Julian furrowed his brows deeper.
His intuition told him that his wife’s complexion was a bit unusual.
Her smile was still as perfect as before, but no matter how one looked at it, it exuded a forced vibe.
He looked at Serena, then at Chloe, and suddenly turned around to wave his hand behind him.
A tall girl, wearing extremely heavy IT-Girl style makeup, who had been hiding behind the crowd all this time, clumsily ran over.
“Serena, Julian…
Sister-in-law…” Seeing Chloe, the girl also froze for a moment, before uttering a superficial greeting full of reluctance.
Chloe narrowed her eyes to take a closer look, only then realizing that the flashy peacock covered in Gucci designer goods in front of her was Julian’s cousin, Madison.
Looking at this over-the-top way of dressing, could the model who was severely scolded by Cecile earlier be Madison?
“Madison has been insisting on entering the modeling industry lately; this is her first advertising campaign, and it is also a joint venture project between Lumina, a subsidiary of the Quinn Group, and M&G.
Yesterday, Uncle Ethan called and asked me to drop by to supervise a bit.” Julian exceptionally took the time to clearly explain.
“Oh,” Chloe replied calmly.
“We are going to have lunch now, does Chloe want to come along?” Serena put on a fake enthusiastic face to invite her.
Chloe smiled politely and shook her head: “No need, I already have a lunch appointment with someone else, please go ahead without me.” “Is that so…” Serena looked at Julian with an incredibly hesitant gaze full of expectation.
Julian nodded slightly, preparing to leave.
Just before turning his steps, he lingered to give Chloe a brief instruction: “Your stomach is weak, you are forbidden from eating spicy food this noon.” “I know.” Chloe’s face fell.
Julian looked at that aggrieved demeanor and his hands itched, but the bitter truth was that there were too many people present, so he had to suppress the desire to reach out and pat his wife’s head, cleared his throat with an “mhm,” then put his hands in his dress pants pockets, turned his back, and walked away.
“You!” Chloe was still busy staring blankly at Julian’s sturdy back, when on the other side Harper aggressively stepped up, both annoyed and trying hard to pinch Chloe’s cheek: “Do you know that just now, you handed over on a silver platter the opportunity for your husband and his ex-girlfriend to go reminisce about their old romance?” Chloe helplessly rubbed the tip of her nose: “Harper, they are just meeting with a partner for lunch to discuss work, there are so many employees going with them.” “Haha.” Harper sneered: “Oh, my naive Madam, do you know that cousin Madison just now was the matchmaker for your husband and that girl Serena back in college?” Chloe pursed her lips, keeping completely silent and saying nothing more.
How could she not know such an earth-shattering matter.
Recalling the days when she first stepped into the Quinn family as a daughter-in-law, this cousin Madison alone had always used a scrutinizing gaze to look at her in displeasure, and whenever they met face-to-face at family gatherings, Madison had to throw a few sarcastic remarks at her to feel satisfied.
Initially, she did not understand how she had offended Madison, until last year’s Christmas party, when Madison drank too much champagne, got dead drunk, and accidentally let it slip.
It turned out that Madison and Serena used to be sorority sisters during their Ivy League days, their relationship incredibly close.
Harper, seeing Chloe’s expression drop, had to shrug and pout without nagging any further.
She didn’t exactly bear any grudge against Julian; it was just that seeing her close friend, who was clearly a bad-ass in the past, force herself into the mold of an obedient, contented wife since getting married, truly made Harper incredibly frustrated!
Furthermore, that husband Julian always cloaked himself in the dignified air of an unworldly capitalist gentleman, while his temperament was coldly ruthless in the business world, so Harper could hardly avoid worrying sick about her friend’s dry married life.
Right at this moment, Cecile, having directed the crew to finish packing up the bulky cameras, approached, looking at Chloe with eyes full of guilt: “Chloe, I am truly embarrassed, I had absolutely no idea that brat…
ah no, that model is your husband’s cousin.
