Chapter 17 Dinner

• "Thanks, but no thanks."
• Seeing her adamant attitude, Dexter left with his assistant without any other comments.
• Josie sighed in relief and made her way to the surveillance room.
• There, she found out that all the recordings from the morning had been deleted.
• I should have thought of that! she thought in despair. That's why Samantha and Mr. Davidson were so bold. Since they had already destroyed the evidence, they were confident I wouldn't find anything.
• 'Beep!'
• Her phone rang. She checked her messages and saw that it was about the designs for the food packaging with Samantha's name on them.
• Josie tightened her fingers around her phone resentfully, but she could do nothing.
• …
• After work, Josie received Patrick's timely message.
• Since she was going to the dinner, she hailed a cab to Victoria Restaurant in Wavery.
• "Josie, why aren't you here yet?" Patrick asked sternly.
• Looking at the traffic outside, Josie quickly replied, "I'm almost there. The traffic is heavy."
• "You have fifteen more minutes. If you're not here by then, you have to bear the consequences."
• With that, he hung up, leaving Josie thunderstruck.
• Since she was not that far from the restaurant, she opened the door and ran in its direction.
• Not long after that, she heard someone beeping the car horn behind her. A familiar Maybach stopped in front of her.
• "Mr. Russell!" she yelped in surprise. Why is he here?
• "Why are you here?"
• Her forehead was dripping with sweat. "Where are you going? I can send you."
• Josie wanted to reject him, but seeing she was running late, she took his offer and got into his car.
• As soon as she told him the address, he started driving.
• When they arrived, Josie thanked him and ran into the restaurant. Dexter frowned at her and made a call.
• "I'm changing the venue. I'll send the address over shortly."
• He hung up and found a parking spot. Then, he walked into the same restaurant.
• It was a western restaurant with a European renovation style. As the head chef was a famous chef from France, the restaurant garnered much interest among the upper class.
• Patrick stopped her at the door of the private room.
• "Why are you so late?"
• "The traffic was terrible."
• "I have to make this clear to you, Josie – this deal is crucial to us. It will benefit you if you can sign this deal."
• Before Josie could digest his implied meaning, he shoved her into the room.
• "Sorry for being late."
• Everyone in the room was Russell Group's business partner. They turned around and appraised her.
• "You must be Josie. Mr. Davidson mentioned you just now," Alec Windsfield said with a smile.
• "You're finally here, Josie!" Oliver Hudson added.
• "Patrick told us that you're a real beauty. Now that we've met you, I must admit that he was not exaggerating."
• "Oh, you flatter me too much, Mr. Hudson!"
• Josie was bright and elegant; one couldn't find any fault with her. However, Oliver handed her a glass of red wine.
• "Since you're late, you have to start with drinking three glasses of wine as punishment."