Chapter 213: Chance Encounter
Their wedding photos.
Vivian Lowell’s heart skipped a beat when Julian Faulkner mentioned it.
Suddenly, like a naive young girl, she found herself yearning for her own wedding and the thought of taking wedding photos with the man she loved.
She was delighted.
She couldn’t help but imagine what the wedding Julian described would be like. She wondered if his proposal would be just as full of surprises as the romantic videos she had seen online.
She thought it must be incredibly romantic to be confessed to by the person she loved.
"Okay."
Vivian agreed very solemnly. When she looked at Julian, her gaze had softened considerably.
She suddenly realized that in all the time she had known Julian, he had never once disappointed her. Whenever she encountered difficulties, he would always appear by her side to help. Subconsciously, she believed that their wedding would turn out wonderfully under his preparation.
A moment later, Vivian couldn’t help but shake her head and laugh at the sudden flurry of thoughts. She felt like a little girl experiencing her first romance, completely focused on Julian and acting a bit silly. But perhaps it was exactly this blind faith that made her feel Julian would undoubtedly fulfill everything—all the promises between the two of them.
After the two rested on the corridor bench for a while, Julian had Vance Wyatt bring over all the outfits they had brought so Vivian could pick one.
"There are still several sets left to shoot," Julian said after taking a close look. "What do you want to wear next?"
Vivian’s thoughts were instantly pulled back to the present. She pondered for a moment before telling Julian, "Let’s go with the little vintage dress! I thought Eleanor looked really pretty in hers earlier!
"I took some artistic photos in a little vintage dress before, but that was back in college. It would be nice to take some again now, don’t you think?"
"Yes," Julian nodded in agreement, though a fleeting trace of regret flashed through his eyes.
He couldn’t help but feel it was a pity that he had never seen what Vivian looked like during her college days. After all, he had come into her life a bit too late. Fortunately, Julian hid this trace of emotion well. He quickly took Vivian to change clothes, and then they went to look for Grandma Faulkner and Eleanor Rhodes.
By the rockery.
Grandma Faulkner and Eleanor had specifically sought out a bush blooming with herbaceous peonies to take photos. The rockery paired with the flower clusters made for an absolutely excellent shooting location. Eleanor struck a demure pose, making her look every bit the elegant young lady from a prestigious family.
They took pictures for a while before Vivian and Julian walked over. Watching the photographer set up the lighting to capture Eleanor, Vivian couldn’t resist offering a compliment.
"Our Eleanor is so beautiful! I’ve decided, I’m going to hang this photo in my room and admire it every day!"
Eleanor was still holding her pose, but hearing Vivian tease her like this instantly broke her composure. Unable to maintain her pose any longer, she came over to jokingly scuffle with Vivian.
"What are you saying? How could you put my photo in your room!" Eleanor playfully reproached. She couldn’t help but glance at Julian standing to the side and whispered, "If you did that, President Faulkner would definitely get jealous!"
Vivian listened and glanced at Julian. The three of them burst into laughter.
After laughing for a moment, Grandma Faulkner called out to Vivian and the others from a distance, "Alright, why are you standing so far away! Let’s take a group photo together!"
"Okay, we’re coming."
Vivian agreed, and the three of them walked over to join Grandma Faulkner for the photos.
The sun was gradually coming out. After taking photos for a while, Vivian started to feel a bit hot. She turned and noticed beads of sweat on Grandma Faulkner’s forehead. "Why don’t we rest for a bit?" she suggested. "The sun is out and it’s getting a little hot. If it’s still this hot in the afternoon, we can head back to the studio to shoot."
The photo studio had specialized sets as well. The one Julian had chosen was highly professional with massive setups. The photos taken indoors wouldn’t necessarily pale in comparison to those taken in the natural outdoor scenery.
Grandma Faulkner nodded in agreement.
She was getting older and lacked the energy she used to have; she truly couldn’t handle too much exertion anymore and indeed needed to rest more.
The group returned to the corridor and sat down to rest in the shade of a large tree. Vance brought over some water he had bought, his head also covered in sweat.
"Have a seat too, Vance." Seeing how busy Vance was running back and forth, Vivian couldn’t help but chuckle and shake her head. "It’s so busy today, you’ve really worked hard having to come in for overtime on a Saturday."
"It’s no problem," Vance shook his head. He sat down a little further away and took a bite of his ice cream as he said, "President Faulkner is paying me five times my normal salary.
"I think I would only regret it if I didn’t come!"
Vance spoke with utter seriousness, looking as if he had fallen into a pile of money. Seeing him like this, Vivian couldn’t help but laugh. "You’re acting just like Finn!"
Finn was the young receptionist at Vivian’s company. She had started as a receptionist intern and was now slowly transitioning into the design department. She had majored in design in college, but attending classes in school and working in the real world were vastly different. While Finn wasn’t the quickest to pick things up, she was extremely diligent every single day. She had said that being able to join Vivian’s company was her stroke of luck, and she was determined to work hard and earn lots of money!
