CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: AS IT HAPPENS, I CAME PREPARED

"Cut! Excellent, Vera, your acting today was explosive; you got it all in one take. You’re done shooting for the afternoon." The director said, smiling warmly at Vera Yates, as today’s shoot had gone remarkably well.

Vera Yates seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Upon hearing that her part of the shoot was done for the day, she greeted the crew and left.

"Give me a delicate makeup look. I need to meet someone important soon." Vera sat in the makeup room, wiping off her costume and makeup, intending to redo it.

The makeup artist teased her, "Miss Vance, you must be going to meet President Lawson, right?"

"How did you know?" Vera said with a beaming smile, unable to hide the smile on her lips.

While applying makeup, the makeup artist said, "The smile on your face, Miss Vance, is unmistakable. Every time you smile so blissfully, it has something to do with President Lawson."

"Really?" Vera sweetly smiled. Today, she heard that Landon Lawson was going to meet with people from the HR Group, and she, of course, had to show up as well, being his girlfriend to the public.

Vera fiddled with her phone, watching the latest news reports, her lips curving into a smug smile. She knew that coming onto the set with an injury would definitely attract multiple media outlets, overshadowing the incident that happened in the restaurant earlier. Online, there was an outpour of sympathy for her.

Although she hadn’t figured out why she ended up drinking the spiked wine, resolving the issue without major consequences was an unfortunate stroke of luck.

A tall figure stepped out of the car; Landon Lawson squinted while looking at the grand hotel in front of him.

"President Lawson, the HR Group people are already in the private room. We can head up now."

Landon nodded. Previously, the other party had used the excuse of a break to refuse meeting them, and today they had unusually agreed. The man’s long, narrow eyes squinted into a line; their intention was just to make him clash with the Yates Group’s representative first, allowing them to reap the benefits of a fisherman.

Just as Landon had taken a couple of steps, the sound of a car stopping was heard behind him, followed by a sultry, seductive voice: "Stephen."

Landon turned his head to see Vera Yates, dressed in an exquisite little white dress, with slender legs free of any excess flesh, and a small palm-sized face adorned with delicate makeup.

Landon’s brow furrowed slightly, and his voice, calm and unaffected, began: "Why are you here?"

"Meeting with the HR Group without a female companion? How could that be? Besides, the outside world knows I’m your girlfriend; if I also attend, doesn’t it show them we’re taking this more seriously?"

Vera spoke logically, appearing entirely as if she was thinking of Landon.

Landon coolly nodded; he never cared about such things anyway. What difference did it make if there was one more person or less at his side?

Seeing the man agree, Vera felt a surge of delight. What she needed to do now was to expose herself to Landon as much as possible. Even though she was the girlfriend in the public’s eye, since she had been labeled as such, she had to work hard to make it true.

Moreover, now that Sienna Quinn had returned, a never-before-felt unease and sense of crisis surfaced within her.

Landon had barely walked a few steps forward when he suddenly felt someone link arms with him. Turning his head, he saw a pair of delicate white hands holding onto his arm.

Vera trembled inside, her face flushed with a shy expression, turning her head away, not daring to meet Landon’s eyes: "Stephen, if we don’t play the part convincingly, they won’t believe us."

Landon looked at Vera’s bashful demeanor and allowed her to hold his arm: "This must be uncomfortable for you."

"It’s not uncomfortable," the woman said softly.

Inside the private room, three foreigners with blonde hair and blue eyes were chatting cheerfully with two Chinese women.

Danielle stared wide-eyed at Sienna Quinn beside her. She had graduated with a professional English level 8, and she typically watched movies without subtitles, but conversing with these blond and blue-eyed foreigners wasn’t as fluent as Sienna’s speaking. It was hard to imagine what her boss couldn’t achieve.

"Miss Quinn is indeed a capable person. I’ve heard that the Yates Group transferred the CEO of the France branch back here. Seeing it now, the reputation is well-deserved." Jason commented admiringly at the woman before him, who possessed a typical Oriental beauty face along with extraordinary abilities.

Sienna smiled faintly and softly asked Danielle beside her, "When are Landon Lawson’s people arriving?"

"President Lawson’s men should be arriving soon, as today was their agreed meeting time."

Danielle whispered, as Sienna’s bright eyes shifted. Although she had never thought of taking action against Landon Lawson, she was ready for revenge this time. She wouldn’t be lenient with anyone who stood in her way, no matter if it was someone she once loved.

That phone call dissipated all her expectations towards him.

Creak!

The door slowly opened, and the leading two figures walked in. Everyone raised their heads to see Landon Lawson in his usual black suit, his serious demeanor giving off a sense of aloofness, with a face devoid of extra expressions.

But upon seeing Sienna sitting inside the private room, his pupils contracted imperceptibly.

At this moment, Sienna’s eyes were fixed on the delicate white hand on Landon’s arm; Vera, filled with pride, held onto Landon with a trademark smile on her lips. Those who didn’t know her would be deceived by that fake smile, but the Sienna of today was no longer the same as she was five years ago.

Vera glanced around, her pupils widening as she spotted Sienna sitting there.

What was she doing here? Wasn’t today supposed to be a meeting between the representatives of the Lawson Group and HR Group?

Nolan Shaw, the last to step in, closed the private room door and smiled brightly: "President Lawson, is this... the madam?"

Eyes widened in disbelief, intending to introduce Jason, but his gaze was locked on Sienna.

Madam? How ironic, Sienna sneered.

Landon’s surprise lasted for just a moment before he extended his hand to Jason with an authoritative demeanor akin to an ancient king: "Hello, I’m Landon Lawson from Lawson Group."

"Hello, President Lawson. I’ve heard of your reputation for a long time, and meeting you today, you’re indeed young and promising."

Landon chuckled lightly, his gaze drifting to Sienna, snidely remarking, "President Quinn here too? What a coincidence."

"Not a coincidence, I’m well-prepared," came the equally sarcastic response.