Jasper frowned. He felt that Noah was being hostile toward him, but he could not tell why. They had never met before.
Frieda, familiar with what evil looked like, instantly noticed that there was something wrong with Noah's gaze. She shielded Jasper behind her and nodded politely. "Mr. Noah."
"Is this your grandson?" Noah took a few steps forward. His eyes were glued to Jasper as if Frieda was not there.
"No," Frieda denied, "He came looking for someone. Since I'm free, I’m taking care of him."
"Who’s he looking for?"
Frieda was uncertain how much of the conversation between her and Jasper Noah had overheard. After some hesitation, she replied, "Ms. Chloe."
He would be suspicious if she hid anything.
"That’s Joseph's kid,” Noah stated matter-of-factly as his eyes turned dark. No wonder he had hated Jasper at first sight.
"Yeah, Joseph’s my father. And you are?" Jasper asked fearlessly as he stepped forward.
Noah smiled faintly and said calmly, "I'm Coco's fiance, the love rival you wanted to see."
Jasper widened his eyes and looked Noah up and down. He soon concluded that Noah was much younger than Joseph. He then extended a hand toward Noah and said formally, "Hello, I've heard much about you."
Noah looked down at Jasper and could discern Chloe's traits on Jasper's childish face. He said expressionlessly, "Coco isn't here. Go home."
Jasper looked at Frieda silently as if questioning the latter. ‘But Grandma said that Ms. Chloe is in there.'
Frieda could tell that Noah was annoyed. Afraid that Jasper would get in the line of fire, she echoed, "You heard Mr. Noah. Go home. Your driver is waiting for you downstairs."
Jasper could not tell if Noah was lying or not, but he had to be careful in other people’s territory since he could not win. He obediently bade Frieda goodbye and strode into the elevator.
Noah pretended like nothing had happened. He did not even tell Chloe that Jasper had come to see her and went to the HR department to get Frieda's information. He found a statement about Frieda's criminal offense in her files, which turned out to be theft. He frowned, finding something fishy about it. He then asked someone to contact the shopkeeper and instruct him to come to Exotic Star.
The shopkeeper quickly arrived. When Noah showed the shopkeeper Frieda's photo, the man just scratched his head and said, "No, that’s not her. Although that woman wasn’t young, she was beautiful."
Noah was stunned and enlightened. The truth had come to light. Joseph's mother was still alive. 'Well, well. Looks like I've gained a huge bargaining chip.'
*
It was a cold night, and the streetlamps lined the road. Chloe stood beside her car on the ground floor of Exotic Star, the light making her cast a long shadow.
‘That’s weird. Why is my tire suddenly leaking?’ Chloe wondered if she should go upstairs and ask for Noah's help to change the tire. But he was still working overtime and she did not want to disturb him. 'Forget it. I’ll just grab a cab home.'
Just then, a cab pulled up. The driver lowered the window and asked, "Do you need a ride, miss? It's my last ride for the night.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Jojo and Coco's Unexpected Love