Chapter 63: Eating French Cuisine
6:00 PM.
In the French restaurant, Vivian Lowell stared at the string of French words on the menu and fell silent.
Ahem.
Her English was quite good, enough to converse fluently, but her French... was just average. Reading the menu was a bit of a struggle.
"President Faulkner, why don’t you order?"
Vivian Lowell tactfully handed the menu to Julian Faulkner, flashing a wide smile.
Julian seemed to see through Vivian’s little predicament but didn’t mind. He turned and said a few words in French to the waiter, who then went to place their order.
Vivian could barely make out that two of the dishes were foie gras and beef. As for the rest, her French really wasn’t good enough; she only understood bits and pieces.
Just then, as Julian finished speaking with the waiter and was about to turn back, a woman walked in through the entrance. She saw Julian and looked quite surprised.
"Julian Faulkner, you’re eating here too? Getting the usual, your favorite beef? Tsk, you certainly know how to eat! You usually have to book the beef at this place two days in advance!"
!?
Vivian Lowell looked up in surprise.
She realized the woman who had just walked in was very familiar—it was the same Miss Sterling she had seen at the vet clinic that morning.
Miss Sterling seemed to be very close with Julian; she even knew what he liked to eat!
"Yes. Hello, Miss Sterling."
Julian’s response was polite enough, but he clearly had no intention of chatting further. He turned back to face Vivian.
It was then that Miss Sterling noticed Vivian.
A flash of surprise crossed her eyes. "Oh, it’s you? You two are... Julian, is she your girlfriend?"
Miss Sterling clearly remembered Vivian.
That morning at the vet clinic, Vivian had run into Miss Sterling after she finished helping the other customers adopt the kittens and went to find Julian.
Faced with Miss Sterling’s question, Julian frowned and answered, "No."
In that instant, unless Vivian was mistaken, a look of relief seemed to wash over Miss Sterling’s face after Julian answered.
"Then..."
Miss Sterling looked at Vivian and asked with a smile, "Since we ran into each other, could we have dinner together? We can get to know each other and become friends, how about it?"
Miss Sterling was certainly a very social person.
She was so enthusiastic that Vivian found it hard to refuse her.
’Miss Sterling seems to like Julian, and he doesn’t seem to dislike her. Should I agree?’
Vivian was undecided, so she could only glance at Julian, letting him make the decision.
"I’m afraid not," Julian said bluntly. "I only made reservations for two. I’m sorry, Miss Sterling."
As soon as he finished speaking, the smile on Miss Sterling’s face instantly became very awkward.
Julian was the president of the Faulkner Group.
If someone didn’t know his identity, they might think he was just being stingy and unwilling to treat her to a meal.
But Miss Sterling knew better.
She had simply been rejected, plain and simple.
"That’s all right."
Miss Sterling smiled, pressing her lips together, and said politely, "If not this time, Julian, let’s meet up another time when we have the chance, shall we? I heard from my mother that Rachel is back."
"Rachel was always so nice to me when we were little. I haven’t seen her in years, I’d love to visit your family and say hello to her!"
"It’s just... I don’t have her WhatsApp anymore. Julian, could you share it with me?"
Julian remained silent.
He gave her a cold, unwelcoming look.
This time, Miss Sterling’s expression completely darkened. She then glanced at Vivian, her gaze slightly hostile.
Vivian groaned inwardly.
’What is this mess?’
’How did I get dragged into Julian’s romantic drama?’
’We’re just a married couple in name only!’
"Um—"
Vivian didn’t know what possessed her. She glanced at Miss Sterling, feeling that if the Sterling and Faulkner families had business dealings, Julian’s behavior wasn’t very appropriate.
"How about I share it with you?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Vivian regretted them.
She felt like she had overstepped.
Julian himself wasn’t willing to give it, so what right did she have to offer? Besides, from the look on his face, he clearly didn’t want anything to do with this Miss Sterling.
"Really?"
