Joseph nonchalantly looked up and said, "Come in then. Are you afraid I'll gobble you up or something?"
Chloe remained vigilant and remained by the door. "Didn’t you ask me to cook? How can I do that here?"
"Why not?"
Impatiently, she retorted, "This is a cafe."
Joseph reached for the curtain behind him and lifted it, revealing a small antique-styled stove complete with vegetables and meat.
"...I don't know how to use that." Chloe sighed in frustration.
"The appliances here are all modern," Callum said, "He didn't call you here to cook. He's just teasing you."
Chloe looked puzzled. "If I'm not here to cook, then I’m going to leave. Please be clearer next time. I'm not obligated to accompany you two for idle chatter."
Today had been a tiring affair for Chloe, handling two gigs in one night. All she wanted was to wind down while playing some board games with her colleagues.
"We have serious business to discuss," Joseph said as he poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of an empty seat. He gestured to the chair. "Sit. You'll want to hear this."
For others, this might have sparked curiosity. But in Chloe's eyes, it was just a cheap trick. She calmly said, "Goodbye,” and walked away, closing the door of the private room behind her.
Joseph frowned in frustration. He got up and caught up with her. "Come back to the room."
"No thank you. Didn’t you hear me? I'm not interested. Are you deaf?"
"Don't you want to know who your biological father is?"
Chloe frowned. "I already know, There’s no need for you to tell me."
Joseph looked down at her and said, "It's not Felix."
"Then who?"
"You didn't ask me to."
Callum wiped his face and said, "Yes, I didn't explicitly ask you to, but I gave you a glancing hint."
"Is that so? I didn't get the message."
"Do you have anything else to say? You didn't call me here just to tell me the truth, did you?" Chloe forced herself to calm down, and her eyes were icy cold.
This man was Joseph’s friend, and furthermore, a member of the royal family with great status and power. Her mother had been an ordinary woman with no authority or influence. She could only endure the mistreatment. It had been so many years—over twenty years—and Callum had been nothing but reckless and unscrupulous. She refused to accept him just because he suddenly had a newfound conscience.
Perhaps knowing that Felix had an undisclosed ailment and that there was a risk of it becoming known to others, Callum decided to step in and offer her more significant benefits to smooth things over.
Callum nodded. "You're right. I do want to make amends. But first, please calm down. I mean you no harm."
"Of course, you mean no harm. You just want to make up for your wrongdoings," Chloe replied sarcastically, "So tell me, how do you plan to bribe—oh, I mean, make it up to me?"
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