<b>Chapter </b><b>202 </b>
The dinner was as dull <b>as </b>expected.
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Xylia, doing as Joshua told her, sat quietly and ate her meal.
The business partner dining with Joshua was a woman in her fifties.
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She kept ncing at Xylia, and after a long silence, said, “I saw online that Mr. Garcia has a girlfriend. I thought it was just gossip, but looks like it’s actually true.”
Xylia looked up at the woman.
Thinking the woman might have misunderstood that Joshua was mixing business with pleasure and giving her special treatment, she quickly exined, “Joshua and I are dating, but our business dealings arepletely professional. Joshua doesn’t mix work and personal life.”
The woman smiled. “I know. I’ve worked with Mr. Garcia for years. I know what kind of person he is.”
Xylia nced at Joshua, who was smiling, his eyes warm and gentle. She felt relieved, d that her presence hadn’t caused any issues for him.
Xylia nced at Joshua–he was smiling, his trademark eyes shimmering with tenderness, as if holding ripples of soft spring water.
She let out a silent breath of relief. ‘As long as I’m not making things difficult for him, that’s all that matters, she thought.
Midway through the meal, Xylia excused herself to use the restroom.
<b>As </b>soon as she left, the woman turned to Joshua and said, “I’ve always wondered which heiress would win Mr. Garcia’s heart. So it turns out the precious daughter of the Sadler family, who was just recently acknowledged, <b>is </b>a perfect match for you.”
Joshua’s eyes widened in surprise<b>. </b>“You know her?”
She nodded. “I’ve bumped into her before.”
Joshua didn’t say anything more.
When Xylia walked out of the restroom, she found herself facing a whole row of private rooms down the hallway, and her mind started to spin. Where was she supposed to go?
She had just trailed after Joshua earlier, totally zoned out and not even bothering to check the room number.
All she could remember was that the room was somewhere on the right side, but after those winding turns <b>to </b>get to the bathroom, she was fuzzy on the directions.
And of course, she didn’t have her phone on her.
<b>7:37 </b>Fri, <b>Sep </b><b>19 </b>
She almost wanted to smack herself for being so hopeless.
Out of options, she forced herself to rely on her barely–there memory and headed forward.
She’d barely turned the corner when–bam!-she ran straight into someone.
“Sorry, sorry!” Xylia stammered, the apology tumbling out of her mouth.
She’d bumped her forehead against the stranger and, half–dazed, instinctively apologized.
“Xylia?” The voice was instantly recognizable.
Xylia’s heart skipped a beat as she looked up. It really was Connor standing there.
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‘Just my luck,‘ she thought, a mix of surprise and resignation. ‘Of course I’d bump into Connor here!
Xylia’s face froze over in an instant, any warmth wiped clean as she instantly regretted having apologized at all. ‘Why was I being so polite to him?‘ she scolded herself.
Without a word, she turned to leave.
But Connor suddenly caught her arm. “What are you doing here?”
Xylia jerked her arm away, her voice sharp. “Since when is it your problem where I am?”
Xylia was seriously fed up with Connor haunting her post–divorce–it was like he just couldn’t take a hint and kept popping up everywhere, clinging to her life like a stubborn ghost.
‘Can he just vanish for good?‘ she grumbled inwardly. Seeing him was thest thing she ever wanted.
Connor caught the frosty look on Xylia’s face and guessed she must’ve heard about his marriage to Tessa, which exined why she wasn’t pleased.
Thinking this, he actually felt a bit relieved.
“It’s not like that between Tessa and me,” Connor said, his voice low. “I’m just trying to take responsibility for her<b>.</b><b>” </b>
He stepped in front of Xylia<b>, </b>blocking her way as he tried to exin himself.
Xylia gave him a puzzled look. ‘What does any of this have to do with me?‘ she wondered, her tone icy and distant.
“Whatever’s going on between you and her is none of my business. Now, could you get out of my way?” she snapped.
Her face stayed cold as ever.
Connor couldn’t help but feel stung by her icy attitude. ‘Why does she always have to be so cold to me?‘ he thought.
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He was about to say something else when Tessa stepped out of one of the private rooms.
“Connor, what are you doing here?” Tessa called out, her tone tinged with suspicion.
She took a few steps and immediately spotted Xylia.
Her face changed in a sh, and she hurried over to Connor,tching onto his arm right in front of Xylia–as if marking her territory.
“Wow, you’re here too, Xylia?” Tessa nced over the restaurant, her tone sharp. “There’s gossip all over the inte that your studionded a deal with Garcia Group just because you’re hooking up with the CEO. So, are you here dining with Mr. Garcia or what?”
Tessa said it with a sneer, sarcasm practically dripping from every word.
She didn’t buy into any of those ridiculous rumors for a second.
The heir of Garcia Group was always shrouded in mystery, but the business world was full of wild legends
about him.
Mr. Garcia had a reputation for being cold as steel–never interested in women, ruthless with his deals, and thest person on earth you’d expect to be caught up in a romance.
