After saying goodbye to the others, Tessa took a taxi to the Sawyer Group. She had learned during dinner that Nicholas was still working at his office. After getting out of the taxi, she gave Nicholas a phone call.
Nicholas’ voice, which was as deep and melodious as the sound of a cello, sounded on the other end of the line. “The dinner’s over?”
Holding her cell phone, Tessa looked up at the Sawyer Group’s brightly lit top-floor office with a smile. “Yeah, it’s over. I’m now downstairs at your company. Are you coming downstairs?”
“Give me a minute,” Nicholas replied before hanging up.
Several minutes later, Tessa saw Nicholas step toward her while dressed in a black tailor-made suit. Under the bright moonlight, the man’s tall and slender figure emanated an innately regal aura.
Tessa faced Nicholas every single day, but she still couldn’t help being enthralled by his handsome looks. Luckily, after being distracted for a moment, she came to her senses with her eyes full of pride. Such an outstanding man is mine, and he’ll be my husband in the future.
The man’s extremely tender voice rang next to her. “What were you thinking? You looked so absorbed in thought.”
Tessa blinked her eyes. “It’s a secret.” A flicker of mischief flashed across her starry eyes as she looked at the handsome face that was just inches away from her.
Nicholas chuckled at Tessa’s reply, but he didn’t question her any further. He naturally took her hand and said in a gentle voice, “Edward has gone to pick up the car. He’ll be here in a minute.”
Tessa nodded.
When Edward drove the car over a while later, Nicholas released him from work right away.
On their way back, Nicholas caringly asked Tessa how she had been doing in the orchestra, the story of which Tessa was willing to share with him. She said, “We visited Silverscape Theater this morning. Speaking of it, I’ve lived in Southend for such a long time, but this is my first time getting inside Silverscape Theater. It’s spacious inside, and its interior decor is very beautiful… The orchestra rehearsed in the theater this afternoon, and I took them to dinner in the evening.”
Although Tessa had said a lot of things, Nicholas was perceptive enough to sense that something was wrong. Suddenly, he asked, “Are you hiding something from me?”
Dumbfounded by his question, Tessa looked at him in puzzlement. “What am I hiding?”
Nicholas said, “You did a good job of concealing it, but I could sense your emotion very well. There was a change in your tone of voice when you talked about where the orchestra went for dinner this evening, so I guess you probably came across something unpleasant in the orchestra today.” There happened to be a red light ahead as he spoke, so he simply stopped the car and turned to look at Tessa.
Meeting Nicholas’ dark and serious eyes, Tessa didn’t know whether to laugh or to frown. At the same time, though, she was moved. Just how much he cares about me to be able to sense even the slightest change in me? In the end, she decided to be honest and told him about the unpleasant exchange between her and Kathleen. “That’s about it,” she said. Then, she couldn’t help but start to rant, “I used to think that Kathleen was a nice person, but I wonder what went wrong with her after that. She keeps picking on me more and more.”
Nicholas’ face darkened slightly as he listened to Tessa’s story. Narrowing his eyes, he replied, “Let me arrange for your orchestra’s after-party after their performance is over.”
Tessa shook her head and refused, “Wouldn’t it be too much of a hassle? Let’s forget it. Miss Hathaway will probably arrange for that.” She didn’t want Nicholas to go to so much trouble.
Nicholas replied with a smile, “It’s no trouble at all. And besides, now that she has brought this up, if I don’t arrange for it, it’ll make me seem stingy. All I have to do is spend a little money. I’ll get someone to do it.”
Seeing that Nicholas insisted, Tessa agreed to his suggestion. Inwardly, though, she disliked Kathleen even more because of this.
A while later, the couple arrived at Dynasty Gardens. When Tessa saw Timothy sitting in the living room, a smile appeared on her face. She asked in surprise, “Tim, when did you arrive?”
In the living room, Timothy and Gregory were sitting side by side on the sofa and tinkering with the laptop. Upon hearing Tessa’s voice, they immediately lifted their heads from the laptop screen with bright smiles on their faces. Then, they greeted her and Nicholas simultaneously.
