Semua Bab You Wed Your Past; I Wed My Future: Bab 171 - Bab 180

Feeling the slightest tinge of guilt, Jonathan sent Kiara another text."Oh, alright. How do you want me to make it up to you? Just tell me what you want."Kiara immediately responded to that text. "I haven't decided yet. Can I think about it first and tell you later on?"Clicking his tongue, he replied, "Fine. Take your time."He put down his phone and turned his gaze to the entrance of the conference venue. The conference was about to start.All the attendees gathered inside the hall were the representatives from the most established companies all around the world, along with business magnates, renowned experts from various fields, and Gabriel, his brother.Jonathan had tried suggesting to Samuel that he could act as Thorn Group's representative at the business conference this time around.Samuel simply scoffed and eyed him derisively. Evidently, in Samuel's eyes, he would never be as good as his two older siblings.…This time, the conference was set to last for three days.

The moment Gabriel's call ended, he came back and saw Jonathan causing trouble again. All he could do was apologize to Stephanie on behalf of his troublesome brother—though it was uncertain whether he'd ignored Adrian on purpose."It's fine," Stephanie said.After all, she had to at least show Gabriel some courtesy.Tugging on Adrian's sleeve, she said, "Let's go."Ignoring Gabriel as well, Adrian nodded and left with Stephanie.At last, Jonathan exploded at Gabriel."Why the hell did you apologize, huh? What's the matter? Scared of Adrian, are we? Hah! I sure wish Dad could've seen how much of a coward you were just now!""Are you done acting up?" Gabriel asked calmly, eyeing Jonathan as if the latter were just a clown. "Me? Acting up? Dad would've beaten you up if he found out that you apologized in front of a Hawke!"When Jonathan had messed up in the past, Samuel showed no mercy in giving him a good thrashing. There was no doubt that what Gabriel did today was even worse

Adrian wasn't just saying that because Stephanie was at the table with him. She was genuinely a stranger to him. The only memory he had of her was crossing paths with her at a few functions, where he had a few short exchanges with her.Everyone claimed that Suzanne was in love with him. He did recall that she'd shown interest in him before as well, but he'd always rejected her politely and kept his distance from her.Just then, the server knocked on the door of their private dining room before bringing in the food. Naturally, that brought an end to the conversation about the Thorns.They'd just stepped out of the room after finishing their meal when they ended up running into Gabriel. There was a young and attractive woman with him, whose features shared a resemblance to his.With just a single look, it became obvious that this was Suzanne, his younger sister."Oh. What a coincidence!" Pierce greeted them with a smile. "Are you two here for dinner as well?""Hello, Mr. Whetman,"

"Oh? So, you don't think that the Fords and the Hawkes being involved in a marriage alliance is a major event? But the thing is, Gabriel, you know very well that the profits are always shifting. If Stephanie and Adrian can stay in a relationship because of them, they'll also be capable of breaking up with each other for the sake of greater profits."Suzanne suddenly recalled the scene of Adrian and Stephanie lacing their fingers tightly with each other. She did her best to suppress her discomfort as she continued, "Adrian and Stepanie might seem all lovey-dovey on the outside, but who knows if they were just keeping up the act for the sake of the marriage alliance?"As of now, news of their marriage alliance has yet to be announced publicly. If you were to visit Mr. Ford and have a nice, long talk with him—make sure to show him your and the Thorns' worth and all that—there's a chance that Mr. Ford might reconsider his choices. Perhaps he'd even change the target of the marriage all

Later on, Pierce would keep telling everyone that it was all thanks to his efforts that he and Adrian got to become friends in the first place."I see." Stephanie took a sip out of the glass of juice that the bartender had served to her. "It's such a shame that I didn't get to know you when we were kids."Adrian merely smiled faintly at her without saying anything.Slowly, midnight crept up on the world. More and more patrons could be seen crowding inside the bar. Stephanie found it quite noisy, and she felt a little sleepy at the same time. So, she tugged at Adrian's sleeve before leaning in to murmur into his ear."I want to go home and rest.""Alright," Adrian agreed immediately. "Let's go home."Both of them rose up to their feet at the bar. They were about to track Pierce down on the dance floor and ask him if he wanted to leave when they saw a few tall and burly foreigners approach them.The foreigners had tattoos covering their arms, making them look like a rowdy bunch