“It seems you have plenty of time on your hands, Lord Westwood.”

Edward openly mocked his visit.

He had never particularly liked him before, but after the incident of the lost patent review documents, he wanted to deal with him even less.

Westwood spread his arms casually and said,

“Aren’t we rivals with Allen Company? If you neglect to scout your enemy, you’re bound to fall behind quickly.”

“Rivals, you say? I’ve never heard of Allen Company having a rival before.”

At Edward’s retort, Westwood’s cheeks trembled. He glared at Edward and spoke in a voice strained with suppressed anger.

“Your arrogance reaches the heavens. If you keep strutting around just because you’ve had some good luck, you’ll end up with a bloody nose someday.”

“I’m waiting for that day to come. Life’s been rather dull lately.”

Edward said nonchalantly.

Offended by his disrespectful attitude, Westwood brought up a story he had heard at the recent royal birthday celebration.

“I heard you got a cat recently. I wonder if your hand is still intact.”

“Of course it is. I don’t keep animals that can’t even recognize their master in the first place.”

Westwood’s jaw tightened. He seemed to be boiling with anger as Edward refused to back down even an inch.

“Ha, I heard you’ve come up with quite an absurd product this time. It’ll take a lot of time to prove it’s not a fraud.”

“Is that really necessary? People who need good cars will naturally come to Allen Company, and they’ll prove everything on their own.”

Edward furrowed his brows as if genuinely sorry and nodded slightly.

“I apologize. It must be quite important for a latecomer like Westwood Company, but I’m afraid I don’t have any know-how to pass on.”

At this point, Westwood, having run out of patience, began searching for words to lash out with. Just as he was about to raise his hand to point at Edward,

A familiar silhouette caught Edward’s eye.

A woman in a neatly buttoned jacket and a modestly puffed skirt, with light blonde hair tightly pinned up and adorned with a dainty fascinator.

It was Louisa.

Edward spoke first, cutting off Westwood before he could open his mouth.

“Well then, I’ll be going. You can take the train operated by our Allen Company when you return to the east wing.”

Westwood, cut off before he could even respond, looked at him incredulously.

But Edward couldn’t care less about Westwood’s circumstances. He walked towards Louisa without looking back.

His wife was looking at a train passing by near their exhibition hall.

Her gaze, with slightly parted lips, looking up at the product she had created.

There was something about it that tugged at his heartstrings.

‘Louisa. Are you watching too?’

Edward clenched his fist.

Now I’ve gained enough fame and wealth to confidently exhibit even in places like this.

We’re no worse than places like Westwood. At least in this field, I’ve reached the top where no one can look down on us.

‘So I can really make you happy now.’

I’ll definitely do so.

Just as Edward was about to step into the crowd where his wife was,

He saw his wife turn her head and whisper to someone.

Only then did Edward notice the people around her and identified the person she was talking to.

A blonde man about his height.

Upon recognizing his face, he muttered involuntarily.

“Evan… Winston?”

It was that man who had unnecessarily run his mouth at the opera house recently, claiming to be his wife’s former fiancé.

‘What’s he doing here? Why is Louisa with a guy like that?’

He had clearly contacted the Bryce mansion, so why was that guy by Louisa’s side?

He could see Evelyn Bryce beside them. Seeing no other familiar faces around, it seemed they had come together, just the three of them.

‘Did Lady Bryce bring him along? What a useless thing to do.’

He clicked his tongue once.

Even if they were childhood friends, it wasn’t pleasant to see another man by his wife’s side.

Especially since this guy had irritated him by giving unnecessary glances.

Suddenly, Lady Bryce pointed towards their exhibition hall, and the three of them started approaching.

Edward, about to greet his wife with somewhat uncomfortable feelings, smoothed his face with his fingertips. He tried smiling a couple of times. It didn’t seem too awkward.

With Evan Winston in the lead, the three approached right up to Edward. Evan, who was at the front, extended a greeting to him.

“We meet again. I’m Evan Winston.”

“Edward Allen. It seems you’ve come with my guests.”

Edward said as he shook Evan’s outstretched hand.

“I’ve been hired as a day guide by Evelyn, I mean, Lady Bryce.”

He smiled and gestured towards Evelyn behind him.

Evelyn, as if by magic, hid her previously mischievous smile and greeted with an elegant gesture.

“I’m Evelyn Bryce. I’m glad to have such an enjoyable time thanks to you.”

“I should be the one thanking you for accepting the invitation, Lady Bryce.”

“Not at all. I would have come running just out of curiosity to see the extraordinary path of the man who put Lucy on such a comfortable cushion of money.”

She responded with a playful tone. Edward then threw a joke back.

