Mr Billionaire's Regret Chasing His Irresistible Wife (Jared and Arielle) novel Chapter 195

(ARIELLE’S POV.)

The air around grew awkwardly thin and very silent.

Neither of us knew how best to react to the situation. I looked around the parking lot for no reason in particular, marking the time until it was okay for me to leave without looking any silly than I felt for walking up to their car to begin with. Tiana looked even more flustered than I imagined I’d appeared before them. Jared’s lips were drawn in a stiff line.

“Arielle.. we umm.. I .. Good morning,” he managed to find his voice with a terrible stutter.

“I guess we’ll just continue this conversation when you return,” Tiana shrugged with a placating smile.

Jared ignored her comment and climbed down from the car. He had a stern face when he spoke up again. “I’ve just ordered you a ride, Tiana. Go back home.”

I took the hint and excused myself from the side of the car. Jared fell into stride beside me as we walked across the parking lot to the entrance of my restaurant.

“...Hi,” Jared tried to start a conversation. But I grunted an inaudible reply as I doubled my pace.

“Woah. Slow down,” he said with a cheesy smile.

I only slowed down at the entrance to the restaurant and he caught up with me.

“What’s up with you though? You’re acting funny,” he tried teasing.

I couldn’t help myself. “I don’t know… Am I in some sort of trouble now that your fiancée knows where you’ve been for the last couple of days?” I shot back, layering as much sarcasm into my words as I could manage.

I didn’t need to look at him to know I’d hit a sore spot. His frown was practically visible without me turning around. But did I care? Not at this moment.

“Arielle...” His voice softened, turning serious. “I was gonna explain things to you.”

We were just in the middle of the restaurant now, in the audience of hired cleaners. I nodded in response to their greetings and ignored Jared completely, as I made small talk with one of them even though I barely knew the last thing about the lady.

“So I was saying…,” he resumed speaking as we approached my office.

I rolled my eyes at his unawareness. “I’m not interested in hearing it, Jared. Let’s keep our conversations strictly related to our course content going forward. Thank you.”

I saw a flash of hurt on his face as I turned around to let myself into the office.

Thankfully, Rebecca and Stephen were already seated in the room. They both sprang up from their seats the moment I walked in with Jared and echoed their greetings.

I’d already moved on from the awkward start to the morning and had my head wrapped up in the course content. I took out my tablet to refresh my memory.

Jared cleared his throat, his usual authoritative tone filling the room. “Alright, morning, class. We’ll keep today’s session brief. Yes, my time costs money, and I don’t like to waste it.” He gave me a quick, pointed glance, then turned to the others.

“Anyone care to share what we’ve covered in previous sessions?”

Stephen stood up and flipped through his notes before answering. “Sure. Since we started, we’ve covered two main topics: financial health and strategy, and marketing and branding.”

Jared nodded, but his expression remained serious. “And what do those concepts entail?”

Stephen looked a bit flustered, but he held his ground. “Well, um… financial health involves understanding profit margins, cash flow, and making projections using financial metrics,” he began. “And branding… well, it’s about building a consistent image and identity for a business, especially through marketing strategies.”

Jared’s lips curled into a smirk, and he tilted his head. “Not bad. But you were clearly reading off your notes,” he teased. “Try not to rely on them so much, Stephen. It’s a good habit to develop—remembering what you’ve learned.”