Chapter 162: Chapter 163: Lovers’ Restaurant
"Hmm?"
Silas Cheney was momentarily doubtful if his watch had broken. After repeatedly checking his seven-digit wristwatch to confirm the hands were still moving, he said:
"Isn’t there still an hour until the agreed time?"
Thea Lynch had a rather convincing reason, replying with composure: "This time tends to have traffic jams, and since there’s nothing else to do, I came over early."
Silas: "..."
"Then, how much longer until you arrive?"
"About ten minutes."
Silas replied with an "Oh," "That’s alright then."
After a moment’s pause, Silas slapped his forehead, remembering the main point: "Have you put on your battle dress?"
Thea was still unable to face this term, taking a moment before answering: "I have."
Silas breathed a sigh of relief, finally displaying a slight smile.
"Great, great! Tonight is definitely going to be a wonderful evening!"
"My dear Thea, I’m not asking for any big developments, take things at your own pace, you can go slow, no need for any rapid advances. But remember, definitely, definitely relax, throw away all concerns."
"Keep a normal mindset!"
"Don’t think about past things, focus only on the present!"
Indeed, aside from being overly rational, Thea’s problem was that she held herself back too much.
With her background and conditions, used to being the center of attention, sometimes it’s really hard for her to lower herself.
But this was something Silas couldn’t explicitly say.
She would understand with just a hint, Thea undoubtedly knew as well.
"Mm." Thea responded, "I’ve taken note."
"Good luck!"
After hanging up, Silas still felt uneasy, hesitating whether or not to sneak over and take a peek himself.
Then Sean Bell called, startling him into pressing the answer button instead of hanging up due to a slip of the hand.
"What’s up?" Silas’s tone was not great.
Sean didn’t bother to say much, directly asking: "Is there a gathering tonight? Why didn’t you notify me?"
"..." Silas was at a loss, "Where did you hear that from?"
"It’s none of your business. You organized a gathering and invited everyone but not me? Silas, are you asking for it?"
Silas cursed under his breath, then explained after a while: "There is no gathering tonight, you **** heard it wrong!"
Sean coldly laughed, with a you-can’t-trick-me expression.
"I’m right here in the courtyard, and Ian Preston just left a moment ago. I asked the old man why Ian suddenly left, and the old man personally said that you organized a gathering!"
Silas: "..."
"You really are something, Silas."
If Ian and Silas were having dinner alone, Sean wouldn’t be so angry.
The problem is, according to the old man’s meaning, Sean and Thea were also going. The old man even strangely asked him why he wasn’t getting ready, staying at home for no reason.
No reason... how would he know no reason!?
That’s up to Silas!
"It’s not what you heard." Silas didn’t want to talk much, but feared this guy would mess things up, he could only explain: "Tonight I’m tricking Thea and Ian to have dinner together."
"I didn’t invite Sean, so I didn’t inform you either."
After hearing the plan, Sean squinted, holding onto his phone and asking: "What are you trying to do?"
He sounded like saying "You’re up to no good again, aren’t you?"
Silas obviously understood, immediately justifying himself: "Of the two of us, who is always up to no good, full of mischievous ideas? You actually have the nerve to say that about me? This time I’m helping them!"
"I’m the protagonist in this scene!"
Over the phone, Sean rolled his eyes at him: "Tsk, helping Ian is just helping Ian, stop trying to take credit for yourself."
"Bull****, this time Ian doesn’t even know. I’m helping Thea!"
Sean was just about to retort when he heard Silas say another sentence: "This time Thea herself agreed! She’s an accomplice!"
Silas admitted to being the mastermind.
But as for the accomplice, it wasn’t Ian this time, but Thea.
"..." Upon hearing Thea’s name, Sean was still a bit slow to react. He pondered over it for a while before he understood what Silas was saying.
"Are you serious?"
Silas did like to bluff, and the amount of information this time was indeed a bit overwhelming, Sean was a bit skeptical.
Or let’s say, he couldn’t believe it.
"Of course." Silas boasted, "If I’m lying, I’ll be single for life."
Sean scoffed at his vow, "Did you say something to Thea?"
"With her character, how could she cooperate with you?"
"Her character? What character is she?" Silas feigned ignorance.
"Obviously reserved, just like Ian."
Silas’s mouth twitched hard: "...Figures, you really dare to say it."
Though this description, um, was a bit improper, but indeed it was quite apt.
"No matter what, Thea agreed to cooperate, you shouldn’t think about causing trouble, this is not easy for Thea either."
"I’ve been doing ideological work for so long, and she’s been building her psychological state for so long, tonight you must behave yourself."
Sean raised an eyebrow, smiling silently.
He suddenly fell silent, the phone was as quiet as a grave. Silas thought the call was disconnected, but a glance at the still-active call on his phone made him realize this brat was undoubtedly concocting bad ideas again.
Darn!
"Where are they tonight?"
"What do you want, what do you want!" Silas was jumping in anger, "Are you completely ignoring what I just said?"
"Can’t I go and watch for a bit?"
After a pause, he added: "Don’t mention me, aren’t you curious to go join the fun?"
Silas: "Nope."
Sean sighed, "Fine, if you don’t tell me, I’ll find my own ways to know. When I go alone, you won’t know what they did tonight."
"..." One sentence successfully seized Silas.
"If we sneak and watch, aren’t we being too unethical? If we get caught... this..."
"And the most critical thing is, if we get found, what happens to the atmosphere?"
This advice really got through to Sean.
"Then let’s watch for a while, fifteen minutes."
"Deal!"
The two readily agreed.
Indeed, when it comes to doing wrong, having an accomplice to share the blame is necessary.
——
True to form, Silas picked a recently opened romantic restaurant, so when Thea received the address, she didn’t realize.
After seating, Thea stared at the rose petals on the table, dumbfounded.
This was a bit too deliberate.
She hurriedly gestured to the server to remove them, but still, the intense romantic atmosphere couldn’t be blocked.
The surroundings were overly romantic, paired with the live performance of piano music, where the melody flowed slowly, each note seemed to strike at the hearts of lovers, and Thea suddenly felt uneasy.
She hesitated, wanting to flee, but as soon as she had the thought, she stood up and bumped into Ian Preston who was following the server.
The man was still dressed in a neat suit, looking no different from usual. But somehow, as he glanced over, Thea’s breath halted.
