His Contractual Mistress

At the moment, Vince and Hailey have now reached their table reserved by Tom. The owner, at the same time, the chef of this restaurant, is a friend of the knights. She knew him too, but she wasn't that close to Ray.

Tom made a special arrangement for her after discovering that her food sensitivity lately was because of her pregnancy. There are few spices and ingredients they must not include in her meals. 

"Hello, Miss Hailey! I'll be taking your orders," said Ray with a warm smile.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, chef Ray," Hailey apologized to the handsome chef. 

"What are you saying, Miss Hailee? It's my honor to have your presence in my restaurant!" said Ray, his gaze then turned to Vince. It's the first time he saw him around here. "Is he your guest, Miss?" 

"Ah. Meet Vincent Shen. He is my boyfriend," she introduced the two men to each other. 

Vincent extended his arm and said, "Nice to meet you, chef Ray." He could see how Ray was looking at him with intent. He could tell Ray was determining if he deserves having someone like Hailee Davies. 

Ray smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Shen." 

When Ray took their orders, Vincent remained silent on his seat and let Hailey order for them since she needed to instruct Ray what food she wanted.

"Just let him have a classic one," Hailey added.

"Got it, Miss Hailey," said Ray. He then repeated the orders before he left to make them himself. "Kindly wait for fifteen minutes."

"Sure! Thank you, chef Ray!" 

"You're welcome." 

*

Instead of heading to the kitchen, Ray went to his office to get his cellphone. He dialed a particular phone number, then patiently waited for the person to pick up his call. 

"Hello?" 

After a few rings, the call finally connected.

"Bryan! Where are you?" asked Ray. 

"At home…" Bryan replied to his friend timidly. 

He was still in a foul mood because of Eva destroying his phone, and yesterday, he had to visit the center to get a new phone. 

"Why? I am actually heading to your restaurant," he told Ray.

"Do you know that Miss Hailee is in Sydney?"

"What did you say, Ray? Are you sure about that? How did you know?" On the other line, it surprised Bryan. 

Why didn't Hailee contact him? Bryan mused. Hailee promised she would tell him what day she's coming so that they could set a schedule to meet up. 

Bryan couldn't stop pondering. Maybe Hailee did contact him, and Eva found it out. Now it makes sense why Eva destroyed his phone. She got jealous as usual, as she has been toward Hailee since the very beginning. 

Eva did all means to destroy his engagement to Hailee. Now it was too difficult to fix those decades of a great relationship. She was suddenly treated like a stranger by her most trusted friend. 

He missed her already. Aside from things he wanted to clarify with her, he just wanted to make an excuse to see her again. That includes doing anything she will want him to do. 

Although he was confused about why Hailee wanted to restrain Eva from living in Australia, he watched her satisfy Hailee's request. 

Now, thinking about it, Eva probably did something huge. Hailee is not the person who would go to the point of imprisoning someone in one place without a big reason. 

Bryan tightened his jaw and clenched his palm. 'That woman! If she did something that harms Hailee, he would deal with her himself, and Eva would regret that.'

At that moment, the last ounce of sympathy toward Eva had completely disappeared into his heart.

"I speak with her personally." Ray's answer from the other line.

Bryan pulled back himself to his senses after he heard Ray. "Where did you see Hailee?" he asked.

"She's in my restaurant. Are you coming, right? She's actually with someone. Do you know she has a new boyfriend?" 

Bryan didn't speak in the other line. Hailee never had a boyfriend. He isn't considered one when he just proposed to her with marriage, even if they were not in a relationship. 

"Bryan, are you still there?" Ray wondered why the other line remained silent.

Bryan replied, "Yeah. And I know she is in a relationship now." And Hailee was too protective of him. Bryan added, which he didn't share his thoughts with Ray. "Anyway, I'm coming over. But please, don't tell her you've informed me." 

"Okay. I understood." After the call. Ray rushed to the kitchen to prepare the orders. 

*

Meanwhile, now that they were alone, Vince brushed Hailey's cheeks. "I could tell he is sizing me up." 

"They were friends of my knights. Even so, you don't need to feel tense to meet everyone soon." She comforted Vince. 

She knew things would not be as easy as she thought they would be for Vince from here on. But she believes everyone would like him. Gladly, her executives have already met him, and there won't be much explanation she needs to say to them.

It's been five minutes had passed, an appetizer was delivered to their table. It was Hailey who had eaten them all while Vince suited himself to watch her munching everything that was sent over to their table as treats while waiting for the food. 

To see that he isn't eating, she complains. "Hubby, I'll gain weight soon and grow a bump. How would I look by then?" 

There was a worry in her face, and he only suppressed not to laugh at how cute she sounded. Vince couldn't help pinching her cheek and said, "You will still look cute." 

"Just cute?" 

Vince chuckled. He leaned over and claimed those enticing lips pouting at him. They let themselves get lost in their world, ignoring the surrounding crowd, who were casually glancing in their direction. 

Well, even Tom instructed Ray to reserve the quieter part of his restaurant to give the couple privacy, and a few tables were left unoccupied to put space between them and the other guests. They knew her.

They were not bothered by their PDA. These people were looking in secret because, at last, they finally met the mystery fiance.

So in their mind, 'Who is this man? How great is he? What kind of background does this man have? Is he deserving of having someone like Hailee Davies?'