“Vicente, who is this youngdy?”

    Hearing everyone ask about Harriet, Vicente smiled and

    exined, “She’s a technical staff member from Gxy

    Innovations. Don’t scare Ms. Chavez, gentlemen.”

    “Oh, I thought she was your girlfriend, Vicente.”

    “The two of you look like a good match.”

    Vicente just smiled and didn’t exin further, and Harriet didn’t

    pay it any mind.

    Strictly speaking, she hadn’t even heard the conversation

    around her–she waspletely focused on the chessboard.

    She didn’t want a draw; she wanted to win.

    Vicente looked at Harriet, seeing her staring intently at the

    board, and his smile grew. He softly said, “Ms. Chavez, it’s a

    draw. Shall we y another round?”

    When talking to Harriet, Vicente was noticeably less stern and

    more gentle than with others.

    Chapter176

    “Sure,” Harriet replied crisply.

    Vicente smiled and said, “Ms. Chavez, you’re really serious.”

    Harriet smiled and reset the chessboard.

    Not far away, while Ellsworth chatted with Alvin, Kelsey sat

    quietly and obediently by his side.

    Coming with Ellsworth today, she had met many people and

    made quite a few connections.

    Business people.

    These were all valuable resources.

    Seeing the lively scene in the small sitting room, Kelsey turned

    to look and immediately spotted Vicente among the crowd–he

    was ying chess.

    There were quite a few people gathered around.

    Curious to see who could get Vicente to y and entertain like

    this, Kelsey deliberately looked at his opponent.

    When she saw that Vicente’s opponent was Harriet, and saw

    Harriet sitting silently and intently at the chessboard, Kelsey’s

    eyes widened in disbelief and she blurted out, “Hara?”

    Chapter176

    Kelsey stared at the small sitting room in astonishment.

    Harriet’s grandfather Ralph was only Raymond’s driver, and

    when her father was alive, he was just a police officer, maybe a

    squad leader–not a high–ranking official.

    So how could she be at Sir Leach’s birthday party? And with

    Vicente ying chess with her?

    Thinking she must be seeing things, Kelsey looked several

    more times, but it was definitely Harriet.

    At Kelsey’s exmation of ‘Hara,‘ Ellsworth looked over at her.

    Seeing her staring in disbelief at the small sitting room,

    Ellsworth, hands habitually in his pockets, followed her gaze.

    Turning to look, Ellsworth immediately spotted Harriet among

    the crowd.

    She was sitting up straight, eyes lowered,pletely still,

    focused intently on the chessboard.

    Across from her, Vicente asionally nced at her while

    looking at the board.

    The way he looked at Harriet was gentle and full of admiration.

    For a moment, even Ellsworth was surprised.

    A few days ago, he had asked Harriet if she was free today, but she said she already had ns.

    It turned out she was also here to celebrate Sir Leach’s

    birthday.

    Ellsworth stared motionlessly at Harriet, his gaze lingering on

    her for a long time.

    “Ells.”

    It wasn’t until Alvin called his name that Ellsworth snapped back to reality, quickly turning his head and giving Alvin a smile.

    Seeing this, Alvin nced toward the small sitting room and

    asked, “Did you spot someone you know?”

    Ellsworth just smiled without answering, but his eyes drifted

    once more to Harriet.

    The atmosphere was lively over there, so Alvin introduced them

    with a smile: “The girl ying chess with the young lord is

    Harriet, a technician from Gxy Innovations. Reginald thinks highly of her–she’s quick–witted and very talented.”

    Ellsworth continued to smile in silence, while Kelsey turned to

    look at Harriet again.

    Watching Harriet y chess with Vicente, her expression

    gradually dimmed.

    But then, remembering that Harriet would soon be divorced, she

    felt at ease again.

    With thebel of divorce, she would basically have no ties to

    these prominent families.

    ***

    In the small sitting room, Harriet and Vicente yed several

    rounds of chess, but neither could best the other.

    In the end, Vicente let her win a little, and Harriet imed a

    narrow victory.

    “This youngdy is really impressive–I’m no match for her.”

    “Young lord, you’ve finally met your match this time.”

    Listening to the others, Vicente looked at Harriet and smiled,

    saying, “Ms. Chavez, you won.”

    As she put away the chessboard, Harriet said, “Mr. Leach let me

    Chapter176

    win.”

    The onlookers hadn’t noticed, but Harriet could tell that Vicente

    had let her win.

    In fact, after several draws, Harriet had first tried to let Vicente

    win.

    But Vicente didn’t ept her gesture; instead, he let her take a

    piece. Seeing the older gentlemen around them waiting for a

    winner, Harriet epted Vicente’s kindness and chose to win.

    After giving up the chess table to the elders, Vicente

    apanied Harriet to the study, continuing to chat with her

    about her field of expertise.

    Alvin had asked him to take good care of Harriet, and Vicente

    was doing his utmost.

    It was past ten o’clock.

    As the party dispersed and guests began to leave, Vicente

    joined Alvin in seeing them off.

    Chapter177

    Chapter177