Chapter 1289: not when I married her alive this time.

The unexpected trio — Penny, Atlas, and Dean — stayed in the car, wondering what they should do next. Should they go to the orphanage and act as interested sponsors? Wasn’t that a bit too risky, though?

They weighed their options, and before they could decide, they saw Jonathan walking out of the gates.

The three of them perked up, watching Jonathan walk backward while waving at the children at the gates. Then, a young girl rushed out to him, and Jonathan responded by going to his knees and hugging her.

"Is she crying?" Penny wondered aloud, furrowing her brows as she watched Jonathan carry the little girl in his arms. "Don’t tell me I’m right... Is that his daughter?"

"Shut up," Dean muttered, curiosity swirling in his eyes.

Atlas, on the other hand, kept quiet, watching with equal curiosity while observing their body language.

As the teacher approached Jonathan, they watched how Jonathan smiled at the teacher. He patted the girl’s back gently before the little girl pulled her head back. Jonathan said something to her before nodding at her. Whatever he told her made the girl willingly yet reluctantly allow the teacher to take her.

Jonathan smiled at her and ruffled her hair before walking back to his car.

"Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" Penny snapped out of her trance, slapping Dean’s shoulder hurriedly. "He’s coming, he’s coming! Let’s go!"

Her panic snapped Dean back to reality. Without thinking, he quickly reversed and made a turn in the street, just enough to get out of Jonathan’s sight before the latter successfully U-turned and left.

The trio intuitively ducked, hiding in plain sight. When they heard a car driving past on the other street, they moved their heads up at the same time.

"Oh, wow," Penny sighed, only to stop when Atlas spoke.

"Let’s follow him," said Atlas, checking the time. "He still has an hour before his break ends. He might go elsewhere."

"Uh..." Not realizing they were slowly growing in sync, Dean quickly picked up speed to follow Jonathan.

Much to their dismay, Jonathan just went to a nearby drive-thru before returning to Pierson Corporation.

******

Finishing his burger, Jonathan picked up the wrappers before stepping out of the car. He briefly checked his phone for the time, realizing he had returned earlier than expected. Not that going back on time would lessen his work in the office.

Much to Jonathan’s surprise, when he reached the elevator, Zoren was leaning near it. The latter was casually leaning against the wall, his arms folded under his chest, his legs crossed.

Jonathan stopped, almost flinching in surprise. ’What is he doing here?’he wondered, noticing there weren’t any bodyguards nearby. There was no one except the two of them.

Is he going to kill him today?

What did he do to get killed so early?

"Do not loiter," Zoren remarked coldly, his expression dead. "Throw that away properly."

Jonathan furrowed his brows before his eyes fell on the wrappers in his hand. "Oh!" He nodded in understanding, offering Zoren an awkward smile. "Right. Okay!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I’m going back," Jonathan said after the brief silence between the two of them. "It’s nice to see you here, CEO Pierson."

Zoren didn’t respond, keeping his eyes ahead, waiting for someone to pick him up. He had been waiting and waiting and waiting. Zoren wasn’t too happy that Dean had dared to steal his wife.

"Uh..." After walking past Zoren, Jonathan waited for the elevator and looked back at him. "Mister... I mean, Zoren, are you leaving?"

Zoren didn’t answer.

"I see... then, I shouldn’t ask what you’re doing here all alone," Jonathan muttered, letting Zoren hear that, so the latter knew what he wanted to ask. But as expected, Zoren didn’t reply, nor did he even give him a brief look.

Shrugging, Jonathan didn’t dwell on it and just waited for the elevator to open. He looked up at the numbers above the elevator, noticing it was coming from the bottom floor. He knew this would take a while.

Jonathan glanced in Zoren’s direction again, running his tongue across his inner cheek. After a second, he peeled his gaze from Zoren’s figure and kept his eyes on the elevator door.

"I have a girlfriend," Jonathan said. "And I’m planning to propose to her."

Zoren still didn’t answer.

"She’s the senator’s granddaughter," Jonathan added. "That wouldn’t be a problem for our family, would it?"

Silence.

Jonathan let out a shallow scoff, shrugging. "I’ll take that silence as a yes, then."

Despite the silence between them, which made Jonathan’s voice echo louder than it should, one might still wonder if Zoren had heard him. After all, it seemed like Zoren didn’t hear a word he said. It was... frustrating, but Jonathan didn’t dare say it.

Just as Jonathan believed Zoren would keep ignoring him, Zoren suddenly spoke.

"It doesn’t matter," Zoren replied without even looking at Jonathan. "Even if she’s the granddaughter of the President of Anteca, she’s going to be married to the Pierson family — not the other way around."

Zoren paused, sliding his eyes to Jonathan. His gaze was sharp and clear. "And Cassandra... is going to be just Cassandra Pierson, Jonathan."

"..." Jonathan’s jaw tightened as his grip on the wrapper tightened. He tried to keep the friendly pretense, but his face twitched. "You know my relationship with her?"

"You’d be surprised what else I know about you," Zoren replied, looking away as he waited for Dean’s car to arrive. But for some reason, they were taking their precious time.

Jonathan kept his gaze on Zoren’s figure, keeping his emotions at bay. Why would he be surprised that Zoren was watching his every movement? Zoren had always been like that — paranoid.

Besides, even if Zoren knew about it, there wasn’t anything he could do to stop Jonathan’s engagement with Cassandra.

DING!

Just then, Jonathan heard the elevator door chime. As soon as the sound reached his ears, he glanced at the door before casting Zoren a quick look.

"I’m going back to the office now," Jonathan said.

Having said that, Jonathan stepped inside the lift. But just as he pressed his floor number, Zoren spoke again.

"You should listen to Finn Davis," Zoren said in the same calm tone, but because of the silence, his voice echoed louder. "Whatever you’re planning, drop it. You’re not going to win... not when I married her alive this time."

Jonathan’s breath hitched as his eyes dilated, frozen on the spot while the elevator door closed before him.