But upon hearing this, he felt even more displeased. Ben Carter was no saint either. If you want to do something bad with that kind of attitude, then today, no matter what, he was going to ruin your plans. He snorted, picked up his wine glass, took another small sip, and kept swirling it around, completely ignoring him.

Now the meaning was obvious—he was not giving any face, and a confrontation was inevitable. What’s more, being embarrassed in front of a beautiful woman, Mr. Thompson couldn’t suppress his anger any longer. His pale face immediately flushed red, even turning a shade of purple. He muttered, “You… you’re really not giving me any face. I want to—” but didn’t finish his sentence. Apparently, he couldn’t think of a good retort for the moment and was about to stand up and lose his temper.

Seeing things getting a bit out of control, although it was to her advantage, she didn’t want to drag Ben Carter into it, since the trouble had started because of her. With this in mind, the lady beside them, Ms. Harris, stood up and spoke: “No need for that, this is my friend. He’s the one who invited me here today, so let’s just sit together! He’s not much of a talker, Mr. Thompson, so please don’t mind him too much!”

As she spoke, Ms. Harris also snuck a glance at Ben Carter, her eyes pleading, hoping he wouldn’t expose her.

She then turned to introduce Ben Carter: “This is the son of our company’s board director, John Thompson, Mr. Thompson, and he’s quite well-off!”

Although he wasn’t too happy with Ms. Harris introducing him like that—as if he were some useless rich kid, which, to be fair, he was—at least this beautiful woman recognized his value.

Seeing that Ms. Harris was at least pleasant to look at, and at least a beauty, while this John Thompson was clearly no good, Ben Carter didn’t mind helping her out this once. It was also a good chance to vent his own frustrations. He stood up, took a breath, and said, “Hello, I’m her friend Ben Carter. I’m currently studying at Xinghai Academy. I just wanted to meet up with Ms. Harris today to discuss some personal matters.”

With these words, he not only continued Ms. Harris’s lie, but also subtly made it clear: we have business today, so you’d better step aside!

Seeing Ben Carter cooperate so well, Ms. Harris was overjoyed inside, though of course she couldn’t show it on her face. She just put on a troubled expression and looked at John Thompson, stammering, “Sorry, Mr. Thompson, today’s not really convenient. Maybe another day?”

The lighting in the bar was rather dim; otherwise, John Thompson would surely have seen the smile hidden deep in her eyes.

John Thompson wasn’t an idiot—he could tell something was off. The relationship between Ben Carter and Ms. Harris was odd. Ms. Harris had been avoiding him, and only squeezed over here after seeing him. Their earlier behavior didn’t seem like that of friends at all. Most likely, Ms. Harris was making excuses, and Ben Carter was deliberately messing with him—probably interested in this beauty as well.

Thinking of this, John Thompson was furious. He had never even heard of Ben Carter before—who the hell was this guy, to disrespect him like this? Not only had he ruined his plans, but he was also trying to steal his woman. He was determined to settle the score with him today. Though angry, he still wanted to maintain some composure in front of Ms. Harris, so he forced a smile and said, “No problem, you two go ahead and talk.”

After speaking, he turned and left, albeit reluctantly. Before leaving, he shot Ben Carter a fierce glare, already plotting his revenge. Ben Carter could clearly see the cold glint in his eyes.

Seeing that Ben Carter had helped her get rid of that playboy, Ms. Harris extended her slender hand and happily said to Ben Carter, “Mr. Wen, hello, and thank you so much for today. Otherwise, I really might have gotten into trouble! I almost forgot to introduce myself—my surname is Lan, and my name is Emily Harris.”

Seeing this, Ben Carter quickly reached out, gently grasping her small hand. As expected, her fingers were slender and delicate, incredibly smooth and soft, feeling like a piece of warm, fragrant jade in his hand—so exquisite and captivating. Ben Carter quickly snapped out of this enchanting feeling and released her hand right after the handshake.

He was also quite pleased to have made that playboy suffer, and his own worries seemed to have lessened a lot. Smiling, he said to Emily Harris, “No need to thank me, Ms. Harris. It was nothing, really. Besides, I can’t stand that playboy either—who told him to try and take my seat?”

After this, both of them burst out laughing.

Emily Harris laughed lightly, waved her hand, and said, “Hehe, no matter what, I have to thank you today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known how to shake off that clingy guy. So, let me buy you a drink.”

Without waiting for Ben Carter to respond, she waved over a waiter and ordered two more drinks, both Xuelishao. Now that she was relaxed, she wanted to enjoy this fine wine again.

The two of them drank and chatted casually.

Emily Harris shared a bit about her background. She had started working at that company right after graduation, and after two years of hard work, she had just been promoted to the head office—only to be pestered by that playboy as soon as she arrived, and she couldn’t afford to offend him. Her family wasn’t well-off, and all the money she’d earned over the past few years had gone to support her family, hoping her parents could have a better life.