Patrick thought about what had happened in the past few days and after much consideration, he decided to give Jaiden a call. After all, they had been good friends for many years. The phone rang a few times before Jaiden answered.
“Long time no see, what’s the occasion for calling me?” Jaiden’s voice came through on the other end of the line, familiar as always.
“What? You’re famous now and I can’t even make a phone call to an old friend?” Patrick joked half-seriously. Despite their long friendship, they hadn’t talked in a while.
Jaiden paused for a moment before replying, “Of course not. So where do you want to eat?”
Jaiden knew exactly what Patrick was going to say next from his opening remark.
“The usual place,” Patrick said before hanging up the phone.
Jaiden was momentarily stunned, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. This unfamiliar yet familiar city seemed to have an extra touch of warmth.
Patrick drove to the entrance of the Blue Dragonfly Bar, which was bustling with people. Groups of people were everywhere. After observing for a while, Patrick found a parking spot.
Before he could call Jaiden to ask where he was, Jaiden sent him a message, informing him of the private room he was currently in.
Patrick entered the bar and made his way to the private room they had reserved.
Patrick sat on the sofa next to Jaiden and instinctively placed his hand on Jaiden’s shoulder.
“Why didn’t you contact us when you went abroad?”
Jaiden used to be in constant contact with them before going abroad, but once he left the country, there was very little communication.
And even upon returning, Jaiden remained distant, and they didn’t know why.
Jaiden raised an eyebrow. “I just got back, I haven’t finished dealing with things yet.”
Jaiden poured a glass of red wine for Patrick, who then asked about his recent life. “How have you been lately?”
“Okay, just so-so,” Jaiden replied casually.
Jaiden handed the glass of wine to Patrick. “Long time no see, let’s have a drink first.”
Patrick couldn’t refuse and took the glass, taking a sip.
Jaiden was more generous with his own drinking. He noticed that Patrick had only taken a few sips and didn’t insist on him drinking more.
The two of them chatted about their recent lives when suddenly the door swung open.
A manager led in a few girls.
Patrick frowned and looked at Jaiden. “What’s the meaning of this?”
He didn’t believe that the manager would bring in these girls without someone instructing him to do so.
These girls were indeed arranged by Jaiden. He knew Patrick wouldn’t be late, so he instructed the manager to bring some girls after 8:20 PM.
“Oh, don’t be angry,” Jaiden patted Patrick’s shoulder, seemingly understanding. “From what I heard about your recent situation, you seem tired. Since you’re here at the bar, why not relax a bit?”
Patrick brushed off his hand, his expression unpleasant. “Even if I wanted to relax, I wouldn’t do it this way.”
Jaiden rolled his eyes and sneered, “Pretending to be high and mighty.”
Jaiden gestured to the manager, who wore a smile and introduced the names of the six girls.
Only then did Patrick realize that Jaiden had no good intentions when meeting him.
Jaiden looked at the girls with a smile on his face, and after they all introduced themselves, he looked at Patrick and noticed his displeased expression.
The smile on Jaiden’s face faded a little. “You’re not trying to preserve Jane’s purity, are you?”
Before Patrick could say anything, Jaiden spoke with a deep tone. “Men, it’s inevitable to play around sometimes.”
Patrick’s hand clenched tightly. He felt that Jaiden didn’t respect him at all.
Unexpectedly, their meeting ended up like this.
Patrick stood up with a cold face. “Since you have entertainment activities, I won’t disturb you.”
Patrick stopped at the door, then turned to look at Jaiden. “I always thought that no matter what, you were someone I could trust. It seems that after all this time, I can’t see through you.” With that, Patrick left on his own.
Jaiden, who had been smiling all along, also regained his expressionless face. He kept a silent expression as the manager escorted the girls out and finished the remaining wine.
“Patrick, you say you can’t see through me anymore, but how can I continue to live the way I used to? You’re the young master of the Pansy family, naturally worry-free, but I’m different.”
Patrick left the Blue Dragonfly Bar and called for a designated driver. He had only taken a few sips of red wine and didn’t have a hopeful mindset.
The driver took Patrick home.
Patrick found Jaiden’s actions tonight strange. Normally, Jaiden and he got along well because they had a similar mindset, and they were good to each other. But tonight, Jaiden’s actions clearly touched a nerve, leaving him puzzled about the purpose behind them.
Could it be that Jaiden wouldn’t gain anything by displeasing him?
Patrick didn’t think Jaiden was an impulsive person.
Once he got home, Patrick went straight to the bathroom to take a shower.
Even though he had only spent half an hour at the bar, he couldn’t stand the mixed scent of alcohol and smoke on his body.
Patrick couldn’t bear it.
As he sat on the bed watching a movie, his mind was consumed by thoughts of Jaiden’s unusual behavior.
Patrick had slept a bit too long in the afternoon, and even though he had to work the next day, he couldn’t fall asleep.
He planned to stay up until 2 a. m. before going to bed.
There weren’t many TV shows that interested him, so in the end, he searched for a few old movies to watch.
When Patrick lay on the bed, ready to sleep with his eyes closed, he still thought that he must send someone to investigate Jaiden’s recent activities.
He wanted to see if something had happened that made Jaiden act this way towards him.
As soon as Patrick arrived at the office, he called one of his subordinates to investigate Jaiden’s whereabouts.
He didn’t really care about Jaiden’s affairs, but after their unpleasant argument last night, he thought he probably wouldn’t actively seek him out anymore.
During the evening commute, Patrick drove out to have dinner and received a call from his subordinate while still in the car.
He answered the call using Bluetooth, keeping his hand on the steering wheel.
The subordinate told Patrick that Jaiden might have secret dealings with Fernando.
Patrick furrowed his eyebrows. How could Jaiden have any connection with Fernando?
“Do I still need to keep an eye on them?” The subordinate cautiously asked, hearing his boss’s heavy breathing.
“Continue keeping an eye on them.”
Initially, Patrick had thought of withdrawing his request for investigating Jaiden’s situation to avoid being discovered.
But now that Jaiden had a clandestine connection, possibly with Fernando, a dangerous individual, he couldn’t just ignore it.
Because of Jaiden’s involvement with Fernando, Patrick had to consider more possibilities. Did their disagreement have something to do with Fernando?