Chapter 29 My brother-in-law
Victoria apologised too quickly for Nick to continue to say anything about her.
Nick had the feeling that he was suffocating just by talking to her.
“Mr. Andrews, I’ll start by visiting the site. I’ll discuss the design plans with you at a later stage. If you’re satisfied, we can proceed with hiring a decoration team for construction,” Victoria stated, her tone courteous.
Nick replied softly without making eye contact with her.
Victoria left his office, and as she did, a woman approached with a cup of coffee in hand.
The woman was impeccably dressed and her makeup was meticulous. She deliberately bumped into Victoria and caused the freshly brewed coffee to splash onto Victoria’s light-colored professional dress, instantly making her appear disheveled.
Victoria frowned at the woman’s obvious act of sabotage. The woman raised her eyebrows and feigned surprise.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry, miss. Let me fetch a wet wipe to help you,” she said.
Victoria glanced at the woman’s name tag, which read Natalia Rodriguez. Claire’s family?
Natalia likely expected Victoria to brush off her offer. Instead, Victoria stood her ground and smiled at Natalia. “That’s fine. Please go get those wet wipes to clean me up.”
Natalia’s face froze, bewildered by the unexpected response. She thought Victoria would decline, but instead, she didn’t.
Natalia’s brow furrowed as she saw that it wasn’t going the way she thought it would. She gestured towards the coffee stain and said, “Wet wipes might not remove it completely.”
“Then find an alternative solution, or buy me a suitable dress from the mall downstairs and have it delivered. I have another important job to do, and I can’t go home to change,” Victoria calmly replied.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
Natalia’s expression darkened. Did this woman not know who she was? The people on the top floor were witnessing the exchange, with some smirking and others whispering.
Natalia, a recent intern at Andrews Enterprise, had been flaunting her connections due to being Claire’s cousin. She frequently mentioned Claire Rodriguez, who was supposedly the president’s first love, and took every opportunity to leverage her family ties.
Natalia sneered, “Spilling coffee wasn’t a big deal, and I already apologized. Being this demanding seems rather uncalled for, don’t you think? Do you even realize that the person you’ve just confronted is my cousin’s future husband?”
Victoria found it amusing because, as far as she knew, the Rodriguez family was relatively modest in terms of wealth, and they weren’t among the well-known and prestigious families of Imperial City. Occasional news snippets about Nick and Claire Rodriguez could be found on the internet, suggesting they might have been high school classmates.
However, Victoria had no interest in delving into the details of their relationship.
Still, she maintained her smile, but her tone lightened. “The coffee spill had nothing to do with you, or I can spill it back, and we’ll call it even. What do you think?”
Natalia was fuming with anger, feeling thoroughly disrespected for the first time since joining Andrews Enterprise.
“You!” She raised her hand as if to slap Victoria.
However, Victoria quickly grabbed Natalia’s hand with a firm grip, causing Natalia to wince.
“Let go of me! Where’s the security guard? Where’s the security guard on this floor?” Natalia demanded.
Just as she called for the security guard, Nick’s office door opened suddenly. Natalia’s eyes lit up, and she forcefully pulled her hand away from Victoria.
As soon as Victoria saw Nick, she instinctively released Natalia’s hand. The sudden motion caused Natalia to lose her balance and fall to the floor.
“…”
Victoria was at a loss for words, her eyes shifting innocently toward Natalia, as if saying, “This has nothing to do with me.”
Natalia, her chest heaving with anger, her eyes reddened, turned her gaze toward Nick.
“Nick, my cousin-in-law…”
As she shouted, the atmosphere in the office became somewhat uncomfortable. Even among those in the inner circle, few were aware of Nick’s marital status. To most, he was still considered single.
Since Natalia referred to him in this manner, it seemed like the rumors were accurate, and Nick was genuinely interested in Claire Rodriguez, eagerly awaiting her return after all these years.