Chapter 104

"Hey, Mrs. Jordan, where'd you disappear to just now?"

Maeve strolled over with a smile. "I've been wanting to chat with you. Your speech was amazing."

I glanced at her briefly. "Thanks. Your dance was pretty good too."

Kathy, standing nearby, could barely hide her disdain and rolled her eyes.

I signaled her to be more discreet.

Maeve seemed to catch Kathy's hostility and turned to her. "Did I do something to offend you, Ms. Patel? Why the attitude?"

Kathy sneered. "I just have a thing about moral cleanliness."

Maeve instantly got the hint, her face darkening slightly, but she didn't let it show. She turned to me. "Caroline, you're so lucky to have a husband like Brandon."

Her tone was overly familiar, and I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Was she here to stake her claim or to provoke me?

I raised my voice. "Brandon, come over here."

In the next second, Brandon walked over and gently put his arm around my shoulder. "What's up, babe?"

I leaned my head against his arm, suppressing my disgust to play along. "Nothing, just that Ms. Harrington said I'm lucky to have a husband like you. I agree, so I called you over."

Brandon smiled knowingly and pinched my nose. "I'm the lucky one to have a wife like you."

Seeing our close relationship, Maeve's expression turned a bit sour. She walked over to Brandon and patted his shoulder. "Brandon was just saying how amazing you are, Caroline, and how proud he is of you."

I crossed my arms and looked at Maeve. "Ms. Harrington, respect is earned by oneself, not by their spouse."

Brandon didn't catch the underlying tension between us. He ruffled my hair and said, "There are a few more guests I need to see off. I'll be back soon."

I nodded and let him go.

As Brandon walked away, Maeve's gaze followed him, only to be blocked by Kathy.

"Ms. Harrington, you must rely on men a lot, don't you? Caroline is an outstanding person, not just an accessory to a man."

Maeve's expression didn't change, and she smiled. "But as far as I know, Brandon has been running the company these past few years."

Her words made it sound like she owned the company. I smiled slightly. "Ms. Harrington, you seem to know a lot about our company?"

Maeve waved her hand dismissively. "Not really, but Brandon has invited me over a few times. The company is doing so well, thanks to him."

"Is that so?"

My expression remained unchanged. "I didn't realize you were so interested in our family business. If you'd like, I can arrange a position for you at our company."

Maeve waved her hand again. "I wouldn't know what to do. I'd just mess things up."

Kathy crossed her arms and sneered. "At least you know you'd be a mess. So why are you meddling? Do you even know any inside information, or are you just talking nonsense?"

"Did you just take one look and decide the company is doing well?"

After Brandon saw off the guests, he came back to us and noticed the tense atmosphere. "Hey, what's going on here?"

I pointed at Maeve. "Ms. Harrington seems to have some thoughts about the company's operations. We were just discussing them."

Brandon looked at Maeve, puzzled. "What ideas could she have? She's just a dancer."

His dismissive tone made Maeve's face change.

Kathy covered her mouth and laughed. "Mr. Jordan, you're making Ms. Harrington uncomfortable. She was just talking so confidently."

"Talking about these things in front of the company's founder, Caroline, isn't that just embarrassing herself?" Kathy glanced at Maeve.

Maeve's polite smile was slipping. She nodded slightly. "Excuse me, I need to step away for a moment."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "She dares to provoke but has such poor mental resilience."

I smiled and pointed in Maeve's direction. "Her mental resilience isn't poor. She has other plans."

Kathy followed my gaze and saw Maeve sitting alone on a sofa with a drink.

Brandon noticed and frowned as he walked over to her.

Kathy looked at me in disbelief. "What's she trying to do?"

I said, "Just watch."

We saw Brandon try to take the drink from Maeve, but she dodged.

We couldn't hear their conversation, but their body language was clear.

Kathy laughed. "I'll do the voiceover."

She mimicked a male voice. "Maeve, what are you doing? Don't you know my wife is here?"

Savannah and I laughed at her spot-on impression.

Brandon reached out to take the drink from Maeve again.

Maeve said something to Brandon.

Kathy continued. "Why do you care? Just worry about your wife."

"I'll just drink myself to death here, and no one will care."

Brandon finally grabbed the drink from Maeve. "Can you stop this? I invited you here, not to cause a scene."

Maeve looked up at Brandon with teary eyes. "Are you rejecting me? Why don't you reject your dying wife?"

Kathy paused and looked at me. "Caroline, I didn't mean it. That's what Maeve said, not me."

I patted her shoulder, indicating I didn't mind.

I had to admit, Kathy's voiceover was spot on. It really seemed like their conversation.

Kathy continued. "What does Caroline have to do with this? I invited you here to dance, didn't I?"

"But your wife stole the spotlight. No one noticed me."

Brandon grew more impatient. "Maeve, you're drunk. Go home."

Maeve looked at Brandon. "Are you kicking me out? I came here just for you."

It seemed something had happened between them before. Otherwise, Maeve wouldn't talk like this.

Maybe Brandon had a soft spot for this. Seeing Maeve's words, his tone softened. "Go home first. I'll come find you later."

But Maeve wouldn't let it go and tried to hug Brandon.

Kathy commented. "This woman is desperate for a man."