Chapter 435: Chapter 435

Stella was greeted by the words “Aoba Project” the moment she opened the file.

Her eyes went wide with shock, and she tightened her grip on the file as she read through the top-secret information.

Oh my goodness! I can’t believe Faymon Group managed to secure this project!

After going through the file, Stella quickly put it back where she found it.

She thought her job would be a simple one when she first came here. It wasn’t until Curtis saw right through her intentions that she realized things were a lot more complicated than she had expected.

Stella’s lips curled into a faint smile as she stared at the letter “R” on the folder.

Heh... This may be a difficult task, but I enjoy a good challenge! The harder it is to conquer a man, the more I feel like accomplishing it!

“Did you manage to find it, Stella?” Gabriel asked while making his way back.

“No, there are too many files here,” Stella said with a helpless sigh.

After going through a few more stacks of files, she finally found it on the top part of the shelf. “I see it! It’s on the top! Could you get it for me?”

“Where is it?” Gabriel asked while leaning in. He glanced in the direction of her finger and retrieved the file she was pointing at.

He was handing her the file when Stella wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the lips.

Gabriel panicked so much that he didn’t even know where to place his hands.

A few seconds later, he slowly rested them on her waist and pulled her in closer.

They kissed for a really long time before letting go of each other.

Stella let out a giggle and said, “You haven’t changed a bit! You’re still spacing out all the time as you did in school!”

Gabriel blushed slightly in embarrassment. “N-Now that we’ve found the file, let’s get out of here.”

“Okay! How about we go for some Jetroinian food?” On their way out, Stella added, “Thank goodness you were here to help me find this file. Had it been someone else, they’d have asked me to get this file registered before letting me view it. They would have also limited my time in the file archive and kicked me out when the time is up!”

“There’s a reason why the people working in the file archive do that. There’s a risk of people viewing top-secret documents in there, so they need to keep a close eye on those entering. Just let me know if you ever need any files in the future.”

Stella nodded. “It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted your mother’s cooking. I kind of miss it.”

Gabriel seized the opportunity and asked, “How about coming over to my place for dinner this weekend?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to trouble your mother.”

“Don’t worry about it! I’m sure my mom would be happy to have you over!”

Stella pursed her lips and flashed him a faint smile. “All right, then. I’ll drop by this weekend.”

As the Faymon residence was quite far away, Rayna brought Carl over to Curtis’ house instead. She was expecting to have to wait for him outside his door, as he probably wouldn’t be home just yet.

Upon arriving outside the house, however, she saw that the lights were on.

She brought Carl up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

Curtis answered the door shortly after.

He was still wearing a white dress shirt, which suggested that he had just gotten home not long ago. He froze in surprise when he saw Rayna standing at the door. “What are you doing here? Is it—”

“Hi, Mr. Curtis!” Carl cut him off before he could finish.

It wasn’t until Curtis lowered his gaze that he saw Carl standing next to her.

Carl was grinning from ear to ear as he waved at him.

Rayna placed a hand on Carl’s shoulder and said helplessly, “Jasmine went overseas. She told me to look after Carl while she’s away, but he told me that he prefers to stay with you instead.”

Curtis shot Carl a speechless glance in response.

I asked this brat if he’d like to come to stay with me, and he told me that he preferred to stay with Rayna... Why did he change his mind so quickly?

As he didn’t respond, Rayna assumed Curtis didn’t like having Carl over.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to do this, Mr. Faymon.”

“I’m living by myself, so it’s no problem at all.” Curtis took Carl’s suitcase over. “I just need to place an additional order whenever I order takeout, that’s all. He can stay with me.”

And here I thought Rayna came over because she was craving cheese buns again...

“You...” Rayna was about to tell him to not order takeout so often but held her tongue as she figured it wasn’t her place to say so.

After giving it some thought, she handed Carl over to him. “I’ll be leaving him in your care, then. Sorry to trouble you like this.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Curtis replied.

Rayna nodded, and the two of them went quiet after that.

Noticing an awkward tension between them, Carl decided to remain silent as well.

Eventually, Rayna was the first to speak up. “I’ll be on my way now.”

Curtis nodded. “Okay.”

It’s not raining heavily tonight, nor is she making any attempt to stay over, so I can’t really keep her from leaving...

“Have you finished your oranges?” he asked after a brief pause.

“No. I still have quite a lot left.”

“Let me know when you run out of oranges. I’ll have someone send them over to your condominium.”

As Rayna had decided to cut ties with him, she didn’t want to accept his offers if possible. “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary.

I’ve kind of gotten sick of oranges by now. I’ll go for some other fruits instead.”

Curtis felt a little uncomfortable with how cold she was being.

Rayna gave Carl a pat on the head and said, “Be a good boy and listen to Mr. Curtis, okay? Don’t cause him any trouble while you’re here.”

Carl nodded and waved her goodbye. “Drive safely, Ms. Rayna!”

“I will!”

Still feeling uncomfortable and irritated, Curtis simply stood there and watched as Rayna got into her car.

It wasn’t until her car had vanished from sight that he grabbed Carl’s suitcase and brought him into the house. “There are plenty of empty rooms upstairs, so you can pick the one you want to stay in.” After recalling something, he added, “Except for the guest room in front of my bedroom.”

“Why is that, Mr. Curtis? What if I insist on staying in that one?” Carl asked curiously.

Curtis shot him a glance and pointed at the doghouse in the corner. “Then I will have you sleep with Lucky.”

“How could you be so mean to me, Mr. Curtis?” Carl protested with a pout.

Curtis let out a defiant snort and made his way to the kitchen. “Anyway, have you had dinner? I made some cheese buns.”

Couch hopped on the couch and reached for the television remote as he replied, “I had some burgers with Ms. Rayna earlier, but I don’t mind having two cheese buns for dessert.”

Curtis frowned. “Hamburgers are bad for your health. You shouldn’t eat them too often.”

“You should tell Ms. Rayna that, Mr. Curtis! She bought too many hamburgers and ended up eating three all by herself! I’m not talking about ordinary burgers either. Those were huge double cheeseburgers!” Carl said with an exaggerated expression.

“How does she eat that much without feeling bloated?” Curtis asked in surprise.