William was smiling, but he could feel a cold chill rushing through his body.
He took out a business card from his pocket, handed it to Henry, and introduced himself. "My name is
William Su. You can just call me William."
Henry accepted the small piece of card and took a look at it. He found out that William was the general
manager of a magazine publishing company.
"William was my schoolmate," Lea said to Henry.
She was afraid that Henry would say something impolite to William, so she butted in quickly.
'A schoolmate?' Henry flipped the business card between his fingers. His lips then curved into a
meaningful smile.
As a sign of respect, Henry also took out his business card and handed it to Henry. "My name is Henry
Qin. I'm Lea's boyfriend."
William read Henry's business card. A trace of bafflement was apparent on his face. 'Henry is Lea's
boyfriend?' he thought.
Rachel turned her head away because she couldn't bear to see the awkward expression on Lea's face
anymore.
Lea knew what Henry was trying to imply when he emphasized the word "boyfriend" upon introducing
himself to William.
Obviously, he regarded William as a potential threat.
As a matter of fact, Henry felt a sense of relief when Lea didn't refute his introduction.
Henry's name wasn't as famous as the Qin family, who ran a big shipping company.
Even though William was not a businessman, he was also familiar with the shipping company owned
by the Qin family.
In short, the name "Henry" and the Qin family of Ninwell City were not so foreign to him.
William had his own resources as well.
After a moment of contemplation, William suddenly realized something strange. When Henry arrived,
Lea didn't introduce him. In fact, they started to argue.
It was now clear to him that Henry showed up without Lea's knowledge. And since Henry emphasized
to him that he was Lea's boyfriend, it was an indication that Henry was feeling insecure.
'I think he has misunderstood my relationship with Lea,' William thought inwardly.
Henry's attitude obviously proved his speculation.
William looked at Henry and said, "Actually, I just got back from abroad. I have been so busy that I
haven't had the chance to catch up with Lea. And since I heard that she's going back to work tomorrow,
I decided to ask her out." He then turned to look at Lea and continued, "I didn't know that you already
have a boyfriend."
His last sentence indicated a hint of condemnation.
He was clearly implying that Lea didn't tell him that she was dating someone.
The truth was, William wanted to assure Henry that there was nothing going on between him and Lea.
But he wasn't sure if Henry would believe it. Lea caught a glimpse of Henry first before she answered
William, "Well, we're even now. You also don't tell me if you are seeing someone."
William suddenly laughed. "Unfortunately, I'm not seeing someone right now. I'm single."
"Oh, come on. We both know that a lot of women are chasing you. How come that you are single?
Maybe your standards are just too high," Lea retorted.
They were desperately trying to break the tension.
Rachel just sat there, listening to their conversation quietly. She seemed not interested in it, so she
wasn't joining. But she noticed that Henry's eyes darkened. His face was devoid of any expression.
All of a sudden, Henry cut in, "I know a lot of brilliant women who are currently single and available."
Lea and William stopped talking and looked at Henry in surprise.
Henry didn't seem to mind it. He took a sip of water from his glass and continued, "I can introduce
some of them to you if you're interested."
Lea was speechless. She didn't know what to say.
William tried to hide the embarrassment on his face.
Rachel sat still, looking at them attentively. She tried her best not to burst into laughter.
'What is Henry doing? When did he become a pimp?' she thought, smiling secretly.
Rachel formed an image of Henry in her mind, shouting in the market, "I have lots of good girls! Take a
look if you are interested!"
William covered his mouth and coughed to hide his embarrassment. Then he politely refused, "No,
thank you. I prefer to be single for now."
Lea, on the other hand, pinched Henry's thigh as hard as she could under the table. He held his breath
as he felt the pain. He cleared his throat to avoid letting out a scream.
He put down the glass slowly and clenched his fists. He had no choice but to retract his statement. "I'm
just kidding. William, please don't mind it."
William laughed and said, "You are such a funny man."
Finally, Lea stopped pinching Henry's thigh.
Her lips curved disapprovingly and apologized, "Yes, that's right. I hope you don't mind his
childishness."
William took her words as a sign of politeness so he said, "Of course not. I think Henry is cool."
Rachel maintained her unwavering silence. She glanced over at Lea, who seemed to have completely
forgotten her presence.
But she couldn't help feeling amused. She hid her laughter under a polite smile as she thought, 'Now I
know why Henry, Michael, Marcus, and Jack are such good buddies.'
