Filed to story: Mia Bowen and Timothy Barrett Novel
Staring at the dessert, he gulped. “I’m on a diet. I can’t have desserts.”
Offering desserts to someone on a diet could cause lethal emotional damage.
Ginger insisted, “But you’re not fat at all. It won’t hurt to take a few bites.”
In the end, he couldn’t resist the mouth-watering cake and took a bite of it. He thought he had finally come back to life.
Dominic hugged Ginger, glancing at Liam. “Aren’t you busy? Why are you home today? To sneak a few bites of desserts?”
That hit home.
Liam wolfed down the cake and drank a glass of warm water. “I have something to speak to Mia.”
Judging from Liam’s expression, Mia had an inkling of what he was going to talk about.
She quickly pulled him outside to a quiet corner. “Is it about Timothy?”
That name shouldn’t be mentioned in front of Dominic. If Dominic knew something, she would be given a lecture.
“Bingo, it’s about him. You guys went to the contract signing ceremony at the Bowens’, didn’t you? The reporters found out about your relationship with him.
“They know that he’s Ginger’s father. They are going to release an official article soon. They already gave the public a hint by the way.”
Immediately, she took out her phone to scroll through the articles.
As Liam said, the media revealed that they knew who her ex-husband was.
However, they merely dropped a hint. The content didn’t expose who her ex-husband was.
The corner of her lips twitched. “That’s fast. Why are they so hard-working? Don’t they need a break?”
“Calm down, Mia. It’s just a guess for now. We can see similar articles floating around on the internet every year. Most people think that it’s clickbait again. There’s still time for us to turn the tables.
“My manager contacted me as soon as he caught wind of it. That’s why I came home early. What’s going on?”
Mia recounted what happened during the signing ceremony.
There was a pause in between before she continued, “Timothy has taken the flight back to Bern City. As for the reporters, I’ve approached them so that they won’t say anything further. I don’t wish for them to reveal my relationship with him. It was already in the past.”
Liam nodded. “I agree to that. In short, we’ve settled the reporters. They will only go as far as the fact that they know who your ex-husband is, not revealing his name.”
“Yes, that will do. Liam, can I count on you about the headlines?”
“Leave it to me. I’ve returned home to discuss this anyway. But what’s going on between you and Timothy? He actually became a poor bodyguard and worked for you? Were you touched because of this?”
“No way. Why would I be touched because of such a small gesture? This is nothing compared to what I suffered to deliver my babies.”
“I’m glad that you didn’t forget about that, Mia. I was worried that you’d forget about how awful his character was. He’s not your ‘Mr. Right.’ If you want to date someone, we can introduce someone to you.”
Hearing that, she shook her head. “No, thanks. I have no plans for dating for now. Being single brings more freedom and happiness.”
After all, Sage hadn’t recovered yet. She wasn’t in the state of mind to contemplate about her love life.
At night, Mia told bedtime stories to Ginger to lull her to sleep. When Ginger finally drifted to dreamland, Mia returned to her room.
Taking out her phone, she began scrolling through Twitter. Surprisingly, there were articles about Lewis’ and Connie’s antics.
Now, the headlines were all about how Lewis schemed against his three ex-wives to gain a huge sum of money.
The Bowen family’s name was tarnished; everyone frowned upon them.
As their dramatic incident was taking the spotlight, not many people paid attention to the article regarding the identity of her ex-husband.
At this age, people were more interested in soap dramas happening within a family.
Mia heaved a sigh of relief, feeling grateful that the Bowens were taking the limelight and pressure in her stead.
The next day, she went to work as usual. She drove and the weather was great.
Finally, her life was back on track.
She didn’t have to worry about Timothy showing up out of nowhere and finding out the secret about the bone marrow, as well as Sage’s existence.
When she arrived at her office, Peyton came up to her. “Ms. Mia, Barrett Group has contacted us again to offer us a collaboration on developing a manor project in Bern City. What do you think?”
Mia recalled the time she and Timothy flew to Nord City. He brought it up before.
If she refused to work with him, he would definitely do something to hinder her hotel business in Bern City.
Judging from his character and way of doing things, it was surely something he would do!
She couldn’t possibly let that happen. The hotel brand was the fruit of her sweat and tears!
Gritting her teeth, she said, “We can think about it. Tell the Planning Department to propose a few detailed agreements.”
“Would you deal with Barrett Group in person during the negotiation?”
“I won’t. Dispatch a team to negotiate with them,” answered Mia.
At the moment, Timothy was still unaware that she was the actual boss. If he found out about her identity, who knew what kind of tricks he would pull?
Therefore, it was best to keep her identity a secret until the deal was made.
Peyton nodded. Right when he was about to clear his stuff and leave, his phone rang.
There was a significant shift in his expression as he rejected the call.
He looked at Mia. “Ms. Mia, there’s news about the project we discussed with Mr. Shelbert. A potential competitor is trying to steal it from us.”
“I thought we were close to making a deal? Who else is there in Nord City to compete with me?”
“According to Mr. Shelbert’s assistant, it’s a huge corporation from Bern City.”
A huge corporation from Bern City?
Hearing that, Mia had a bad feeling about it.
If it was a huge corporation from Bern City, could it be Barrett Group?
However, Timothy shouldn’t be having the leisure to cause her trouble as he had just escaped back to Bern City recently.
Furthermore, there were a lot of capable corporations in that big city. It might not be Barrett Group.
She could be overthinking.
Taking a deep breath, Mia gazed at Peyton. “Look into Mr. Shelbert’s schedule. I should personally speak to him regarding this matter. I might be able to gain some information from him.”
The preparation took her a lot of time before she was able to land her hand on this project. She couldn’t just let someone else steal it from her, could she?
After quickly making a call to find out Raymond’s schedule, Peyton said, “Mr. Shelbert is going to attend a charity banquet at Vania Hotel.”
“Why haven’t I heard of that? Is it a small one?”
Usually, the charity banquets that the mayor participated in would first publicly invite locals beforehand. It was a chance for them to put their money to good use.
Yet, Mia had never heard of that charity banquet before. Something was not right.
Peyton answered, “I heard that the organizer was his youngest daughter, who has returned to the country not long ago. He has always loved her. I guess he freed up some time to attend the charity party.”
“No wonder. That makes sense then. Since it’s an informal occasion, it’s suitable to talk about something.”
Raymond was probably trying to show support to his daughter.
Then, Mia noticed that Peyton was holding back something. She prompted, “What is it?”
“Ms. Mia, I heard something from the insiders.”
“What is it? Fire away.” Mia felt like she had missed a lot of things during her one trip to Xavier Island, including the rumors spread by Lewis and Connie.
It happened when Mia wasn’t in Nord City. Otherwise, she would’ve directly rejected them in their face and taught them a lesson.
“I heard that Mr. Shelbert’s youngest daughter has taken a liking to Mr. Nathan and is hoping to form a marriage alliance with your family. But I think he has rejected the proposal.
“That’s why things have been tense between your family and Mr. Shelbert recently. I guess something happened to Mr. Shelbert’s project and he’s trying to seize the chance to form a marriage alliance with Mr. Nathan.”
To Mia, it was surprising yet reasonable at the same time.
Mia drank a sip of coffee. “It’s normal that Nathan has rejected his youngest daughter. There are hundreds—no, thousands—of people rejected by him all these years. Judging from his character, I bet he’s going to stay single forever.
“Still, I have to ask Mr. Shelbert personally about the project.”
“But what if—“
“If I can only clinch the deal by sacrificing Nathan’s happiness, I’d rather give up on this project,” said Mia firmly.