The Supreme Soldier in the City
Chapter 298 - 306 Manager Johnson’s Might

Chapter 298: Chapter 306 Manager Johnson’s Might

Sarah Michelle was sent back to school, and James Brown returned to the company, where the employees were still diligently working, with few mentioning the outing planned for tonight.

Everyone was originally very excited about the trip, but Gina Lopez does have a way with managing the company, so the staff were still working seriously at this time without slacking off.

At lunchtime, everyone was eagerly discussing the trip, and in the cafeteria, there was no topic other than the trip.

At James Brown’s table sat four people: Gina Lopez, Sunny Nguyen, and Sarah Michelle.

All four were leaders, so it was normal for them to sit together, but James Brown was the only man at the table with the company’s universally acknowledged most beautiful women, inevitably attracting jealous glances from other men.

Gina Lopez took a sip of her soup and said to Sunny Nguyen, "Sister Sunny, aren’t you bringing someone along?"

Sunny Nguyen glanced at James Brown and replied, "I’m going alone, who else could I bring? What about you?"

Gina Lopez also glanced at James Brown and said, "I’ll bring my sister along. I need to bring this girl out at least once; otherwise, she might come to the office and cause trouble."

As the conversation moved on, Gina Lopez said playfully to James Brown, "Aren’t you bringing your girlfriend?"

Sarah Michelle’s chopsticks paused, and she kept her head down without looking up.

James Brown knew Gina Lopez had intentionally mentioned this for Sarah Michelle to hear, and going through Gina’s words to voice his thoughts to Sarah Michelle wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He smiled and said, "No, she’s busy this weekend. Besides, everyone in the company already thinks Sarah is my girlfriend. If I brought my actual girlfriend, wouldn’t that be like putting blinders on Sarah?"

Sarah Michelle looked up and forced a smile, saying, "Big Brother Brown, you don’t need to be concerned about this for me, it’s really fine."

Gina Lopez frowned and said firmly, "I don’t think you’re handling this right. Sarah Michelle is such a good girl. If you want to be with her, be with her. If not, then don’t hold Sarah back."

Before James Brown could respond, Sarah Michelle quickly said, "Mr. Lopez, it’s not like that at all. It’s not Big Brother Brown’s fault. I know he’s doing this for my dignity, and besides, I’m not looking for a boyfriend right now. It saves me the trouble of being harassed by others."

Gina Lopez glanced at James Brown and said, "Sarah, I’m trying to help you, and here you are taking his side."

With a sweet smile, Sarah said, "Thank you, Mr. Lopez, but I really don’t mind."

Gina Lopez felt a bit irritated internally. Sarah might not mind, but she did, although she couldn’t bluntly say it. After all, she was a CEO and couldn’t show jealousy over a subordinate, so she could only glare at James Brown.

James Brown pretended not to see it. With Sarah speaking like this, he didn’t feel the need to say more.

At three in the afternoon, while James Brown was in his office, there was a knock at the door. After he casually said "Come in," the door was pushed open, and someone outside shouted "Mr. Lopez" before Gina Lopez walked in, dressed in sportswear.

Gina Lopez usually would call him upstairs and seldom came down to his office, especially dressed in such sports attire. This made James Brown immediately guess that it was Grace Lopez, and he smiled, saying, "Grace, you’re early."

It really was Grace Lopez who had come. Pouting, she said, "How did you recognize me?"

With a smile, James Brown showed Grace to the couch to sit down and handed her a glass of water, saying, "It isn’t even off-work hours yet, and your sister wouldn’t dress in sports gear, would she? How would other employees keep working then?"

"Bummer, you recognized me right away," Grace Lopez frowned unhappily.

"Ha ha, next time I’ll play dumb and purposely not recognize you."

"I don’t need that. Next time I’ll make sure you can’t recognize me," Grace Lopez said playfully, winking and then cheerfully adding, "Brother-in-law, have you prepared everything?"

James Brown sat next to Grace Lopez and said, "The office has prepared everything, so we don’t need to worry about it."

"But you should still bring some snacks, like treats. You’ll go shopping with me, right?"

"It’s not time to get off work yet."

"Who cares about off work or not? In this company, who dares to boss you around?"

"How can there be none? Your sister, of course."

"Pff! She wants to be your girlfriend, like she can control you. Let’s ignore her and go buy some snacks right now." Emily Lopez said, reaching for James Brown without further ado and dragging him out of the office forcefully.

