Too Late to Love Her: When She Divorced, He Fell Apart-Chapter 13: Is It Fear or Unwillingness?

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Is It Fear or Unwillingness?
"Miss Holt, besides that bank card, do you have any other financial disputes with your ex-boyfriend?"
"The large transfers and gifts over five thousand that he gave me, I returned all of them." Jane Holt’s voice sounded downcast. She paused, then suddenly asked, "Lawyer Hale, am I particularly stupid?"
Claire lowered her eyes and replied calmly, "Being swayed by emotions and trusting someone too much during a relationship is quite normal, Miss Holt. You don’t need to blame yourself. Right now, the most important thing is to prove that the five million transaction was not used by you."
Jane Holt: "What should I do?"
Claire: "First, get a transaction record from that bank card."
Jane was very cooperative, and the next day, she sent the bank statements to the law office. Claire and the team scrutinized the transaction slips, looking for any possible opportunities.
Unfortunately, both of them were truly novices in this aspect. Even after staring at it all morning, nothing meaningful came out of it. Claire’s eyes fell on the branch name of the bank, and she suddenly remembered Jenson’s company has had dealings with this bank.
She was quite familiar with Jenson and stated her intentions over the phone, also mentioning that she wanted to treat him to dinner.
"So if I don’t want to make introductions, I won’t get the meal either?"
Jenson’s voice had a teasing end, with a touch of intentional grievance.
Claire gave a faint smile, "I’m definitely treating you. Don’t try to use not helping as an excuse to decline."
"Ah, I wouldn’t dare. You’re quite the big boss now. It’s my honor to have dinner with you."
After setting a time, the two chose a Japanese restaurant in the evening, and while walking in with Jenson, Claire noticed Tristan Lockwood seated not too far away.
He was sitting with a group, and though the atmosphere was lively, he seemed like an outsider, indifferent and barely speaking.
There were two girls at the table who looked familiar. Claire recognized them as two nurses who whispered in the hospital break room last time. It seemed like this was an outing with colleagues.
Tristan Lockwood obviously noticed her too, but only gave a distant glance, as if not knowing her. He only nodded slightly at Jenson beside her before looking away.
"Do you want to say hi to Tristan?" Jenson asked.
"No need."
Claire stepped towards a two-seater by the window. She had long since given up on Tristan’s coldness and hostility and avoided him completely in public.
"Dr. Lockwood, is that handsome guy your friend? He’s so handsome!" Nurse Kiara Vance exclaimed in excitement, noticing Tristan greeting Jenson, "Your friend is so handsome, can you invite him to eat with us?"
Indifferent, Tristan didn’t even lift an eyelid: "You can invite him if you’re capable."
Kiara happily trotted over to Jenson and Claire’s table. No one knew what she said, but soon Jenson’s eyes were beaming with laughter, and Claire’s face slightly flushed.
Soon, the two joined the small nurse.
"Kiara, what did you say? How did you manage to bring them over?"
Kiara grinned, "I just told the truth, like how Miss Hale and Mr. Jennings are a perfect match!"
Tristan lifted his eyes to look at Claire who had approached, speaking coolly, "You blush that easily?"
Claire glanced at him, perplexed.
Wasn’t he pretending to not know her outside? Now why is he chatting with her?
At this table, there were only two seats beside Tristan. Claire initially aimed to sit away from him, but Jenson went ahead to sit in one, leaving her squeezed between the two men.
"Do you often have meals together?"
Tristan unexpectedly asked, his gaze bypassing Claire and landing on Jenson.
Jenson first looked at Claire, confirming she didn’t mind, then explained the reason. After his explanation, perhaps deliberately, he added, "That bank’s top executives also have good relations with the Lockwood Family."
Tristan gave a light acknowledgment, eventually looking at Claire, saying flatly, "Didn’t you know?"
Sure she knew, but accessing those connections had to go through him, so even if she knew, she had to pretend she didn’t.
"Haven’t you been quite busy lately? I wouldn’t dare to disturb." She said lightly.
Tristan: "Don’t dare or don’t want to."
He seemed to have a wrong circuit in his brain, pressing to get answers despite knowing her perspective. Besides, any time she used his resources or connections even a bit before, he would have a blackened face for days. But today, is he going out of his way to find discomfort?
Thinking this way, Claire decisively said, "Then I’ll have to trouble Dr. Lockwood to make introductions."
"Find me?" Tristan’s eyebrows slightly lifted, "That’s not something a single dinner can cover."
He let his gaze roam over her, and Claire naturally understood what that meant. She wasn’t opposed to such matters; after all, if it came to it, who was serving whom wasn’t certain.
Yet Tristan’s arrogant demeanor was truly provoking. She wondered whether she should squeeze more privilege from this capitalist.
"Dr. Lockwood, the appendicitis patient you were taking care of at the hospital some time ago, is she your girlfriend?"
Nurse Liu was suddenly flushed when she asked this question, and Claire marveled at her boldness. Checking the situation, it turned out they had started a game of truth or dare.
Kiara had drawn a lucky one, starting with a dare done on the notoriously cold-faced boss.
Tristan was always aloof, and no one at the hospital dared to ask him about gossip directly. Now that someone took the lead, everyone tuned in eagerly.
Claire was also quite curious, and she deliberately lifted her gaze to glance at Tristan.
His eyes brushed past her indifferently, reclined and said aloofly, "She’s not now."
She shifted her focus off him, and Jenson, noticing the chill from the person beside him, gave Claire a nuanced look.
"Not currently, but will she be in the future?!" Kiara’s eyes sparkled, daringly continuing her query, "Between her and Miss Hale, who’s prettier?"
She only caught a glimpse of the figure that day. When the patient left wearing a white long dress with black hair hanging to the waist, viewed from the back seemed ethereal; quite different from Claire’s cool elegance.
Tristan lazily glanced at Claire before replying to Kiara, "I thought you can only ask one question."
With that cold glare, Kiara immediately shut her mouth, too scared to utter another word.
Jenson also chimed in, "Comparing two young ladies like this is quite disrespectful."
Though retaining a calm smile, there was no warmth in his eyes, appearing sterner than Tristan.
As for Claire, she remained unfazed, knowing he had someone irreplaceable inside his heart.
Originally, Kiara thought, being a girl and in front of so many people, she’d get some information. Yet she didn’t expect these two handsome men to not budge, feeling slighted; hence, her growing resentment toward Claire.
When she was drawn again for dare, she generously approached Claire and asked, "Miss Hale, the last time when you got birth control pills at the hospital, was it because of Mr. Jennings?"