Chapter 160 There Should Be Plenty of Guys
A Few feet away, William glanced up, noting the shift in his sister's demeanor from excitement to bewilderment. He casually reached for the hand of the woman beside him and, with a slight smile, introduced her, "That's Teresa. You must know her."
The woman nodded with a smile, "How could I not?"
"Let's go inside."
"Sure." She smiled politely and let William guide her towards the house.
"William, who is..." Teresa finally regained her composure and asked calmly as the pair approached.
"My girlfriend, Michelle," William replied coolly.
"Hello, Teresa. I've known about you for so long and always wanted to meet you. Just never had the chance," Michelle offered Teresa a warm, graceful smile, "Meeting you in person, you're even more beautiful than in pictures."
"Thank you!" Despite the surprise throwing her off balance, Teresa remained amicable, "It's great to meet you. Welcome, please come in!"
"Let's head in," William led Michelle past Teresa and into the house.
Teresa took a deep breath and followed them inside.
"Dad, Mom, Gabriel."
"Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Garcia."
Upon entering the living room with Michelle in tow, William and Michelle greeted everyone in turn.
"Uncle William!" The little one spotted William and immediately squirmed out of Sophia’s arms to run towards him.
Releasing Michelle's hand, William scooped up the little bundle of joy, gently rubbing the top of the boy's hair, his voice undeniably tender as he asked, "Hey buddy, you miss me?"
The child nodded vigorously in his arms before William turned to Michelle and said, "This jolly fellow is Gabriel and Teresa's son, Michael."
"You two?! When did this happen? How come I knew nothing about it!" Patrick and Sophia were completely flummoxed as they stared at William and Michelle.
Michelle had only been the new CFO at Bennett Group for a few months, so it was a total surprise to Patrick and Sophia that she would turn out to be William's girlfriend.
With a smile, Michelle gave little Michael's hand a gentle shake and turned to Patrick and Sophia, "Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, we..."
Before Michelle could finish, William interjected, "We've only been together for a few days, actually. We thought we'd all grab a meal together since everyone was free today."
Patrick's face darkened slightly as he looked at the couple.
"It's my first visit, and I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I just brought a little something," Michelle said, gesturing towards the gifts that the housekeeper was holding.
"Thank you, but it's not like it's our first meeting," Sophia quickly got up with a warm, affectionate smile, hoping to defuse Patrick's sternness. "Come, take a seat. Now that you're with William, there's no need to be so formal."
"Please have a seat, Michelle!" Teresa warmly invited.
Gabriel sat quietly, a slight smirk on his face as he observed William and Michelle, without saying a word.
Michelle nodded to Teresa and took a seat across from Patrick and Sophia, led by William.
Although Patrick wasn't thrilled about William dating a subordinate, he considered that William was already in his thirties and had always been too busy with his career to find a girlfriend. Seeing him finally taking initiative in his personal life, Patrick decided to let it be.
Not to mention, the Bennett family no longer needed to use William's marriage to secure their status, not with the Garcias now allied through marriage. If William was happy, that was what mattered.
This dinner, unexpectedly joined by the newcomer Michelle, had Teresa feeling rather uneasy. In her mind, she had already envisioned Hayden as her sister-in-law. Now, with Michelle's sudden appearance, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
After dinner, Teresa and Gabriel didn't linger long before they took their son and headed back to the Garcia family mansion. On the way home, Teresa clutched her cell phone, contemplating texting Hayden to find out whether she knew about William's new girlfriend.
But she was caught in a loop of typing out a message, then deleting it, and starting over again. She couldn't figure out how to broach the subject.
"If it's causing you this much grief, then just leave it be," Gabriel advised, sitting next to her. Although his head was buried in some documents, he kept a watchful eye on her. Seeing her troubled expression, he snatched the phone from her hands, locked the screen, and tossed it aside.
"Gabriel, do you think my brother is serious about Michelle?" she asked, looking at him with a face full of worry.
He raised an eyebrow and, reaching over, pulled her into a comforting embrace. His eyes sparkled with curiosity as he countered her question, "He's already brought her home to meet the parents, don't you think he's serious?"
"What about Hayden?" she asked in return.
Gabriel shrugged, "How would I know?"
Annoyed, Teresa punched him lightly in the chest, "Jerk, always falling for every girl you see."
He caught her fist gently, chuckling. "Are you talking about me or your brother? If it's me, that's a serious accusation."
"Can you promise me you won't be like my brother, chasing every new love interest?" Teresa demanded.
He laughed softly, looking at her tenderly, and kissed her forehead with a sense of conviction. "I promise, I'll only ever love you, my dearest Teresa, for the rest of my life."
She gave him a playful scowl, "Give me back my phone."
"Don't worry about it. It won't make a difference anyway. Tomorrow night is the annual charity auction hosted by the River North Chamber of Commerce and some big-name media outlets. You will be my plus one," Gabriel said, deftly changing the subject.
"My brother mentioned he's attending the charity auction tomorrow night, too," Teresa said.
"Right, which means Hayden will probably be there," Gabriel nodded with mock seriousness. "You'd miss out big time if you didn't go."
"I'm going, who said I wasn't?" Teresa retorted, her tone challenging.
Gabriel smiled, "Good. Then it's settled. We'll go together."
.......
A few days ago, Teresa had Hayden place an order for several Elie Saab gowns. Elie Saab's team got the details about Teresa right away and made slight alterations to their latest haute couture pieces before flying them out to River North with no time to spare.
That's why, for the charity gala, Teresa was draped in an ethereal Elie Saab gown from the new season, worth millions. The gown was hand-embellished with a kaleidoscope of shimmering gemstones and sequins that practically blinded onlookers.