There were still some people in the corridor. When they saw Emily Lopez dragging James Brown, their eyes widened, and they quickly looked down. An affair with the boss was definitely not something one should witness.

Seeing his colleagues’ reactions, James Brown knew what they were thinking. He didn’t bother to explain, as everyone would find out who Emily Lopez was by the end of the day, and that would stop any wild guesses.

After purchasing several large bags of snacks with Emily Lopez, the two returned to the company where all the employees were waiting in the parking lot. Several buses had already arrived in the yard and were ready to depart soon.

Everyone was grouped in threes and fives, waiting to board the buses. Some privately discussed what they had seen between Emily Lopez and James Brown earlier today.

"Guess who I saw James Brown, the manager, with today?" a 4th-floor employee whispered mysteriously to a few coworkers around him.

With James Brown being the hot topic in the company these past few days, everyone was intrigued. Someone immediately asked, "With whom?"

"He was with our Mr. Lopez."

"So what? They are both leaders. Isn’t it normal for them to walk together?"

"Normal? Do you know, Mr. Lopez was holding hands with Manager Johnson as they walked out together."

"Really? Did you see it wrong?"

"Right, isn’t Manager Johnson dating Manager Michael?"

"That’s why I’m confused. Just a while ago, even the security guard at the door saw Manager Johnson and Mr. Lopez together, hand in hand."

While everyone had heard of this news before, none really believed it. However, today, some started to have their doubts.

"Here they come, look! Mr. Lopez and Manager Johnson are walking over here together."

Now everyone noticed James Brown and Emily Lopez. It was normal for the two to walk together, as they often did, but Emily Lopez’s bright smile today and her lively chat with James Brown made them look quite different from usual.

Seeing is one thing, but now everyone tried to gaze at them as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Some even deliberately avoided looking at them, while others glanced at Sarah Utah with a mix of curiosity and confusion. Sarah was great, but when compared to Gina Lopez the boss, she seemed lacking. So, people naturally thought James Brown had chosen Gina Lopez.

Unexpectedly, Sarah Utah now approached James Brown and the Gina Lopez they had in mind, laughing and talking with them as if nothing was amiss. James Brown, too, appeared perfectly at ease. Everyone held back without joining in, not knowing exactly what they were discussing, but the mere sight was shocking enough. Arch-rivals meeting and not coming to blows were one thing, but such friendliness was quite another.

Sarah had only met Emily Lopez twice and naturally couldn’t tell Emily Lopez from Gina Lopez apart. However, just before going downstairs, she’d seen Gina Lopez in her professional attire, and over lunch, Gina had mentioned that Emily would come. So, when Sarah saw Emily, she instantly knew it was Emily Lopez.

While everyone was puzzled, Gina Lopez and Sunny Nguyen arrived fashionably late. At that moment, everyone doubted their eyes—how could there be two Gina Lopezes?

Gina Lopez also saw Emily Lopez and James Brown but didn’t call out to them. Instead, she clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention and announced, "Dear colleagues, from this moment on, let’s enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Leave all work matters aside. Everyone, please board the buses, as we are about to depart. Additionally, I would like to remind you, that is my twin sister Emily Lopez over there. Please don’t get it wrong."

Everyone answered in unison, finally understanding the situation. Yet, they couldn’t help but wonder— even if that wasn’t the boss, Gina Lopez, the intimacy between Emily and James Brown suggested a not-so-shallow relationship, and Sarah Utah was still able to coexist with them. What exactly was going on?

All employees boarded several buses, with James Brown getting on the first one. Gina Lopez, Sunny Nguyen, Sarah Utah, and Emily Lopez, along with staff from the personnel, office, accounting, and logistics departments—over forty people—also got on this bus.

Boarding the bus, Gina Lopez and Sunny Nguyen didn’t sit at the front but took seats in the middle. As a boss, it’s not always good to keep a high profile. Blending in with the employees is often best.

James Brown, Sarah Utah, and Mary Johnson sat in the front row, but as James Brown was hesitating over how to sit, Emily Lopez cheerfully pulled him next to her, saying, "Brother-in-law, let’s sit here."

James Brown had no choice but to sit down, while Sarah Utah took a seat across the aisle from them.

"Ah, wait, that’s not right, Brother-in-law, you should switch with Sarah Utah." Just as James Brown barely sat down, Emily Lopez pushed him again.

This was exactly what James Brown had hoped for. He promptly switched places with Sarah, so now Sarah and Emily were sitting together, and he would no longer attract so much attention.