If I had known the relationship beforehand, I would have restrained myself from swearing so loudly like that.” “Do not mind it, the two of them never liked each other to begin with.” Harper, standing with her arms crossed nearby, answered on Chloe’s behalf.
Chloe gave a wry smile and shook her head: “We truly are not close at all.” “I have always wondered, how blind could your husband’s company be to book that kind of…
ah, no!
That amateur model!” Cecile was annoyed by her own unbraked mouth: “I silently thought that even if it is a subsidiary of the giant Quinn Group, the brand positioning cannot be downgraded like a cheap fast-fashion brand like that.” “The Chairman of Lumina company is Julian’s biological uncle, who is also the father of the model just now.
As for the Project Director from the M&G agency, she is Madison’s close friend from college.” Chloe briefly explained the intertwined relationships.
“Makes sense.” Hearing that, Cecile let out a sneer, her face overflowing with contempt.
A renowned photographer in the New York art scene like her did not exactly hate nepotism, but what she hated most was useless incompetents constantly using money and power to buy fame; that was truly garbage, only serving to waste the crew’s precious golden time.
After that, Cecile cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck, looking a bit timid: “But Chloe, this morning I scolded Mr.
Quinn’s cousin as if splashing water in her face, will he hold a grudge and make things difficult for me?” Speaking from a business perspective, the Quinn Group is a super VIP.
Speaking from a personal emotional perspective, he is Chloe’s husband; to lose a potential partner over this trivial friction would truly be disastrous.
Cecile could only blame herself for accidentally running her mouth and cursing like that this morning.
The bitter truth was that except for that damn petty director who looked annoyed, Julian remained cold as ice from beginning to end, without revealing the slightest hint of joy, anger, love, or hate.
If Cecile had known beforehand about the blood relation between Madison and Julian, perhaps she would have suppressed her anger and acted a bit professionally…
probably…
Who could she blame, when the manager came in to introduce the booking, they only said Madison used the stage name Sally.
Cecile felt that the polished stage name Sally was truly wasted on Madison; looking at that stiff-as-a-log posing style, calling her S…
A C D would seem more on point.
“He will not be that childish.” Chloe firmly asserted.
Julian was the type of businessman who put work efficiency first, clearly separating public and private matters.
Perhaps this morning, if Cecile hadn’t played the villain and scolded first, Julian might have personally ordered his cousin to be kicked right off the set.
Ending the gossiping topic, Cecile invited everyone in the studio to go out for lunch together.
Right at the nearby Soho street corner, there was a rather rustic Cantina selling traditional Mexican food; everyone talked and laughed as they walked there together.
People often say that enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road, and it is truly not wrong.
Just as she pushed the wooden door and stepped in, Chloe wanted to turn on her heels and slip right back out exactly the way she came in.
Who would have expected that Harper, with eyes as sharp as an owl’s, discovered this escape intention, immediately grabbing the drawstrings of Chloe’s sports hoodie and jerking her back.
“What is it?
Planning to pull a disappearing act?” Harper leaned close to her ear and whispered threateningly.
Chloe’s face fell in full grievance.
Rushing this morning, she left her face bare without bothering to apply foundation, and even wore a whole baggy fleece sports set; compared to the sharp, well-groomed strong-woman appearance of that other woman, she was truly outshined, pitifully faded.
She truly did not understand why she had the feeling that this sloppy appearance of hers was dragging down Julian’s value; after all, the senior personnel of both companies were fully present here.
“Coward!” Harper muttered a curse, simultaneously pinching hard at the soft flesh on Chloe’s waist in frustration, making Chloe bare her teeth and widen her eyes in pain, yet not daring to cry out loud.
This was a rather small, family-style Taco joint, with only the Latin American-origin husband and wife owners handling everything.
Normally, in the cozy space, there were only about a dozen rustic wooden tables set up, entirely without any private VIP rooms.