She had even quoted a popular internet meme to Vivian: "With a monthly salary of three thousand, the boss’s mouth isn’t a mouth, it’s a sphincter. With eight thousand, you have to bow your head under someone else’s roof. With thirty thousand, whatever the boss says is absolutely correct. With a hundred thousand, the company is my home, and I simply don’t need to get off work."
In short, Vivian didn’t pay Finn a low salary, and naturally, Finn wanted to strive to improve herself to be worthy of that income.
The same was true for Vance.
Vance came from a rural background. He had been the only college student in his village to be admitted to a top-tier university. When he took his postgraduate entrance exams, he got into Aethelburg University, and after graduating from his master’s program, he was selected by Julian. In a company like Faulkner Group, where post-doctorates were everywhere, it was truly no easy feat for Vance to stand by Julian’s side all the way to today with only a master’s degree.
Even Vivian herself really liked employees like this!
Vance had been shyly eating his ice cream, but upon hearing Vivian’s words, he nearly choked.
It was as if what he was eating wasn’t ice cream, but a piece of burning charcoal. It scorched him so badly that he began to scarf it down, desperate to swallow the ice cream in his mouth as fast as possible.
"What’s wrong?"
Seeing Vance coughing until his face turned red, Vivian wanted to go over and check on him.
However, just as Vivian made a move, Julian beat her to it. He walked over, stood before Vance, and looked down at him as he asked, "What’s wrong?"
Even though it was the exact same question, for some reason, when Vance heard Julian ask what was wrong, he couldn’t detect even a hint of care in his voice.
In fact, Vance was even a little scared!
"No, it’s nothing."
Vance finally managed to recover and stopped coughing. His face was still a bit red, and his heart was beating just a little bit fast.
He hadn’t meant for this to happen. Who asked Vivian to suddenly bring up Finn while they were having a perfectly normal conversation? She even said he and Finn were very alike! Were they really that similar? Vance hadn’t felt anything in particular before, only knowing that both of them thoroughly shipped their boss and the boss’s wife together. He hadn’t expected their personalities to be similar too!
No wonder Vance felt that spending time with Finn was quite comfortable.
For a moment, Vance was a little lost in thought. Although Vivian found his sudden spacing out strange, she didn’t ask further.
The group sat under the corridor for a while longer before Vivian checked the time. It was already eleven o’clock.
"Grandma, didn’t you make a reservation for roast duck? What time was it for? It’s eleven now, when should we head out? The weather is so nice today, but the UV index is also quite high."
The mere thought of roast duck made Vivian crave it. "Why don’t we leave right now!" she suggested.
Having exerted herself all morning, Grandma Faulkner was also hungry. Hearing Vivian’s question, she replied dotingly, "Alright. Since you’re hungry, let’s head out.
"Eleanor, let’s go together!"
"Mhm! Grandma, let me help you!" Eleanor agreed very obediently. She stepped forward on her own initiative and supported Grandma Faulkner alongside Vivian.
The group then departed from The Sunstone Palace, getting into the car to go eat roast duck.
The roast duck restaurant was famous in Aethelburg. Roast duck was their signature dish, and many out-of-town tourists usually came specifically for its reputation. Vivian had eaten roast duck here before. The restaurant’s roast duck, duck bones, and duck soup were all absolutely excellent. On the way over, Vivian had even figured out exactly what she wanted to eat.
As soon as they arrived, a waiter greeted them. Vivian stated they had a reservation, and the waiter led them toward their booked private room.
The restaurant wasn’t far from The Sunstone Palace. Sitting in the private room, they could see the outside scenery—red walls and red tiles that were breathtakingly beautiful.
At the door of the private room.
Just as Vivian was preparing to enter, the door to the room opposite hers happened to open, and Henry Sterling walked out. Vivian was slightly taken aback the moment she saw Henry. She naturally hadn’t expected him to show up here.
Henry also saw Vivian. Of course, it wasn’t just Vivian. Henry also spotted The Faulkners, Vance, and Eleanor standing behind her.
Eleanor subconsciously hid behind Vivian, only poking her head out to look at Henry without any intention of speaking first.
"What a coincidence."
Henry was the first to speak. His tone was a bit dry. Just as he finished speaking, the expression on his face softened a little as Mrs. Sterling’s voice rang out from inside the private room.
"Henry, go tell the waiter that I want my Arctic Ocean soda to be orange-flavored and chilled! Why are you still standing at the door, Henry?"
Mrs. Sterling had finished the can of Arctic Ocean soda in front of her. The duck soup at the roast duck restaurant was delicious, but the weather was getting hot, and she simply wanted something cold to drink! Not wanting to move herself, she had no choice but to order her son to run the errand!
Who would have thought that her foolish son would step out the door only to stand there perfectly still!