Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 78: Fire Exit, Again?

Chapter 78: Fire Exit, Again?

The last day of the summit was uneventful in a sense.

We had scored prospective bidders for landscaping, but those were with Lucian and Oliver’s help.

And I had thought nothing of the day and went about my business until I chanced upon something very interesting.

For now, let me refer to them as Ms. R and Mr. I.

I planned to grab takeout with Lucian, whom I begrudgingly convinced. The easiest way to the parking lot for us exhibitors was by the fire exit, so we were headed in that direction when I asked Lucian to stop.

He gave me a questioning look but halted nonetheless.

I had heard voices earlier but was unsure. But because I was no saint, I was curious about these increasingly indignant voices.

Initially, it was just the run-of-the-mill curiosity for gossip until I realized how familiar those voices were.

Even Lucian squinted at this, and that was my confirmation that these people were familiar. In fact, too familiar.

But now I realized why Lucian was fine with us talking inside the fire exit. The noise cancellation was pretty good against people outside. But I was sure that the stairwell echoed like any other exit.

So we could only hear short snippets every time someone’s voice was raised.

Most of the time, that was Ms. R’s voice.

Words like "that night," "accident," and "nuts" were thrown around angrily, and you better best believe that my curiosity was piqued.

I kept on tugging at my husband’s clothes because I wanted to barge in there and gossip my little heart out, but he had manners and some decorum. So, I was sadly stopped.

When Lucian realized how stupid we looked standing in front of the fire exit doors while he tried controlling my curiosity, he reminded me that we were in public.

And that if I really wanted to know, we could just hog-tie Ms. R at any other convenient time.

So I was convinced and even decided to pass by a different exit to go to the parking lot. We didn’t exactly want to use the main entrance to broadcast my cravings and event abandonment.

Just as we were planning on leaving, the door in front of us opened, and we were greeted by a disgruntled Ms. R and an amused Mr. I.

And before I could even say anything, Ms. R put up a finger to silence my innocent self. So, I regrettably swallowed my words by pursing my lips.

But my husband managed to sneak in a bit of brow action that clearly indicated mockery.

I should know. He typically uses that on me.

Oh well.

Since I was a nice person, I decided to let it pass by leaving the area.

As we went down, I told her, "We’re going to get takeout. Tell me if you want something."

I was still curious by the time we got to the car, so Lucian just bumped my forehead.

"Maybe if you used those brain cells for something else, you’d be raking it in by now." He said as he buckled my seatbelt.

Lucian was driving as we didn’t want to bother the driver, who was rightfully taking his lunch break.

"Hey! You say that, but if I really used my brain cells, I wouldn’t be raking anything by now!" I wiggled a finger at him.

He gave me a side-eye, but I won that.

A win was a win.

If I had really thought about it too hard, I wouldn’t be in this position right now. Someone’s wife who got shares and assets from signing a few documents.

"Babe, don’t forget how much wealthier I’ve gotten!" I laughed at him. Because I’ve been getting richer by the week. And none of that was even my doing.

This time, I wanted pizza and a burger. So Lucian had to drive and order at two different places.

And every time the car window opened by the drive-thru, the attendant would momentarily freeze.

That was actually funny, and I couldn’t help but giggle. I even asked him if he tried getting discounts that way, only to receive an eye roll.

Then we also ordered Rina and some extras in case any of the staff wanted some.

"Was she planning to feed a village?" Lucian asked as I rattled off Rina’s orders.

"Someone needs to vent." I shrugged, finding this somewhat amusing.

That girl actually sent a long ass message detailing her order, even specifying which item should have no pickles in them.

Someone was so angry she reverted to her days of not being able to tolerate pickles.

I was happy with my food and the way I ate while being driven back to the venue. Lucian was driving, so he couldn’t eat like me.

But every once in a while, I’d feed him some fries. He already drove and paid. I could at least contribute.

Just as I was feeding him, his phone rang. This I know because he connected his phone to the car, in case something came up while he was driving.

It was a call from Grandpa.

Lucian saw that too and answered, Grandpa’s voice suddenly filling the car.

"Yes, Grandfather? I’m driving, so you’re on speaker."

"Driving?" Grandpa seemed hung up on that because he only spoke again after I greeted him.

"Hello, Grandpa! It’s me, Eli!"

"Hello, dear. It’s good you’re both there. I know that we should be getting the bidding results soon, and with that, we’ll enter the official holiday season for work."

Wow, the results were coming in already?

"Don’t give us any excuses this time. Or we’ll forcefully free up your schedule." Grandpa threatened Lucian, who just snorted.

"Eli, it’s officially the holidays soon. And since we’re all here, we should celebrate it together. I’ll have Serena call your parents too. Please make sure to drag Lucian. Dead or Alive."

I looked over at my sleek driver, who remained expressionless.

I fed him a fry as a consolation before telling Grandpa, "I’ll see what I can do, Grandpa!"

He said goodbye and hung up while grumbling at his grandson.

"Where are we even going?"

"The family villa. It’s probably because of Lily. We haven’t done this in years." Lucian said as he stared at the road.

"Then all the more reason for you to show up."

And I should probably get a few gifts.