Jonathan expended a great deal of effort before he managed to smooth things over. He then kept on engaging Roxanne in conversation about the present pharmaceutical industry in Horington.
Roxanne patiently chatted with him.
Meanwhile, Lucian didn‘t utter a single word further, merely downing his wine silently,
When Jonathan glimpsed more than half the bottle of wine gone, he hastily concluded the meal. “It‘s late now, so let‘s call it a day. I‘ll urge the medicinal herb suppliers to finalize the time as soon as possible.”
Roxanne didn‘t want to stay any longer, so she agreed unequivocally.
The three of them went downstairs side by side. Roxanne was going to foot the bill, but Jonathan stopped her from doing so.
“I was merely joking back then. How could I possibly have you treat me to a meal? If my grandfather were to learn about it, he‘d skin me alive!”
While saying that, he quickly went over to settle the bill. Subsequently, he quirked a brow smugly after walking back to Lucian.
Lucian frowned without saying anything.
Seeing that Jonathan had brought Alfred up, and the pittance was indeed a drop in the bucket to him, Roxanne didn‘t insist.
By the time they left the restaurant, it was already close to nine o‘clock.
Although they were all acquaintances, Roxanne had drunk quite a bit at the dinner table and was slightly buzzed. As the night breeze blew past, it sobered her up considerably.
Jonathan‘s voice rang out beside her. “How are you going home, Dr. Jarvis? Would you like to hitch a ride with me?”
In truth, Roxanne drove there. But since she had imbibed, she naturally couldn‘t drive home.
Hearing that, Roxanne lifted her eyes and scanned the traffic. “Thank you for the offer, Mr. Queen. But it‘s okay since my place is out of your way back to the Queen residence. I‘ll hail a taxi myself.”
After she had said that, she headed toward the side of the road.
Jonathan cast a look at the man beside him.
With a frown marring his countenance, Lucian stared at her fragile back in the night with a dark gaze.
“It happens to be rush hour now, so it‘d take eons for you to get a taxi. I‘ll give you a ride. Anyway, we‘ll be traveling by car, not on foot,” Jonathan hurriedly called out to Roxanne.
Roxanne halted in her steps. It‘s rather inappropriate for me to turn down such a trivial offer repeatedly when he has just done me such a huge favor:
Clocking her hesitance, Jonathan added, “Don‘t stand on ceremony with me. My grandfather specifically urged me to take good care of you when he knew that I‘d be having dinner with you.”
Unable to decline further, Roxanne turned around and walked back to the man. She flashed him a polite smile. “My apologies for troubling you, then.”
Jonathan fervently waved his hands in dismissal. |“Not at all! It‘d only be troublesome if you‘d adamantly refused to allow me to give you a ride.”
As he said that, he glanced at Lucian beside him meaningfully.
However, Roxanne didn‘t catch the implicit meaning of his words. She thought he was referring to Alfred, so she merely chuckled without replying to that.
And so, the three of them walked to the parking lot side by side.
Only when they arrived at the parking lot did Roxanne notice that Lucian had been following them all the way. She promptly found it a tad strange.
When they reached Jonathan‘s car, she noticed Lucian‘s car parked right next to it. At once, a conjecture popped into her mind.
Earlier, Jonathan‘s so–called accidental encounter was actually just an excuse. In reality, they came together!
That suspicion flashed across her mind.
But on second thought, he didn‘t have to tell such a lie. After all, he has no idea about my relationship with Lucian, so such a ploy would be superfluous..
Putting it at the back of her mind, she got into the car with Jonathan.
