the lunch rush, and only a few people were inside drinking coffee. Sumr Lancaster and Kenneth Yates walked into the quiet restaurant.
At a table by the window, Sumr Lancaster saw lody Donovan, whom she hadn’t seen in a long ti. She looked so haggard; even makeup couldn’t hide the exhaustion on her face. What concerned Sumr even more was the man sitting across from lody.
He was leaning eagerly in lody Donovan’s direction, his eyes filled with a clear mix of affection and protectiveness. Yet, he was a complete stranger to Sumr Lancaster.
After hesitating for a long ti, Sumr Lancaster decided to go say hello. Her real goal was to find out who the man with lody Donovan was.
As she walked over, the man noticed her first. He instinctively stood up, shielding lody Donovan, and watched Sumr Lancaster with a wary gaze. It was clear the man cared a lot about lody.
"Sumr Lancaster! You’ve recovered? I was thinking about visiting, but so things ca up these past few days. You’re not mad at , are you?" lody Donovan was thrilled to see Sumr Lancaster. She had been worried sick, but it seed Kenneth Yates didn’t want anyone to disturb her, and she was no longer in contact with Dominic Thorne, her only source of information. That was why she had been completely in the dark about Sumr’s progress.
Hearing lody Donovan’s words, the man slowly stepped aside. His expression softened, but his gaze remained locked on lody.
"Of course not." Sumr Lancaster didn’t say much more, instead looking at the man beside her, signaling for lody Donovan to make an introduction.
"Oh, right! Lancaster, I’m in a relationship now. This is my boyfriend, Julian Jennings!" On the surface, lody Donovan looked perfectly content, but Sumr Lancaster felt she was clearly just trying to convince herself.
’She’s obviously in love with Dominic Thorne, and has been for so many years. How could she forget him just like that?’
’Then again, maybe starting a new relationship is a good thing for lody. It’s better than holding on to a love with no future.’
’The only problem is, she has to actually like the guy, not just use him to get over Dominic Thorne.’
"Hi, I’m Sumr Lancaster, lody’s best friend." Sumr’s first impression of the man was quite good. He was well-dressed and had elegant manners. Most importantly, he clearly cared a great deal about lody Donovan.
"Hello."
After ordering, Kenneth Yates ca looking for Sumr Lancaster when she didn’t return. He was a little surprised to see lody Donovan. ’Looks like Dominic Thorne really doesn’t know how to handle won. He seems to have ssed things up.’
"Sumr Lancaster, co on, it’s ti to eat." Kenneth Yates gave lody Donovan a slight nod but completely ignored the man beside her.
"Okay, right. lody, call when you have ti. I’m always available!"
"Alright, I know. Go on, don’t keep him waiting too long."
Sumr Lancaster returned to her and Kenneth Yates’s table with an uneasy heart. The exquisite and delicious pasta on the table couldn’t whet her appetite at all.
"Not to your liking? Or are you worried about lody Donovan?" Kenneth Yates asked, breaking her daze when he saw she hadn’t touched her food.
"Yeah! What on earth is going on with Dominic Thorne and lody Donovan? It’s only been a few days, how have they already moved on?" Sumr Lancaster slamd her hand on the table, making Kenneth Yates jump. This was an Italian restaurant; it was a good thing it wasn’t the lunch rush, or everyone would have turned to stare at her.
"Don’t worry, Dominic will handle it. I trust him."
"I don’t trust him! And it’s all your fault for being a bad influence on Dominic Thorne. They were a good match, but you led him astray!" Sumr Lancaster said resentfully, holding her knife and fork as if she was ready to carve him up.
Kenneth Yates had no intention of admitting to this baseless accusation. He put down his knife and fork and said righteously, "Why are you saying I was a bad influence on him? Am I that bad? Besides, I..."
"You what?" Sumr Lancaster propped her head up with one hand, giving Kenneth Yates a contemptuous glance with a challengingly raised eyebrow.
"I... I... *He* was a bad influence on **! Right, that’s it!" Kenneth Yates had been about to say he hadn’t taught Dominic Thorne a thing, but he was so intimidated by Sumr Lancaster’s sharp glare that he imdiately swallowed his words.
"Tch. You don’t need to be taught. You’re already a self-taught master, Young Master Yates!" Sumr Lancaster finally picked up her knife and fork, deciding to ignore him. Now, whenever she saw Kenneth Yates, she thought of Dominic Thorne, and whenever she thought of Dominic Thorne, she thought of poor lody Donovan.
