“Brendon, Shannon, you’re here for dinner too? What a coincidence!” Chris calmly reached out and patted her shoulder. Ranita snapped back to reality and coldly turned her head away.
“We’ll go in first.” Chris caught up with her and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Ranita walked quickly, her heart in turmoil during the short distance. Sharp stones scraped at her heart, leaving it in a sorry state.
“As long as you’re okay!” Chris didn’t dwell on it and led her into the private room. Besides Kora, Dylan was unexpectedly there too.
“Ranita! You finally came!” Dylan rushed over to hug her, slightly annoyed. “I said I would come to pick you up, but he insisted on going himself!”
Chris gave Dylan a look, and Dylan awkwardly fell silent.
Ranita reassured him, “We’re all here for dinner together, so don’t worry!” After speaking, she warmly greeted Kora and happily embraced her.
“Ranita, you’re back! I missed you so much!” Kora said with regret, “Did Ayaan not come with you?”
“This time, I came on a business trip, so I didn’t bring him!” As soon as Ranita finished speaking, there was a knock on the private room door, and Shannon’s small head soon appeared.
Seeing her, everyone’s expressions varied.
“Hello, I just saw Ranita and Chris come in, so I thought I’d come over and say hello.” Shannon seemed oblivious to her unwelcome reception and continued, “Amiya is in the private room diagonally opposite, what a coincidence.”
“Ranita, do you want to go and greet Amiya?” Dylan couldn’t hold back his frustration and said irritably, “Ranita is no longer a part of the Stuart family, why should she greet her?”
Ranita stopped Dylan and bluntly said to Shannon, “Miss Murphy, if you truly want me to keep my distance from Brendon, then stop clinging to me all the time. If I talk to him for a moment and you feel wronged again, should I apologize to you?”
“Ranita… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it that way… I just thought Amiya is an elder, and it wouldn’t hurt to say hello.”
“I came over just to greet Chris and Kora, I have no other intentions.”
Ranita smirked coldly. “Once the greetings are done, please leave.”
Shannon’s eyes welled up, as if she had been bullied, and she walked away.
Dylan rolled his eyes in anger. “What kind of person is she? It’s as if we’ve collectively bullied her! I wonder if she’ll go back and complain to Brendon and Amiya?”
“Enough, let’s not talk about her. Let’s eat!” Chris ended the discussion, and Kora quickly diverted Ranita’s attention to something else.
The foundation had been very stable in recent years, and Ranita invested a large amount of money each year to help those in need. Although they hadn’t met her in person, the foundation had a very favorable impression of Ranita.
The dinner was relatively cheerful.
Chris accompanied her to the hotel and gallantly left after dropping her off downstairs. Ranita dragged her suitcase, took the room key, and called Olivia while heading upstairs.
After finishing the call, she found her room.
With two beeps, Ranita opened the door and was about to step in when a shadow suddenly closed in from behind. A strong hand pressed against her waist, pushing her into the room.
“Thud!”
Ranita was pressed against the door, her heart racing. In that moment of fear, she caught a whiff of the familiar scent of grapefruit.
Brendon?