Chapter 348 The Child Might Not Be Yours
So what? Tristan thought, he had given her the shares of Zenith Group and all his assets, unconditionally, yet he didn't even get a single compliment from her saying he was an excellent man.
"You pay him a salary, if he can't even handle this, he shouldn't be working for you."
A man who got paid, was he worth such praise?
After easing the jealousy emanating from Tristan, she said, "Makes sense, so we should give Mr. Gray a bigger bonus at the end of the year."
There was silence on the other end for a while until Evie's voice came through, and Tristan spoke again.
"Whatever you say."
"Alright, you take care of Evie first." Samuel knocked on the door, and Katniss hung up the phone, got up, and walked out. "Is everyone here?"
Samuel responded, "Mr. White said he would join, but he's not in that private room, worried that the other party might give you a hard time, and didn't want to leave you to handle it alone."
"That's fine, it saves Mr. White from having it too easy." Katniss joked, but in reality, her relationship with Benjamin and Samuel was as good as the best partners.
Ryan drove Katniss alone, analyzing the temperament of each person they were about to meet along the way.
"There might be some jerks trying to make things difficult. if you drink, I can help you block it, I guarantee they won't say anything."
He used to help Tristan block drinks often, and it was said that Katniss occasionally helped Tristan block drinks too.
But later, Tristan wouldn't allow her to block drinks, and instead, he would block some for her as her assistant.
In the city center, the large hotel was brightly lit. Katniss got out of the car and walked side by side with Samuel.
Ryan was behind her on the right, his phone suddenly rang, and he had to take two steps back to answer it, "Mr. Forbes... What? Isn't that too much... I'll do as you say."
After hanging up the phone, he opened the list of people attending tonight's dinner, took out his phone, and sent a group message.
Ten minutes later, the private room that could accommodate twenty or thirty people was filled around the large round table.
Katniss sat at the head, first ordering food with the waiter, and dishes came one after another, but no one spoke.
She found it a bit strange, turned to look at Samuel, raised an eyebrow. What's going on?
"Not sure." Samuel leaned slightly towards her, whispered, "Weren't they supposed to give you a hard time?"
Katniss pursed her lips, scanned the crowd, met some people's eyes, and they immediately pulled out a smile, raised their glasses.
"Ms. Grey, it's rare to see you today. I toast to you, but since you're a woman, you should drink less; let Mr. Gray drink for you."
"Alright." Ryan was already cursing inside;among the fifteen people present, twelve would toast to Katniss.
If he drank for her, twelve glasses would be five full bottles.
As the host, Katniss also had to toast them back, another five bottles.
Once someone started, others followed, "I also toast to Ms. Grey, I was misled by rumors before and wanted to terminate the contract, please don't take it to heart."
"And me..."
"Count me in too, my contract with your company hasn't been signed yet, it was delayed due to some issues, it must have been my assistant who miscommunicated, I said anyone from your company could come to sign."
A bunch of lies, Katniss didn't believe a word, she could see through it at a glance.
Ryan didn't even bother wasting words with them, "Let's not talk much, feelings are in the drink, one glass each, I'll drink for Ms. Grey."
He didn't care whose toast it was, poured and drank it all.
Why did Tristan force these people to bow to Katniss through toasting?
The key was, he had to drink it!
"Alright, since everyone has figured it out, let bygones be bygones, continue the contracts that are ongoing, and find time to sign the ones that aren't."
Katniss had no intention of letting them toast, but they were so scared, they quickly raised their glasses and drank.
Afraid that if they were a step late, it would mean they didn't want to reconcile with Katniss and would be targeted by Tristan.
After a round of drinks, Ryan wasn't drunk, but his stomach was very full, so he excused himself to the bathroom.
Katniss felt something was off, got up and followed, when Ryan came out of the restroom, she stopped him.
"What's going on?"
Ryan held his stomach, looking distressed. "Mr. Forbes just didn't feel comfortable with you attending this difficult dinner, so he had me give these people a heads-up, who would dare not to comply with you at his command?"
He looked sincere, no lie.
Katniss had already guessed most of it, but she was curious, "Then what did you drink?"
"I..." Ryan said innocently, "Mr. Forbes said they should show you some respect, toast to you, but not let you drink, so I drank for you."
He spoke with a hint of complaint, then added after a while, "But as your assistant, it's my duty to block drinks for you, I can still drink!"
"Then you go back first." Katniss nodded to him, and she went to Benjamin.
In the next private room, Benjamin was alone, he hadn't even ordered any food.
When Katniss entered, he was looking at his phone, and in the fading screen reflection, it seemed to be a woman's photo.
