Chapter 922: Chapter 922 Learning to Refuse (12)_1

On the way back to Ciawell from the Great Wall, Andrew Henris was driving, with Madeleine sitting in the passenger seat, tilting her head and staring out of the car window, without even blinking.

As they were about to enter the city, Madeleine finally made a move. She opened her bag, took out her phone, and saw the display showing 24 missed calls–all from Howard Coleman. Her whole body tensed involuntarily.

Andrew glanced at Madeleine through the rearview mirror from time to time and noticed that the woman had been staring at her phone for nearly an hour without any reaction.

Seeing the city center getting closer, Andrew thought that Madeleine was not in the mood to accompany him on the outing. So he asked, “Shall I take you home? You seem a bit tired.”

It was only after a long while after Andrew finished speaking that Madeleine, seemingly in a daze, finally lifted her head and responded with a faint, “Hmm?”

Andrew moved his lips, forcing a smile of indulgence, “You look tired. I’ll take you home to rest.”

Madeleine glanced at the time–it was only two in the afternoon. She remembered they had not had lunch, so she shook her head and said, “We haven’t eaten yet. Shall we find a place to grab something to eat?”

Andrew thought for a moment and didn’t refuse, “Okay.”

Then, after looking at the road ahead for a while, he asked Madeleine, “Where shall we eat?

The woman by his side fell silent once more. Andrew didn’t ask again but continued to drive attentively.

Andrew was not familiar with the streets of Ciawell and had no idea how many times he had been driving along this road named “Third Ring.” It was only then the woman sitting beside him spoke up, “Hey, aren’t we going to have lunch? Why have we been driving for so long without reaching?”

After Madeleine’s question, she saw a chain tea restaurant outside the window that Pristine’s Enterprises often visited to entertain clients for afternoon tea; thus, she pointed to the tea restaurant outside the window and said to Andrew, “How about that place?”

–

Howard Coleman had a meeting at a tea restaurant on the Third Ring at two o’clock that afternoon.

As he drove away from Madeleine’s place, he received an urging call from his secretary. While driving to the tea restaurant on the Third Ring, he dialed Madeleine’s number.

However, the calls were unanswered.

When Howard arrived at the tea restaurant, the client and his secretary had already been waiting there for a while. Although he had already reviewed the material to be discussed two days earlier, sitting at the table, his mind was blank, and he kept checking his phone to see if Madeleine had called back.

Howard’s silence made the atmosphere at the table slightly awkward. The client tried to lighten the mood by initiating conversation with Howard from time to time, but every time he spoke, Howard either stayed silent or simply responded with “Hmm?” This not only failed to ease the tension but made it even more awkward. It was the first time the secretary had seen her boss act so out of sorts, so she tried her best to cover up the awkwardness. But just as the atmosphere began to relax, Howard started frequently dialing on his phone, which eventually annoyed the client enough to stand up and leave angrily amidst the secretary’s profuse apologies.