Chapter 19\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian sat on the couch while Kingston stood not far from her, his gaze carrying a hint of superiority. Unwilling to remain in the lower position, she took a deep breath and rose to her feet, and met his eyes at the same level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHoward Group wants to break into the Baymoor market. Starting from scratch would consume considerable time. For someone like you, Mr. Howard, time is money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston remained unmoved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian exhaled softly. She excelled at creating proposals and strategies, but negotiating at a business table had never been her strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since she was already here, she pressed on, \u201cWhitfield Group meets all the right conditions and perfectly fits your company\u2019s criteria for rapid market entry into Baymoor. I don\u2019t think you\u2019d pass up such a good opportunity over our insignificant past history.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cInsignificant past history?\u201d he repeated slowly, savoring her words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He pinched the cigarette in his hand, crushing the tip slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian nodded reluctantly. When she first learned about the arranged engagement with the Howard family, she had already returned to Baymoor with her mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even when she severed ties with the Hartwell family and formally broke off the engagement, she had never met Kingston face\u2013to\u2013face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There had never been any feelings between them. If not for that arrangement set by their elders, they would have been complete strangers. She didn\u2019t consider their past an actual\u00a0<\/p>\n
grievance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cigarette in Kingston\u2019s hand snapped, spilling tobacco onto the floor. He let out a wry laugh, then asked, \u201cMs. Hartwell, do you know what the three greatest grievances are in a\u00a0<\/p>\n
man\u2019s life?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian looked somewhat bewildered and shook her head. \u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned around and said coldly, \u201cThe murder of one\u2019s father, the loss of one\u2019s wife, and the\u00a0<\/p>\n
death of one\u2019s child.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we weren\u2019t married,\u201d she said softly, her voice weak and slightly guilty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marbor\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fun Merge\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relaxing\u00a0<\/p>\n
FREE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Play now\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 19\u00a0<\/p>\n
212\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA fiancee is still a wife,\u201d he said indifferently, every word cutting deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian fell completely silent, lowering her eyes, not daring to meet those deep, dark eyes of his.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What could she do? Apologize? But she didn\u2019t think she had done anything wrong by breaking off the engagement. After all, they had no feelings for each other. To her, Kingston was just a stranger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The atmosphere remained tense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pressed her lips together and finally spoke. \u201cI\u2019m sorry for disturbing you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian felt that if this approach didn\u2019t work, there were always other options. She turned to leave, and Kingston\u2019s expression visibly darkened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that how you conduct business?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stopped in her tracks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kingston stared at her face for more than ten seconds, his expression a mix of amusement and derision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Ms. Hartwell, who boldly declared she\u2019d make her mark in Baymoor, would have strong persuasive abilities at the negotiating table. I didn\u2019t expect you\u2019d simply pay a brief visit and give up so quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivian had no comeback to his mockery. It wasn\u2019t the first time she\u2019d felt humiliated in his presence, so she decided to speak plainly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you don\u2019t actually have any feelings for me, Mr. Howard. You simply can\u2019t swallow the humiliation of having the engagement broken off back then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now, you\u2019re deliberately using this to embarrass me. If I don\u2019t leave quickly, should I stay here and let you continue humiliating me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 19\u00a0 Vivian sat on the couch while Kingston stood not far from her, his gaze carrying a hint of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-i-cancel-the-engagement-and-level-way-up"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}