Wynn Shaw froze.
Her mind went blank for a moment, and her fingers unconsciously tightened around the hem of her clothes.
“…I’m sorry.
I misspoke.”
She was annoyed with herself.
‘Perhaps it’s because he’s been so polite the last few times that I got a little carried away.’
‘To him, business is business.
I’m not that important.’
Vincent Preston’s deep, rather cold eyes lingered on her face for a moment before he spoke:
“Alone?”
Wynn Shaw wasn’t sure what exactly he was referring to, so she answered truthfully:
“In terms of work, I have two subordinates.
I told them to wait until I’ve received the detailed arrangements before reporting to the Preston Group this afternoon.
As for the trip here, someone who was also heading to Kaelus gave me a ride.”
“Your current boyfriend?” he asked abruptly, his gaze seeming to pierce right through her.
Wynn Shaw was taken aback.
‘Bringing up a “current boyfriend” in front of my fiancé?
How could that possibly be appropriate?’
“My ex-boyfriend.”
She clarified, a part of her still worried she’d be misunderstood.
“In my mind, we’ve already cut all ties.
It won’t affect our wedding plans.”
Vincent Preston’s tone was flat.
“We barely know each other.
I won’t interfere in your affairs before we’re officially engaged.”
“Oh…”
“But now that you’re back in Kaelus, be mindful of your image.”
Wynn Shaw looked up, a little confused.
“Jaden Lancaster and I have never attended a formal event together, so no one in Kaelus should know about us.
Even if they did, my personal relationships aren’t public record.
Are you referring to… your fear that I might call off the wedding, which would affect our companies’ cooperation?
Or are you worried my private affairs will interfere with my work?”
The man’s voice was deep and calm, betraying no emotion:
“It’s affecting my face.”
‘Face?’
Wynn Shaw didn’t understand at first.
‘What “face”?
Was this some kind of male territorial instinct?
But he just said he couldn’t be bothered with my affairs.’
As she stared in confusion, Vincent Preston turned his laptop toward her.
Wynn Shaw looked down, and her heart tightened.
‘The Kaelus media is incredibly fast.’
A candid photo had been snapped at 12:15 AM, made the headlines by 12:20 AM, and was then urgently taken down less than five minutes after that.
In the photo, she and Jaden Lancaster were standing extremely close.
He was holding her arm, and she seemed to be struggling, but the camera angle made their position look as intimate as a kiss.
The headline was even more sensational:
“The Shaw Family heiress’s long-delayed marriage is finally settled; she and her fiancé were inseparable after the auction.”
Wynn Shaw’s back went ramrod straight.
‘What is all this? This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
The Kaelus media is as shameless as ever with their fabrications.
If this photo circulates, people will actually think Jaden Lancaster is my fiancé… How could Vincent Preston possibly save face then?’
‘No wonder he looked at me that way today.
He has a surprisingly good temper, not blowing up at me on the spot over something like this.’
“I’m so sorry!
The paparazzi took that picture out of context.
I wasn’t actually with him like…”
Vincent Preston turned the laptop back, cutting her off.
“The details of what you two do are none of my concern.
Just keep it under wraps.”
“If someone gets leverage on you and decides to drop a scandal years after our wedding, it will be a considerable blow to both the Preston Group and the Shaw Group.”
His tone was distant and calm, completely flat.
He approached even their marriage with a strictly business-like attitude, focused only on maximizing benefits.
Wynn Shaw’s limbs went stiff, and she stumbled over her words.
‘It’s over.
I can’t explain this clearly, and there’s no way to smooth this over.’
She tested the waters cautiously:
“Setting aside the business interests… do you… really not mind?”
‘Any man would mind, wouldn’t he?
His fiancée in a scandal with another man, even a fake one… I can’t believe he’s completely indifferent.’
The moment the words left her mouth, Wynn Shaw seemed to regret them.
‘Maybe I’ve overestimated my own importance.’
