Jean rushed to the bus station. As she got closer, she stopped to breathe. She was panting as she was out of breath. Quickly, she sought out John and Maranda in the crowd. They were looking around, anxiously scanning everyone passing by.
"Jean..." Maranda said as soon as she caught sight of her partner. She hopped a little as she waved her hands for Jean to see where she was standing, "Here... here..." she shouted.
As soon as Jean heard Maranda's voice, she turned in the direction the voice came from. When she spotted her friend, Jean hurried to her.
At the same time, John's expression softened and his lips turned up in a half smile. However, when he noticed that Zed was following Jean, his smile faded and his expression grew serious.
"Why are you so late?" As soon as she reached John and Maranda, John asked Jean. His eyebrows were furrowed with concern.
Jean froze for a few seconds and looked embarrassed. She did not know how to respond to John's question.
"It's not her fault. I got up late." Zed had reached in time to hear John's question. Still standing behind Jean, he nodded to John and replied for her. Then he handed Jean's luggage to John and said, "Please take care of Jean."
"Don't bother, I can carry it myself." Jean said quickly. She had sensed that John was in a bad mood. She was also feeling guilty for being late and for having worried her colleagues. She grabbed the luggage as she didn't intend to cause John any further inconvenience.
However, Jean did not expect that Zed would ignore her and pass the luggage to John anyway.
John's expression soured further as he took the luggage from Zed.
"Well, it's time. We'd better get moving or we'll miss the bus?" Maranda clapped her hands in excitement as she reminded John and Jean with a big smile.
"I need to leave now. Be careful on your way home. I will call you when I arrive." Jean became anxious after hearing Maranda's words. She turned and quickly bade Zed goodbye.
"Okay. Take care of yourself since I will be not with you." Zed said with a worried look. He absentmindedly nodded at Jean. For some reason, he was more worried about her than usual. He felt the need to remind Jean to be careful.
"All right." Jean nodded in return. Just as Jean was about to walk toward her bus, Zed suddenly pulled Jean close and hugged her tight.
Since they were in a public place, Jean felt very embarrassed and intended to get out of Zed's embrace.
However, when she realized that it was unusual for Zed to openly display his emotions in public, Her heart softened. She stopped squirming and returned his hug.
"Remember to stay away from other men, and think of me when you are free." Zed leaned close to Jean's ear a
“Who does she think she is? I won’t marry her even if she is the last woman on earth,” said Hiram Rong.
“Marry into a family with tens of billions of assets? How lucky I am! I won’t be so foolish as to break off the engagement. At worst, I can receive money as part of the divorce settlement,” said Rachel Ruan.
Their great-grandfathers made a pact about their engagement a hundred years ago...
hn's affection for another woman, she felt that John had only said this to stop her from asking further questions.
If her guess was correct, Jean didn't believe that John was a sensible person.
Since Jean knew both, John and Maranda on a personal level, she was confident that there could not be a proper reason for John to not reciprocate Maranda's affection. She was not inferior to John in any way. On the contrary, Maranda was special, outgoing, and lovable.
As Jean was very concerned about Maranda, she decided to ask Zed to introduce a good man to Maranda after they finished this trip. Jean couldn't help laughing when she thought of how John would react when he would learn about Maranda dating.
Since Jean believed that John was being mean and insincere, she looked forward to seeing John being remorseful for how he had behaved.
"What are you laughing at? Are you thinking of Zed?" Maranda was quite taken aback by Jean's sudden laughter, so she asked curiously.
"Not at all. Maranda, after this trip finishes, we need to hang out!" Jean took the initiative to extend their relationship beyond the company.
"Absolutely! We have never met outside of work. This would be great!" Maranda nodded cheerfully. She was completely oblivious to what Jean was planning.
"It's a deal. I will fix the date, time, and place." Jean patted Maranda's shoulder and grinned.
'Maranda is truly a gem of a person! A lot of men would be interested in her. She just doesn't see it as she is infatuated with John.
John would no doubt regret his decision once Maranda finds someone special.'
Jean smiled at the thought.
At that moment, someone sneezed loudly. An embarrassed cough and an "excuse me" could be heard.
Jean could not help laughing when she heard that it had been John who had sneezed.