Chapter 237: Chance Encounter
After Joy Drake left, Eleanor couldn’t help muttering a few words of complaint.
"That Joy Drake is clearly up to no good!" she declared. "Vivian, next time she comes around, just brush her off if you can! And if you can’t, I’ll help you do it!"
Eleanor and Vivian were united on a common front.
Watching Eleanor’s earnest expression, Vivian couldn’t help but smile. Right at that moment, Finn replied to Eleanor’s WhatsApp message. Eleanor beamed.
"Finn says she’ll have lunch with us!
"After we eat, we can go shopping at the duty-free stores. Perfect!" Eleanor announced, her tone growing lighter at the thought.
Vivian also felt relaxed.
Most girls loved shopping. They didn’t necessarily have to buy anything; simply browsing the dazzling array of unfamiliar items on the shelves was interesting enough and a great way to destress.
Finn showed up about ten minutes later.
She had woken up very early that morning to chat with a few top figures in the design industry who had also arrived in Cyrina ahead of schedule. The conversations had been highly rewarding.
"Boss, here are the business cards those brand representatives gave me!" Finn handed them over. "Their WhatsApp accounts are on there. They asked me to pass these along to you, Boss. They want to collaborate with our company if the opportunity arises!"
Vivian took the cards and skimmed through them. She quickly realized that the people who had given Finn their cards were quite famous in the industry.
Partnering with them would actually be a great move.
"Well done, Finn!" Vivian slipped the cards into her bag and teased, "Your business skills are excellent! Keep it up. Watch and learn as much as you can on this trip!"
"Of course, Boss!" Finn replied respectfully. Like a newly enlisted recruit, her gesture as she saluted was full of energetic enthusiasm.
The three of them chatted for a bit before deciding to take a cab to the food stalls.
There was a seafood market near the stalls. By going early, they could buy their favorite seafood from the vendors and then have the food stalls cook it to order.
Since they had eaten breakfast not too long ago, Vivian wasn’t particularly hungry yet. Strolling through the seafood market would also help them burn some energy beforehand.
By the time the trio arrived at the duty-free shops that afternoon, it was already past one o’clock.
Cyrina attracted crowds of domestic and international tourists all year round. The duty-free area was especially bustling, frequently visited by personal shoppers. The stores with the biggest discounts were absolutely packed.
"There are so many people..." Vivian clicked her tongue in amazement.
Beside her, Eleanor nodded in agreement. "It gets crowded at night too, but it seems even worse in the afternoon. Probably because it’s too hot outside in Cyrina right now, so no one wants to walk around outdoors.
"You don’t have to deal with the blazing sun in the duty-free shops, and there’s free air conditioning. I’d rather come here, too."
Vivian didn’t disagree. She pulled Eleanor along, ready to pick out some lipsticks and eyeshadows.
These were meant to be souvenirs for the company’s employees. Sets containing a dozen mini lipsticks would be perfect.
They shopped for a while. Just as Vivian was wondering if she needed to restock her face cream, Eleanor suddenly tugged at her arm.
"Vivian?"
"Hmm?" Vivian turned around and asked curiously, "Eleanor, did you see something you..."
Before Vivian could even finish her sentence, she followed Eleanor’s gaze and spotted a group of people strolling through the duty-free shop not too far ahead.
It was Julian Faulkner, President Ward, Vance Wyatt, and a few others from the Faulkner Group. There were also several people Vivian didn’t recognize. Among them, a foreign woman was walking quite closely beside Julian.
The woman had blonde hair and blue eyes, featuring classic Western European traits. Her skin was incredibly fair. She was stunning and flamboyant, with a fantastic figure dressed in provocative clothes.
Her beauty rivaled that of Hollywood celebrities. As a result, her presence drew the stares of quite a few men in the area.
However, this foreign woman clearly had high standards. She completely ignored the men stealing glances at her and focused entirely on conversing with Julian.
"Vivian, Julian is actually here? Who is that woman next to him?" Eleanor sounded a bit guarded and uncomfortable as she asked.
That woman looked incredibly seductive and didn’t seem like a good person at all. Plus, she was walking so close to Julian that their shoulders were practically brushing!
Well... accurately speaking, there was still a bit of distance between them.
But regardless, Julian was a married man! It was definitely inappropriate for him to be wandering around a duty-free shop with another woman.
Vivian fell silent for a moment, but she managed to maintain her composure.
"Julian has a lot of people around him," Vivian told Eleanor. "President Ward and Vance are both there. They’re all from the Faulkner Group.
"And those men around that woman look like bodyguards. Julian told me last night that he had to go out for business today.
"She’s probably just a business partner. Alright, Eleanor, I trust Julian. Let’s ignore them and get back to our own shopping, okay?"
Vivian wasn’t entirely brainless.
She knew Julian’s character. She certainly wouldn’t do something as foolish as stepping out to mark her territory just because his business associate happened to be a woman.
Besides...
Even if something was actually going on, Vivian wasn’t so blinded by love that she would lose her rationality.
"Uh..." Eleanor thought about it and realized it made sense. Seeing her best friend acting so carefree, she couldn’t say much else. Instead, she pulled Vivian toward another section to continue shopping.
"They have dresses, bow ties, scarves, and stuff over there. Those would make great little gifts. Want to go take a look, Vivian?"
"Sure," Vivian agreed, and she and Eleanor headed off in the other direction.
They stopped and shopped throughout the duty-free stores until it was past five in the afternoon. Vivian was exhausted, her hands full of shopping bags.
The three of them were now resting at a restaurant outside the duty-free area. They had ordered some light snacks and drinks to tide themselves over, as they still planned to head back to the hotel for dinner later.
The milk tea was a bit too sweet.
Vivian took a few sips and found it cloying. Just as she was about to review the things she had bought today, her phone chimed.
A strange number had sent her a message.
Vivian was slightly surprised by the notification because it wasn’t a promotional text—it was a multimedia message.
She wondered why someone would use that format. Nowadays, friends usually kept in touch via WhatsApp. It was incredibly convenient for sending pictures and barely used any data, so she couldn’t understand why anyone would insist on sending a multimedia text. Most people didn’t even pay attention to those anymore.
With these thoughts in mind, Vivian tapped to open the message.
With just one glance, she froze completely, nearly dropping her phone onto the floor.