Chapter 120: Pervert
—
"Hey, bro. Let’s go eat."
Zoe Grant called out casually the moment he stepped into the office.
But when he looked up, he saw Adrian Grant staring at his phone, his features relaxed, the corners of his lips curled into a kind of silly grin Zoe had never seen before. It gave him the creeps.
He looked like a completely different person from the man with the angry, cold, and stern face in the meeting room this morning.
Even though Adrian Grant was his own brother, Zoe didn’t dare provoke him when he was wearing his usual expressionless mask.
Adrian Grant slowly lowered his phone. "You go by yourself."
"..."
It took Zoe Grant a moment to catch on. He raised an eyebrow and teased, "Are you going with my sister-in-law?"
Last night, the entire family had found out that Adrian Grant and Caroline Whitman were officially together.
He just didn’t know if his brother had successfully courted her, or if she’d been the one to land him.
But when two people were into each other, all that mattered was who was bold enough to make the first move. The result was all that counted.
Hearing the words "sister-in-law" put Adrian Grant in a pleasant mood. He replied faintly with a single word:
"Yeah."
"Alright, then. I’ll just eat by myself." Though Zoe Grant said this, he didn’t turn to leave.
Instead, he sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, hummed a few bars of a tune, and swiped through his phone, his eyes on the screen.
Adrian Grant glanced up at him. "You’re still here?"
Zoe Grant looked baffled. "Aren’t you two going out to eat?"
’I’m just waiting for my takeout. It’s not like I’m in your way.’
"She’s coming here."
"..."
Zoe Grant said, "Oh, okay. In that case, should I eat with you guys? Speaking of which, my sister-in-law hasn’t been formally introduced to me yet."
Adrian Grant: "That won’t be necessary. I’ll arrange a formal meeting for you and our parents another day."
Zoe Grant smiled again. "Well, should I go down and get her? We don’t want her getting stopped by the front desk again like last time."
Adrian Grant gave him a cool glance. "Your help won’t be needed."
’The way he said that,’ Zoe thought, ’it sounds like he’s going down to get her himself.’
"If you have enough free time to wait around for takeout, you might as well be reviewing documents, getting familiar with the overseas operations, and preparing to go abroad."
"..."
"Bro, how about we switch back? I’ll stay here, and you can go abroad again."
Adrian Grant scoffed. "If you’re going to blame something, blame those blank years of yours. You lost your chance."
The initial arrangement—one brother at home, one abroad—had come with performance requirements.
If either of them failed to meet the standard, they would be sent abroad for "training" and tasked with developing the overseas market.
"It’s not like I could control losing my memory. It’s amazing I even survived."
Zoe Grant sighed helplessly.
’Adrian had only been back for half a year to take over the Grant Group’s affairs, and he’d already managed to completely turn things around, smashing profit targets.’
’Compared to his own performance abroad these past few years, the difference was night and day.’
He could only be thankful he wasn’t one of Gavin Grant’s other children, or who knows how badly he would have been crushed.
Adrian Grant picked up his water glass. "During those years, did you make any enemies for the Grant Group or for yourself?"
Zoe Grant thought for a moment. "I don’t think so."
It had been a while, but he still remembered his jet ski malfunctioning while he was out on the water. Then a wave hit, and he was thrown into the sea.
"Sounds like you were just unlucky," Adrian Grant said, putting down his glass.
Zoe Grant’s mouth twitched. "Isn’t being deliberately sabotaged and framed just another form of being unlucky?"
.
When Caroline Whitman arrived at the Grant Group building, she saw Adrian Grant sitting on a sofa in the lobby, casually leafing through a company brochure.
As if by telepathy, just as she walked in, Adrian Grant suddenly looked up toward the entrance. Seeing that the person he was waiting for had arrived, he stood, walked over, and glanced down at the box in her hands.
"What’s this?"
"Dessert."
Adrian Grant said nothing, simply taking the box from her. He then took her hand and led her to his private elevator.
The receptionist couldn’t help but stare at Adrian Grant from the moment he came down to wait. She only snapped out of her daze when she saw his reaction as Caroline Whitman walked in.
’Holy crap! So President Grant came down here himself to wait for his girlfriend?’
Wait a minute.
’That woman looked really familiar.’
Then it hit her. She remembered the woman who had come to deliver flowers to Adrian Grant the other day.
’So that’s why she didn’t give her name at first—they were just playing some kind of romantic game!’
After Caroline Whitman left that day, the receptionist had received a call from Chief Assistant Lawson in the CEO’s office. He’d said that from now on, Caroline Whitman could enter directly without needing to sign in.
At the time, she’d assumed she must be some kind of big shot.
Thinking about it now made her break out in a cold sweat. Thank goodness she hadn’t said anything foolish or offended her.
This was Caroline Whitman’s first time setting foot in Adrian Grant’s company.
Back when they first met and signed their initial partnership agreement, she had always sent her secretary to the Grant Group to handle communications in person.
At that time, their relationship was purely a professional one built on mutual benefit.
Adrian Grant led her into his office. While he had been waiting downstairs, Chief Assistant Lawson had already brewed tea and set out lunch, snacks, and fruit on the coffee table.
Looking at the lavish spread, she teased, "I guess the dessert I went out of my way to bring is a bit redundant, huh?"
"Not at all."
Adrian Grant set the dessert box down. After closing the door behind them, his hand moved from hers to her waist, pulling her in as he lowered his head to kiss her.
This kiss wasn’t as gentle or restrained as the last two; it was more dominant and forceful.
They went from standing to sitting.
Caroline Whitman found herself pressed down onto his lap. In a moment when she could catch her breath, she glanced toward the large, floor-to-ceiling window and clearly saw employees walking back and forth outside.
Diagonally across from the office, Chief Assistant Lawson was hunched over a lunch box, completely absorbed in his meal.
"Adrian Grant, you pervert! There are people right outside," Caroline Whitman exclaimed, using all her strength to easily push his head back against the sofa.
Forced to lean back, Adrian Grant let out a low chuckle. He followed her gaze to the window, then gently took her small chin, turning her face back toward him. He caressed her pink lips and smiled.
"Don’t worry. They can’t see in from the outside."
Caroline Whitman shot him a look of mild disdain.
"And even if they could, they wouldn’t dare spread rumors. Besides, it’s not like we’re doing *that* kind of thing."
A half-smile played on Adrian Grant’s lips. As he spoke, Caroline became aware of a distinct pressure from beneath her.
In that instant, their minds were on the exact same wavelength.
Caroline Whitman’s face instantly flushed red. She gently patted his chest and chided, "Pervert!"
She quickly stood up, moved around to sit across from Adrian, and said, "Hurry up and eat. If you don’t, I’m leaving."
Adrian Grant was indeed hungry, so he stopped teasing her and they ate their meal together.
They ate and drank their fill.
Leaning back on the sofa, Caroline Whitman started to feel drowsy.
"I’m heading back now."
She stood up to leave, but an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back.
"Since you’re tired, you can sleep here."
With that, he swept her up into his arms and carried her into the adjoining private lounge.
Before Caroline Whitman could even react, she found herself facing three walls of floor-to-ceiling glass.
The entire bustling commercial district of Kingsport was laid out before her eyes.