But once the words were out, there was no taking them back. Miss Sterling’s eyes instantly lit up, and she came over to add Vivian’s WhatsApp and get Rachel Faulkner’s contact information.
"..."
A few minutes later, Miss Sterling left happily, phone in hand. Before she went, she made sure to say to Vivian, "Miss Lowell, thank you so much!"
"I’ll treat you to dinner next time we have a chance!"
Vivian gave an awkward smile and secretly glanced up at Julian.
As expected, Julian’s expression was cold.
He stared down without a word, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow over his face, making him seem shrouded in gloom.
"Julian, did I do something wrong?"
Vivian wanted to smack herself on the head.
Julian finally looked up, his brows furrowed as he looked at Vivian. "What do you think?"
Vivian clicked her tongue and laughed awkwardly. "It’s fine. If Miss Sterling gets too annoying, I’ll just run interference for you."
"Besides—if the Sterling Family and the Faulkner Family are close, treating Miss Sterling like that isn’t good for the relationship between your two families, is it?"
"Hm?"
Julian listened, then looked at Vivian with great interest. "Are you thinking about things from our Faulkner Family’s perspective now?"
!?
At first, Vivian didn’t quite understand what Julian meant by that.
When she realized that she had spoken as if she were one of "the Faulkners," her face grew warm.
Not really.
She was just worried about putting Julian in a difficult position.
"I was thinking of you!"
Vivian lowered her head, looking a little guilty.
Julian chuckled softly, his mood improving considerably. "I know. Thank you. But as for Miss Sterling, it doesn’t matter even if I ignore her."
"With the Faulkner Family’s current power, we don’t need to make any concessions to get things done."
!!
What a domineering statement.
Vivian secretly committed Julian’s expression and tone to memory. He was so confident, the very picture of a classic domineering CEO.
The Faulkner Family was powerful.
Naturally, even if Julian completely ignored Miss Sterling, the heiress of the Sterling Family, the Sterlings wouldn’t sever their cooperation with him.
Relatively speaking, Julian was the one who couldn’t be provoked.
"President Faulkner, you’re really amazing."
Vivian couldn’t help but praise him.
It had been less than ten years since Julian took over the Faulkner Family. To have developed it to this extent was something her simple "amazing" couldn’t begin to describe.
But she still really wanted to praise Julian!
This made Julian’s pride swell a little.
He pressed his lips together, glanced at the steak the waiter had just served, and thoughtfully began to cut Vivian’s for her. "Medium-well, is that all right?"
"Mhm!"
Vivian nodded.
Her stomach was a bit sensitive, so she preferred her steak more well-done. Julian, on the other hand, preferred the tender texture of a medium-rare steak.
The quality of the beef at this French restaurant was so good that even at medium-rare, there was no gamy taste—only the natural, savory aroma and juices of the meat itself.
Vivian enjoyed the firm texture of the beef and ate with great pleasure.
Before long, someone began playing the piano in the corner of the restaurant. Accompanied by a melodious French song, Vivian suddenly felt it was all quite romantic.
If there were a couple of candles, her and Julian’s dinner tonight could probably be considered a romantic candlelight dinner.
Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, Vivian had a couple of extra glasses of red wine that evening. By the time they left the restaurant, her vision had grown hazy, and the night view of Aethelburg seemed dazzling and brilliant.
"The neon lights are so beautiful."
Vivian tugged on Julian’s hand and pointed into the distance. "I used to love coming out to see the lights at night."
"Why?" Julian seemed puzzled.
Vivian gave a silly smile and said, "Back then, there were so many things to do during the day. I had to work hard for my family, for my parents."
"Only the night was my own. I just wanted to sit quietly, look at the pretty neon lights, and clear my mind."
’Who knew that in the end...’
Vivian thought her past self was laughable.
「In a daze.」
Vivian got into the car, wanting to sleep. It was then she seemed to hear a helpless sigh from Julian right beside her ear.
He said, "You silly girl."