The Billionaire Heir Fell for the Wrong Girl (Hathaway Whitmore) novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Chapter 71

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Joe had barely stepped into the hallway when Hathaway caught up to him, half-dragging and half-pushing him into the restroom. “Hathaway, what are you doing?” he asked.

Hathaway quickly shut the door behind them.

As Joe was about to struggle, Hathaway lowered her voice and said, “Don’t move!”

She didn’t have time for his nonsense. She grabbed Joe’s suit jacket and pulled at it. “Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to get me killed? Don’t you have your own clothes? Why are you wearing this one?”

“Hathaway, what are you doing? That tickles.” Joe was so ticklish he couldn’t stop laughing. “Hathaway, what are you trying to do?”

“I’m helping you take off this jacket, obviously! Why are you wearing something that’s not yours?” Hathaway said, anxiously stripping the jacket off him.

Joe replied, “My classmates said this is a fancy brand. Everyone in my class wants a turn wearing it.”

“Yours? Is it really yours?” Hathaway finally yanked the jacket

jacket off him, crumpled it up, and said, “Didn’t Mary ever tell you not to sneak around wearing adult clothes?”

She had tossed the crumpled jacket aside when the door behind her swung open with a sharp click.

Joe froze, looking disheveled and scared, hiding behind Hathaway.

Jeremiah stood in the doorway, tall and commanding, his eyes dark and serious as he scanned the room. “What are you two doing?”

Hathaway didn’t dare glance at the jacket on the floor. She quickly stepped in front of Jeremiah, putting herself between him and the mess.

“Mr. Blackwood, did you need the restroom?” she asked.

“This one’s out of order. Let me take you up to the one on the second floor,” she said.

Saying that, Hathaway headed out first, and Jeremiah shot a glance back at Joe.

That icy look sent a chill down Joe’s spine.

Hathaway didn’t dare look back at Jeremiah. She finally let out a breath when she heard his unhurried footsteps coming up. behind her.

Once they reached the second floor, Hathaway hurried to the restroom and said in a flat tone, “Here we are.”

As she was about to leave, Jeremiah stopped her, lowering his gaze to meet hers. “Wait, I need to talk to you.”

Hathaway stared at him, baffled.

The coldness in Jeremiah’s eyes faded a bit as he said, “Grandpa somehow found out that Jessica used to be your friend, and now he thinks Jessica’s character is questionable.”

His grandfather’s exact words were, “If she can go as far as stealing her best friend’s fiance, what kind of person does that make her?”

Jeremiah didn’t want his grandfather to take it out on Jessica.

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After explaining the situation to Hathaway, Jeremiah said, “Tomorrow, you need to go talk to Grandpa and clear things up.

Hathaway asked, “What should I say?”

Jeremiah replied, his tone flat, “Tell him Jessica had no clue about the engagement between us. Or if she did, it was only because you lost interest in me and wanted to set her up with me.”

Hathaway smirked inwardly and gave Jeremiah a look loaded with meaning.

She thought, ‘Of course. He only comes around when he needs something. Dinner tonight was a cover for this.

‘He really is loyal and attentive to his girlfriend. But when it comes to everyone else, that’s a whole different story.

At least for now, Hathaway wasn’t about to piss him off.

Hathaway said flatly, “Okay.”

Jeremiah was surprised at how calm she was. The old Hathaway would’ve made a scene and never agreed to this.

“Should I pick you up tomorrow?” Jeremiah asked.

“No need,” Hathaway replied, her face blank. “I know the

way to the Blackwood Villa.”

Hathaway and Jeremiah kept a half-step between them as they walked downstairs together. The moment they entered the dining room, all eyes were instantly on them.

Reginald and Eleanor shared a look.

The room went awkwardly silent for a few seconds until Sylvia broke the ice. “Jeremiah, come try some more food. We brought out a few new dishes you haven’t had yet. Give them a taste.”

Conrad echoed, “That’s right. Jeremiah, come join us.”

After the Blackwood family left, Avery came over and asked Hathaway, “What were you and Jeremiah doing upstairs earlier?”

“Nothing, really. He couldn’t find the restroom, so I helped him out,” Hathaway replied.

Avery stared at her for a moment, then let it go.

Just then, Hathaway’s phone rang; it was an international call.

She answered, switching straight to fluent Uriwlish and rattling off a bunch of work-related technical terms. Honestly, Avery’s Uriwlish wasn’t good enough to follow along, so she didn’t have to worry about him overhearing.

After Hathaway finished her call, Avery asked, “Looks like you’ve been getting a lot of calls from overseas these days?”

“Yeah, made a few friends abroad. picking their brains about some stuff,” Hathaway replied, smoothly changing the subject. “You heading to the office? Should we go together?”

Since Avery still had work to take care of, they left for the office together.

Once they got to the office, Hathaway checked in with Killian and lan to see how things were going. They’d made a breakthrough in overhauling their industrial-grade distributed PLC real-time system.

The next day, the Blackwood Group’s northern project ran into trouble, and Jeremiah had to head out on a sudden business trip.

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Edmund was in the loop, too.

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Hathaway had planned to explain everything that day. Since Jeremiah had asked her to handle it, there was nothing to gain by going against him.

But with Jeremiah suddenly out of town and her being swamped with work at Whitmore Group, she let it slide. Truth be told, she didn’t want to make things easy for Jessica anyway.

As far as Hathaway was concerned, Jessica could sweat it out for another day.

Jessica got a call from Jeremiah while he was on the road. She said, “Yeah, got it. Drive safe, okay?”

After she hung up, everyone in the family knew Jeremiah was heading out on a business trip. Melanie set/down her cup looking calm and collected. “Work’s important. No need to rush anything right now,” she said.

But still, Melanie asked. “Is Hathaway really that easy to deal with? Do you think she’ll actually do what Jeremiah says and out in a good word for you?”

“I really don’t know,” Jessica said, worry flickering in her eyes. “But she wouldn’t dare defy Jeremiah.”

Melanie nodded. “Now it’s Mr. Blackwood who’s left. If he sides with you, nobody left to back her up.”

Bethany’s &

Thinking about Edmund, Melanie complained, “Come on, he’s already in his eighties. He probably doesn’t have many years left. Why bother making things tough for the younger generation?”

“Mom, don’t say stuff like that,” Jessica said, frowning hard. She knew Jeremiah was tight with Edmund, and if anyone overheard her mom running her mouth, that’d be bad news.

Good thing there were no outsiders around.

“Already defending the Blackwood family and you’re not married in yet?” Melanie teased. “Relax, you’re kind, accomplished, and always so classy and well-mannered. Everyone who meets you likes you.

“Once Mr. Blackwood sees you, he’ll like you for sure.”

Jessica knew her mom had a point, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Edmund might be different. The thought still made her nervous.

*****

After dinner, Conrad heard Jeremiah had gone to Aborlan for a government project. He sighed, “Now that Jeremiah’s running the whole family business, Lorenzo’s pretty much sidelined.”

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