Chapter 1145:
“Trudy,” he said softly, keeping his voice even, “your family’s in business too. You know how it works—meetings, negotiations, follow-ups. They’re part of the job. I could promise to cut her off right now, but that would be lying to you, and I don’t want to do that.”
He leaned closer, trying to ease her expression.
“Don’t be upset, okay? There’s a dinner at Yaroslav Technology tonight. Millie will be there, yes, but come with me. You can see for yourself there’s nothing between us. I swear you’ll feel better after.”
But Trudy wasn’t buying it.
“So if I hadn’t said anything, if I hadn’t been angry, you’d have gone to see her behind my back again?” she shot back.
Charles sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration.
“It’s not like that,” he said, exasperated.
“It’s just a business dinner with people from Yaroslav Technology. You know how these meetings go; we have to go over the finer details.”
He had only thought to invite Trudy because she was one of the few people he trusted completely. When it came to Yaroslav Technology, he told everyone else a filtered version of the truth. Only those in his inner circle got the full story.
And it wasn’t some last-minute plan either. He had meant to bring it up the moment he arrived. But somehow, the conversation had gone off track the second Millie’s name came up.
“Are you telling the truth?” Trudy asked.
“Absolutely,” Charles replied, feeling a headache coming as he rubbed his temple.
“I’ll show you right now. I’ll call Millie and put her on speaker. You’ll hear everything yourself. I haven’t sent her a single message since we sat down, so she won’t see it coming. That should be enough proof, shouldn’t it?”
Trudy hesitated for a few seconds, still uncertain, before finally giving a small nod.
Charles took out his phone, found Millie’s number, and hit call. After a few rings, her voice came through the speaker.
“Charles? What’s wrong?” Millie asked, her tone calm but curious.
𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝗮𝘁 gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧺𝖼𝗈𝗺
He threw Trudy a quick look.
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just about the dinner tonight.”
“What about it?” Millie asked lightly.
“Any change of plan? You said your girlfriend would be joining us, right?”
Charles saw Trudy’s suspicion waver; her expression softened slightly.
“Yeah. I just wanted to check if there’s anything I should be mindful of since you two haven’t met yet,” he said, doing his best to sound casual.
Millie’s response came without hesitation.
“Start by asking what she likes to eat and what she doesn’t. And be mindful of that while we order tonight. We can’t have her feeling out of place while we’re talking business.”
Then, with a playful scold, she added, “You’re only thinking about this now? You’re really hopeless. Make sure she feels comfortable, Charles. This is your girlfriend we’re talking about, not one of your wild drinking sessions.”
“Alright, alright, I get it,” Charles said quickly. They chatted a bit longer before he ended the call.
He turned to Trudy, watching her closely. If she still wasn’t convinced, he honestly didn’t know what else to do.
Trudy bit her lip, looking conflicted. She parted her lips as if to say something but stopped midway, unsure. The pause made Charles restless.
“Trudy, you still don’t believe me?” he asked, his tone almost desperate.
“I swear, I didn’t hint at anything; she mentioned it on her own!”
.
.
.