Vincent Preston was silent for a long time, his gaze still fixed on his screen.
Just as Wynn Shaw was beginning to think he truly didn’t care, he spoke.
“Would it make a difference if I did?”
She stiffened slightly and immediately replied:
“Of course it would.
If you mind, I can stop seeing him.”
The moment she finished speaking, she clearly noticed the hard lines around his eyes seem to soften, but he still insisted on emphasizing one point:
“I only care about my reputation.
I don’t care what you two get up to.”
The implication was obvious.
Still, his true feelings remained impossible to fathom.
After her meeting that afternoon, Wynn Shaw told Zoe Sinclair what happened.
Zoe stared at her in disbelief.
“What?
He obviously cares!
Any man would, let alone your fiancé.
And he’s pretending to be all magnanimous?
This President Preston of yours is really something else.”
In a short amount of time, Zoe Sinclair had already figured out the whole situation: the drama with Jaden Lancaster, Wynn Shaw’s true identity, and her relationship with Vincent Preston.
She felt like she’d definitely hitched her wagon to the right person.
She’d never even met the legendary Vincent Preston, and now she was working on a project in his company.
It was beyond her wildest dreams.
Meanwhile, Jaden Lancaster had been completely oblivious to Wynn Shaw’s status as the real heiress, choosing instead to champion Summer Sullivan—Zoe Sinclair found it laughable. Get faster updates on g.com.
However, she had some sympathy for Jaden Lancaster.
Perhaps he genuinely felt a sense of responsibility toward Summer Sullivan, and it wasn’t all just social climbing.
But it was also true that he used to look down on Wynn Shaw.
Zoe Sinclair had seen it clearly back at their old company; Jaden Lancaster had only dared to treat Wynn so poorly because he knew she had no powerful backing.
Wynn Shaw didn’t dare to read too much into it.
“Maybe we’re overthinking things.
He’s genuinely busy, and our engagement is just to honor a promise between our families.”
“He has his own type, and he approaches relationships the same way he approaches work—he only concerns himself with what he wants to.
Anything else… including this incident, he really doesn’t care about.”
Zoe Sinclair was only half-convinced.
“Alright, I guess that makes sense.
But since President Preston doesn’t like the media making things up, you should still avoid Jaden Lancaster while you’re in Kaelus.
It would be bad if you’re photographed again.
Besides, that guy is just bad juju.”
Wynn Shaw nodded.
“Mm, I know.”
The two of them took the elevator to the company cafeteria for lunch and noticed a small commotion on their way.
Upon asking, they found out it was because President Preston was making a rare appearance in the employee cafeteria.
He was hardly ever in the office, leaving most affairs to his confidants, let alone showing up here to eat—with his picky palate, could he even get used to the food?
He sat quietly at a table by the window on the second floor, dressed simply in a white shirt and black trousers.
His posture was perfect as he ate, his profile serene.
The seats around him were all empty, as no one dared to approach.
Wynn Shaw pulled her gaze away, only to meet Zoe Sinclair’s teasing smile.
“Your President Preston has such an incredible aura.
Even just watching him eat is a feast for the eyes.”
The word “your” made Wynn Shaw’s ears flush.
She gave a light cough, unable to stop herself from recalling his gentle expression from her dream.
Zoe Sinclair, looking completely smitten, whispered, “Why don’t you… go sit across from him?”
Wynn Shaw replied helplessly, “Just eat.
He likes his peace and quiet; he doesn’t like being disturbed.”
“But aren’t you his fiancée?”
“Even for his fiancée.
He treats everyone exactly the same.”
“Huh?
Even his fiancée doesn’t get any special treatment?”
“We don’t have love, only a paper contract.”
Wynn Shaw advised Zoe Sinclair to stop having unrealistic fantasies about her relationship with Vincent Preston.
Between them, love was absolutely, positively impossible.
He would never fall in love with her, and she felt the same—she no longer had the energy to gamble on the kind of tacit emotional games adults play.