CHAPTER 508: CHAPTER 508: IS THIS A HONGMEN BANQUET?

Ruby saw Sasha Shaw finish cursing until she jumped up from the bed, quickly grabbing her arm, "Where are you going? To someone’s house at night to curse them or to fight them?"

Sasha Shaw, with a stern face, stopped, "I’m going downstairs for a smoke."

Ruby smiled and stood up too, "Let’s go, together."

The two found a spot under a streetlamp, standing opposite each other, taking drags from their cigarettes, saying nothing and not knowing what to say.

Sasha felt a bit guilty, thinking that as Ruby’s closest person, no matter how important work was, she should have found a way to stay with her. Giving birth, such a critical moment where a woman has half a foot in the grave, how could she have felt reassured after hearing Ruby say everything was fine over the phone?

Ruby, on the other hand, felt a knot in her heart.

She thought she had hidden the matter well, but found out it was useless. As long as someone mentioned the name Faye Truman, she would remember it, remember his face begging for forgiveness, and remember how painful it was for her back then.

The two remained silent until the cigarette pack was empty, Sasha finally frowned and said, "I’m still upset, how about I confront him in front of his wife and family tomorrow?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "If you want to ask, then ask, don’t ask for my approval."

Sasha laughed, "Okay, I’m feeling a bit intimidated."

"I understand."

Because now the situation didn’t look as bad as it could be, they could curse him privately, avoid meeting him, yet still couldn’t act like villains.

Ruby knew clearly in her heart, even if they confronted him with this matter tomorrow and made him feel ashamed, it wouldn’t help; she wouldn’t feel any better. Instead, it would be like reopening a wound just to look at it again, only to follow the same pain.

Finally, Sasha called Faye Truman, informing him that she knew the truth, cursed "You’re such a bastard," then hung up and immediately blocked all contact with him.

She thought it was better for Faye Truman as well because she wasn’t sure if she could remain composed when attending the banquet.

That night, Sasha didn’t leave, staying directly at Ruby’s hotel. The next day, after having breakfast together in the hotel’s buffet restaurant, Sasha dropped Ruby off at a factory and went to one of the more bustling shopping streets in R City to check out the store situation.

Nirvana’s perfumes aim to walk a high-end route continuously, but as a domestic trendy brand, if Ruby only focuses on high-end and custom routes, it would be hard to carve out a path; she must launch relatively affordable series concurrently, having one or two hit products to stabilize the situation.

In the afternoon, Ruby finished work early and wanted to ask about Sasha’s plans. After some discussion, they decided to go to a highly recommended local restaurant by Ronan Russo to have a good meal first before heading home.

On the way, Ruby received a call from Henry Linden.

The other party spoke politely, asking if she had time recently, saying that Rhonda Sullivan wanted to meet her.

Ruby asked what the matter was, and he only said it would be discussed in person; she could only tell him she’d confirm the time when she returned.

Ruby hung up, feeling some suspicion. Whatever Rhonda Sullivan sought her out for, it was never anything good. With the legal case of Nirvana suing Miss in preparation stages, could it be related?

Ruby had always thought Rhonda Sullivan didn’t care. Even though she borrowed the top lawyer Peter Rhodes from The Sterling Group to handle the case, even if they won, all Miss would have to do would be to apologize and pay compensation. Even if Nirvana got the most ideal compensation, with The Sullivan Group backing them, it wouldn’t do much to Miss. Regarding its reputation, Miss’s reputation was already tarnished; winning the case wouldn’t make it any worse.

Moreover, consumers who disdain Miss wouldn’t necessarily turn to Nirvana. As Ruby initially analyzed, there was a significant pricing gap between the two brands. If Rhonda Sullivan didn’t provoke her, she wouldn’t waste energy pursuing the case.

Therefore, Ruby couldn’t figure out why Rhonda Sullivan would contact her because of the case.

"Don’t worry so much, at worst, when you’ve set the meeting, I’ll go with you," Sasha thought for a moment, "She’s now the head of The Sullivan Group after all, might be trickier; borrow a bodyguard or two from Ethan Sterling to take with you."

"In any case, you must not be careless about this," Ruby wholeheartedly agreed with Sasha and didn’t think she was exaggerating.

She called Howard about scheduling a meeting, then talked to Ethan about this in the evening, his reaction was the same as Sasha’s, "I’ll go with you."

Ruby thought, if the other party really prepared any trap, a feast set to catch them, Ethan would be more useful than Sasha, so she texted Sasha. She thought as much too, neither of them argued further about it.

However, at that time, holding her phone, Sasha felt a bit down, like her little sister who always needed her had grown, and now had a man beside her capable of defending against a thousand troops, so didn’t necessarily need her help when in trouble.

Though this situation had been going on for a while, thinking of it caught her off guard, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Perhaps it was because she had just seen Leon Sterling’s social media moments a few minutes ago.

He never used to post those things, but since he had a girlfriend, he’d share a photo at least once a month. The one he just posted was of their feet against the window sill, under the sun.

Sasha suddenly felt immensely lonely; this kind of imperishable loneliness made her want to get married.

*

Rhonda Sullivan had chosen the Splendor Grand Hotel as the meeting place. This was Aidan Sinclair’s territory; there’s no way they could cause trouble there. Choosing this location was also to show their sincerity.

When Ruby and Ethan arrived, Rhonda was sitting in the innermost part, with a dark face, clearly not in the mood to see anyone. Henry Linden maintained his usual formal smile, exceedingly polite, inviting Ruby and Ethan to sit and ordering food after they settled.

Although nothing seemed off on the surface, Henry’s enthusiasm today was somewhat excessive, which reminded Ruby of a host.

Could it be that these two were here to announce their engagement?

Thinking this, she took a closer look at Henry Linden. While his stature and looks were average, his capabilities were quite extraordinary. Over the years with The Sullivan Group, he had helped resolve several crises. He should be a couple of years younger than Rhonda, a rather decent man.

These thoughts flashed through her mind and Ruby felt a bit nosy; what did their marriage have to do with her? Whether they’re suitable or not is only for them to decide; others have no right to comment.

She just felt, given her relationship with Rhonda, it wasn’t necessary to invite her to such a meal.

However, since the other side hadn’t said anything serious for a long time, Rhonda continually ate without stopping, and Ruby didn’t ask, she just ate non-stop herself.

The food at Splendor Grand Hotel was indeed excellent. After Naomi Sinclair passed away, Aidan Sinclair obtained the braised pork recipe that Ruby had given to Dina Finn, executing it perfectly.