CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: TONIGHT’S DATE

Jean Ellison clutched the plastic bag in her hand, containing a few sticks of fried dough and two cups of soy milk; she felt as if these items were too heavy to carry.

"What’s the allergy?"

"I thought the fever reducer at home had expired, it was left by the landlord, and was in the medicine box when I moved in."

"Lawyer Holden, are you allergic to this medicine? Luckily, I didn’t give it to you last night, or it would have been troublesome."

She walked over, placed the breakfast on the table, took the box of medicine from his hand, and casually tossed it into the trash can.

Justin Holden stared at her intently.

From the moment she walked over, bent down to grab the medicine box from his hand, to when she straightened up, took the breakfast out of the bag, and placed it onto the plate.

He didn’t miss a single expression on her face.

"It’s not expired, I just checked."

Jean’s heart skipped a beat; she maintained the motion of pouring soy milk, her eyes fixed on the small bowl holding the soy milk on the table.

"Really? I threw it away, thinking it was expired."

He woke up fine, went to the living room to search the medicine box, seemingly fully recovered, and his head was no longer dizzy.

"This is soy milk, and these are fried dough sticks, all bought from downstairs."

"Made by a grandma in the neighborhood that I’m familiar with, very clean, feel free to eat."

Justin scanned the food on the table, his gaze pausing.

When he was in school, he often ate like this, buying soy milk and fried dough from the breakfast shop near the school.

At that time, Claire Caldwell somehow found out about this from someone.

For five days a week, she appeared at the breakfast shop punctually, having breakfast at the same time as him from afar, not daring to sit close.

Only once did she not come; she was sick that day and didn’t even go to school, returning from the hospital past eleven at night.

Coincidentally, he was suffering insomnia that night and saw her from the second-floor terrace.

Sitting at the table, both lost in their own thoughts, neither spoke.

Jean occasionally glanced at him, then quickly lowered her head.

Did he believe what she just said?

"What were you imprisoned for?"

Jean was startled, squeezing the fried dough, the oil-absorbent paper beneath her fingers completely soaked, but she didn’t care.

"Lawyer Holden, this doesn’t seem to be a matter you should concern yourself with. I only asked you to help me with the case; I didn’t ask you to reopen an old case."

"Besides, I’ve already served my time in prison, so perhaps there’s no need to mention past matters."

"I hope we can just discuss the current case and not anything else."

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes evasive.

Justin waited for her to finish speaking, then pulled out a wet wipe to clean the grease from his fingers.

Seeing she had nothing further to say.

He looked into her eyes, "If the opposing side brings up your old case the day after tomorrow in court, will you react the same way?"

"I can assure you, Jesse has nothing to do with my previous case; I gave birth to her in prison."

"The crime I committed wasn’t something major, it wouldn’t affect my ability to raise Jesse. If you don’t believe me, you can look it up online."

Jean’s mind raced.

Justin sat upright in his chair, picked up his phone from beside him, and swiped a couple of times.

Jean was anxious; she didn’t know what he might find.

The name she now used was made up; her grandmother’s surname was Ellison, her aunt took on her grandmother’s surname, and married into the family.

"There are no news reports about you."

Justin set down his phone and lifted his eyes to look at her, his expression stern.

"Of course not; it was just a dispute with someone at school, I accidentally injured someone, which is why I was convicted."

"Fighting and altercation?"

"Yes, fighting and altercation."

He smiled lightly, his expression indifferent, in a blink, the long lashes at the corners of his long eyes seemed to brush against his cheek.

"You deserved it."

Her waist was no thicker than someone else’s thigh, yet she got into a fight and ended up in prison; if this wasn’t deserved, what was it?

If he had represented her then, she wouldn’t have gone to jail. Just a normal fight; even if she crippled someone, he could have found a way for her to be acquitted.

"You!"

Jean gritted her teeth, she knew he couldn’t say anything nice, what did he mean by ’deserved it’, he deserved it himself.

Justin picked up the suit jacket draped over the back of the chair, got up from the table, and walked to the door with long strides.

He opened the door and walked out as if leaving his own home.

Jean glanced at the time on the wall and immediately stood up; she was already half an hour late.

She hastily tied her hair into a ponytail, grabbed her handbag, and a coat, and dashed downstairs.

A car was parked downstairs; Justin sat inside, the window half-lowered, showcasing his handsome profile clearly.

"Get in."

Jean bit her lip, opened the car door, and sat in the passenger seat.

A wise man knows when to yield; being late meant her salary would be deducted by the hour, and she wasn’t tough enough to refuse the ride and watch as her editor docked her pay.

The Mercedes drove smoothly on the road; at around nine, it wasn’t rush hour anymore, and the traffic was clear.

Before long, they arrived at the company.

Jean got out of the car and ran into the building; the revolving door opened and closed, and she was gone.

Justin watched her figure for a long time until someone walked past the car window, his gaze never diverting.

Why did he drive her to work? Was it because she took care of him last night, and he owed her a favor?

Or was it for Claire Caldwell’s sake that he paid her extra attention?

Whatever the reason, in two days, he most likely wouldn’t see her again.

He had a lot of work and a business trip next week.

"Justin Holden?"

The woman who walked up to the car called his name several times.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at her coldly; she was a stranger.

"Do you need something?"

Leah Sutton’s lips parted in surprise as she questioned him, "Don’t you recognize me? We’ve met before, at your home; your sister and I are long-time friends."

"Zoe Holden?"

"Why should I know her friends?"

Justin’s expression was stern, his slender fingers pressed the button inside the car, and the dark brown window slowly rose, blocking his profile.

Leah stood in place, watching the Mercedes drive away, her shocked expression only subsiding after a long time as she grew furious, her chest aching.

What was the meaning of this?

They had planned a date tonight, yet he couldn’t remember her.

She pulled out her phone and walked into the company while calling Zoe Holden.

"What is with your brother? Why doesn’t he recognize me?"

"Didn’t he agree to a date with me tonight?"

"I just encountered him outside the company, greeted him, and he looked at me as if he’d never seen me before, his gaze was so cold."

Zoe reassured her over the phone, saying Justin was too focused on work with only his cases in mind, so it was normal to be forgetful.

The household staff had worked for ten to twenty years, yet he still didn’t know their names.

His thoughts were never on those around him; even his parents couldn’t do anything about him.

In the elevator, two female reporters stood in front of Leah, one voice high, the other low, chatting.

"I just saw Reporter Ellison in the lobby; it’s rare for her husband to drop her off at work. From afar, the man in the car was really handsome; I thought he was an actor."

"I saw him too, just as I walked in from the entrance. Her husband’s platinum wristwatch was more valuable than the Mercedes he drove; wealthy people these days are really modest."

Leah’s eyes focused on the two reporters in front of her, frowning in thought.

Mercedes?

The man in the car was handsome?

She couldn’t help but feel this description sounded like Justin Holden.