Chapter 393
When Calvin saw Emily, he wasn’t surprised at all. He even stood up and pulled out a chair, inviting her to sit. But Emily didn’t move. She kept her distance instead.
Austin had warned her that Calvin was dangerous, someone she needed to avoid. “I’m sorry. I’ve got business to take care of today,” she said, her eyes scanning the room.
To her surprise, the restaurant was empty except for her and Calvin. Something felt off. She glanced back at him.
He still held the chair with a polite smile. “If the business you’re talking about is meeting a supplier, then that’s me,” he said.
Emily looked at him skeptically. She hadn’t met the supplier she was supposed to meet today, but she’d seen a picture online. There was no way that could be Calvin.
Calvin noticed her doubt and smiled even more warmly. “The Pierce family from Beloris is a better supplier than anyone else you might’ve picked, Ms. Harper.”
He wasn’t wrong, and Emily knew it. But she still stayed put. Calvin sighed. “No need to be so wary of me, Ms. Harper. We’ve met before, and you just don’t remember.”
Emily got even more confused. She did feel he looked familiar, but after all this time, she couldn’t figure out where they’d
met.
Calvin pulled the chair out a bit further. “If you’re curious, Ms. Harper, why don’t we sit down and talk?”
He laid out the offer with sincerity. There wasn’t a good reason to refuse. But Emily remembered Austin’s advice loud and clear: Stay away from Calvin.
So she gave him a polite but distant smile and said, “I don’t think we have anything to discuss. Goodbye.” She turned and walked away immediately, moving so fast that Calvin didn’t even react.
Then he chuckled. She ran away just like she did back then. But this time, he wasn’t going to let her slip away that easily.
Once outside, Emily’s first move was to call her previous supplier and try to reschedule their meeting. But the supplier flat- out canceled the deal they’d already made and said, “Who’d dare compete with the Pierce family of Beloris?”
And it wasn’t just him. Emily reached out to almost every possible supplier, but they all refused her. They all said the same thing. “Who’d dare compete with the Pierce family of Beloris?”
Emily had no doubt this was Calvin’s doing. His goal was probably to make her come looking for him. Austin knew what Calvin was up to and wanted to step in and help, but Emily stopped him.
She knew Austin had spent years planning to take Calvin down. If he acted now, it would reveal his strength too soon, and that wouldn’t be smart.
Besides, Emily had thought of a way to handle the supplier problem. There were plenty of companies worldwide that could take the order. The name of the Pierce family didn’t hold sway everywhere, especially not with a rising new brand overseas.
Emily reached out to that brand with full sincerity. But as soon as they found out she was with the Bennett Group, they rejected her outright and said, “We will never work with the Bennett family.”
