Chapter 22
Corey Atkinson, noticing Blair’s reaction, quickly asked, “Mr. Avery, is everything alright?”
Blair instinctively followed her with his eyes, but saw her walk into another building.
“Corey, haven’t we been keeping our movements under wraps these past couple of days?”
“Yes, Mr. Avery,” Corey replied.
Blair frowned. “Then how did Bianca end up here?”
During the first two years of their marriage, Bianca had done. something like this before.
To spend more time with him, she would secretly track his movements. and pretend to run into him by chance.
As a result, Blair had asked Corey to keep his schedule private.
But now, after all this time, she had pulled the same trick again.
Corey thought for a moment before taking a bold guess. “Could Ms. Watts have secretly followed the car here?”
Blair’s expression darkened. Before he could respond, Virgil walked in. “Mr. Avery, I’m so sorry. The school is short–handed, and I had to escort the students. I left you waiting here for quite a while.”
“It’s fine. Now that you’re here, I…” he started to say, but was
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interrupted when Virgil took his hand.
“Mr. Avery, this town has a large population and many children, but with people moving out and the town’s development being tough, if it weren’t for you, these kids wouldn’t have much hope. To show our gratitude, I’ve arranged a dinner with some homemade country–style dishes. I hope you won’t mind and let us treat you to a meal.”
Blair wanted to decline, but Virgil’s enthusiasm made it hard to refuse.
The words of refusal were on the tip of his tongue, but before he could say anything, Virgil decisively added, “Mr. Avery, it’s all set, then.”
At 5:30 p.m., Virgil called Bianca to join the dinner as well.
Bianca was about to decline, but Virgil insisted she attend to help set the right tone for the event.
Unable to refuse the warm invitation, Bianca reluctantly agreed.
The dinner wasn’t very large, with only about seven or eight people, all of them school officials.
Because of an injured student, Bianca was delayed and ended up being the last one to arrive.
As the waiter opened the door to the private room, all eyes turned to her.
Bianca quickly scanned the room and noticed Blair and Corey.
Virgil hadn’t mentioned that this was a dinner to thank the donors, and Bianca hadn’t asked, so she had simply agreed to come along.
Besides, Blair usually dined in five–star restaurants and stayed in luxury hotels, so Bianca hadn’t expected him to stay in town for a meal
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like this.
Blair noticed her as well. He was slightly surprised, but then thought that, perhaps, she had come to the fundraiser just to meet him.
Seeing Bianca hesitate in the doorway, Virgil quickly got up to greet her. “Dr. Watts, please, come in and sit.”
“Doctor?” Blair was even more surprised by this title.
But as he watched Bianca walk into the room, he instinctively turned to Corey, still standing, and said, “Sit. What are you standing there for?”
Corey blinked, confused. “What?”
Meanwhile, Bianca scanned the room and chose a seat as far away from Blair as possible.
Blair noticed this and frowned slightly.
Corey quickly understood what was going on. Blair must have been worried that Bianca would sit near him, but she had chosen the seat
farthest from him instead.
Corey was shocked by Bianca’s behavior.
He had been with Blair for years and knew how infatuated Bianca was with him. There was no way she’d pass up an opportunity to sit close to him. So why was she avoiding him now?
What was going on?
Corey couldn’t make sense of it.
Seeing that Corey was still standing there, Blair glanced up at him.
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Corey had no choice but to sit down.
Virgil, ever the gracious host, raised her glass to toast Blair. He took a sip and then set it down, signaling that he was done.
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