Chapter 133: Boyfriend Checking Up on You?
Chloe Carson: [@Adrian Grant, someone’s trying to steal your girl. Venmo me 500,000 and I’ll give you the details.]
Adrian Grant didn’t take the bait, but Milo Morgan was the first to jump in.
Milo Morgan: [@Chloe Carson, seriously, babe? How could you not share this kind of news with me first?]
Finn Kaye had just gotten to work and was slacking off playing a game when a few messages popped up on his phone.
He wasn’t going to look at first, but when he saw what Chloe Carson said about someone stealing another’s girl, he immediately quit his game.
Finn Kaye: [Hisoka! Pass the popcorn.]
It was Monday, and everyone was busy with morning meetings.
After his first meeting ended, Evan Shaw opened his phone and immediately focused on the unfolding drama.
Even Zane Carson, who had just been discharged from the hospital, received the explosive news.
"Holy crap!"
’Who had such a death wish, trying to steal Adrian Grant’s girl?’
Chloe Carson’s bombshell message had baited out a few fish.
The only one who hadn’t appeared was Adrian Grant.
By the time Adrian Grant saw the message, it was almost time for his lunch break.
He sat in his office, confused, and scrolled up through the string of messages in the group chat that tagged him.
He finally stopped at the first message Chloe Carson had sent that day.
Without hesitation, he sent Chloe Carson a private message with a screenshot of a money transfer. His message was concise:
"Talk."
When Chloe Carson saw the transferred amount, she smiled. "The boss is generous."
She then relayed every single detail of the conversation between Chase Ford and Ethan Xavier from that day.
"Ethan Xavier?" Adrian Grant’s gaze darkened, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
First it was Chase Ford, and now Ethan Xavier.
’If I remember correctly, Ethan Xavier was Caroline Whitman’s deskmate, wasn’t he?’
’Does St. Hector’s High School only produce people like this?’
Adrian Grant was disdainful.
’Trying to use a business collaboration to get close to Caroline?’
His expression was indifferent as he asked Reina Carson to come in.
"President Grant?"
"Go investigate Ethan Xavier’s company."
Reina Carson didn’t ask any questions. Her job was just to do the investigation.
Ever since he’d taken over, she was almost always investigating one person or another.
She was just glad President Grant hadn’t hit her with that classic line: "You have three seconds. I want all the information on this person."
Otherwise, her job would be on the line.
...
Adrian Grant didn’t say anything in the group chat all morning.
Several people in the chat were tagging Chloe Carson, demanding to know what was going on.
Finally, Chloe Carson posted a screenshot of her payment received, along with a smiley face, and declared:
"No comment!"
"..."
Milo Morgan was with Chloe Carson at that moment. Seeing her make so much money from a single message, he felt a little salty.
"Hey, what if I started a company dedicated to reporting on Caroline Whitman and all her love rivals? Do you think I could bankrupt Adrian Grant’s company that way?"
Chloe Carson rolled her eyes at him. "Give me a break. If you did something that classless, I bet Adrian Grant would drive your group into bankruptcy first."
Milo Morgan: "Sigh, I was just saying. If I really did that, forget bankruptcy—our twenty-plus years of friendship would be over."
He was just amazed. He never thought Adrian Grant had it in him to pull the classic domineering CEO move of throwing cash around for love.
It was a side of him he’d never seen before. So unfamiliar.
After Reina Carson left, Adrian Grant sat alone in his office.
He picked up his phone, then put it down again.
Finally, he glanced at the time. It was exactly lunchtime.
He sent Caroline Whitman a message:
"Want to have lunch together?"
Ten minutes passed with no reply.
Adrian Grant called her directly.
When Caroline Whitman received the call, she was on her way to a meal with some business partners.
"Want to have lunch together?" A deep voice came from the other end of the line the moment she answered.
Caroline Whitman glanced at the other people in the car and lowered her voice.
"I’m not free for lunch."
Noticing her quiet voice, Adrian Grant asked sharply, "There are people with you. Who are you with?"
’Why does he sound like he’s checking up on me to see if I’m cheating?’ Caroline Whitman wondered.
She had no choice but to explain, "I’m with a few business partners, so I can’t have lunch with you."
Adrian Grant probed, "A business partner who’s also a high school classmate?"
Caroline Whitman glanced at the heads of the middle-aged people in the car. "...No."
Adrian Grant wasn’t an unreasonable or distrustful person. Hearing her say no, he didn’t press the topic further.
He just said, "Then let’s have dinner together tonight."
Caroline Whitman: "Tonight might not work either. I have another appointment this afternoon, so I probably won’t be home for dinner."
Adrian Grant: "..."
’Before he and Caroline Whitman had made their relationship official, he’d never thought she had that many business dinners.’
’Or rather, even if she did have a lot of them, Adrian Grant wouldn’t have meddled.’
’He even used to think she was very dedicated and approved of her business skills.’
"Fine. Send me the time and address. I’ll pick you up when you’re done."
Adrian Grant’s voice, tinged with compromise, came through the phone.
Caroline Whitman was about to say he didn’t have to.
But then she remembered she had just turned him down twice in a row, and she couldn’t bring herself to do it again. "Okay, I’ll send you the address then."
After Caroline Whitman hung up, a middle-aged woman sitting next to her smiled.
"Boyfriend checking up on you?"
Caroline Whitman smiled as if she’d been found out. She didn’t plan on hiding the fact that she was in a relationship.
Seeing that she’d hit the nail on the head, Quincy Vaughn teased, "You’re so radiant and capable. If I were your boyfriend, I’d be sure to hold on to you tight."
"President Vaughn, you’re too kind. My boyfriend, he’s..." Caroline Whitman paused. She had been about to say he was even more impressive than her.
But on second thought, if she praised Adrian Grant so highly, the woman might ask who her boyfriend was, and it would be difficult to deflect the question.
’After all, while she could reveal that she wasn’t single, whether to make her partner’s identity public was something she felt she needed to discuss with Adrian Grant first.’
’What if he didn’t want to go public, and she eagerly announced it first? Wouldn’t that make it seem like she was using the Grant Group’s name to attract business?’
"...My boyfriend is a little clingy," Caroline Whitman said with a smile, changing her tune to follow Quincy Vaughn’s line of thought.
Hearing their conversation, one of the business partners in the front seat turned around and said with a laugh:
"What a shame, Caroline already has a boyfriend. I was just thinking of introducing a friend’s son to you, but I was one step too late."
Another middle-aged man in the front laughed. "Young people these days are all about finding love on their own. Even if we try to play matchmaker, it’s not guaranteed to work out."
"Sigh, isn’t that the truth. I have a niece who actually conspired with a guy she was set up with to pretend they were dating just to placate the family. They plan to ’break up’ in a couple of years.
So, yeah, kids these days are clever."
As the only young person in the car, what could Caroline Whitman say? She could only offer a dry laugh.
When talking with people of their generation, aside from business, it felt like more than half the conversation was always about marriage and relationships.
After finishing the meal with this group of clients, Caroline Whitman didn’t even take a break before heading to a golf course.
She was off to meet the next client.
’It’s a small world, and Kingsport is even smaller.’ As it turned out, she ran into Adrian Grant there.
Caroline Whitman felt that ever since her life had become entangled with Adrian Grant’s, she was constantly running into him.
’Wind the clock back six months, and these kinds of "coincidences" never happened.’