Chapter 22: It Can’t Be Disclose
“And those women in the novels you read don’t have a good ending, right?!” Summer was speechless.
“Hazel, how much do you actually hate us for wanting to hurt us like that?” Ariel looked at the ceiling as she sighed with a sad face.
“You’re too explicit…” Hazel said as she really wanted to harm them.
Noticing that she was looking really angry, the two girls hurried to say, “You really don’t feel it, Hazel?”
“What?” Hazel looked at them, puzzled.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
“Dear Hazel, when he looks at you, his eyes are completely different from when he looks at us!” Ariel put her hand onto her forehead, helpless. “He’s chasing you. I feel sympathetic for the Prince once again.”
“Do you think this as well?” Hazel couldn’t help frowning.
“Oh, you’re not so naïve that you cannot see it,” Summer said, looking at her in astonishment. “So, do you not have feelings for him, or are you playing hard to get?”
“What is playing hard to get?” Hazel was speechless. She thought for a moment before speaking. “What if someone suddenly told you that you won five million dollars in the lottery?”
“Of course, I am going to take the prize! And, then I will spend all my money!” Ariel struggled to answer first.
“…” Hazel was convinced. She was helpless. “But it was clear you didn’t buy a lottery ticket.”
“So, you’re afraid he’ll lie to you?” asked Summer, puzzled. “But what can he lie to you about? He’s Joshua. He could have any woman he wants, couldn’t he? Besides, what could I get by lying to you?”
“That is what makes it even stranger because he has nothing to gain from lying.” Hazel winced.
“I think, Hazel, that you have thought too much!” Ariel concluded. “If you are not certain, just contact him as much as possible and get him to invite us out a few more times. Then you will be able to figure out what on Earth he is planning, right?”
“… I think you just want to have more free meals.” Hazel couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
“Hazel, you know me the best!” Ariel smiled broadly.
The door of the room opened, and as Joshua entered, the three girls immediately shut up.
Hazel winked desperately at the other girls.
Ariel was helpless, so she looked over at Joshua. “Mr. Denmark, can we have your phone number?”
“I’m sorry, my phone number is for work. It can’t be disclosed,” Joshua said regretfully. He took out a card and handed it to Ariel and Summer. “Here is my assistant’s card. You can call him if you need any help.”
“Thanks, Mr. Denmark!” Ariel took the card and looked at Hazel as if she was saying, “Sure enough. Look, it’s not that we were planning to give in, it’s that he is just so charming.”
Hazel said glumly, “I’m full.”
“You are full?” A smile curved his lips. “Then later…”
“Later, we’ll go home!” Hazel hurried to say. “I have to go to the library to study. I won’t be free this afternoon!”
Ariel and Summer looked sympathetically at Joshua.
“… Alright, I’ll get you back,” Joshua said, sounding helpless.
Hazel’s had a strong resistance toward.
After the four of them walked out of the restaurant together, Hazel got in the car, but Ariel and Summer didn’t want to get in the car at all.
“Mr. Denmark, you can just take Hazel back. We both want to go shopping, so we won’t bother you!” They laughed as they said it.
Hazel was confused in an instant. What happened to the two of them? Why did they betray her?
“I’ll go with you!” she said hurriedly.
“Aren’t you going to study?” Ariel said unkindly. “Now you want to go shopping? Go back and study!”
“…” Hazel didn’t know what to say, she just had a look of disappointment.
Joshua nodded. “Okay.”
Hazel watched Ariel and Summer walking away, angry and abandoned.
When Joshua got into the car, Hazel suddenly stiffened.
Joshua cocked his eyebrows slightly. Hazel kept rejecting him so much that he was beginning to think that he had to take another approach.
When the car started, neither of them spoke, and there was an awkward atmosphere in the car.
“Hazel, do you like me?” Joshua asked suddenly.
In an instant, Hazel was stunned.
Although Summer had talked to her about this, Joshua’s sudden question caught her off guard.
“How could this be?” Hazel said nervously. “I don’t like you! Not at all! Do not think any more of it! You’re not my type! Not now or in the future, I won’t like you!”
“Mmm, then I’m relieved.” Joshua nodded.
… Huh?! Hazel still couldn’t react.
This script was wrong.
She had thought that Joshua asking her was for her to profess her love, and that was why she would say so in advance to stop him. But what did he mean now? Was Joshua afraid she would like him?
Hazel felt a little embarrassed. Had she been making a joke?
But then again, his words relieved her.
“It so happens that there’s one thing I’d like to ask you to help me with, and that’s why I invited you to dinner today,” he continued.
“What are you working on? Tell me,” she asked with a chuckle, with less guardedness.
With his eyes twinkling slightly, he said with cool air, “I’d like you to pretend to be my girlfriend…”
In an instant, she looked at him on alert.
“There was a woman who chased me a lot. I just didn’t like her, so I told her I had a girlfriend. But she doesn’t believe it, and she won’t give up until she meets my girlfriend.” he explained softly.
“But you can find someone else. Why me?” She was somewhat puzzled. “Can’t you find someone who’s willing to pretend to be your girlfriend?”
“It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I mustn’t,” he said calmly, “because they all like me, and I’m asking you because you don’t like me.”
She understood instantly. “You are afraid other women will take the opportunity seriously and want to be your real girlfriend after that, right?”
“Yes, Hazel, you are so smart.” He smiled. The little girl was really sensible. He looked at her, stumped. “Are you willing to help me?”
She frowned for a bit.
Joshua invited her to lunch and gave her a gift, so she really had no reason to refuse.
What’s more, he wanted her to pretend to be his girlfriend, and he seemed to have no interest in her.
“Ok.” She nodded. “Then after I help you, we’re even! Don’t come to me again. Otherwise, it will be misunderstood.”
“Mm.” He raised his eyebrows slightly.
Then he said calmly, “Give me your cell phone.