"Why did you suddenly ask me out for dinner?" Alfred drank the iced lemon water in front of him. In the corner of his eyes, his gaze fell on the waiter who accompanied Selina back to the table.
"Brother! You like Jessica, don't you? If you do, then I'll gladly approve you to pursue her." Selina folded her hands on the table and stared into his eyes.
"I do like her. I'm trying my best to get close to her as well. Our relationship is going rather smoothly." A faint smile raised on his lips when he heard his sister's words.
"Brother, Jessica will appear tonight." Her distressful tone made him frown.
"She's having dinner here? With whom? You don't sound too happy." Subconsciously, he started looking at the entrance.
"I suspect the Wang family had set her up tonight. I speculated about tonight's dinner based on their previous actions and greedy nature. Knowing them, they would request Jessica to use her connection as my best friend to settle the investment they wanted for Wang Corps. However, Jessica had nothing to do with that project. She also disagreed with their ideas. When we had this talk a week ago, she told me that her dad wanted to have dinner with her."
Studying Alfred's calm expression, Selina continued explaining the situation to him. "As a result, the Wang family really wanted to sell Jessica for a rich family relationship. I'm not sure if this is their motive for tonight, but they are definitely up to no good. Earlier, I overheard the manager and the waiter's conversation. The Wang's wanted to drug Jessica's wine."
"What?!!!" Alfred gritted his teeth, wanting to rush over to beat the staff up.
"Hold on. Let me finish. I've already swapped the wine glasses. Even if they drink it, it'll be the dude drinking it. I peeked at the computer screen and saw that it was a table reserved for two. Let's wait and see what happens before taking any action." Selina held onto Alfred's wrist tightly.
To avoid suspicion, the three of them ordered the main courses. While waiting, their eyes kept scanning across the restaurant. Around fifteen minutes later, Jessica arrived. Before Selina could wave at her, Jessica walked over to the table on the other side of the restaurant. She was familiar with the seating arrangements from previous visits. Hence, she knew which table number she had to go to.
Since Selina chose to sit with her back facing the night view, she could observe the entire restaurant. Her eyes glared at the table farthest from theirs.
When Jessica saw the two seated table, she frowned. She wanted to turn around and leave this place. At that instant, she understood what was going on. Her fingernails stabbed into the shoulder bag strap in her hand.
Nevertheless, the first thought in her mind was to leave this place before her scheduled dinner companion arrived. Turning around, she ran into a hard chest - almost knocking her to the ground. Her nose suffered the most damage since she was in a hurry to walk away.
Looking up, a familiar face entered her vision.
"Elder cousin?!" She recognized the heavy cologne from his suit.
"Since you're already here, let's have dinner together. This table was reserved for four people, but your parents had an important event tonight. So, they asked me to come and accompany you for dinner." Jessica's cousin, Wang Jin Long suggested as he pulled a chair out for her to sit.
Though Jessica disliked associating herself with him, she remembered her father's words. If she left now, her father would hear about this incident and feel upset.
"It's just one dinner. Plus, auntie and uncle wanted to come until uncle's secretary told him about the event. If you leave now, he might think you are mad at him. Come sit down and eat something." Jin Long smiled with his hands touching the back of the chair.
"On the very least, you can order a dessert. I heard uncle ordered your favorite wine for tonight's dinner." Jin Long stood by the chair awkwardly.
"Okay, fine. After I finish my food, I'll be leaving." Jessica sighed, unable to reject the idea of having her favorite wine. At the same time, it was her father who ordered it for tonight's dinner. She would feel bad if she didn't stay for a little while after wronging him just now.
After taking her seat, Jin Long sat across from her and snapped his fingers to settle their orders. Without giving the menu a second glance, he ordered two main courses.
"Are you okay with what I ordered for you?" He smiled, sending weird vibes to her.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Jessica straightened her back. "Yes. That is fine." By the bar counter, a waiter was holding a tray with two filled wine glasses. She recognized the bottle of wine in the manager's hands and waved at him.
"Miss, are you ready to have the wine?" The manager's smile stretched, seeming amiable.
Jessica nodded, "when did you guys pour out the wine?"
"We poured it right before you arrived." The manager answered politely.
"Alright, then serve it." Jin Long interrupted them - he was afraid Jessica would reject the wine.
"Hold on, can you open another bottle of wine instead? Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I am not used to opened wine in public places." Jessica raised her palm with a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
"This is the only bottle available. How about we pour you another glass at the bar counter?" The manager replied.
"Alright. Then bring me another glass of wine. If elder cousin wants, you can drink the already poured glass. I can wait." Jessica leaned back on her chair and started replying to some emails.
"Then, replace both glasses." Jin Long answered.
Complying to her request, the manager walked away with the waiter. The manager noticed Jessica staring at them from a distance. Since she had her eyes on them, he had to pour the wine out by the sink.
Whispering, he asked the waiter next to him. "Which glass is the one with the drug?"
"The one on the left." The waiter replied in a low voice.
"Good. Pretend to reach for a new glass, but use the same glass. Wipe the excess wine stains off the inside of the glass and then serve it. I'll add another pill to the drink. Remember to serve the one on the left just as we planned earlier." The manager reached out, dropped a pill into the wine, and quickly stirred the content.