Benny Palr chuckled, scratching his nose bridge as he pulled out a chair to sit down. "The way you’re talking, it makes it seem like we’re a couple. You better tone it down in front of outsiders, or else they’ll misunderstand."
After all, those lines like "I really can’t handle you" are practically standard fare for domineering tycoons.
"..." Christopher held back his discomfort, shooting Benny a fierce glare. "Just say what you have to say directly!"
"Alright, alright, fine. I really can’t handle you." Benny decided to channel his inner tycoon, then took out his phone to pull up a tabloid article.
"I ca across this today and figured you might have seen it already—and that it’ll spark another fight between you and Alia. But clearly, you haven’t seen it yet. I didn’t originally plan to say anything, but you just had to ask."
As Benny rambled on, Christopher quickly grew impatient and snatched his phone away.
Christopher’s gaze settled on the screen, his handso face visibly shifting in expression while his deep-set eyes narrowed slowly.
This...
On the screen, the two people embracing were that foreigner and Alia?
Though he already knew Alia had t with Kane during her business trip to the Zurich HQ...
...but with "evidence" so blatant and the pair looking so intimate—how could soone as notoriously jealous as him possibly remain unaffected?
Benny carefully observed Christopher’s reaction and tried to reassure him, "It looks like a simple farewell hug, taken out of context. You two patched things up already, right? You should trust Alia."
"Of course I trust her!" Christopher felt the sting of jealousy rise but had to act magnanimous outwardly.
His fingers slid across the screen, eyes darting through the article.
The gossip paparazzi were certainly imaginative. They claid Kane had canceled his engagent with the heiress of another financial conglorate just for this mysterious Oriental beauty.
They speculated the two were business partners deeply tied together by mutual interests, making separation impossible.
Other reports suggested their relationship faced fierce opposition from the Kane Family due to their disparate social standings, forcing them into a secret romance with Alia forever hidden away.
The more Christopher read, the angrier he beca...
He had repeatedly reminded and cautioned her before she left, only for her to brush it off as if it were nothing!
Now look, the dia caught it and spun an outright ss.
The scene in question seed to be Kane dropping her off at her hotel, the two embracing beside the car.
They had dinner together, and Kane had personally escorted her back to her hotel—just the two of them, alone for so long.
While in that car, could that scoundrel have lost control and...?
The more Christopher thought, the more he fud. Gripping the phone tightly, he suddenly hurled it away.
Luckily, Benny had anticipated his reaction and deftly caught the phone.
"Didn’t you say you trust her? Then why the tantrum? And by the way, my phone is innocent here. Let remind you: I told you not to pry, but you insisted—so now you’re just bringing yourself unnecessary misery." Benny didn’t exactly look pleased either.
"Can’t I be angry at that shaless bastard?"
"Tsk, talk about double standards—that’s so typical of you."
Christopher shot Benny another glare.
Benny defended himself, "For months now, you’ve been relentlessly pestering Alia. How are you any different from that guy?"
"Of course I’m different! She’s my ex-wife, the mother of my child!"
"To be blunt, the ’ex-wife’ title sounds less intimate compared to a business partner bonded by shared interests."
"Whose side are you even on?"
"Alright, alright, fine—of course I’m on your side. But I still need to be fair and objective."
"..." Christopher pondered for a mont, then his face relaxed, as if he just thought of sothing reassuring. He muttered in a low voice, "She forgave . So that guy doesn’t stand a chance."
"What?" Benny looked up abruptly, startled. He paused before asking, "Are you saying... Alia forgave you? Does that an you two are officially back together?"
"Mm. She refuses to admit it outright, but she’s been treating much better these past few days." Moreover... she wasn’t rejecting his kisses anymore.
Benny stared at him, suddenly sensing trouble.
These two had just reconciled, and now he’d brought this news to light—they wouldn’t start fighting again because of him, would they?
"Uh... since that’s the case, cherish her well. You’ve already wasted so many years. From now on, try not to argue and at least create a happy, warm ho atmosphere for the kids."
"Obviously. Do I need you to tell that?"
Initially, when he’d regained consciousness after his accident, Alia had said she would wait for him to pull himself together and beco "normal" again before she’d consider giving him another chance.
Unexpectedly, her own brush with a plane crash had provided him an opportunity to save her, turning the tide and winning her over ahead of schedule.
Fate had been kind to him, leaving him with scars but delivering a reward worth far more.
————
Alia Garcia had just sent Ginny Davies off when her phone rang.
Benny Palr?
"Hello, Young Master Palr."
"Alia? Ahem, um... you’re busy, right?" Benny’s voice carried the distinct tone of a man guilty of wrongdoing.
Alia picked up on it imdiately. "Not really. Just say what you need to."
"Well... so you recently went to Zurich and t Kane, right? The two of you were photographed hugging outside a hotel, and the dia caught it. Now it’s circulating back ho. I thought Christopher had already seen it, but... I accidentally spilled the beans."
Alia paused in surprise, rifling through her mory as Benny spoke.
Right—this had happened.
That day, after dinner with Kane, he insisted on dropping her off at her hotel. She couldn’t refuse.
After getting out, Kane indeed hugged her briefly, though she had quickly pulled away.
The dia actually captured that?
"This happened ages ago. How is it surfacing now?"
"It’s pretty typical—there’s always so lag ti between dostic and international news. But that’s besides the point. The real issue is Christopher knows. You know his temper... no need to elaborate."
Alia walked toward her desk, tidying her docunts as she replied casually, "He’s always jealous about nothing, petty as a child. I can’t be bothered."
"Um... you’re absolutely right. But this whole ss is my fault, and I’m worried it might cause another argunt between you two. Especially since I heard you two recently patched things up—it’d be horrible if I stirred things up."
"Who said we patched things up?" Alia’s face flushed, her voice defensive as she instinctively denied it.
Benny chuckled, "You don’t have to admit it out loud; it’s enough that you know it in your heart. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads-up so Christopher doesn’t go off on you without you knowing why."
Alia muttered, "You knew about his temper yet still deliberately told him."
"I was only testing the waters, thinking he might not know—and if he didn’t, that’d be fine. Who knew he’d insist on prying further?" Benny admitted sheepishly and quickly tried steering the subject elsewhere. "By the way, I ran into Wendy Hart while I was there. She ca to visit Christopher—no clue if the siblings talked about anything unpleasant."
Wendy Hart?
Alia hadn’t heard that na in ages and almost forgot she existed.
Nothing good ever ca from Wendy’s mouth anyway.
Not that Alia cared.
She responded indifferently, "A sister visiting her hospitalized brother—it’s only natural."
"Mm, glad you think that way."
After ending the call, Alia lowered herself into her office chair. Her fingers hovered over her keyboard before typing in so search keywords.
Soon enough, the article Benny ntioned appeared.
Scrolling downward, she sighed internally.
So foreign paparazzi were just as inventive as local ones, huh? She hadn’t realized she’d beco such a tragic heroine—from being forced apart from her lover to being an underground mistress to facing insurmountable obstacles trying to marry into high society.
She couldn’t imagine the sour expression on Christopher’s face after reading the report.
Checking her watch, she realized it was already lunchti.
Recalling Christopher’s earlier ssage on WhatsApp, asking her to join him for lunch, she noticed it coincided perfectly with the alti.
Grabbing her bag, she typed a quick reply on WhatsApp—Prepare my lunch.
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