His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 68: The Passenger Seat

He stood up and headed for the kitchen. The breeze from his movement brushed the ends of her hair.

Iris stood up too. "Any leftover savory waffles from last night?"

"Yeah."

He'd made way too many last night. The leftovers were all in the fridge.

"Just heat them up. I wanna eat more." Iris forgot about the hair tie and followed him into the kitchen.

Julian heated up the savory waffles. Iris took out oranges from the fridge to juice.

The air in the kitchen felt warm. They didn't talk much, but it was cozy.

He brought out two servings of savory waffles. Iris carried out two glasses of juice.

They sat down and ate breakfast in silence again.

Iris's long hair was getting in the way. She sat up straight, glanced around, then got up and walked to the cabinet. She pulled a pencil out of the drawer, quickly rolled up her hair, and pinned it to the back of her head with the pencil.

Her hair was soft, but long enough to stay put.

When she turned around, her eyes met Julian's. Their gaze touched for a split second. His eyes were warm, and then he looked away, bowing his head to keep eating breakfast.

He's just curious, right?

Iris didn't think much of it.

She sat back down at the table and kept eating.

Julian took a sip of juice and asked, "Is your company attending the pharmaceutical expo?"

Iris didn't expect him to talk about work.

"Yeah. Today's the last day to set up the booth. We don't have many drugs, so we're putting all of them at the expo." Iris talked while eating. A bit of topping dribbled down her chin. She licked it off with her tongue and reached for a napkin.

In that split second, Julian already had a napkin out and held it out to her.

She froze for a second and looked up at him.

He'd handed her the napkin so fast it was like a reflex. It shocked her.

"Thanks." Iris took it, wiped her chin, held the napkin in her hand, and kept eating.

"I'm going too. We can go together on the way."

"I gotta go back to the company first. I have a lot of stuff to move." After she said that, it hit her. She looked at him, confused. "I thought none of the medical devices under Everhart Group are self-developed."

"It's Veritas Pharmaceuticals. The booth's at C12," Julian said, his fingers unconsciously brushing the crescent-shaped chip on the plate's edge—the one she'd accidentally knocked out last week. "It's three booths away from yours."

Veritas Pharmaceuticals?

Iris remembered. Back when Everhart Group's investment fell through, Julian had told her a while later that he owned 100% of Veritas Pharmaceuticals. He'd wanted to keep investing in her company and partner with her.

But she'd turned him down back then.

Even though Julian held the top management position at Everhart Group, his father was still the major shareholder.

Iris asked carefully, "Do we... have any competitors?"

If they did, her small company stood no chance against his. Even if Everhart Group was a new company, it was a pharmaceutical giant with deep pockets and a big scale.

"No competitors. You do rare disease drugs and vaccines. We make topical medications and medical devices, and we're also researching natural medicine."

Iris let out a sigh of relief.

After breakfast, Iris tried to clear the plates. Julian said she didn't wash them clean enough and wouldn't let her do it.

Iris actually kind of liked this.

They left the house together.

The elevator went straight down to the underground parking lot.

Julian unlocked the car and got into the driver's seat.

Iris got into the back seat out of habit, pulled the seatbelt, and buckled up.

In the rearview mirror, Julian's jaw tightened suddenly. His eyes darkened. The car air freshener suddenly felt harsh.

The air in the car was heavy and quiet.

He didn't say a word. He drove out of the community and dropped Iris off at the entrance of the research institute.

Iris got out of the car and stood by the side, watching his car drive away.

Her heart felt heavy.

*****

By noon, Julian walked out of the Everhart Group building with Owen and Lily, heading to the parking lot.

Owen spoke respectfully, "Mr. Everhart, let me drive."

Julian pointed to the company cars. "If you wanna drive, take one of those."

Owen smiled awkwardly and quickly explained, "That's not what I meant, Mr. Everhart."

He'd completely forgotten that Julian hated letting other people drive his car. He never let anyone touch the steering wheel; he thought it was dirty.

But really, what boss drove his secretary and assistant around?

Julian got in the car. Lily walked to the passenger seat, pulled the door, and found it locked. She knocked on the window.

No response. Julian ignored her.

Owen already got in the back seat.

Lily stamped her foot angrily outside the passenger seat. Helpless, she had to get in the back seat too.

Once she got in, Lily pouted and said unhappily, "Why can't I sit in the passenger seat?"

Julian leaned over, opened the hidden compartment in front of the passenger seat, and rummaged through it. Sure enough, he found a few things that weren't his.

Lipstick, a mirror, hair clips, hair ties, and wet wipes. He took them all out and handed them to Lily. "You're full of little tricks."

Lily didn't take them. "What's the big deal? Can't I leave some stuff here? It won't take up much space."

"When did my passenger seat become your personal spot?" Julian threw the things onto her lap, his voice cold.

Lily huffed angrily and picked up her things. "Julian, are you losing your mind? Why do you suddenly care about this little stuff?"

Julian sat up straight, buckled his seatbelt, thought for a second, and asked, "Owen, would your wife mind if someone else sat in your passenger seat?"