She pretended not to see it and walked over, saying, "The dinner went smoothly, you don't need to stay here anymore."
"So soon?" Benjamin stood up, put his phone in his pocket, and looked surprised. "Are you guys leaving too?"
"After toasting everyone back, we'll leave once we're full." Katniss estimated that if she didn't leave, Ryan wouldn't be able to walk out of the hotel upright tonight.
Benjamin nodded and pointed outside the door, "OK, I'll leave first."
Katniss followed him out of the private room, and before they could react, a figure hurriedly ran towards the restroom.
"Hazel?" The man murmured, unsure, and asked Katniss, "Was that Hazel?"
"Seems like it." Because of her noticeable figure, even without seeing her face clearly, Katniss thought it was her.
Before Katniss could react, Benjamin strode towards the restroom and saw Hazel, who didn't make it inside, vomiting uncontrollably over the sink.
She didn't throw up much because she couldn't eat due to pregnancy, and her stomach was painfully acidic.
After a while, she took a lemon candy from her pocket, put it in her mouth to suppress the nausea.
Leaning against the wall, just as she was about to catch her breath, she suddenly saw two figures standing at the restroom corner.
"Are you pregnant?" Benjamin almost certainly said.
Whether it was his keen observation or excessive caution, he couldn't help but think that way after seeing Hazel vomit twice.
Hazel suddenly felt very nervous, pretending to be calm, she said, "Does it have anything to do with you?"
"If the child isn't mine, of course, it has nothing to do with me." Benjamin clearly remembered the last time they had sex, he was drugged.
In that situation, there were no precautions.
He tugged at his tie, his restless and gloomy mood showing impatience, he strode towards Hazel, "Go get checked."
"Why should I?" Hazel avoided his outstretched hand. "I know whether I'm pregnant or not, and even if I am, does it have anything to do with you? I... there are plenty of men, the child might not be yours!"
Benjamin didn't believe her at all; his thin lips tightened, words squeezed out from between them, "We'll know after the check."
He knew Hazel's character too well to believe her words.
Benjamin's distinct hand grabbed Hazel's wrist, like a fierce lion holding a little white rabbit.
Hazel had no strength to resist, her clear eyes gradually filled with fear, struggling not to go, "Are you crazy? I'm not even married, how can I face people after going to the hospital to check if I'm pregnant?"
She was dragged out of the restroom by Benjamin, struggling and talking.
The man in front of her ignored her completely, she had no choice but to tightly hold onto Katniss as she passed by.
"Ms. Grey, save me!"
Her pleading eyes looked at Katniss desperately.
Katniss was suddenly hugged, her body staggered, and she hit the wall, almost falling.
Hazel fell, being dragged by Benjamin's hand, swaying.
"Let her go." Katniss hurriedly ran over to stop Benjamin, "If she is pregnant, you might hurt the baby like this!"
"It doesn't matter if it gets hurt." Benjamin glanced sideways, helped Hazel up from the ground, grabbed her wrists, his eyes cold and determined, "If it's really my child, it can't stay."
These words made Hazel's bright eyes widen several times, she looked at Benjamin like he was a monster, a demon!
Katniss opened her mouth in shock, not knowing what to say.
Benjamin's situation was too complicated, he needed the Adams family marriage to stabilize his position, if this child was exposed, the Adams family would break off the engagement, and White Corporation would be in a desperate situation.
Before she could analyze the pros and cons, and before Hazel could react, Benjamin bent down, hoisted Hazel over his shoulder, and strode away.
Hazel pounded Benjamin's back hard, crying and cursing him as a 'bastard, rogue'.
It was tantamount to admitting that the child in her belly was Benjamin's.
When Samuel came out of the private room, Benjamin had already taken Hazel into the elevator, and the elevator doors had just closed.
He only saw Katniss standing there in a daze, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Katniss shook her head, a bit lost.
She couldn't intervene in Benjamin's affairs, nor could she make decisions for him.
Following them would only make her anxious.
"Let's go back and finish the dinner early." She was preoccupied.
The dinner ended early, and when she got home, Evie was still in the living room playing with Sophia.
Seeing her return, Evie struggled to use half her shoulder to push herself towards her, wanting to find her.
She put down her bag, changed her shoes, washed her hands, and then picked up Evie, playing with her for a while.
"Aaron has been acting strange these past two days." Sophia suddenly said, "He doesn't come out until it's time to eat, and after eating, he goes back, occasionally playing with Evie without saying a word, looking preoccupied."
She pointed to Aaron's room door, "I heard him on the phone earlier, it sounded like he was arguing."
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