416 Come to Me Tonight!
Hearing Octavioâs words, Isabella frowned. âWhy?â
âBecause Cedric is not only an outstanding designer but the second in command of the underworld of Peace City with the first in command being his father!â
Octavio sighed, âHe is not so easy-going or good-natured as he appeared. In Peace City, the Stretton family can make anyone live a life worse than death without letting the outer world know! If you offend the young master of the Stretton family, you would be an enemy to the entire design industry and the underworld of Peace City. You should be grateful that Cedric did not use underhanded means to force or threaten you. There is no hope for your father this time! If that design draft cannot be sealed, it wonât be legally valid, and no one will admit that the design is the cause of the accident!â
Isabella shook her head vigorously, her eyelashes fluttering. âCedric is not whom you described. Iâll go back and discuss it with Joseph.â
âAlthough the Wilson family is prestigious, and Joseph is rich, the Stretton family is the most influential in the design industry.â
Octavio shook his head anxiously, âCanât you see? Cedric is deliberately making things difficult for you. He gave you the evidence but prohibit people from sealing it for you. What can Joseph do with it? You canât steal the official seals! The Stretton family has announced that whoever dared to help you in Peace City would become enemies to the Stretton family! The Stretton familyâs means of revenge tend to be fatal. Who would dare to help you?â
Isabella bit her lips tightly. âNo matter what, I have to go back and figure out a way. I canât watch my dad being wrongly accused.â
As she spoke, she hurriedly picked up the documents and rushed toward the door.
âIsabella ...â Octavio hesitated for a moment and said hoarsely.
.....
Isabella paused and looked at Octavioâs conflicted expression. âOctavio, what do you want to say? Just say it. I promise not to tell anyone else.â
Octavio frowned. âCedric just wants to see you.â
Isabella was stunned.
âThe appraisal of the design was in fact done by me and Cedric, but he left it unsealed on purpose. He knew that you would come to the design institute because of your fatherâs case sooner or later, so he told me that ...â
âI didnât want to do this for him. I know that you are going to be engaged and I shouldnât have told you this, but I canât ... I donât dare to defy Cedric.â
He paused. âBut Isabella, listen to me. Donât go to him. If he finds out that he canât get what he wants, no one knows what terrible things heâll do. He is a real menace.â
Isabella thought for a moment and said, âItâs fine, Octavio. I understand the trouble youâre in. Thank you for telling me all about it. I will find my own way and wonât put you in a difficult position again.â
Meanwhile, in the Globe Building ...
Selina knocked on the door of the Presidentâs office and entered.
Joseph did not move his gaze from the work he was doing and asked lightly, âWhat?â
Selina thought for a moment before she said, âMr. Joseph, the Ayanna Hospital called.â
After a pause, Joseph said, âDidnât I tell you already? If Stella looks for me, just gently refuse her. Donât hurt her or interfere too much with her.â
Selina hesitated for a moment. âMs. Stella is pregnant.â
Josephâs pitch-black pupils contracted, and the tip of the pen he was holding snapped.
...
In the boardroom of the Stretton Group ...
Cedric sat in the main seat. He propped up his chin with one hand and held his phone with the other, staring at the screen with a faint expression. He looked distracted while listening to the business report.
The phone in his hand rang suddenly. Cedric hurriedly looked at the caller ID, and his brows relaxed instantly. Without saying anything, he walked out of the room with the phone.
The senior managers were left in the boardroom, looking at each other in consternation.
They did not expect that their boss would go out to pick up his phone during the meeting without even leaving a word to them. It seemed that he did not notice the presence of the other people in the room.
Cedric walked out of the boardroom with his gaze fixed on the caller ID shown on the screen. He took a deep breath and picked up the phone. He put on a smile and greeted, âWhatâs up? Isabella.â
After a short silence, Isabellaâs voice sounded. âCedric, Iâve been to the design institute.â
When Cedric heard Isabella call him by his name, the gentle expression on his face faded slightly. He frowned and said, âSo?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âWhy did you do that?â Isabella asked directly.
âIt is normal for a blind date to fail. Not all the people who went for a blind date would end up marrying each other. Didnât we make it clear between us? Didnât you say that you would provide me the evidence as long as I danced? Why did you set up an obstacle here to make things difficult for me?â
âA failed blind date?â Cedricâs voice became stern.
âYou define our relationship as a failed blind date? Just a failed blind date? Isabella, the time we spent together was not just a blind date and a trial marriage. I paid you my heart! The feeling I have for you is the love between a man and a woman, not the concern between siblings. Canât you understand?â
Isabella lowered her voice. âBut I said that I like Joseph more ...â
âDonât say that anymore!â
Cedric said directly, âWeâll meet tonight at the top-floor restaurant weâve been to on our first date. If I donât see you there, donât expect that there would be anyone who dares to appraise that design draft for you!â
âCedric! Iâve been seeing you as my elder brother. Why are you so cruel to me?â
âDonât call me brother!â Cedric roared, âIâm not your brother! Iâm not a good person either! You have hurt my feelings. You must pay the price for what you have done!â
The phone was hung up abruptly.
He leaned against the wall, panting, and then pounded the wall with his fists.
He did not want to act so rude in front of Isabella or get angry at her. However, when he sensed Isabellaâs unfamiliarity and hostility toward him, he lost control of the anger in his heart.
Although they had only spent a few days together, Isabella should not have thought naively that their relationship was superficial. During the time they spent together, had she never been wholeheartedly involved like him? Had the childhood stories never made her feel more intimate with him?
The warm hugs, the sweet kisses, and the promises that they would never leave each other, that she would make him breakfast, and that she would cook him hangover soups if he got drunk, were all fake?
Cedric shook his head.
He gripped his phone tightly. He believed that Isabella would leave Joseph as long as he let her know that Stella was pregnant with Josephâs child!
Stella was right. Love had nothing to do with a selfless spirit. No way would he watch Isabella marry Joseph without knowing the truth!