“It will be even more extraordinary in the future, so you’ll need to keep up well.”

“My, what an ambitious man. How charming.”

Evelyn burst into laughter and then spoke, tapping Louisa’s arm.

“Your husband is really charming, dear. I wish my husband would learn a thing or two from him.”

She raised her hand as if whispering, but her voice was loud enough for everyone there to hear.

Evan chuckled and raised both hands as if to calm things down.

“Well, let’s stop the jokes here.”

He said, stepping between Evelyn and Edward.

“Today, I’m here as a guide for these two ladies and as a businessman Winston.”

“Businessman Winston, you say?”

Edward slightly raised his chin as if challenging him to continue.

“Winston Company would like to make a proposal. We’re interested in your engines. I’d like to have a discussion about this as soon as possible.”

Here it comes.

That’s what Edward thought.

He showed a confident smile.

“I welcome such a discussion. However, I’ll be quite busy for about a week, so I’ll contact you to set a suitable time next week or the week after.”

“There’s no need to delay so much. It will be a sufficiently good conversation.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Not Winston.”

Edward coldly cut off his words.

If it weren’t a lie to say there was no personal feeling in coldly rejecting Evan’s request, considering how this guy had been grating on his nerves.

But it wasn’t a decision made solely on personal feelings. Postponing a conversation with Winston wouldn’t cause any damage to the company, and it would be foolish to hastily set up a meeting where various conditions might be negotiated.

Evan’s expression hardened at Edward’s cold attitude.

Edward wore the relaxed smile he always used when facing business partners.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t excluded Winston from consideration. I’m just saying I need time to compare and choose among numerous options.”

The initiative is with me, not you. That was the declaration.

But since it wasn’t untrue, Evan just smiled.

“I see. Then I’ll be waiting for your contact.”

Evelyn, listening to the conversation between the two men, kept covering her mouth and repeatedly exclaiming things like “Oh my, dear. Your husband is so charismatic,” while patting Louisa’s back.

“If the conversation is over, I’d like to borrow my wife for a while.”

Edward gave a small eye greeting to Evelyn.

At this natural date request, Evelyn let out a small exclamation. She pushed Louisa forward and said with a wink,

“We can’t interfere with a couple’s cozy date. We’ll go look around somewhere else, so don’t mind us and have a good time.”

But unlike Evelyn’s ready answer, Evan seemed to have some issues with it.

“Wait a minute. If it turns out like this, it means I came here solely for you, Evelyn. I’m not too fond of that idea.”

Evan grumbled.

At his complaint, Louisa just gave an awkward smile.

Of course, for Louisa, the idea of going around alone with her husband wasn’t very welcome either.

But while she was pondering how to decline without causing any external issues, Evelyn beat her to it.

Given how the atmosphere had already flowed, rejecting her husband’s date proposal wouldn’t look good either.

Louisa shook her head and placed her hand on Edward’s arm.

“I’m sorry. My husband has been busy lately, so I’m too reluctant to miss this opportunity. Thank you for today.”

However, Evan didn’t give up and brought up the next appointment.

“Then shall we set the next appointment? Come to think of it, there’s going to be a return party for Duke Portland soon, right?”

“I heard about that the other day too, but they haven’t even sent out invitations yet. Forget about that, I recently found a play I want to see, why don’t we go see that together?”

Evelyn chimed in. Evan frowned as if disgusted.

“The one you said you liked because the male actor is handsome? I’m against it.”

“Why are you so displeased, Evan?”

Evelyn crossed her arms. Evan glanced at her and said,

“I’d rather see that’s being re-staged. Louisa would prefer this too. She said she enjoyed it back then. Right?”

“Ah… yes. That’s right. You remember that.”

Louisa answered a bit dazedly. Evan really remembered a conversation they had when they were young, when she was still a teenager.

And Edward was standing there listening to their conversation like a sack of borrowed barley.

Of course, Louisa wasn’t actively participating in their conversation either. But he felt like there was an invisible wall surrounding the three of them, making it impossible for him to join the conversation.

He had been listening to his wife and her friends’ conversation with a smiling face, but before the conversation could drag on any longer, he interrupted Evan’s words,

“I apologize to everyone. The time allowed to me isn’t very long, so I’ll excuse myself first.”

If it had been a simple conversation among friends, he wouldn’t have done this. But that man had been subtly bothering him since before.

“Of course! It was a pleasure today, Mr. Allen!”

Evelyn said with a bright smile, once again giving an elegant gesture of greeting.

Edward returned the greeting while surreptitiously checking Evan’s expression.

Tightly closed lips and a cold gaze.

Confirming this, Edward’s expression hardened as well. He led his wife out of his company’s booth.