Chapter 62: They’ve Come Looking
When Vivian Lowell left the pet hospital, Eleanor Rhodes was still busy.
Watching her bustle back and forth attending to clients, helping with surgeries, and caring for the kittens, Vivian Lowell sighed inwardly.
Earlier, she had relayed what Henry Sterling had said.
Eleanor Rhodes’s expression grew distant. She simply gave a quiet "Mm-hmm" and said nothing more.
Even so, Vivian could still see that Eleanor cared deeply for Henry Sterling; she was just forcing herself not to dwell on it.
「Faulkner Group.」
When Vivian Lowell returned to the office, her assistant brought over some recent work documents.
Vivian took them and was flipping through them as she headed back to her office when she heard a commotion from the reception desk behind her. "Sir, you can’t come in without an appointment!"
"I’m here to see Vivian Lowell, we’re... friends! Just let her know I’m here!"
"I’m sorry, sir. Our boss is very busy. She can’t see anyone without an appointment."
"Sir, sir! You can’t just force your way in!"
!?
Hearing the disturbance behind her, Vivian turned and saw that Mason Grant, of all people, had found his way to her new studio in the Faulkner Group building.
’What is he doing here!?’
After the last gala, several members of the Lowell family had contacted Vivian.
Shelly Lowell had demanded to know if Vivian was the one who exposed her scandal that night. Sharon Galahad had also expressed her doubts about Vivian.
However, after Vivian retorted by asking Sharon Galahad if she still wanted the design drafts, Sharon had gone silent. These past few days, she’d been surprisingly quiet.
At first, Shelly Lowell had spammed Vivian with messages. But after Vivian blocked several of her numbers, she’d finally eased up a bit.
As for Mason Grant?
’I seem to recall getting a message from Mason Grant, too.’
Mason had said that he simply couldn’t accept what had happened with Shelly, and that he would have a serious talk with his parents about calling off their engagement.
He felt that Vivian was the right one for him, and he wanted to go back to how things were when they were still a couple.
Vivian hadn’t replied.
She didn’t know what Mason had told the Grant Family, but there had been no public news about the engagement between the Lowells and the Grants being called off.
’Evidently, Mason’s wishful thinking was pointless.’
’So now he’s shown up here, furious and embarrassed?’
Vivian Lowell frowned. Seeing that the newly hired young receptionist couldn’t handle a man who looked almost unhinged, she walked over.
"Mason Grant."
Vivian called out his name, then said to the receptionist, "It’s okay, I’ll take it from here. You can get back to what you were doing."
"Yes, boss. My apologies."
The young receptionist gave a small, apologetic bow and returned to her station.
With no one to stop him, Mason strode right up to Vivian.
Vivian instinctively took a step back, crossing her arms defensively. "Mr. Grant, what are you doing here?"
"Don’t tell me the Grant Family has some design work they want my little company to collaborate on? Does your dear future mother-in-law know you’re here?"
"..."
Mason seemed surprised that she would speak to him like that. He looked hurt as he asked, "Vivian, why are you calling me Mr. Grant?"
"Can’t you just call me Mason, like you used to?"
Mason used to think her calling him by his name sounded too formal. He’d wanted her to call him something more intimate, but he never imagined this.
Now, even just having her call him by his first name had become an extravagant wish.
"Mr. Grant, I’m sorry. I think it would be better if we kept some distance between us."
Vivian gestured toward the front desk. "If you’re here on business and would like to collaborate, you can contact the receptionist to make an appointment."
"If not, then it seems we have nothing personal to talk about. Let’s say our goodbyes here. Please don’t interrupt my work, alright?"
Vivian turned to leave.
This time, she never thought Mason would be so shameless. He caught her off guard, rushing forward and grabbing her by the wrist!
!?
Vivian instinctively yanked her hand free and, without a second thought, pulled a stun baton from her bag and smacked Mason on the head with it!
Vivian Lowell didn’t hold back.
Caught completely off guard, Mason’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
THUD.
