Samuel hadn't expected to bump into Katherine that day out of coincidence. She was Sophia's friend and was a famous actress.
Katherine looked like she had company.
After a moment of contemplation, he stepped forward and started following her.
Alexander hadn't been in the best condition lately, so that day, Samuel had managed to invite him out after much effort.
However, he had gotten there earlier than Alexander.
If we manage to encounter Sophia, maybe Alexander will start to feel better.
At the thought of that, he managed to convince himself that he wasn't being creepy by following Katherine. I can't help it, after all. I'm just such a good friend. I'm even willing to take a bullet for Alexander.
The barbecue restaurant was fairly spacious and had two floors. The first floor was mostly filled with seats, while the second floor was comprised of well-divided private rooms. They had managed to neatly separate the restaurant for different purposes.
Samuel followed Katherine up to the second floor. After turning two corners, she seemed to have reached her destination. He stood far away and watched as she stepped into the private room. After some hesitation, he followed her.
Katherine was quite a speedy walker. As someone who had been in the industry for ten years, she was susceptible to the feeling of being followed.
She had only just emerged from the restroom when she sensed someone tailing her. At first, she thought it was just a fan, but no matter how many times she turned to look, she didn't notice anyone unusual.
However, the moment she went up the stairs, she could feel that gaze on her once again. She recalled that a few of her friends in the industry had been tailed by blackmailers lately, and she began to worry that she was receiving the same treatment. Because of that, she walked faster than ever.
The moment she sat down, she accepted a cup of coffee from Sophia and took a huge gulp of it.
Sophia raised her eyebrows at the sight of that. “What is it? Were you chased by a dog or something?
“Don't even talk about it. I think there really might be something after me. Do you remember when I told you about Xenia and Isabella being stalked by someone, then getting sent pictures as blackmail? I think I might have encountered the same lunatic today,” Katherine explained.
Samuel, who was just about to knock on the door after pondering about it for a while, heard her describe him as a lunatic.
Seriously? Am I that creepy?
He felt the need to prove himself. At that moment, he no longer cared whether involving himself in the situation would interrupt them or not. He raised his hand in preparation to knock on the sliding wood door.
Katherine hadn't closed it properly when she went in just now, so there was still a ten-centimeter gap between the door and the wall. That was why Samuel could see and hear the conversation between the two women.
At that point, Katherine was already worked up from what she had just said. All of a sudden, they heard a knock on the door, which gave her a shock. She subconsciously jumped toward Sophia and exclaimed, “Soph! Has the lunatic come straight to us? I'm so scared!”
Sophia stared at the terrified Katherine in her arms, who was usually fearless enough to kill cockroaches with her bare hands. There was a trace of annoyance in her gaze as she asked, “Who is it?”
“Sophia and Ms. Quinn, it's me.”
The door was then pushed open, and she was met with the sight of a familiar face.
It was none other than Samuel.
That caused Sophia to arch a brow. “Mr. Schild.”
Samuel invited himself in. “I saw Ms. Quinn downstairs just now. I figured you would be here too, Sophia, so I followed her up here. I didn't think that my actions would scare Ms. Quinn so much.”
As he spoke, he took a seat right across from them.
It turned out that there was no lunatic following Katherine at all. Right then, Katherine felt that she had regained her confidence. “I didn't know you liked following people around, Mr. Schild.”
“Don't get it twisted. I just happened to come here to eat as well,” he stated stubbornly.
He simply acted as if he couldn't sense the mocking tone in her voice.
Following that, he looked at Sophia and remarked, “The meat here is pretty good. The place happened to be full by the time I arrived. You don't mind if I join you, do you?”
While talking, he had already called for the waiter. In no time at all, the waiter showed up from the hallway. “How may I help you all?”
“Get me two extra sets of tableware,” Samuel ordered. He proceeded to flash Sophia a smile and said, “One of my friends is coming, too. You don't mind, right?”
