"It’s been many years since we last t." The man deftly changed the subject, as if hinting to Maya Spencer that he wasn’t familiar with Madelyn Hanson.
Maya Spencer looked at the calmness in the man’s eyes, thinking, perhaps he doesn’t know that mom is gone!
So, she suddenly blurted out, "Yeah! We won’t be able to et anymore. My mom passed away four years ago."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Maya wished she could slap herself. Why did she have to ntion her mom’s passing for no reason? And this man might not even care; Maya felt like she was overthinking things.
Usually, she’s not like this; quite calm, actually. But when she saw Jas, she felt an inexplicable tension, and her mind was a bit muddled.
The man looked at the regret in Maya’s eyes and calmly said, "Yes, I know."
His mood, tone, and intonation were all calm, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
Maya felt awkward, smiled sheepishly at Jas twice, and explained, "Chairman Bennett, I’m sorry, it was wrong to ntion such things on our first eting."
"On the contrary, I felt an imdiate connection with you, although you don’t look much like your mother."
"Yeah!" Maya accompanied her words with a smile, feeling the conversation was going nowhere. She thought, hopefully, he won’t ask about how her father is doing, or it would be even more awkward.
However, she didn’t wait for Jas to inquire about her. The man rely smiled gently and asked, "Maya, the heater is on inside the club, aren’t you hot?"
It was only when Jas asked if she was hot that Maya realized she was still foolishly wearing her down jacket.
She quickly pulled at her jacket and said, "A little."
Seeing Maya struggling with her jacket, Jas imdiately stood up, went to her side, stretched out his hands, helped her take off the jacket, and then calmly folded it, placing it on the sofa beside her.
"Thank you!" Maya felt a bit uncomfortable with the man’s help, yet not particularly opposed to it.
Monts later, the pastries and corn juice were brought over. Jas touched the cup with the back of his hand to check the temperature, then smiled at Maya, saying, "It’s not hot."
Sensing the man’s attentiveness, Maya found it strange and wanted to ask him sothing. Yet, she held back several tis.
Jas watched the doubt in Maya’s eyes, leisurely picked up his chopsticks, placed a few pastries on her plate, and said, "The chef at the villa is quite skilled. You should try it."
"Thank you, Chairman Bennett!" Maya politely expressed her gratitude.
"Calling Chairman Bennett is too formal, just call Uncle Bennett." The man said as he placed another piece of pastry for Maya.
"But you don’t seem like an uncle, more like a brother." For Maya to call Jas ’uncle,’ she felt it was pretending to be young and fake modest, as he clearly looked very young. Calling him ’uncle’ felt like she was acting coquettishly.
"Pfft..." Maya said Jas looked like a brother, making him laugh.
He said, "Your mom wasn’t as sweet-talking as you."
"Really? What was my mom like when she was young?" Maya asked curiously.
In her mory, her mom was gentle but not fond of smiling, often lancholy, and would tear up while reading books.
Listening to Maya’s question, the man took a deep breath and calmly said, "Very beautiful and gentle."
"I didn’t inherit my mom’s gentleness." Maya said helplessly, taking a bite of the pastry.
Actually, Maya was often very gentle; she just hadn’t realized it herself.
Regarding the man in front of her, Maya didn’t think much about him, nor dared to; she simply regarded him as an old friend of her mom and spoke to him with courtesy.
"How do the pastries taste?" The man asked gently.
"Mm! It’s delicious, better than the tea house." Maya took another bite.
"If you like, you can visit my ho with the third young master. I can have the chef make so for you." Jas was exceedingly kind to Maya, very gentle.
Hearing the man’s invitation, Maya imdiately tossed the pastry in her hand into her mouth, blinked her big eyes, and gazed intently at Jas.
The man’s enthusiasm left Maya both flustered and flattered. If it were any other man, Maya would have left already. But she couldn’t get mad at Jas’s gentleness, even though she found it strange.
After swallowing the pastry, she quickly grabbed so bottled water, took a sip, and then directly looked into Jas’s eyes, asking seriously, "Chairman Bennett, why are you being so nice to ? I’m really curious."
"When I saw you at the door earlier, I felt a connection, so I wanted to be friends with you."
"..." Maya was dumbfounded. A 46-year-old man, albeit a youthful one, saying he wants to be friends really threw her off, and she didn’t know how to respond.
She hadn’t thought of being friends with Jas, nor had she thought of refusing him. The only word in her mind was ’strange,’ puzzled as to why Jas would want to be friends.
When she thought of Jas’s words about destiny, Maya was mildly amused.
She thought, yet she didn’t feel any connection or destiny with Jas, nor did she think about going to his ho for snacks.
Suddenly, Maya felt awkward and wanted to leave.
The man, seeing the panic in Maya’s eyes, smiled and said, "Miss Maya, no need to be nervous, I never intended to make you uncomfortable."
Maya noticed the man backing down, pursed her lips, and gave him a feigned smile, wondering why seeing Jas made her panic.
Even if he was impressive once, even if Liam and Christopher admired him a lot, what did it have to do with her? She wasn’t in business and didn’t need Jas’s guidance on how to make money, so why be afraid of him?
So, Maya took a deep breath, smiled, and said, "Chairman Bennett, I’ve never thought about being friends with you, and we’re not suited to be friends."
"Hahaha! Miss Maya’s straightforwardness is quite like your mother’s." Jas looked at Maya’s earnest appearance, not in the least annoyed, but instead laughed heartily.
He liked Maya’s straightforward character, liked how she looked at him with wide eyes, making him feel familiar and warm. Moreover, those words had also been spoken by Madelyn before.
Thinking of this, the smile on Jas’s lips grew brighter, mixed with so helplessness. Nonetheless, he truly felt destined to et Maya.
Not far away, Christopher watched Jas help Maya take off her coat, then serve her pastries, always smiling at her.
Christopher was perplexed, thinking, this Chairman Bennett is really strange; usually indifferent to everyone, yet he smiles whenever he sees Maya. Could it be that he...
Fearing what cos next, Christopher hastily nudged Liam and reminded him, "Third brother, I think Chairman Bennett seems quite special towards Maya. Keep an eye out and don’t get caught off guard."
"Christopher, you’re overthinking it. Chairman Bennett just finds Maya pleasant, and she’s old enough to be his daughter." Liam remained unperturbed, unconcerned by Jas’s kindness toward Maya.
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