At the sound, the young receptionist jumped and hurried over. Looking at the man on the floor, she asked in terror, "Boss, what... what do we do now?"
"It’s alright."
Vivian patted the young woman’s shoulder reassuringly. "Go upstairs to the main Faulkner Group offices and find Vance Wyatt. Tell him what happened here."
"He’ll know what to do."
"Oh, okay." The young receptionist nodded and scurried toward the elevator.
Vivian glanced one more time at Mason Grant lying on the floor, then turned and went back into her office.
Sitting down in her chair, Vivian opened her phone and glanced at her unread messages.
In her message requests, there were many insulting her. Judging by the style of the messages, they all seemed to be from Shelly Lowell.
’So childish.’
’All she can do is attack people with insults.’
’However...’
Looking closer, Vivian noticed that Shelly had been using a new number to harass her almost every day, but the messages had suddenly stopped two days ago.
’Did she get tired of it, or have a change of heart?’
Vivian couldn’t figure it out, but she decided that the peace and quiet was a good thing.
As she was pondering this, she put down her phone and picked up the portfolio beside her.
There were two knocks on her office door.
’Is that Vance Wyatt?’
"Come in."
Without looking up, Vivian kept her eyes on the portfolio and asked, "Vance, did you take care of it? I owe you one. How about I treat you to dinner sometime?"
"Sure. What are we eating?"
The response was so quick it surprised Vivian.
’Wait a minute.’
Vivian’s head shot up, only to find that it wasn’t Vance Wyatt standing in front of her at all, but Julian Faulkner!
Clearly, the one who had asked what she wanted to eat was also Julian Faulkner.
"..."
Vivian’s face clearly read, "What are you doing here?"
Julian Faulkner’s brow furrowed, perhaps sensing her disappointment. "What? Are you backing out of treating me to dinner now?"
"I’m not."
Feeling a throbbing headache, Vivian changed the subject. "President Faulkner, you have this much free time? I sent the receptionist for Vance Wyatt, so why did you come down?"
Julian let out a cold huff and said nonchalantly, "I was coming down anyway."
Just as Julian finished speaking...
Vance Wyatt’s voice boomed from the entrance of the studio, "The second President Faulkner heard someone was causing trouble for you, madam, he rushed straight down!"
!?
Hearing this, Julian turned and shot Vance Wyatt an absolutely glacial stare.
Too bad. Vance, sensing trouble, had already slung Mason Grant over his shoulder and made himself scarce.
"..."
Vivian was left feeling a little awkward.
’No way.’
’Why did it feel like Julian Faulkner was being... kind of nice to her lately?’
’First, he took her to the pet hospital to adopt the kitten she wanted, and now he shows up to help her deal with Mason Grant!’
’How bizarre!’
As neither of them spoke, the atmosphere grew heavy.
The portfolio in Vivian’s hands suddenly felt absurdly heavy. She slowly set it down, looked up at Julian Faulkner, and squeezed out a smile that was awkward but polite.
"Since you want to have dinner, President Faulkner, then dinner it is. It’s just... I don’t have any particular cravings, so could you make the arrangements?"
"Fine."
Julian finally pressed his lips together, his expression softening slightly. Vivian breathed a sigh of relief and kept her strained smile in place.
"..."
After a moment, Julian must have seen through Vivian’s fake smile. Deciding there was no point in staying, he turned and left.
PHEW!
Vivian let out a long sigh of relief and glanced out the window.
’The sun was shining. It was perfect weather for a dinner date.’
AHEM!
Startled by her own thought, Vivian quickly shook her head to clear it and was about to look down at her portfolio.
BING.
Just then, her phone chimed.
Vivian looked down and saw it was a message from Julian Faulkner. It was the name of a French restaurant.
His message read: "This place is good. I’ll pick you up at 5:30. Does that time work for you?"
"OK!"
Vivian replied with a sticker of a cute kitten giving an "OK" sign, then got back to her work.