Chapter 262 You Only Have Josephine in Your Heart
Josephine huffed, "No way I'm going. Why should I give her the satisfaction?"
"Go," Laura urged. "First, to outshine her. Second, to see what she's up to and gauge The Campbell Family's stance."
Josephine sighed, "Such a hassle. Fine, but only if you take Steven off the blacklist."
Laura shot her a look. "What's he got to do with this?"
Josephine stood firm. "I don't care! If you don't take him off, I'm not going."
With a frustrated groan, Laura grabbed her phone and removed Steven from the blacklist right in front of her.
"Happy now?" Laura asked.
Josephine grinned. "Alright, let's go find Claudia and figure out what I should wear."
Laura nodded. "Perfect! You need to dazzle everyone. This time, let Claudia pick a dress that goes with a diamond necklace. I have one."
"No way," Josephine said, still hesitant about jewelry. "I'm not wearing it."
"What's the big deal?" Laura said. "Relax, I bought it myself, not from Steven."
"No," Josephine insisted. "Find me something that doesn't need jewelry."
Laura rolled her eyes. "You're impossible. You need to look good to feel confident. Without jewelry, they'll they'll totally judge you."
Laura sighed. "Alright, alright, we'll see."
They headed to Claudia's studio with Jeffery in tow.
Unexpectedly, they bumped into Jair outside the studio, unsure if he was arriving or leaving.
"Jair," Josephine called out.
He noticed them, looking a bit uneasy. "Josephine, Laura. And this must be Jeffery."
"Yep." Josephine picked up Jeffery. "Jeffery, this is Jair."
With a serious little face, Jeffery greeted, "Hello, Jair."
Jair smiled. "Hello, you look just like your mom."
Jeffery replied, "Thank you."
Josephine was curious. "Jair, what are you doing here? Are you going in?"
Jair said, "You know about what happened last time, right? I'm here to apologize."
Josephine suggested, "Want to go in together?"
"No," Jair said. "You guys have business with her, right? You go ahead, I'll leave."
He pinched Jeffery's little hand and then left.
Claudia was thrilled to see them. She kissed Jeffery and hugged him tightly. "Josephine, it's too late to make a new dress. I have a few ready-made ones that I think will suit you. You and Laura should check them out."
The two went to check out the dresses while Claudia gave Jeffery some snacks.
Laura leaned close to Josephine and whispered, "I think Jair might have a thing for Claudia."
Josephine glanced at Claudia.
If not for the Howard Family incident, Claudia would still be a naive girl, knowing nothing, as Laura put it.
But over the years, she had grown a lot.
However, her inherent innocence hadn't changed.
Josephine said, "Claudia is pretty sharp about this stuff. I bet Jair didn't even go inside just now."
Josephine was right. Jair got into his car and called Stuart, "I'll be waiting for you at the club."
Stuart was surprised. "Aren't you back at the military base?"
Jair said, "I had some business to take care of and met someone on the way."
Stuart asked, "What are you doing at the club?"
Jair replied, "I want to have a drink."
Stuart was confused, "Are you crazy? It's still morning! And what about the prohibition?"
This was the first time Jair had ever asked Stuart to grab a drink.
Jair said, "Fine, no drinks, just a chat."
Stuart wanted to argue, but Jair cut him off, "What's your deal? Every time you call, I show up. Now that I call, you're hesitating?"
Stuart had a stomachache last night and felt better this morning. He was in the middle of a meeting when Jair called.
Stuart sighed, "Give me half an hour."
Jair grumbled, "I just saw Josephine."
Stuart immediately perked up, "I'm coming right now!"
Jair rolled his eyes, "All you think about is Josephine!"
Ignoring the jab, Stuart quickly wrapped up his work and rushed to meet Jair.
"Where did you see Josephine?" Stuart asked as he walked in, shrugging off his coat.
"At Claudia's studio entrance," Jair said, "She was with Jeffery and Laura."
Stuart just nodded, "Oh."
Jair eyed him, "Aren't you curious why I was at Claudia's studio entrance?"
Stuart, still distracted by thoughts of Josephine, finally asked, "So why were you there? To apologize?"
Jair sighed, "Can you believe it? She ghosted me and unfriended me. I couldn't even shoot her a text, so I had to apologize in person."
Stuart said, "This was my fault to begin with. I dragged you into it. Don't worry, if she wants to blame someone, it'll be me."
Jair shook his head, "I've never done something like this before. It just feels off, you know?"
Thinking about Claudia's red eyes and tears made Jair feel uneasy.
He had never been in love, but he always felt that girls should be cherished and not hurt.
Stuart said, "This isn't like you. At the military base, didn't you train female soldiers? How many girls have you made cry?"
"That's different," Jair said, "First, it's work. Second, strict training is good for them. If they choose to be soldiers, they must always be ready to defend the country and its people. Without a strong body, how can they protect anyone?"
Talking about the military base made him serious.
Stuart was used to it.
He said, "Anyway, this has little to do with you. I'll find Josephine and see if I can meet Claudia again to apologize properly."
Jair said, "Your apology is your business. My apology is mine."
Stuart asked, "Then why did you call me here?"
Jair replied, "I felt uneasy and wanted to talk."
Stuart said, "I'm very busy."
Jair glared at him, "I'm not busy? Every time you ring me up, I drop everything. You're a real stand-up guy, bro!"
"Fine!" Stuart said helplessly, "I'm here now. How about I accompany you for lunch? Aren't you going back to the military base this afternoon?"
Jair nodded. "Yes. The next time I head out, who knows when that'll be. Maybe I should just take a nice long break?"
Stuart asked, "To apologize to Claudia?"
"Not just that." Jair seemed to find this reason unsuitable. "Starlight Festival is coming up."
Stuart said, "You never took a long vacation for Starlight Festival before."
Both were a bit slow when it came to feelings.
Jair simply felt guilty towards Claudia, while Stuart sensed something was off with Jair but didn't think much of it.
But as the saying went, only bystanders saw clearly.
When they went out for lunch, they unexpectedly ran into Josephine and her group.
Stuart then realized something was indeed off.
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