CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82: LET’S HAVE LUNCH TOGETHER

Tanya Sinclair thought that Vincent Hawthorne probably didn’t know she was in the car. He definitely thought that both Caden and Joy were sitting in the driver’s car.

So these words weren’t meant for her to hear.

... Vincent wants to leave work with her to pick up the two kids from school?

Tanya Sinclair frowned. What on earth was wrong with him?

Hearing that Dad was planning to pick her up with this bad woman, Joy’s once expectant face immediately fell.

She opened her mouth to refuse, but Vincent’s assistant’s voice came from that side first.

"President Hawthorne, the client has arrived."

"Joy, Daddy’s busy now. See you tonight." With that, Vincent quickly hung up.

Joy’s mood worsened.

About tens of meters away from school, she asked Tanya Sinclair to stop the car.

"Stop here, I’ll get off."

This area was already under the school’s surveillance, with security patrols and barricades preventing cars from entering, so there were no safety issues. Tanya Sinclair respected Joy’s wish and parked by the roadside.

Joy couldn’t wait to get out of the car and walked towards the school without looking back.

She didn’t want the other kids to see that Tanya Sinclair had brought her to school!

"Joy!" Just as she arrived at the school gate, she bumped into two classmates from yesterday’s video chat at The Dissonance.

One was called Erin, the other Sabrina.

Seeing her friends, Joy smiled and ran over to them.

Just at that moment, Tanya Sinclair’s voice suddenly came from behind.

"Joy."

Joy pretended not to hear, but Erin and Sabrina both did. Sabrina pointed behind her, "Joy, that auntie is calling you."

Joy could only turn around grudgingly.

She didn’t want Tanya Sinclair to approach her friends and reluctantly ran towards Tanya to stop her.

"Didn’t I tell you not to come over?" Joy said irritably, lowering her voice while glancing around, afraid of being seen by other familiar friends.

Tanya Sinclair hadn’t put on any makeup today. Because she was going to do an experiment, she wore comfortable long clothes. Of course, the long sleeves mainly covered the marks Vincent had left on her wrist last night.

This outfit looked incredibly unfashionable to Joy.

Other kids were being dropped off by parents wearing high heels, styled hair, and beautiful makeup. Even the nannies looked more stylish than Tanya Sinclair.

If other kids found out her biological mother looked like this, it would be so embarrassing. She wouldn’t be the class’s most popular princess anymore!

Tanya could clearly see Joy’s little actions, but she only thought Joy was still upset about the morning incident and didn’t take it to heart.

She handed the keychain doll to Joy.

"You left this in the car. Mommy brought it to you."

It had fallen off Joy’s small backpack.

Joy grabbed it and turned her head to run back to Erin and Sabrina.

Sabrina curiously asked, "Joy, who is that? Wasn’t she the same auntie who suddenly showed up in your video last night?"

Erin also recalled, "Yeah, it seemed like her."

Joy’s eyes flickered, feeling a bit guilty.

She lied, "She’s the new nanny at our house. She was just bringing me clothes yesterday."

"Oh, she’s a nanny." Erin nodded, suddenly understanding.

Sabrina glanced a couple more times in Tanya Sinclair’s direction.

"But Joy, you and this nanny of yours look a bit alike..."

"No, we don’t! She’s just our nanny." Joy suddenly stopped and angrily refuted aloud, "I only look like my mommy Cindy!"

She definitely didn’t want to resemble that bad woman!

...

On the other side, Tanya Sinclair checked the time, afraid she’d be late for work, and hastily walked back to the car.

In her hurry, she didn’t notice and bumped into another little girl walking with her head down.

"Sorry, sorry, did Auntie hurt you? Are you okay?" Tanya quickly squatted down to help the girl she had knocked over.

The little girl seemed about Joy’s age, carrying a small backpack, probably also a student at this school.

Tanya held the little girl’s shoulders with both hands as she helped her up, shocked at the girl’s frailness.

So skinny, even through the thin fabric, the girl’s shoulder bones pressed against her palms.

"Ouch—" The little girl suddenly winced slightly.

Tanya thought she might have knocked the girl to the ground hard, but soon realized she was hurting where her shoulder was held.

Her heart sank instantly.

"Sweetheart, are you hurt? Are you injured?" Tanya asked gently, fearing to scare her.

Hearing the word ’sweetheart,’ the girl fluttered her eyelashes and timidly looked up.

Different from Joy’s lively doll-like brightness, this skinny girl seemed very timid, afraid of the slightest movement.

Staring at Tanya’s gentle face, she bit her lip and shook her head.

"Don’t be afraid. Auntie’s not a bad person," Tanya assured softly.

A maternal instinct told Tanya this girl must have been through something.

Tanya took out paper and pen, jotted down her number, and slipped it into the girl’s pocket.

"Sweetheart," Tanya touched her face gently, "if someone bullies you or if you ever need help and no one to turn to, you can call Auntie anytime. My surname is Sinclair, Tanya Sinclair."

With no time to spare, Tanya said her goodbyes and hurriedly left.

The little girl stood there for a long while, then slowly took out the note Tanya left with the phone number, silently committing it to memory...

Tanya drove directly to the company’s underground parking. In her original spot, now a white BMW was parked. It was the car the company had given her before, now belonging to Cindy Lynn.

Tanya circled around, finding another parking place.

She skipped the R&D department and went straight to the Purchasing Department to place an urgent order for the instrument she needed.

The purchasing manager checked the computer. "Manager Sinclair, this instrument order is already placed. President Hawthorne sent out the notice late last night to expedite the purchase. It’s being flown by special cargo and should arrive the day after tomorrow."

Tanya was slightly taken aback.

She didn’t expect Vincent to be so prompt.

The Purchasing Manager, an old-timer at the company who joined around the same time as Tanya, teased, "Manager Sinclair, President Hawthorne is really attentive to your needs, isn’t he? You’re so lucky."

Tanya forced a smile but said nothing, turning to leave.

No matter Vincent’s intentions, as long as the instrument reached her this week, it was all that mattered.

Returning to the R&D department, Tanya saw Cindy Lynn’s team in R&D Division Two with the blinds drawn, busy with something unknown.

"Boss." Serena Holloway, spotting Tanya, immediately approached, animatedly reporting to her, "First thing this morning, Cindy Lynn brought a handsome guy into R&D Division Two! They’ve shut all the doors and windows, no idea what they’re hiding!"

Hide from whom?

This floor only had Division Two aside from Tanya’s team.

"Boss, what do you think Cindy is secretly up to?" Serena speculated.

Tanya remained indifferent, "Let’s just focus on our project. I’m planning to take the collaboration proposal to Westgard Pharmaceuticals this Saturday to meet with Second Young Master Pierce personally."

Speaking of which, Tanya’s mind wandered.

She recalled last night Vincent mentioning that Mr. Pierce, who sent her flowers on the second floor, was indeed Second Young Master Pierce...

She regretted it a bit.

Had she known, she wouldn’t have rejected it so decisively.

Meeting Second Young Master Pierce in advance might have allowed her a chance to discuss the project cooperation privately.

Tanya silently prayed that Second Young Master Pierce wouldn’t hold a grudge over her rejection and make things difficult for her during their meeting on Saturday.

After all, the collaboration with Westgard Pharmaceuticals was her last-ditch effort.

Tanya kept busy in the lab until noon.

She took off her lab coat, and the moment she picked up her phone, a WeChat message from Vincent popped up.

Vincent Hawthorne: [Are you finished? Let’s have lunch together.]