"There are so many things I don’t know, Mrs. Yates. Why don’t you deign to teach ?" An amorous atmosphere filled the air. Sumr Lancaster froze. ’In broad daylight, and in a public place, no less! Does this man even know what he’s saying?’
’And another thing, we’re just talking. Does he have to be so close?’
Kenneth Yates had been sitting across from Sumr Lancaster. He was still across from her, but his body was now leaned almost entirely over the poor table, his cheek close to hers.
Sumr Lancaster looked up at him, and her forehead brushed against his bangs. Her eyes widened, flustered. "You... why are you so close?"
Kenneth Yates chuckled, and the slight movent of his body caused her to brush against his bangs again.
"Of course I have a reason for being this close. You didn’t think I was just stretching, did you?"
Sumr Lancaster seed a bit impatient. She put her knife and fork down on the table. "Then what is it you want to do!"
Kenneth Yates grabbed the nu from the table, using it to shield both their heads. He lightly kissed the corner of Sumr Lancaster’s mouth, then pulled away a mont later. Returning to his seat, he savored the delicious taste.
"Mm, not bad."
Sumr Lancaster was still in a daze when she heard Kenneth Yates utter those words. She touched the spot he had just kissed; it felt a little wet. She stared at him in disbelief. "What did you just do? This is a public place! Are you out of your mind?"
"I was just tasting your pasta. I couldn’t care less if it’s a public place or not. I do what I want. If anyone dares to criticize , let them try!" Kenneth Yates didn’t care about what other people thought. He had grown up in the public eye and had learned that paying too much attention to others’ gazes only exhausted him.
"What?" It slowly dawned on Sumr Lancaster as she touched her lips again. "The sauce on the corner of my mouth... you... you... ate it?" Sumr Lancaster’s eyebrows shot up in astonishnt. ’If anyone saw that, how could I ever show my face again?’ Thankfully, no one in the restaurant seed to be paying them any attention.
"Is there a problem? You belong to , so what’s the big deal? Now, hurry up and eat. Your pasta’s getting cold." Kenneth Yates dropped the playful act and got serious.
Sumr Lancaster didn’t want to drop the subject. She crossed her arms and looked at Kenneth Yates seriously. "Kenneth Yates, I think I need to get to know you all over again."
"Alright. I’ll give you a lifeti to get to know all over again." Kenneth Yates gently ruffled Sumr Lancaster’s hair and went back to eating.
Ripples spread through Sumr Lancaster’s heart. It felt as if her soul were journeying through an oasis—so beautiful, and with the person she loved by her side. This was everything she had ever hoped for.
After lunch, there was still so of the break left. Kenneth Yates settled Sumr Lancaster into the bedroom in his office, while he himself zoned out in front of his computer in the main office area.
After a long while, he finally pulled out his phone, opened his contacts, and pressed "Dominic."
The call connected quickly, but the person on the other end sounded exhausted. His voice was weak and lifeless.
"Boss, what’s up?" a hoarse voice ca from the other end of the line.
"What’s wrong with you? Have you lost all your fighting spirit just like that? This isn’t like you!" Kenneth Yates yelled into the phone. On the other side, Dominic Thorne quickly pulled the phone away from his ear.
"Boss, what are you talking about? I don’t get it!" Dominic Thorne had no idea what Kenneth was talking about. ’Why is he hitting with a barrage of criticism the mont I pick up the phone?’
Kenneth Yates sighed. ’No wonder things turned out this way. It’s all because he’s so dense!’
"I saw lody Donovan today," Kenneth Yates said calmly.
He could feel the person on the other end pause for a few seconds before speaking, trying to cover up the hollow tone in his voice. "Yeah? So what?"
"There was a man with her. She introduced him as her boyfriend! How long were you planning on hiding this from ? Am I still your boss or not?" Kenneth Yates said, his voice laced with anxious urgency.
Dominic Thorne was shocked. ’We only just parted ways at the coffee shop yesterday. Yesterday, she looked so sad, like she could be blown over by a gust of wind. But today, she’s already happily out to eat with a new boyfriend? What was the point of getting sick with a cold and staying in bed? It was all completely aningless.’
"I already knew she got a boyfriend. It’s nothing to be surprised about." Lying in bed, Dominic Thorne pulled the covers up higher, trying to wrap himself completely in the blanket to ward off the chill.
"And you can be so nonchalant about it? Tell the truth, do you like her or not? I don’t want Sumr Lancaster to have a long face all day worrying about you two. Besides, your parents entrusted your marital affairs to a long ti ago. I can’t let them down." Kenneth Yates was astonished by Dominic Thorne’s indifferent attitude.
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