Chapter 413: Showing off love again?

Jasper heard the name Acoustic Pictures and hesitated for a moment, but then remembered the feud between the media company and Jesse.

“Okay, it’s just a small media company. No problem,” Jasper said to himself. His family wouldn’t help him deal with Barclay, but taking on a media company would be easy.

“I’ll help you take care of Barclay,” Jesse offered.

“Great!” Jasper felt relieved. He trusted that Jesse would give Barclay a lesson he wouldn’t forget. He had heard about how Jesse dealt with these kinds of things before and knew he wouldn’t disappoint him.

Jesse and Nydia were ready to leave, but Willette hesitated to speak up.

“Um…” she started uncertainly.

But Jesse was impatient and called for Nydia to follow him out the door without waiting for Willette to finish her sentence.

“Barclay has something on me that I need back,” she finally blurted out before they left.

“What does he have?”

“Just get it from him when you catch him. He knows what I’m talking about.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow at Mr. Ruiz’s attitude towards their partnership. “Willette, why don’t you tell Mr. Pascall what this is all about? We can only get it once we have it in our hands.”

Willette looked determined now as she spoke up again: “When we were together as husband and wife, he filmed us doing some things… and threatened me that if I didn’t do what he wanted, he’d release them online.” She blushed deeply at having revealed such personal information in front of strangers like this.

“That kind of video would implicate himself too though,” said Jesse coldly.

“He’ll protect himself first; so most of the footage is just me… I’ve seen them myself because Barclay showed them to me when trying to scare me into compliance.”

The thought made her shudder involuntarily; those videos were not fit for anyone else’s eyes!

Jesse nodded his understanding before leaving The Malone Villa with Nydia by his side while Jasper remained hidden in the trunk.

“This time we owe thanks both Mr. Pascall & Mrs. Pascall”, Jasper expressed gratitude wholeheartedly.

“No need for thanks; we each got something out of this deal although your brother gave us quite an expensive price tag earlier when discussing another project with The Ruiz Family”, replied Mrs. Pascall candidly.

Jasper quickly understood what was going on: “I will talk to my brother about it.”

“Hmm…”, nodded Mr. Pascall approvingly while Nydia seemed satisfied with today’s unexpected gains so far:

“How are you planning on dealing with Barclay?” She asked curiously.

“You’ll see soon enough,” replied Jesse cryptically, “Well then, I still have some work at my office so I’ll head there first.”, Nydia informed him briskly, “You’re just going to use me like that?” joked Jesses playfully as they parted ways outside The Malone Villa gate .”So, you’re coming to work with me?” Nydia didn’t mind, but the people in the design department might have trouble focusing with a giant Buddha statue around.

“Sure.”

Nydia was surprised he agreed.

Jesse followed Nydia to the design department and everyone greeted her. But when they saw Jesse behind her, they were startled.

“Don’t worry about him,” Nydia said awkwardly.

Maddie was nervous at her desk. “Mr. Pascall, do you want my seat?”

“Thanks,” Jesse replied kindly.

Maddie was stunned by his gentle attitude and scrambled to move her chair so Jesse’s wheelchair could fit next to Nydia’s desk.

Nydia could normally work just fine, but it was uncomfortable being watched like this – especially by someone who kept calling her stupid. Her coworkers kept glancing over at Jesse as he propped up his chin with one hand and stared at Nydia.

“How come nobody offered Mr. Pascall coffee? I’ll go make some for you right now,” Taylor said eagerly as she approached them both.

“No thanks,” Jesse declined politely.

But Taylor didn’t listen; she went off excitedly anyway.

“Mr. Pascall, your coffee is ready!”

Jesse looked up coldly at Taylor and said: “I already told you I don’t want any.”

Taylor felt embarrassed but couldn’t give up after making the coffee: “You should still drink some coffee though – it looks bad if we don’t offer anything.”

“You make a good point.” Jesse nodded in agreement.

Taylor smiled again and held out the cup of coffee towards him… only for Jesse to say: “Can you go make me another cup of coffee?” It was clear he meant for Nydia this time.

Nydia didn’t want to argue with him so she took her own mug into the break room where she used their best beans to brew a fresh cup of joe for him before bringing it back over:

“Here’s your coffee,” she offered quietly as she handed it over.

“Thank you.” He took a sip from his mug while Taylor stood there fuming silently before walking away without another word. Nydia glanced at Jesse, who was leisurely sipping his coffee and lost in thought. His recent behavior had been quite unusual.

“Do you want some?” Jesse offered her the coffee.

“No thanks, you drink it,” Nydia replied.

“Are you disgusted because I drank from it?”

Nydia didn’t respond. Did he really have to show off their affection in public? She took a sip of the coffee and handed it back to him.

Jesse lifted the cup and took a sip from where Nydia had just drunk. Nydia felt her cheeks flush with heat. At home, she could banter with Jesse without feeling embarrassed, but now that they were in the office, she found herself feeling self-conscious while he remained calm and collected with an air of elegance about him.

“Jesse! You’re here and didn’t even tell me!” Cade rushed over when he heard that Jesse had arrived.

“I’m just accompanying my wife to work; there’s nothing urgent,” Jesse replied nonchalantly.

Cade didn’t believe him; he thought that Jesse was here to steal company secrets. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something; let’s go into my office.”

“Sure thing, but we can’t take too long because I have plans with my wife later,” said Jesse as they walked towards Cade’s office.

“I’ll treat you guys for dinner later,” Cade offered.

Jesse did not refuse.

Nydia became more convinced than ever that there must be something up his sleeve.

Once inside the office, Jesse immediately noticed the safe.

“Circumstances lately have been tough as you know; Malone Group used to collaborate frequently with Evans Group until they went downhill financially which caused them difficulties paying us back on time resulting in our own funds being tied up.”

This was true enough – there was no need for Cade to lie since all this information could be easily verified by anyone including someone like Jesse who knew how things worked behind closed doors.

“I sympathize deeply,” said Jesses succinctly causing Cade’s heart rate rise dramatically – “I did not ask for your sympathy!”

“We’ve got some goods held up under our subsidiary company which were originally meant for Evans Group but given their current situation we cannot deliver them yet neither do we want them going cheap so I am offering them instead directly  to your group if interested.”

Cade showed him relevant documents regarding these goods: “The quality is guaranteed – if needed further inspection can be arranged.”

“I trust your word,” replied Jesses calmly before adding: “However this price is too high – I cannot afford it.””The price can be negotiated, but I just hope to settle the payment as soon as possible after you receive the goods,” said Jesse.

“As long as there are no issues with the goods, I won’t hold back on payment,” replied Cade, feeling relieved.

“However, I heard that Malone Group has a good piece of land under their name. The location is great,” Jesse continued.

Cade’s face changed and his heart skipped a beat. His blood pressure even rose significantly. “Yes, there is such a piece of land,” he answered cautiously.

“I want it,” Jesse stated bluntly, but Cade’s face turned pale at his words.