Chapter 78: Chapter 79

Hearing Kimberly’s words, Vincent was a little surprised.

The first message that popped into his head was, ‘Olivia wants to go back to Norham. He almost forgot that Olivia came all the way there from Norham because she wanted. to help Kimberly.

To think that Kimberly would let him accompany Olivia back to Norham, Vincent became all the more confused.

He wondered if Kimberly was implying that he should make a trip to Olivia’s home.

At first thought, he felt a little baffled, for he had no idea what position he was in to do that.

In disbelief, he pointed to himself. “Are you sure? Let me get this straight – you’re asking me to accompany Olivia back to Norham? To accompany her home?”

Observing the incredulous visage on Vincent’s face, Kimberly remained unfazed. “Mm- hmm! Is there anything wrong with that? Don’t you think a stunning, talented young lady like her would require a chivalrous knight to escort her back safely?”

She had no clue if Vincent was too excited or if he was not thinking straight. In her book, the man ought to be aware that she was creating opportunities for him and the lady.

Vincent was quite adamant about it, seemingly men tally stuck in a dead end.

That situation looked like a couple who just had a tiff and were both waiting for the other party to pacify them. Yet, it was a third wheel who stepped in to smooth things out. Of course, the couple would be disappointed.

“Then why didn’t she tell me that herself?” Vincent acted like he was the little woman. Gone was his usual gentlemanly demeanor.

Kimberly could stand it no more. She bent her finger and knocked him on the head, not matter how dashing he had styled his hair.

“Are you a blockhead? Don’t you know that girls are shy? Men like you should take the initiative, don’t you think? The opportunity has presented itself right in front of you. All you’ve got to do is to seize it with all your might! Enough with the whys. Are you scared that I might set you up or something?”

Being taught a lesson by Kimberly, Vincent was all smiles the next second as he decided to pull a surefire move to please Kimberly.

He walked up to her and began massaging Kimberly’s shoulders while acknowledging her words, “Yes, yes. I’ll do whatever my dear sister says, come hell or high water.”

Kimberly burst out laughing after that playful tease. “Don’t worry. Even if hell or high water does come, I’d not make you do it, but I digress someone else would’ve stopped you before I did!”

Accomplishing the first step of her plan was more than half the battle.

Giving Vincent a sweet surprise was her next course of action.

She deliberately kept the man in suspense as she cleared her throat and added, “But you can’t just assume the role of a driver for this trip.”

Listening to that, Vincent was intrigued, pinning his gaze on his sister as if he were awaiting his order from the queen.

“In addition to being a driver, you also have a new identity, which is…” She deliberately drawled as she spoke, raising her pitch as high as she could possibly reach.

Vincent noticed that she had done it on purpose, thinking, “This little girl sure likes making fun of me.

Although he was dissatisfied, he could only keep urging her, “What sort of identity is it? Spill it!”

Kimberly brooded over the subject for a moment, thinking that her chance had come. A eureka moment crossed her mind as she muttered to herself, “This is it! Maybe I’ll play dirty and trick Vincent into getting me the treasure I so desire.’

Without further ado, she put her whim into action.

“Do you really want to know? On one condition, though. I’ll let you in on that only if you give me your word!” she said.

Never in his wildest dreams did Vincent envision Kimberly to be so sly that she had already mastered the skill of fishing in troubled waters. As expected of someone who had been doing business for several years. All that woman had in mind was equivalent trades.

However, Vincent could do nothing, for everything was under Kimberly’s control, and she would be calling the shots.

“Fine. I’m all ears. I’ll promise to fulfill that condition of yours as long as it’s something within my limits.”

Vincent’s mind was blank. He summoned his will to keep calm and collected on the surface, but deep down, he was anticipating her so-called condition.

Since the prelude to her motive had been delivered, she did not wish to beat around the bush anymore as she cut to the chase and asked, “I want that newly found vintage coffee set of yours, the one that’s from the 18th century, century, I believe?”

Truth be told, she had already asked around and knew about the tea set inside and out, not to mention had had her eye on it for so long. Yet, she still played dumb as though she did not know much about it.

The said coffee set was Vincent’s favorite, and he had gotten his hands on it after jumping through a lot of hoops.

Of course, he was reluctant to part with it. He struggled at the idea for a while, for the tea set had not even been in his possession for long. He had to dissuade Kimberly, “Look, I have many other better treasures with me. Why don’t you give the others somet thought?”

There was no way Kimberly would fall for that. Putting on a mien depicting that she was not up for negotiation, she pressed on. “I only want that coffee set.”

It was truly an uncomfortable sensation to be on the short end of the stick. Even so, Vincent still chose to give it up despite the pain. He did have a liking for that tea set, and originally, he wanted to play with it for a while before gifting it to Kimberly.

In fact, he long knew that his sister fancied it. Still, he himself also adored the item, which was why he wanted to keep it by his side for a while more.

“All right, it’s a deal. I’ll bring it to you some other day.”

Kimberly would not allow herself to be tricked. “Nope. Some other day sounds too vague. We’ll make it tomorrow!”

Such was what any shrewd businessman would do. Minimizing the risk of uncertainties was always the most important thing to do.

Vincent raised his right hand. Seeing that, Kimberly hurriedly stretched out her right hand as well. They high-fived each other. “Deal. The other identity you’ll be taking on is Olivia’s boyfriend,” was Kimberly’s revelation.

That news came as a bombshell even more powerful than the one from a minute ago. It felt sweet and wonderful, aligning with Vincent’s expectations.

Unfortunately, his happiness did not last for even a minute when Kimberly dashed his hopes all over again..

“That’s after you win her over. For the time being, you’ll be playing pretend. In other words, you’ll be acting as Olivia’s boyfriend just to meet her parents. Consider yourself a boyfriend for rent for now. Got it?”

Be that as it might, that did not bring Vincent down. In his opinion, it was only a matter of time before he could call Olivia his own.

Meeting the parents of the lady of his dreams was no trivial matter.

He, for one, would take it as a rehearsal.

After dropping that statement, Kimberly rose to her feet, all ready to take her leave. “You’d better be ready! The best time to get in your future mother-in-law’s favor is now. As the saying goes, a stitch in time saves nine.”

Needless to say, Vincent knew that, too.

Following that, Kimberly sneakily sent Olivia a WhatsApp message: [It’s done.]

Olivia had been worried and nervous ever since Madeline asked her to invite her boyfriend home on Saturday.

Kimberly might have done her a favor, but she only felt even more anxious.

As a consultant of Sullivan Group, she had to admit that word about Isabella badgering Vincent as of late had already reached her cars.

Although a huge portion of that was nothing less than baseless rumors, as an individual. who worked with the law, she believed that no rumors would ever be groundless.

Being in a relationship with Jaxon had been nothing but a painful experience. At that time, she would get herself wasted day in and day out and even forced sleeping pills more than the recommended dosage down her own throat. Luckily, someone found her in the nick of time, thus letting her survive the ordeal.

Looking back on the days, she found herself too young and naive back then.

Years later, she received the long overdue explanation from Jaxon, but she had already moved on and burned the bridge, crossing over to a brand-new chapter of her life.

Turning back and giving it another shot was no longer possible.

With the change in her state of mind, her standards and the way she looked at love also evolved accordingly.

In actuality, she was no longer the woman she used to be.

To see Vincent wooing her, she still would not let him tug at her heartstrings. She was not playing hard to get, but rather, she was afraid.

That said, Isabella coming into the picture only served to make her even more wired.