Chapter 71: Chapter 71

Edwin was sitting in his office working on his laptop when his secretary, Bridget, entered his office with a smile on her face.

" Good afternoon sir," Bridget greeted, standing in front of Edwin.

"Good afternoon Bridget," Edwin answered as he concentrated on his laptop.

" Sir, I want to remind you about the business party organized by the Reid family tomorrow," Bridget announced.

" Hmm, I am not interested in the party. You should inform my assistant when you see him around today." Edwin replied with his face on his laptop screen.

" Sir, Mrs. Turner was here this morning and she told me it's a must for you to attend the party," Bridget said, struggling.

" Don't worry, I will let her know not interested," Edwin replied.

"But sir_"

" But what? Don't you see I am busy? I said I will talk to my mother. Please leave if you have nothing else to tell me!" Edwin said authoritatively, looking at his secretary with a stern look.

" Okay sir," Bridget said and turned to leave the office before she could provoke Edwin further.

Edwin continued to work on the document but he found it hard to concentrate after what Bridget did.

He knew why his mother had insisted he must attend the party. She had been disturbing Edwin about dating Hannah for the past seven months but Edwin had been avoiding such a relationship and he wondered why his mother would be worried about his private life.

Edwin was in his pool of thought when his stomach growled. He remembered he had not eaten anything that day aside from the coffee Bridget got for him.

He stood up and picked up his wallet to go to the cafeteria and suddenly, his phone rang. He picked it up to see who was calling him.

" Hmmm!" Edwin sighed seeing his father's name displayed on the screen and he picked it up without a second thought.

" Hello, Dad." Edwin greeted.

"Hi Edwin, your mother said you are busy and will not be able to attend the Reid family party."

" Yes, dad."

" The meeting is important. I want us to secure more contracts with them. So you must attend the party and make sure you have a good relationship with Hannah." Mr. Turner said authoritatively over the phone.

" Dad, I already told you and mum, and am not interested in her!" Edwin said over the phone.

"Son, just give it a try. You two might get to like each other later. Just know you will be doing our family a lot of favor with that, you know how important they are in society." Mr. Turner explained.

" Have heard of you but I am not promising you!"

"Okay, son. Enjoy the rest of your day." Mr. Turner said and hung up the call.

***

The following day, Edwin dressed up for the party organized by Raid's family. He called his friend to accompany him to the party and they agreed to meet at one of the Raid's hotels where the party was being held.

Edwin dressed in a blue suit and drove out of the apartment and he headed to the location.

On getting there, he called Roy to know where he was, and Roy let him know he would be there in the next ten minutes.

Edwin entered the hall and he was welcomed by Hannah, who was smiling immediately after she sighted him.

" I thought she didn't want to see me again after our last encounter!" Edwin thought in his head.

Edwin took a glass of wine from one of the waiters and he sipped the wine, looking at Hannah.

" Hello Hannah," Edwin said calmly.

"Hi Edwin, how are you?" Hannah replied with a smile.

"I am good. And you?" Edwin asked, looking at her from head to toe, steepling his fingers as he admired Hannah's dress.

"I'm good too," Hannah replied, avoiding eye contact with Edwin.

Edwin was talking to Hannah knowing his mother would have people there to spy on him. He apologized for their last encounter and the two walked toward the stairs and sat on a chair as they continued with their conversation.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Reid came to where they were and asked Hannah to see her for some minutes and Hannah left with her mum.

Sitting in a corner was Gary, who was angry seeing Edwin flirting with another girl and he was looking for the right time to talk some sense to him.

Immediately he saw Hannah leave, he walked toward Edwin and occupied the seat in front of him.

" See who we have here," Gary said jokingly.

" What do you want from me, Gary?" Edwin fumed.

"I saw you flirting with Hannah, is that how you get your contracts?" Gary said and continued, " Ohh, Jessica does not have rich parents, that's why you used and dumped her right?"

"What the fuck do you mean? You cheat. I know you and Jessica are dating. How dare you run your mouth at me anyhow" Edwin snarled at him.

" Dating Jessica? What do you mean by that?"

Edwin ignored his question, he drank the remaining wine in his glass and signaled the waiter and he picked another glass for his tray.

" What do you mean Edwin!" Gary shouted at him.

" Ohh, you think I don't know! I saw your car at Jessica's apartment and since that time, she decided to run away. I know you planted Jessica in my company to give you some leads." Edwin ranted, looking at Gary with a deadly look.

" How do you want to prove your statement? Is anything missing in your company? Stop looking for crazy excuses and accept your mistakes, man." Gary replied with a sly smile.

Edwin couldn't take the insult anymore, he looked around them and noticed people had started paying attention to their conversation, he stood up and was about to walk away after taking the last content of his glass.

" Man like you did not deserve Jessica. She deserves a better man." Gary said with a smile.

Edwin turned and faced Gary with a stern look and he landed a blow on his face.

" Say it again! I don't deserve Jessica? She cheated on me with you and you have the guts to lecture me!" Edwin shouted and placed another blow on Gary's face.

Gary retaliated with a blow to Edwin's face. The two started fighting. Roy, who was just walking into the hall, heard people talking about Gary and Edwin fighting. He ran toward the stairs and he saw people trying to separate the two and he walked toward them.

" Edwin!!!" Roy shouted at the top of his voice and the two separated from each other immediately.

Roy guided his friend out of the hall and Roy left too. Hannah couldn't move from the point she was, seeing Edwin fighting because of a girl called Jessica. She remembered Edwin mentioning the name the last time they met at the club when they were making out.

" Who the fuck is Jessica!" Hannah said to herself.