Chapter 17 Here for the Reunion

• Sean knew very well who Olivia was. She was one of the beauties that lit up Irieson's corporate world, and the number of suitors she had would form a mile-long line! He himself had a thought or two about her, but after today, he decided to stop having any ideas about her. After all, it was the woman that Thomas had his eye on now.
• Thomas is just as remarkable as I thought! Even his methods of winning a woman over are so unique. First, he'll start off as her driver. Slowly, he'll get her to lower her defenses, and in the end, he'll win her over in one fell swoop!
• Sean was completely preoccupied with his wild thoughts when he felt a sharp pain on his head.
• "Ouch! Why did you hit me, Thomas?"
• "What kind of nonsense is going on in that head of yours? It's not what you think!"
• As a fellow member of the male fraternity, Thomas instantly understood from the look on Sean's face that he had gotten the wrong idea.
• "Yeah. Sure. It's not what I'm thinking."
• Despite saying so, Sean gave Thomas a knowing look.
• Thomas shook his head helplessly. He couldn't be bothered to explain himself to Sean. Facts were facts, so it didn't matter what Sean thought!
• Sean and Thomas exchanged numbers, then Sean saw Thomas and Olivia off with a wave of goodbye. "I'll come and pick you up later this evening, Thomas."
• After leaving Unicus Hall, neither Thomas nor Olivia said anything. Olivia was still dealing with the shock of her newfound revelation.
• Is this still the same Thomas I know? Isn't he a man who's down on his luck and can't even afford to pay rent and buy food? The one who can't afford to pay for his family's medical fees? How can he be acquainted with Sean Morton? Why does Sean Morton treat him so respectfully? What on earth is going on?
• Although Olivia was up to her ears in curiosity, she didn't ask Thomas about it. She knew that whatever the story was, she would find out about it if there was a need for her to know.
• She instructed Thomas to drive them back to Pearson Group.
• Olivia didn't need to go anywhere else today, so Thomas was free for the rest of the day. He spent his time exploring the office and ended up canvassing the entire Pearson Tower like a busybody.
• Naturally, Thomas dropped by the administrative department as well to check in on Chloe, but unlike him, she was swamped with work, so he decided not to disturb her.
• At 6PM, Olivia came over to Thomas looking rather exhausted. "I have something on tonight, so you don't need to wait around for me. You can go home now."
• Thomas nodded. He had already received a text from Thomas, who was coming to pick him up at Pearson Tower at 6.30PM.
• After checking the time, Thomas figured he should get going now, so he strolled out of Pearson Tower.
• Sean and William Peralta were there waiting for him. As soon as they spotted him, both of them waved eagerly. "Thomas! Over here!"
• "Thomas, I thought we agreed that you'd give us a call as soon as you're back in Irieson!" William was disgruntled.
• "I forgot," Thomas chuckled.
• Thomas' first meeting with Sean and William felt like it was something out of the movies.
• At the time, Thomas had been deployed on a mission in Africa. After assassinating his target, he was about to leave when he saw two young Droycorians getting attacked by a local gang. The reason why they were targeted was also rather ridiculous. The two of them had lost money at a casino and owed the casino owner 1,000 dollars for the loan they took, but they didn't pay the owner back. They claimed that they wanted to experience what it was like owing someone else money. It would've been far too humiliating to owe anyone money in Droycore, so they decided to come to Africa instead…
• They never thought that their debt would nearly cost them their lives. If Thomas hadn't stepped in to help them, they would've died in that foreign land.
• After returning to Droycore, the three of them had to part ways. It was then that Sean and William finally told Thomas their true identity. Thomas hadn't been paying much attention at the time. All he knew was that they were also from Irieson, just like him, and that was all.
• "Let's forget about all that. Get in, Thomas! We're taking you out for drinks to celebrate your return!"
• Sean stuffed Thomas into the car under the envious eyes of the passersby.
• That's a Maserati! Wouldn't it be great if I could be someone who had some standing in society, like that guy over there? I would be the brightest star in the sky! Heads would turn wherever I go.
• Alas, these were merely pipedreams. Most people couldn't afford to buy a Maserati even if they saved up all the money they earned throughout their whole life.
• "Thomas, Will and I have got it all ready. A car, a villa; anything you might need! We've prepared everything for you so that you'll be set once you get out of the army!"
• "I guess rich young men like you don't know how to spend your money sparingly, huh? You shouldn't be wasting your money like that, even if you have tons of it!" Thomas chuckled a little helplessly. He never thought about getting any of this, just like how he never thought about expecting them to pay him back for saving them.
• "Oh, by the way, Thomas." Sean took out a bank card. "Joe Patton wants to give you this as a token of his apology. There's three million in the bank account and the PIN number's your birthday. Here, take it."
• "A token of his apology?" Thomas was caught unaware.
• "Haha! You missed out on a good show, Thomas! I gave Will a call right after you left Unicus Hall earlier today and I told him about all of it. Will decided to storm over to the Patton Family's villa. He said he wanted to teach Joe and Harvey a lesson for humiliating your sister! After all, your sister is someone important to us as well! How can those b*stards even think of humiliating her? Joe ended up kneeling on the floor and offering 3 million as compensation for disrespecting you. He hopes that you'll forgive him!"
• Thomas eyed the bank card without accepting it.
• "Just take it, Thomas. If you don't think it's enough to make up for it, I'll bring a bunch of men over and destroy the entire Patton Family for you!" William declared menacingly.
• Sean quickly stuffed the bank card into Thomas' hands.
• Thomas had no choice but to put it away.
• Sean and William took Thomas to Haven Resort & Spa.
• "Thomas, we're not leaving until we get drunk tonight! Just wait here. We'll be right back."
• Sean and William dropped Thomas off outside the hotel while they went to the basement to park the car.
• Thomas walked over to a fountain within the hotel grounds. He lit up a cigarette and studied the bank card.
• "I'll give it to Chloe. She's had a hard life. I'm sure she'll be needing a large sum of money for her father's medical bills."
• Thomas made up his mind to give the bank card to Chloe once he got home after drinking with the guys.
• "Oh, wow! Look who we have here! Isn't that our SAT top scorer?"
• A voice called out in a peculiar tone. Thomas looked up curiously.
• "Howard Zorani! Aaron Hind!"
• Thomas was surprised. These two men were high school classmates of his, and they even shared a dormitory back then.
• "Why are the two of you here?" Thomas asked with a smile.
• "We're here for the class reunion, of course! Hm? What's that rotten stench coming off you? Isn't that such an unbearable smell? Shouldn't you clean up a bit before coming over to the gathering? How revolting!" Howard pinched his nose in disgust.
• Thomas did change his clothes, but the smell of his sweat still clung to him.
• Izzy had sent a text to their class group chat saying that Irieson's top scorer for the SATs had taken a job at Pearson Group, but he was only a driver! What a joke!