Vanessa, seeing that I had given in, smiled in satisfaction. She patted my arm, her earlier anger vanishing as if it had never existed. "Good. Don't let me down, okay? Be sure to attend."
That evening, I arrived at the venue she had chosen.
Something felt off.
I noted the location immediately—it was less than a hundred yards away from that mansion.
Inside the hotel, the banquet hall was already lively. Many employees had arrived and the air buzzed with chatter.
But my eyes landed on two specific figures standing by the bar. Oscar and Bruno.
A frown crept onto my face.
"Oscar, Bruno, what are you two doing here?"
These two had spent the last year slacking off, violating company policies and harassing female employees. I had been meaning to fire them, but Tristan had protected them.
As soon as I finished speaking, Tristan immediately stepped in, his expression all smiles, but his eyes held a calculating glint.
"Charlie, they just happened to pass by. Since they're already here, why not let them stay?" His voice was light, almost as if he were trying to make it seem like a trivial matter.