After listening to his words, Estelle was stunned and confused, thinking, ‘Alexander tends to cooperate with married men. Why does he have such a requirement?’
“Are you going to monopolize all the gemstones from Africa?” she asked.
“This is the way of the world. Only by monopolizing can I get high profits,” Cristofer said.
“Do you know that there is a law called the antitrust law?”
“I know that.”
“You want to sell the gemstones at a large markup, do you?”
“If I can’t make money, why should I sell the gemstones to them? I’m a jeweler, not the boss of a logistics company. I need to consider the cost of transporting the gemstones from Africa to Hadale,” Cristofer stated casually.
Estelle gave him a disapproving look. “If you do so, many small jewelry companies will be unable to survive, such as my company.”
“Star, business is about profit, not moral responsibility.”
“You weren’t like this before,” Estelle said, frowning deeply. “You told me that we should cooperate with others following the principle of mutual benefit. You also said that only by doing so can the market thrive. Why do you only care about your own interests now?”
Cristofer was stunned when he heard this. He used to conduct business based on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win scenarios. However, in the past three years, all he had focused on when launching new projects or collaborating with others was maximizing profits.
He was surprised to realize that his business philosophy had changed since he had taken over Nelson’s business.
After some thought, he said, “If you need gemstones, I’ll provide you with as many as you want.”
“Hey, are you whispering sweet nothings to each other?” Alexander interrupted them with a knowing smile. “I’ve heard that the food in Hadale is top-notch. When can I have a taste?”
Hearing this, Cristofer said, “I’ll treat you to dinner tonight. Let’s go. I’ll take you to the restaurant with the most authentic food in Hadale.”
At this time, Gary, who didn’t know French, heard the word “restaurant” and immediately knew they were going to go out for dinner. Then he said, “Are you going to eat outside? Why don’t you eat at home? The cook in our family can cook more delicious food than those working in the restaurants.”
Cristofer nodded, thinking Gary’s words made sense. ‘Alexander is family-oriented. He may prefer to eat at our house than eat outside.’
“Alexander, how about we eat at my house?” he asked.
“Oh, that will be great,” Alexander said happily.
“Okay, I’ll ask the cook to prepare dinner for us,” Cristofer nodded.
“The cook is on leave!” Luke, who had settled the two children in the entertainment room, said as he went downstairs. “Old Mr. Hans, have you forgotten that the cook has gone back to his hometown?”
It was not until then that Gary remembered that. “Oh, I forgot it. Then what should we do now? Luke, you can cook, right? How about you cook for us tonight?”
Luke declined the offer with a wave of his hand and said, “I’m not good at cooking. Don’t worry, our family has an incredibly talented cook.”
As he spoke, he looked at Estelle’s direction.
Estelle smiled awkwardly. Then she suddenly thought of Gretchen.
‘Gretchen acted in front of Cristofer for nearly six years. She’s really a good actress. I’d rather earn money by working hard, which might be exhausting, than by acting in front of others and deceiving others. If I had to live a life as Gretchen did before, I would not be able to sleep well at night and would live in fear and restlessness every day.’
Hearing what Luke had said, Cristofer looked at Estelle expectantly. “Is that okay? Would it bother you if you cook dinner?”
Sensing something wrong with Cristofer’s attitude, Alexander asked, “Cristofer, do you always talk to Star so politely?”
Estelle raised her eyebrows and asked, “You can understand what we talked about?”
“I have an interpreter!” Alexander said smilingly and pointed at the woman next to him. “Cristofer, don’t lie to me just because I tend to cooperate with married men. Are you two really a couple, Estelle?”
The smile on Cristofer’s face froze, and he said with an unnatural look, “Of course, we are a couple.”
“Since you are a couple, why have you two kept a distance from each other since you entered the house? Even when the two of you whispered to each other just now, you kept a certain distance from each other. Cristofer, body language won’t lie.”
Although Alexander was young, he was sophisticated and had an eagle eye. When he spoke, he stared at Cristofer and observed every change in his expression.
“Alexander, why do you tend to cooperate with married men?” Estelle asked in French.
“Because married men are more responsible,” Alexander answered.
“I’m afraid it’s not reasonable to generalize about married men. Some married men will cheat on their wives after getting married. Some may not be responsible for their wives. Single men can also be responsible and considerate. Whether a man is responsible or not has nothing to do with his marital status.”
With his arms folded, Alexander gave Estelle a searching look and said, “Estelle, I admit that you are right. I just think if I want an honest, reliable, and responsible partner, choosing from married men is the fastest way. Because according to a survey, in most cases, a businessman with a stable marital status is more responsible.”
Estelle nodded with a smile. “I see.”
“Estelle, you speak French very well.”
“Thank you. I lived abroad for three years before, and I have some French friends.”
“When did you come back from abroad?”
“I’ve been back for about three weeks.”
Hearing this, Alexander showed a meaningful smile. “You’ve just been back for about three weeks? Cristofer told me that he was going to get married half a month ago. That is to say, you came back from abroad two weeks before your wedding. Are two weeks enough for you to prepare for the wedding? I hate to be blunt, but you two don’t look like a couple.”
“About your relationship, there are two possibilities. One is that you two have been with each other for a long time and didn’t get married until last weekend. The other is that the person Cristofer was going to marry before was not you, and you are just here to pretend to be his wife. Judging from the interaction between you two, I think I can exclude the first possibility.”