The brick-oven baked Tacos and the Salsa sauce the boss made were incredibly authentic to the spicy flavor of the Texas region, so the lunch hour was always fully booked and bustling with customers.
Julian’s group closely numbered over a dozen people, so they had joined a few tables together to sit right by the row of glass windows, chatting lively.
Logically, a person like Julian would never dine in such common eateries; it was only because Madison whined and nagged too intensely, and he gave face to his biological uncle, that he reluctantly agreed to stay.
On Lumina’s side, apart from Madison and her personal assistant, there were no other employees.
One could reluctantly lump Julian and his accompanying secretary into her faction; the remaining people at the table were all personnel from M&G’s side.
Therefore, this bunch of agency employees did not have too much timid reservation towards the young billionaire, but instead had shining, curious eyes exactly as if they were watching the under-the-bed gossip of the ultra-rich.
What were they curious about?
Of course, it was the scorching chemistry between this arrogant, dictatorial guy and their own female Project Director.
Looking at Serena’s seemingly natural, attentive demeanor as she carefully wiped the fork and spoon to hand to Julian, no matter how one looked at it, it seemed fishy.
Moreover, through their expressions throughout the working session this morning, the fact that these two had a passionate past was a certainty.
Director Serena had always carried an arrogant single demeanor to work.
It turned out that behind her back, there was a top-tier “sugar daddy” of this caliber supporting her; no wonder she completely ignored those Wall Street elite men who flirted with her previously.
Looking at Julian Quinn’s peak visual here, and then looking back at those pot-bellied, bald bosses, it was truly worlds apart.
On this side, the few people from M&G were secretly winking with full implication at Serena sitting opposite them.
But ultimately, in a workplace environment, the unspoken rules regarding personal boundaries between boss and employees were still very clear, so no one dared to abruptly open their mouths to tease crudely.
On the opposite side, Serena pretended to stroke her hair shyly, completely shedding the fire-breathing female boss demeanor she had during briefings.
She only lightly glared at the few gossiping employees in a coquettish manner without actually flaring up, then delicately poured a glass of warm lemon water and placed it carefully in front of Julian.
Julian shifted his gaze down to the glass of water, his sharp facial features not changing the slightest bit, but he absolutely did not reach out to touch it.
Harper, standing and observing from afar, truly could not swallow this theatrical play for another minute.
She bluntly dragged Chloe straight toward the row of tables by the window, ignoring her friend’s struggling resistance: “Oh wow, what a coincidence!” Serena’s face, which was beaming with a triumphant look, instantly froze.
Only after a moment did she readjust her facial muscles, hurriedly pushing her chair back and standing up to cover it up: “Are you two also dining here?
How about joining tables together for fun!” “Joining tables for what the hell, in this eatery that can’t even pack enough people.
Just now you pretended to be so noble saying you had an appointment and wouldn’t eat together, now you are hurrying to trail all the way here.
I don’t know what you are playing hard to get for…” Madison irritably rested her chin on her hand and complained.
The remaining harsh words she intended to spit out were ultimately choked back down her throat when she caught the dagger-like sharp, cold gaze of her cousin Julian.
With a look of unwillingness, Serena picked up the lemon-infused water glass and drank it completely dry, then angrily slammed the empty glass down hard on the rustic wooden table to display her dissatisfaction.
Chloe intended to refuse to share the table, but hearing Madison’s insolent attitude, the fire of anger inside her also flared up.
Normally, at family gatherings at the Quinn manor, if Madison made a few sarcastic remarks, Chloe would just let it go, thinking to herself that they were family after all, and moreover, out of respect for Mr.
Ethan – Julian’s biological uncle – she maintained her politeness and did not bother to hold it against her.
But today was different; setting the title of Mrs.
Quinn aside for a moment, she still had to maintain the face and image of a Founder in front of so many people.
Did this little brat think she could scold whoever she wanted?
The corners of Chloe’s mouth slightly curled up into a standard East Coast haughty smile, nodding politely to Serena: “Then we will trouble you ladies.” “…”