Ian’s thoughts went to himself and he realized that he was about the same age as Cindy. However, he was indeed overly mature in comparison.
On the other end, Cindy and Gary finished their meal and walked out of the private dining room. She then walked to the bar counter to pay the bill, but she was told by the waiter that it had already been settled.
Stunned, she turned around to look at Gary but he responded with a casual chuckle. “I’ve got some credit on my account so our bill was automatically deducted from it.”
At that point, Cindy became quite flurried. “This won’t do! We’ve agreed that this would be my treat so you’re making me look quite bad here.”
He responded with a surprised exclamation. “Well, how about this? You can treat me next time. After all, the bill has been processed so it would be quite impossible to ask for a refund.”
Upon hearing that, Cindy pursed her lips as she hesitated for a moment. Nonetheless, she ended up agreeing to it.
And so, she replied, “When are you free, then? It has to be my treat next time, so please don’t do the same thing next time. I keep feeling like I’m taking advantage of you.”
Just then, Gary smiled. “Look at me—I’m this huge bloke while you’re such a young lady, so it definitely seems like I’m the one who’s taking advantage of you.”
He enjoyed cracking jokes, so the vibe was naturally quite pleasant.
Soon after that, the both of them walked out and Gary drove Cindy back to her hotel.
However, he was evidently surprised. “Why are you staying at a hotel?”
She quickly explained, “No, it’s just that my friend’s here, so I came to visit her. I’m not staying here.”
Gary merely nodded without saying anything else.
Thereafter, Cindy got out of the car and stood by the sidewalk upon arriving. Then, she waved goodbye at him.
He nodded in response and drove off. After he had driven off for quite a distance, he glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed that she was still standing by the sidewalk and waving goodbye at him.
Gary shifted his eyes back to the road in front of him and all of a sudden, he chuckled.
Meanwhile, Cindy got back to the room, only to find Naomi sitting cross-legged on the couch and eating instant noodles.
Surprised, the former asked, “Is that your lunch?”
At that, Naomi drawled, “I was feeling lazy. Besides, it’s just me by myself so I don’t quite know what to have. This is convenient.”
Cindy felt slightly guilty when she heard that. “I was with Gary so it felt rude to answer the phone in front of him. I should have got you some takeaway, though.”
Despite that, Naomi was perfectly fine with it and she waved off Cindy’s concern. “That’s alright. There was nothing that I wanted to eat anyway. It’s quite convenient for me to order room service too. I just suddenly felt like having some instant noodles, that’s all.”
Naomi slurped up the last mouthful of her noodles and then took a sip of the soup before placing the container aside.
Then, she shot a cheeky look at Cindy while wiping her mouth. “How was your day with Gary? Did he recommend any remarkable project to invest in?”
Cindy, however, couldn’t contain her laughter. What does she mean by a remarkable investment project anyway?!
She tried hard to recall the projects that Gary had mentioned to her and she had originally intended to come up with a few professional keywords. Despite her efforts, she stood there thinking for quite some time but she was at a loss for words.
In the end, she turned around and headed to the couch before taking a seat. “He did recommend a few projects, but it should all be quite similar. I told him to decide for me as I reckon that he’s quite trustworthy.”
Smiling, Naomi moved closer to Cindy. “How much do you plan to invest? Are the projects safe to invest in? If they are, may I join along in your investment? I’ll go home and ask for some money.”
Cindy kept her eyes on Naomi and suddenly, she lifted her arms to pull the latter into an embrace. “Of course it’s alright, provided that you’re really keen on it. However, I have to be upfront with you about this right now—you need to be aware that there are no fixed returns in any investment. If you’re keen to invest, then we could attempt it together but I can’t give you any guarantee on the returns. Of course, it would be great if we made gains on the investment but if we lose money, I hope you won’t blame me for that.”
Upon hearing that, Naomi let out a peal of laughter. “I know. I’m perfectly aware of that, and I trust you and Gary.”
She leaned her head against Cindy’s shoulders. “Thing is, I don’t have that much money to invest, so perhaps it would be quite insignificant.”
Cindy responded with a nod. “I don’t have that much money either. It’s okay, though. We can pool our resources.”
Naomi then clung to Cindy’s arm. “From now on, I’ll be tagging along with you. I’m sure I’ll end up very well-off by banking on you.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Returning EX (John and Sophia)
So what happens to Ian and Cindy. Is she/ or does she get pregnant? Do they go back to the city and Ian works with Logan? Does Aurora stay in the entertainment industry or return with Ian? Terrible ending, who cares if Aurora was drinking/drunk with colleagues. What happened with Ian and Cindy?!...
Get rid of Gary. Apparently Cindy is too dumb to figure out his motives 😡...
Why are you trying to break them up when they just got together and are a loving couple. Let them stay close and move back to their true friends, Logan, Lola, John and Sophia!...
Sure hope Ian pulls his head out of his behind and works this out with Cindy. His brother needs him at the company and neither one of them truly like the celebrity life. Sophia and Lola will love her …....
I can’t wait for John to take down the Bailey’s including Isabelle so he, Sophia, William and Matilda can live in peace. Introduce Yolanda to Richard so they are out of the picture....
Ugh, don’t break up Sophia and John… they belong together and Sophia is just stubborn for no reason...
Sophia lives John, he just needs to tell her he loves her and get on with their life and family. Too much interference from others....
Sophia is so stupid....
John needs to man up, tell his mother and Isabelle to take a flying leap and confess to Sophia that he made a horrible mistake in divorcing her. This story is taking too long and once again, the bitches are looking like they are on the right side. Awful...