Given Garcia Group’s elite status, there’s no way they’d ever go for someone like Xylia–she’s damaged goods in their eyes, totally out of their league.
Tessa figured the news was probably a setup, some kind of trap because Xylia must’ve pissed off the wrong
person.
Connor was on the exact same page. He just couldn’t wrap his head around Joshua actually being interested in Xylia–it made no sense to him at all.
“Sure, we’re divorced, but if you ever hit a rough patch, I wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing,” Connor said, trying to keep his tone casual.
He was pretty sure someone out there was trying to mess with Xylia.
No matter how things were between them now, if Xylia ever came to him for help, Connor knew he’d end up lending her a hand.
Tessa’s face darkened as she listened to Connor.
When the Schultz Group was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, she’d begged Connor for help, but he’d brushed her off, making excuses about the business having no chance to turn things around.
And now, without a shred of shame, he was bending over backwards to help Xylia.
Who could me her for hating him?
Xylia wasn’t about to stand there arguing with them. “I don’t need your help,” she said, keeping her tone cold
and detached.
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She’d finally managed to shake Connor off–no way was she ever going to ask him for anything again.
She turned and walked off without looking back.
Tessa sneered, “Who did youe with, anyway? Are you really going to let us meet this big shot?”
Xyliapletely ignored her, not even slowing down–just kept walking as if Tessa hadn’t said anything at all.
The doors to the private rooms didn’t have any windows–if she wanted to know who was inside, she’d have to just open the door and hope for the best.
Xylia really didn’t want to die of embarrassment by barging into the wrong room, so she tracked down a waiter and asked for directions.
Tessa, trailing right behind her, couldn’t help but throw shade. “Did you seriouslye all the way to this fancy restaurant just for the bathroom or something, Xylia?”
“You im you’re not directionally challenged, yet can’t even find your own private room? Honestly, are you sure you were even invited?”
She shot <i>a </i>look at the waiter and snarked, “Just a heads up–if you take her and she barges in on the wrong guests, anyints are gonnand on you.”
The waiter scratched his head, looking utterly baffled by the whole situation.
“Um, actually, thisdy dide in with Mr. Garcia–I’m the one who led them to their room earlier,” he stammered, clearly out of his depth.
Tessa blinked in disbelief. “Mr. Garcia?” Her voice was almost a squeak, eyes wide as saucers. ‘Wait, Xylia’s actually here with Mr. Garcia?‘ she mentally reeled, mind spinning at the thought.
Tessa’s jaw dropped, unable to hide the shock written all over her face.
‘No way… Xylia’s really hooked up with Mr. Garcia?‘ Tessa couldn’t help the incredulous thought that popped into her head, suspicion swirling in her eyes.
Connor’s expression soured instantly, a shadow crossing his features as he processed what he’d just heard. ‘So it’s true–Xylia’s really with Joshua?‘ He could feel irritation prickling under his skin.
Xylia dismissed thempletely and told the waiter to just take her straight back to the private room.
Almost without thinking, Tessatched onto Connor and followed after them.
Xylia was beyond fed up with the two of them clinging to her like a pair of leeches.
She spun around and snapped, “What, you two want to join my table now? Just tagging along hoping to pick up the scraps?”
Her words were sharp and fierce–nothing like the gentle, meek tone she used to speak with.
Connor and Tessa’s faces clouded over in an instant.
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The waiter escorted Xylia to the door of the private room, and she stepped in.
Joshua saw her looking a little off and asked softly, “Is everything okay?”
“What’s wrong<b>?</b><b>” </b>Joshua asked, concern in his eyes.
Xylia forced a smile. “It’s nothing.”
She didn’t want to bring up anything else in front of Joshua’s business partner.
Joshua didn’t push it.
The dinner wrapped up quickly.
Joshua and Xylia headed out together with the business partner.
The partner had to leave early for something.
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Joshua and Xylia walked hand in hand at the back of the group. Joshua nced down at her and asked softly, “So, are you ready to tell me what happened earlier?”
Only then did Xyliae clean to Joshua about bumping into Connor and Tessa.
Joshua’s smile faded.
He’d already heard rumors that Connor was about to open a branch in Norhill.
He’d tried to put pressure on Ford Group, but with some influential allies backing them up, he hadn’t been able to bring them down–in fact, it only helped them expand.
But honestly, that wasn’t much of a big deal.
He nced down at Xylia, his voice low and a hint of teasing in his eyes.
“Should your husband help you finally shake off those two leeches?” he asked, a yful smile on his lips.
Xylia clicked her tongue. “Stop calling yourself that!”
Joshua wrapped his arm around her, wearing that smug grin of his–totally shameless.
“It’s only a matter of time,” he quipped, sounding way too pleased with himself.
Xylia’s ears went red in an instant. She red at him, half embarrassed and half annoyed. “You seriously have a way to ditch those two for good?”
“Obviously,” Joshua smirked, sounding way too sure of himself.