Claire was taking off her coat and hanging it on the rack.
Her slender waist was pulled in by Tristan Lockwood and she was embraced entirely.
She gave him a symbolic hug back and asked casually, "Your grandmother is urging you to get married?"
Tristan Lockwood released her, his gaze skimming over her cool face, and replied blandly, "But for now, I don’t have that plan."
"So, when you do have a plan, will you break up with ?"
He frowned slightly and gave no clear answer, "We’ll talk about the future when it cos."
"Mm."
Claire didn’t ask further, but before sleep, she said to him again, "If you’re planning to leave, you must let know ahead of ti. I won’t make things difficult for you."
Tristan Lockwood remained silent and didn’t reply.
Her excessive compliance gave him peace of mind, yet Tristan felt that Claire wasn’t like this before.
The Claire he knew before was full of sharp edges, constantly challenging him. Although difficult to get along with, she felt like a living person.
But over the past two months, she had beco increasingly quiet, compliant, and her sharpness had vanished.
She looked obedient, yet always gave off a feeling that sothing was missing.
This inexplicably made Tristan Lockwood sowhat restless and irritable.
Even when doing that thing, seeing her being extraordinarily cooperative made him a bit fed up.
After that, for a long period, he didn’t go to Claire’s place.
During this ti, Claire even took the initiative a few tis to contact him, but he was busy with work and combined with the inexplicable irritation in him, he was especially aloof when replying to her ssages.
Claire sensed that he didn’t wish to chat with her, and sensibly said, "I won’t disturb you anymore. When you’re done, just co find ."
He looked at the ssage but didn’t reply.
They t again at a business banquet.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, Tristan Lockwood saw Claire walking his way arm-in-arm with a stranger, smiling lightly.
When she saw him, Claire’s smile visibly faded.
But when the man greeted him, she still cooperated, smiling politely toward him.
Tristan Lockwood’s gaze lingered on her, not moving away.
The man noticed his unusual deanor and asked, "Do you know Claire, Mr. Lockwood?"
Tristan Lockwood answered absent-mindedly, "t a few tis."
Claire curled her lips slightly and said a few words in agreent before leaving with the man.
Midway through, she went to the restroom, and upon coming out, Tristan was leaning against the wall, watching her.
She nodded slightly toward him, neither cold nor warm.
This polite and distant deanor made Tristan Lockwood increasingly uncomfortable.
He asked, "Who is that man?"
"A blind date introduced by Ms. Wan," Claire answered truthfully, "I’ve declined several tis, but she was very enthusiastic, so I agreed to et. Today, we just happened to both attend this banquet together. I won’t have anything with him."
She paused and looked at him, "You won’t be mad, will you?"
A trace of cautiousness leaked from her cool eyes, and Tristan Lockwood frowned slightly, replying coldly, "No."
"That’s good." She smiled at him, with a hint of flattery, "I was quite surprised to see you earlier. I thought you wouldn’t want our relationship to be known, so I deliberately acted unfamiliar."
After she finished speaking, Tristan Lockwood stared at her for a long ti.
After a while, he stepped forward and suddenly held her chin with one hand, forcing her to raise her head, "How long are you going to keep pretending?"
She was stunned, "Pretending what?"
"Explaining a bunch of things and showing that pitiful and flattering expression," Tristan Lockwood said, "This isn’t you."
She was taken aback, and after staring at him for a long ti, her eyes turned slightly red.
Tristan Lockwood released her and asked, "Did I hurt you?"
"No."
She shook her head, her voice tinged with a hint of sobbing, stirring an unbidden pity in him.
Yet when she looked at him again, her expression turned calm once more, but there seed to be so constrained restraint, "If you don’t like this way, I’ll change. I could beco anything you like."
"I never said you should change." Tristan Lockwood irritably pinched his brows, "With , I’ve always let you be yourself."
She lowered her eyes, her palm instinctively clenched into a fist, as if gathering great courage before saying, "Then why haven’t you been paying attention to lately?"
Her voice sounded very aggrieved.
"Are you tired of again? If that’s the case, just tell directly. I’ve said I’ll leave, I won’t cling to you."
She truly looked pitiful.
This was the first ti Claire appeared so fragile in front of Tristan Lockwood, so heart-breaking.
Of course, more than heartache, there was a surge of hormones, an impulse wanting to tornt her fiercely injected into Tristan Lockwood’s veins.
"When the banquet is over, wait for in the car."
He slipped the car keys into her bag, speaking without a hint of compassion.
Claire obediently nodded.
However, after Tristan Lockwood turned away, the heart-breaking sadness in her eyes instantly faded away entirely.
She returned to her usual cool deanor, devoid of any warmth.
When the banquet was over, Claire bid farewell to the man and as agreed, waited for Tristan in his car.
It was unclear whether sothing had delayed him, but Tristan had not co out for a long ti.
Claire stepped out of the car and went back into the venue, asking the hostess if she had seen Tristan Lockwood.
The hostess pointed to a private room at the other end and said, "Mr. Lockwood just went in there with Mr. Jennings. They said not to disturb them."
Claire thanked her and waited a while longer but couldn’t resist approaching the private room.
She reached the door and saw it was ajar, and was about to enter when she heard Jenson Jennings’ smooth voice, "I heard you and Miss Zhao have cut ties, so why haven’t we seen you around?"
He thought for a mont and teased, "I spotted Claire at the banquet earlier. Are you two still in touch? It seed like there was a male companion with her, possibly with plans to advance."
"She doesn’t."
Jenson paused, "How can you be so sure?"
Tristan Lockwood, "Because she’s involved with ."
"What?" Jenson looked at him in disbelief, "You’re back together with Claire? Why haven’t you ntioned it? Planning to remarry?"
"Of course not," Tristan Lockwood said coolly.
From that, Jenson imdiately grasped his aning, "So you an, you and Claire are secret lovers now, just having fun, and you’ll discard her once you’re bored?"
Tristan Lockwood said nothing, a shadowy emotion in his eyes.
Silence generally implies consent.
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