“What do you plan to do? Don’t scare the teacher. I’ve already asked Emery to check and Mr. Cress isn’t a bad person. It’s not easy for Summer to open up to someone. You better not mess it up,” I nagged.
“Alright, I know what to do,” said John, waving his hand dismissively. He immediately changed the topic. “Let’s talk about your business. You haven’t asked me to do anything in quite a while. What do you have for me this time?”
“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.” I shrugged and lifted my wine glass to toast him. “Teach me how to do business!”
“Business? What kind of business? Aren’t you the boss of a law firm now? On top of that, you are also the lady boss of Fuller Corporation. What else can I teach you?” John was teasing me. His shrewd eyes scrutinizing me closely, like he was trying to look into my soul.
I pursed my lips and put down my glass. I responded with a laugh, “Since I took the initiative to talk to you about it, it’s definitely not a small business. You’ll help me, won’t you?”
John took in a deep breath. “Are you short of money lately?” He asked incredulously.
“Yes! Very!” I nodded vehemently.
To put things into perspective, hiring a mercenary of Millie’s caliber was way more costly than hiring a high-level manager in Ashton’s corporation. In addition to that, I hired a small team of bodyguards to protect Summer. That was a huge expense for me too.
However, my main objective for collaborating with John was not to make money. In fact, I needed John’s network of contacts to get a chance to approach the Trivetts.
John’s incredulity went up a notch after hearing what I had said. He looked at me like I was some sort of prehistoric creature. From his expression of disbelief, you could hear his thought without him saying it out loud – Are you kidding me?
To be fair, I was the second major shareholder of Fuller Corporation, a daughter of the Stovall family, and I had financial backing from Cameron and Zachary Moore. If a person like me was short of money, then the rest of the population would all be poverty-stricken.
After being stared at for a while, I shifted my gaze out of guilt. “Okay, I’ll tell you the truth. Pitcoin came to Ashton and I need to see the perpetrator who started all of this.”
“You want to get close to Herman Trivett?” John’s expression suddenly changed to a stern one, and he rejected me in a heartbeat. “No way.”
The smile on my face froze. “Why?”
John’s face darkened, and he didn’t bother to be polite anymore. “Scarlett, you are awfully full of yourself, aren’t you? I opened up a law firm for you and let you have a job. I did all this so that you could settle down, not for you to use it as a platform to act recklessly!”
I swallowed the words that were at the tip of my tongue after getting reprimanded by him all of a sudden. The atmosphere at the dining table became tense instantly.
Although he said it in a harsh way, I understood clearly that he was just too concerned about my safety.
Pondering the issue for a while, I lifted my phone and dialed Millie’s number.
The call got through immediately. “What’s up?”
“Come in for a while. I’m at the dining room.”
With that, I hung up. John and I faced each other squarely. I waited in silence.
In less than a minute, footsteps were heard from upstairs. John and I looked toward the direction of the sound and saw Millie walk down the stairs nonchalantly with her hand on the railing.
She was halfway down, and then she stopped. Her distant eyes lifted and peered down at us arrogantly.
“What’s going on?” asked John anxiously. “Isn’t this the secretary that you recently hired? When did she come in?”
“That’s right, I hired Millie. However, her main task is not secretarial work. Instead, it is to protect me.” I explained.
John stared at me suspiciously. I could see him analyzing the credibility of what I said.
To assure him, I further explained, “The security in the Stovall residence is tight, but Millie managed to appear before us without alerting anybody at all. You should believe that she is perfectly capable of keeping me safe.”
John did not reply, which probably indicated that he was convinced.
“Do you want to eat with us?” I asked Millie.
“Is there anything else?” Millie’s expression was as cold as ice. She completely ignored my question.
“No,” I replied. I felt guilty for asking her to appear on a whim just to prove her capability to John. “It’s kind of cold outside. Why don’t you have some food to keep warm?”