Although she knew that they all had different personality traits, Rachel started to think that birds of a
feather flocked together.
Well, she could say that she was already quite familiar with them except Marcus.
Staring at Henry in front of her, Rachel sighed and thought, 'They are both so cheeky.'
Henry fell silent when he heard Lea apologizing to William on his behalf. "Please don't take anything he
says to heart. Henry can be very weird sometimes."
Henry was stunned. Lea just called him weird.
William was about to say something to Henry, but he was also tongue-tied when he realized what Lea
had just said.
Fortunately, Henry's food was finally served. He decided to turn his attention on it.
Lea was worried that Henry might continue talking, so she feigned a smile and whispered in his ear,
"Stop it, or else I'll leave."
A wry smile tugged at the corner of Henry's mouth. He couldn't believe that he was threatened by a
woman just now.
Despite his reluctance, he listened to Lea obediently.
Henry took a deep breath to compose himself. He exerted so much effort to remain polite and friendly
while having a conversation with William.
All throughout their meal, William managed to make a good impression on Henry. So when they were
about to leave, he whispered to Lea's ear, "Your boyfriend is a good man."
Lea's mouth twitched as she threw a glance at Henry. Henry stayed with Rachel while staring at them
not to far away.
Nonetheless, William noticed Henry's behavior. He chuckled and said to Lea in a low voice, "Your
boyfriend seems to be jealous."
Lea was so amused that she burst into laughter.
Even though Henry couldn't hear what they were talking about from where he was standing, he was
fuming at the sight of William and Lea talking very close to each other.
Was there something they couldn't say in front of him? Why did they have to talk in private? Were they
talking badly about him?
While he was pondering the negative thoughts in his mind, what he saw next drove him mad.
William seemed to have whispered something to Lea that made her giggle and laugh in amusement.
Henry did his best to stifle his anger. He turned his head and looked away, desperately fighting the urge
to walk up to them.
Eventually, he decided to wait for Lea. After all, he couldn't just leave Rachel alone standing there. But
the question was still lingering in his mind: why was she smiling so charmingly to her schoolmate's
jokes?
A few moments later, William finally drove away. Lea walked back to where Henry and Rachel were
waiting for her. She immediately saw Henry's long face.
Pretending not to notice his face, she looked around and asked curiously, "Where is Rachel?"
"She's talking with someone on the phone," Henry answered as he looked at Lea.
Lea turned to the direction that Henry pointed and felt relieved to see Rachel there.
She was about to walk up to her when Henry suddenly grabbed her wrist. "We need to talk!"
Lea was a little surprised. She looked at him coldly and asked, "What do you want to talk about? Are
you going to fight me here?"
Henry's brows furrowed. "Lea, can you at least try to talk to me in a calm and peaceful manner?"
Lea gritted her teeth contemptuously, restraining herself from yelling.
Thinking that she was going to shake his hand off, Henry grabbed her other hand tightly.
Before Lea could get angry, he whispered something into her ear.
Lea's eyes widened in bewilderment as she looked at him.
"Are you telling the truth?" Lea asked doubtfully.
"Why would I lie to you?" Henry responded. 'Does she really think I'm lying?' he asked himself.
When Rachel hung up, she went back to them. Lea immediately approached her. She stammered,
"Rachel, I have something to do tonight. Can we
just meet some other day?"
Lea's flight was tomorrow. If they couldn't hang out tonight, they would need to make plans some other
time.
A hint of disappointment swept over Rachel's face.
Henry just stood there in silence, but he was sure Lea would go with him.
Rachel couldn't hide her disappointment. After all, they were supposed to spend the night together.
Why did Lea suddenly change her mind?
She looked at Henry suspiciously. However, he just looked calm and collected.
Rachel also noticed Lea's restlessness, so she guessed that there was something she wasn't telling
her. As she mulled it over, she concluded that it had something to do with Henry.
Besides, Lea's mood had completely changed the moment he came here.
Henry walked up to them and wrapped his arm around Lea's shoulders. While glancing at his watch, he
said, "It's about time. We should go now."
Sure enough, Henry had something to do with it. However, judging from how they looked at each other,
it seemed that he was very concerned about Lea.
So instead of stopping them, Rachel just nodded and said, "Go ahead. Just give me a call when you're
free."
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