Chapter 88 I Never Lose
Catherine woke up starving. When she opened her eyes, it was already dark outside. The room was quiet. But Catherine sensed another person’s presence. She had acute senses, and they had never been wrong. In the darkness, a deep magnetic voice spoke up.
“You’re awake?” Catherine answered with an unusually good temper. “Mmhm.”
“Flick.” The lights in the room were turned on. Perhaps it was because Catherine had just woken up. The man didn’t turn the lights up too bright. There was a strange comfort in the dim lighting. Catherine’s bad temper after waking up was somehow alleviated by it.
“Do you want to eat first or talk?” The man gave her two choices. Catherine didn’t want to guess what the man wanted to talk about. She didn’t like thinking about things when she didn’t have to. This allowed her mind to rest properly and focus on more important things when needed.
“Say your piece,” Catherine said indifferently. She had made her choice. With his gaze fixed on her, the man chuckled. “Let’s talk about what’s happening at the Swann Corporation. It’s been almost two weeks. Apart from firing a financial manager, you haven’t made a move at all. Now you only have two and a half months left. Is that enough time for you?
Catherine rose from the bed slowly. As she stood upright, her elongated legs accentuated her graceful presence.
She turned her head towards Branden and flashed a mischievous smile. Her infectious grin had the power to captivate anyone in the world.
“You investigated me?”
“Well,” Branden said with a faint smile, his expression calm. “The person I chose never loses.”
The person he chose?
Catherine raised an eyebrow and looked at Branden. She looked proud and untamed with that grin on her face.
Although Catherine was often seen as arrogant, many people felt she had earned the right to be confident, as if her success was expected.
“Relax, I never lose.”
Before Branden could respond, Catherine interrupted unapologetically, “I’m hungry.” She said the three words in such a cold way, but they made the man’s heart warm up. But this man had been known to be cold and ruthless.
“Your body is still growing. Of course, you’ll feel hungry easily. I have told the kitchen to prepare dinner. Let’s go eat.”
Without giving Catherine a chance to respond, the man took her hand and led her toward the kitchen.
Catherine furrowed her brows. Her calm expression was now tainted with a hint of displeasure.
“What is he doing?
“Is he getting into the habit of holding my hand?” Catherine thought.
Catherine didn’t like how the man took her hand without her consent.
But being dragged around by someone like an invertebrate without worrying about anything felt really good.
Catherine had always been the person who would be lazy wherever and whenever she could. If she could lie down, she would never sit. And she wouldn’t stand up at all if she could sit down. She would do anything to make herself comfortable.
Now that being dragged around made her comfortable, she was more than happy to roll with it.
When Catherine was taken to the living room, she noticed someone who seemed to have gone through a lot during her absence-Bryan.
The birthday banquet had long been over. Bryan waited over two hours for his Boss to be led down from upstairs by Branden.
A lot of things could happen in two hours.
“Boss was here to celebrate Bryan’s birthday. How come Branden took her away?” Bryan
thought angrily.
But it was Branden who took her away. Bryan could never stand a chance against him, so he couldn’t do anything about it at all.
Now that Catherine had returned, Bryan could no longer hold back his grievance. He exclaimed, “Boss…”
How much emotion was in that sentence and how Bryan called Catherine “Boss” almost
stunned Paxton.
“What’s happening to all of them?” Paxton thought. “Why is Bryan acting so differently? He’s
been so spoilt by Vicente that he wouldn’t take orders from anyone else. He’s also going through puberty, which is a rebellious stage.
“Nobody, except for the head of the Duncans, could discipline him. But now he’s behaving so well in front of Catherine Swann. Is Catherine the person who will have the entire Duncans at her command? Why would they both follow her every command without question?”
Catherine heard Bryan and turned around to look at him, her brows slightly furrowed.
“What’s the matter?”
Bryan was on the verge of confronting Catherine about her decision to leave, but as he glanced behind her, he noticed Branden watching. In that moment, Bryan chose to keep his grievances to himself.
Branden looked like he could kill with his eyes. Better not challenge him now.
Bryan could only shake his head in silence and asked, “Nothing, I just wanted to know if you slept well.”
“It’s alright,” Catherine answered dismissively. She wouldn’t have even paid attention to Bryan’s question if she hadn’t sensed he had some grievances.
“Let’s go eat.”
Catherine took the initiative to invite Bryan. This dispelled his bad mood in no time.
“Boss treats me so well. She’s even buying me dinner tonight and talking much more to me,” Bryan thought.
Bryan had completely ignored that he was a member of the Duncan family and the host at the
party.
When they arrived at the restaurant, they discovered it only offered spicy dishes.
Bryan was fine with it because he could handle the spiciness, and his boss loved spicy dishes.
Then Bryan looked up and saw Branden sit down with a straight face.
Bryan felt he started to respect Branden more. “He really goes out of his way to impress Catherine. He’ll be torturing himself,” Bryan thought.
Branden couldn’t eat spicy food at all. Everyone in the Duncan family knew this.
They said it was because Branden accidentally hurt his stomach when he was young. After that, he started to adopt a non-spicy diet.
When Bryan saw Branden order everything spicy for Catherine, he only felt more admiration for his boss. He didn’t realize doing everything as it pleased Catherine could potentially harm the Duncans’ image at all.
In other words, Bryan had completely forgotten he was also a part of the family.
After dinner, Catherine was quite full. She rested against the table for a while, then stood up, planning to leave.
Bryan saw her stand up and immediately followed suit. He asked reluctantly, “Boss, are you leaving now?”
Catherine turned back to look at him, nodded, then shifted her gaze to Branden.
“I rode my bike here.”
The implication was that she refused to let Branden drive her home.
Branden didn’t push her. He simply answered, “Be careful then.”
Catherine turned around and left. She walked as if she didn’t care about anything in this world.
Her slender figure seemed to win anyone over with charm, putting ideas in people’s heads.
With Catherine gone, Bryan felt like even the house had become less alive than before.
He couldn’t help himself but comment. “Wouldn’t it be nice if Boss could live here forever?”
Branden happened to pass by him when he said that. He patted his nephew on the shoulder and said definitively, “That day will come.”
Bryan froze for a second as he didn’t know what Branden was talking about. But when he realized what Branden meant by that, the man was already gone.
Bryan punched the air in annoyance and said menacingly, “Boss has so many choices, and it doesn’t have to be you.’
Even if Branden were his uncle, Bryan would still put what Catherine wanted first. He would not bend this rule even for family.
“I’ll root for Boss forever. This will never change,” Bryan thought.
