Just as Gerome was just about to drink his wine, Chelsea chuckled as she teased him. "Oh, Gerome, what relationship do you have with our dear Verian? We can't just drink for anyone, you know."
Gerome was stunned by that question. He froze as he clutched his wine glass.
Verian stood up with her juice. She had a calm smile on her face as she said, "Please forgive me. I am currently pregnant, so I can't have any wine. I'll drink my juice instead."
Everyone was stunned. Even Chelsea did not expect Verian to be pregnant.
After Verian drank her juice, Chelsea glanced at Gerome and said, "Verian, I remembered that you had a crush on Gerome back in high school. How are you suddenly pregnant now? Are you lying to get out of drinking?"
Verian was agitated. She showed off her right hand and beamed with joy as she said, "I'm already married, and I'm not lying to you guys. My husband dropped me off tonight."
Verian had a smug look on her face when she brought up Heaton, but she looked delighted at the same time. Her smile was sincere, so Chelsea was convinced.
The entire room fell into an awkward silence. They had tried to match Gerome with Verian.
However, it did not take long for someone in the room to change the topic, so everyone started to liven up again.
When the dinner was almost done, Verian's phone started to ring.
Helen heard the music from the phone, so she told Verian, "Verian, your phone's ringing."
Verian knew that it was Heaton, so she frantically fished her phone out of her bag. She smiled when she saw the caller's I.D.
"I'll head outside to pick up a call."
Verian walked out of the room while clutching onto her phone.
Gerome seemed unfocused while he deshelled the shrimps. The shell fragments repeatedly cut his fingers. He frowned as he asked, "Helen… Have you met Verian's husband?"
Helen shook her head and replied, "I only ran into Verian a few days ago."
"I saw her at the kindergarten when I dropped my son off. She was there with her daughter."
Gerome was surprised to hear that. He asked, "Her daughter is already in kindergarten?"
Since she was already enrolled in a kindergarten, her daughter should be around three years old.
"Yeah, she's already three. Super adorable, and she looks a lot like Verian. She's such a sweet child."
Gerome put the shrimps down as he had utterly lost any appetite to eat. He seemed slightly depressed, but he chuckled and said, "I thought Verian would be a career-driven woman. I didn't expect her to already have her first child at 21, and now… she is on her way to have her second child. Wouldn't she have completely lost her freedom then? Her life would revolve around her husband and children all day."
Helen chuckled bashfully and said, "Maybe her husband treats her very well. Everyone has different goals in their life, you know."
…
Outside the room.
Verian was in the middle of a phone conversation with Heaton.
"How's your dinner?" Heaton asked.
Verian glanced at her watch then said, "It'll end in about 20 minutes. I'll call you before that."
Heaton clutched his phone as his dark gaze deepened. He pretended to ask a simple question, "Did you see the person you wanted to meet?"
Verian played along to his joke. "Who do you mean? I didn't think about anything else when I came here."
"Your first love."
"Yeah, I did see him."
Heaton was speechless.
Was she serious?
Verian said, "I'll talk to you when we get home. I have to go now."
Verian swiftly hung up the call as the conversation left Heaton stunned.
Did she just hang up on him? It seemed like her reunion with her first love went well.
"Madam Leah!"
"Is there anything I can do for you, Master?"
"Tell Uncle Lewis to prepare the car. I will pick up Madam from the Banyan Tree Villa."
"Alright, I'll get to it."
He wanted to get a good look at her first love. It was too bad that he could not see anything at that moment; else, he would know about how poor her taste had been when she was young.
Heaton was an arrogant man, so he would not expect anyone to compare to him.
"Ah, yes. Would you like me to take you there, President Fudd?"
The manager noticed Heaton's trouble with his eyesight, but he was not bold enough to ask more questions about it.
Heaton nodded.
…
The dinner was finally over. The moment Verian exited the room with a few of her high school classmates, she ran into Heaton.
Verian immediately rushed to embrace him. She said, "What are you doing here? Why didn't you wait for me in the car?"
Heaton replied with a warm and loving smile as he lowered his head and said, "I was worried that you might refuse to come home after running into your first love."
Verian was speechless.
Heaton could hear a bunch of people around them. There was a teasing glint in his eyes when he said, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your classmates?"
"Guys, this is my husband."
Verian's introduction seemed too casual, and Heaton was not entirely satisfied with that.
"Hello, everyone. I am Heaton, Verian's husband."
Verian whispered, "I told them that already."
That man had only repeated her words.
One of her classmates was an entrepreneur and had just started a company. He recognized Heaton when he saw him, so he rushed to shake Heaton's hand.
"Are you President Fudd from the Fudd Group?"
"I am."
"Oh, my god! Verian, why didn't you tell us that you're married to President Fudd from the Fudd Group?"
Verian replied, "Well, didn't we just catch up with each other earlier?"
That person was overly emotional, and he refused to let go of Heaton's hand. He said, "Hello, President Fudd, hi. I am Herbert Kent from the Chain Internet Service Provider Company! It's a pleasure to meet you, President Fudd! Let me treat you to a meal next time, President Fudd! Please give us the honor of treating you to a meal, okay?"
It was a surprise that Heaton would agree to it, but he wanted to do it for verian. So, he said, "Of course!"
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