The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 160

"Besides, this dinner is for networking and academic exchange. It's incredibly inappropriate for her to be here!"

"Of course..." she added with a syrupy smile, "if she's that desperate for a free meal, I suppose it's fine."

Even as she said it, Jenna's eyes were practically dripping with absolute disgust and contempt as she stared at Chloe.

If she had half a brain, she would turn around and leave right now. Was she completely incapable of understanding basic social cues?!

Preston offered Dr. Sharpe a polite smile. "Right this way, Dr. Sharpe."

Then, he shifted his gaze to Chloe.

He genuinely hadn't expected Chloe to show up.

After all, neither the tech symposium nor this dinner had absolutely anything to do with her.

Unless she was coming to look for him, he couldn't think of a single reason why she would be here.

Thinking this, Preston's lips curled into a faint, expectant smile, waiting for her to say something to him.

But Chloe didn't even spare him a glance. Her face perfectly blank, she walked right past him into the restaurant.

She left behind a bewildered Preston and a heavily eye-rolling Jenna.

"Oh my god, she actually has the nerve to go in? Is she starving to death or something?"

A dark shadow flickered through Preston's eyes before he murmured:

"Let's just go inside."

Dr. Sharpe was ushered to the seat of honor at the head of the table. Unspokenly, everyone left the seats immediately beside her open for Preston and his date, Jenna.

Chloe was pushed and shoved by the crowd until she ended up in the very last seat tucked into a corner.

She just sat down quietly.

Throughout the dinner—perhaps because Chloe was there—Jenna was obnoxiously loud. She practically dominated the conversation, chatting with everyone and letting out dramatic bursts of laughter every few minutes.

Unfortunately for her, no matter how hard she aggressively sucked up to Dr. Sharpe, the older woman remained completely stoic and gave zero reaction.

Thankfully, Preston stepped in to smooth things over, keeping the atmosphere somewhat pleasant.

As for everyone else, while they secretly thought Jenna was ridiculously loud and incredibly fake, they played along and offered polite compliments out of respect for Preston.

While Jenna laughed loudly, she kept shooting triumphant, intensely provocative glares at Chloe in the corner.

Suddenly, she raised her voice.

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