Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 34: Socializing

Giving the assistant a deep look, Thea Lynch warned, "Take care of yourself."

On the way back, the assistant wanted to speak several times but stopped. Every time he saw Thea Lynch’s cold expression, the words on his lips were forced to halt.

He felt quite unsatisfied with Thea Lynch. So what if she was educated abroad? How much more capable could she be? He didn’t have much experience, but did she have a lot either? She thought he had a bad attitude? She didn’t even consider what her own attitude was like.

But he didn’t want to lose his job because of this, even if he wanted to leave, he’d wait until this project ended. By then, his resume would have a shining highlight, and maybe he could switch over to Valiant. So now, he could only wrong himself and admit a mistake first.

However, looking at Thea Lynch’s demeanor, admitting his mistake probably wouldn’t help.

Back at the hotel, Thea Lynch received a call from Silas Cheney.

She turned aside to close the door and casually put down her laptop bag, "Everything went smoothly, no problems."

"I can return tonight."

Silas Cheney: "Didn’t I tell you to rest for a couple more days?"

Thea Lynch pouted, "I really don’t need to. I don’t feel that stressed either. There’s nothing much to do around here."

She wasn’t very fond of going out wandering.

Most of the time, she preferred sitting quietly alone. From high school until now, it had always been this way.

When she was abroad, her uncle would forcefully take her out when he was free, saying staying home reading all the time was bad for her health, but she had no interest at all.

Silas Cheney probably genuinely wanted her to stay in Riverbend a couple more days, so he found an excuse, "Then I won’t rush over. Help me out by having dinner with the high-profile clients at Valiant tonight."

"Huh?" Thea Lynch was stunned, "I refused them."

"It’s fine for you to refuse, but I can’t refuse. Help me out."

"Is there something even you can’t refuse?" With his temper, who would dare disrespect him?

There was basically no social engagement he had to attend.

"How would I put it, they are our big clients after all. We should have dinner with them. Once you’re on their turf and they extend an invite, it’s really not good to refuse again, don’t you agree?"

"Just have dinner, then tomorrow sleep in and go out for a bit before coming back."

"I could do that, it’s not difficult to have dinner." "But me substituting for you, is that okay?"

"What’s not okay about it? If you think of Stratus as a chip, you’re definitely the most important part of it. Your shares hold substantial weight, sister."

Silas Cheney’s words weren’t exaggerated, though others might not know, he was clear in his heart. Stratus didn’t belong to him; from inside out, from start to finish, it belonged solely to Thea Lynch.

So, this social engagement was perfectly suited for Thea Lynch.

"My old man is just feeling slightly better now, so I really can’t leave."

"Alright then, I’ll return to Beijing tomorrow night." Thea Lynch finally agreed.

Silas Cheney chuckled softly, "Looks like I still had to play the emotional card."

"This trick always works for you."

"Well, as long as it works."

——

In the evening, Thea Lynch took the assistant for the social dinner.

Mr. Shen from Valiant wasn’t there, supposedly on a business trip, but the other high-level executives, whom they’d not met in the afternoon, had come.

However, after chatting for a while, the other side didn’t make things difficult; they just casually discussed the pros and cons of the popular smartphone brands on the market at the moment.

Three people from the other side came, and towards the end, someone opened wine and champagne.

At social dinners, someone always needs to drink with the guests. The three men from the other side could all drink, but Thea Lynch wasn’t really in the mood to drink tonight, so she subtly gave the assistant a look.

"How is your alcohol tolerance?"

The assistant whispered to her, "Drinking with one of them is no problem, but one against three is a bit tough. I can drink a lot of beer, can I drink beer?"

Thea Lynch: "..."

Taking a deep breath, Thea Lynch brought her own glass closer and motioned to the server holding the wine.

The server immediately understood and stepped up to pour her wine.

Looking at the crimson liquid in the glass, Thea Lynch raised her glass and toasted.

Initially, the three across hesitated, but seeing her so bold, they didn’t think too much about it. Drinking amongst themselves was indeed dry.

After a round, seeing Thea Lynch still unfazed, the assistant couldn’t help but marvel, "You can drink that much? Can you still make it back to the hotel later?"

Thea Lynch didn’t respond, lowering her head, eating something to pad her stomach.

The assistant, really curious, "Did you practice your drinking during your internship? You’re so good."

"No." Thea Lynch put down her fork, slowly wiping her hands: "My alcohol tolerance is average."

Assistant: "But you’re drinking so much."

"Socializing is part of the job as well. Is there a problem with maintaining the right attitude?"

Assistant: "..." Feeling implicitly criticized again.

After eating a bit, Thea Lynch felt a little better, flipped her palm, curled her finger, and tapped on the table, signaling the server to pour more wine.

"I’ll, I’ll do it." The assistant wanted to substitute her.

Thea Lynch raised an eyebrow, looking at him in surprise: "You?"

As they were stalemating, suddenly, there was a knock on the side, and a server came in, smiling at them: "Sorry to disturb everyone."

The server’s gaze swept over the five people present, noting only one female. He asked, "Are you Miss Thea Lynch?"

Thea Lynch lazily lifted her eyelids, "That’s me."

The server didn’t speak further, just nodded and exited. After a moment of confusion, suddenly, the room door was pushed open again, this time not by the server but by Ian Preston.

Seeing him, Thea Lynch’s pupils slightly enlarged.

The man locked eyes with her, then unabashedly stood behind her seat.

Before Thea Lynch could say anything, the slightly inebriated three executives from Valiant across all stood up, "Mr. Preston!"

"When did Mr. Preston come to Riverbend?"

"What a coincidence, are you dining here too, Mr. Preston? Please take a seat."

With that, they quickly signaled the server to arrange the main seat.

Ian Preston nodded slightly, stopping them, "No need, I’ll sit here."

With that, he took the empty seat on Thea Lynch’s other side, casually draping his rolled-up sleeves over her chair. This intimate gesture seemingly declared his sovereignty, directly embracing Thea Lynch.

The three across were seasoned pros, immediately understanding, they just smiled and sat back down, chatting with Ian Preston.

As they conversed, Thea Lynch also couldn’t continue eating, obediently listening. However, her mind wasn’t there; her eyes kept wandering.

Suddenly, her gaze paused, fixing on the assistant.

"What’s wrong with you?" Seeing the assistant looking flustered, awkwardly bowing his head, Thea Lynch found it strange.

Although she didn’t really like the person, after all, he was an employee accompanying her to the social dinner, as his direct superior, she felt responsible.

The assistant nervously looked up, unsure of how to explain.

Hearing the commotion on her side, Ian Preston paused his conversation with the others and looked over.

The next moment, seeing the young man’s features, his eyes sharpened, narrowing dangerously.