Katherine couldn't help but roll her eyes at him. “You're really getting comfortable, aren't you, Mr. Schild? Are you seriously pretending to care whether we mind or not? We haven't even served you any coffee, and there you are, drinking it on your own.”
In response, Samuel chuckled. “Sophia and I are friends.”
Considering what he had said, Sophia had no choice but to reply, “Well, it's just a meal.”
To her, there was no need to quarrel.
Katherine pursed her lips. Since it was Sophia, she didn't push the issue any longer.
Sophia side-eyed her and grinned before pouring her a cup of coffee. The look in her eyes was subtly telling Katherine to calm down.
Upon seeing that, Katherine huffed and took a sip of coffee. Then, she seemed to have suddenly thought of something. “Who is that friend of yours? Have we met him before? Could it be Alexander?”
Meanwhile, Samuel, who had just sent Alexander the number of the private room that they were in, crossed his legs as he faced the two women. He beamed and revealed his pearly-white teeth. “You're a genius, Ms. Quinn!”
That left Katherine at a loss for words. Genius, my *ss!
Sophia paused as she was sipping her drink. There was a half-smile on her face when she looked at Samuel. “Are you doing all this on purpose?”
For some reason, he felt guilty being stared down like that and averted his gaze. “Don't say that. It's all a coincidence.”
“What a coincidence, indeed,” Katherine sneered.
“What a coincidence, indeed,” Katherine sneered.
Even though Alexander's such a jerk, his friends seem to care about him a lot.
Sophia raised her eyebrows. “Okay. I'll keep that in mind.”
Samuel's heart lurched. His back felt unusually chilly as he looked at the faint grin on her face.
Despite that, the deed was done, and he had already sent Alexander his location. It was already too late for him to back out.
In order to alleviate the tension, he decided to change the topic. “Did you just wrap up with filming, Ms. Quinn?”
“You seem to know a lot,” Katherine muttered.
“It was just a guess.”
Clicking her tongue, Katherine prompted, “How about you guess what I want to do right now, then?”
He glanced at the menu and immediately pushed it over to Katherine. “You want to eat some meat, don't you? Don't worry about it. I'll pay for the meal.”
The corner of her lip twitched. Not only is he stubborn, but he's also incredibly good at playing dumb.
She raised her hand and shoved the menu away. “Wrong. I'm on a diet right now.”
“How will you have the strength to diet if you don't eat up? Not to mention, it's not like a meal or two is going to affect your diet significantly. Hear me out. Since you've just finished filming, you should treat yourself to a good meal. You can continue dieting after this. It can't be that bad,” he insisted.
Katherine, who had already found it hard to resist the temptation of barbecue, felt her determination waver even more after hearing that. She turned to the side and shot Sophia an impatient look. “That kind of makes sense, doesn't it?”
Sophia gave her a helpless smile in response. “You can eat up just this once.”
Instantly, Katherine was filled with joy. If not for the fact that someone as shameless as Samuel was there with them, she might have pulled Sophia into a hug and started dancing out of excitement.
“No worries, Ms. Quinn. It's on me today,” he offered in a sneaky attempt to get on their good side. He had the feeling that Sophia was on the verge of chasing him out of the room.
At that point, Katherine no longer bothered trying to be polite. She grabbed the menu and started ordering the most expensive items available.
She was only on her second round of orders when the meat that Sophia had first ordered was served.
The portion was fairly big. It was clearly meant for more than one person.
Instantly, Katherine realized that Sophia wasn't actually planning to only let her eat vegetables.
Sigh! She truly is my best friend.
The meat had just been grilled. Before the three of them could even take a bite, Alexander opened the door and entered the room.
When Katherine saw him, she suddenly lost her appetite.
She subconsciously glanced at Sophia, who was sitting beside her and looking straight ahead with an indifferent expression.
Incredible. That reaction of hers alone shows that she's a strong woman.
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