CHAPTER 230: CHAPTER 230: SERENA STERLING’S ENGAGEMENT—WHAT ABOUT THE TWO OF THEM?

Serena looked at the man in front of her.

He was Silas Hawthorne, always gentle, respectful and considerate towards her, he would never hurt her.

Feeling slightly comforted, she smiled.

"Hmm." She responded, holding the hand he had cupped around her face.

The ring on her finger reflected a subtle light under the lamp.

Things of the past were over now; she was Silas Hawthorne’s fiancée.

"Drink some warm water." Silas said as he poured her a glass of water.

Serena reached out to take it.

She looked at the scenery outside the window.

"Is this the Hawthorne Group?" She asked.

The place she found herself was a small alcove beside his office, obviously where he usually rested during lunch.

"Hmm." Silas chuckled, nodding, then walked around to his desk where scattered documents were laid out.

It was clear that he had been working on company matters and rushed over when he noticed something was off with her.

A novel feeling.

Serena stood with the cup in hand, taking a stroll around.

She had been here before, but most times she was here for business matters without staying long, as she had her own rented office.

This time, she fell asleep in the car, and Silas carried her all the way here.

Serena stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window and took another sip of water.

She never expected herself to sleep so long.

She remembered many years ago, Bianca Lynch often teased her about her ability to wake up automatically at the subway station.

But in reality, she never truly fell asleep, just hovered in a daze.

Thinking back to those times, Serena felt the present moment more real.

Just as she was pondering—

"Knock, knock!"

The office door was knocked, Serena turned around to see Silas’s secretary standing at the door.

In his hands were some snacks.

Noticing Serena, he smiled and nodded towards her.

"Dinner time is approaching, Mr. Hawthorne asked to prepare some snacks, Miss Sheridan, please have some afternoon tea." Secretary Xu said, placing the snacks on a side table.

"Thank you." Serena nodded.

Secretary Xu also smiled and nodded, signaled to Silas on the other side, then turned and left.

"Try and see if you like it." Silas said while looking at the documents in his hand, "June recently whipped up some stuff, saying it could be used as some product gifts. Honestly, I don’t vouch for their culinary skills, but they do have a knack for tasty food."

Serena remembered the honeycomb egg steamed by Orion Hawthorne previously.

She twitched her lips slightly, lowered her head to look at the snacks, which indeed looked quite appetizing.

She picked a piece resembling mung bean cake and tasted it; it was quite good!

Must have been made by chefs under June’s instruction.

"It’s quite delicious." Serena sincerely said.

"That’s good." Silas said with a light chuckle.

Seeing he was quite busy with the documents seemingly never-ending, Serena said she would take a stroll around the building.

Silas nodded in agreement.

Thus, Serena walked out.

"Miss Sheridan, do you need me to accompany you?" Secretary Xu asked upon seeing her.

Serena waved her hand, indicating she was just wandering casually.

"Alright, oh, by the way, here’s this for you." Secretary Xu handed a rope to Serena.

Serena looked at it, and on the other end was a large ginger cat.

"Mr. Hawthorne said you like cats, this is the company’s mascot, Orange Chief. He’s not afraid of people, the company is his territory, let him take you around." Secretary Xu said.

Serena was quite intrigued, crouched down, and scratched under the ginger cat’s chin.

"Meow!" The ginger cat rubbed against Serena’s hand.

Seraphina would probably like this ginger cat a lot too.

"Hmm." Serena nodded at Secretary Xu, then took a small basket filled with cat treats from his hand.

"Orange Chief, let’s go, lead me around." Serena said to the ginger cat.

"Meow!" The ginger cat responded, ate a freeze-dried snack from Serena’s hand, and then walked ahead with its tail raised, as if comprehending human speech.

Along the way, either people at Hawthorne didn’t recognize her or they smiled at her, sometimes teasing the ginger cat.

Serena wandered around led by the ginger.

Hawthorne Group was quite different from The Lawson Corporation.

The Lawson pursued efficiency, with many arrangements leaning towards a cold, business style.

Each floor in Hawthorne had its own style, some efficient, others whimsically creative.

It was noticeable that the style of each floor was mostly decided by the respective floor’s supervisor.

Orion and June had their own offices as well as their floors.

Orion didn’t usually come around much, often outside, while June was here today, greeted her as well.

"Meow!"

Arriving at another floor guided by the ginger, it proudly held its head high.

Serena stepped out and found the entire floor seemed to be themed around the ginger cat.

"Orange Chief!" Someone spotted the ginger instantly and came over affectionately to hug it.

"Meow!" The ginger cat happily meowed.

The person noticed Serena and said with a smile, "Miss Sheridan."

Serena nodded and curiously asked, "What is this place?"

"Haha, our Orange Chief has its own gemstone product line." The person said, holding the ginger, "Miss Sheridan, follow me."

Serena, following along, received introductions along the way.

"These are Orange Chief’s eyes, emerald."

Serena glanced over; indeed, quite similar.

"This is the cat’s tail."

"This is the paw."

...

"These are the cat jewels, we call them cat bells, although our Orange Chief no longer has them, he’s a eunuch now..."

"Meow!" The ginger cat meowed disapprovingly.

"Alright, alright, Orange Chief, I was wrong, I shouldn’t talk about you like that." The person cozily comforted the ginger.

Amused, Serena handed treats to the employee.

Other employees saw the ginger and flocked around.

"This product line is quite popular, Miss Sheridan, check it out." Another employee, showing their phone, displayed relevant posts to Serena.

She saw little pets with these jewelry adornments on their necks.

Some were made as keychains, bag charms, all sorts, some even pieced together multiple ones to make a bracelet.

"Especially these cat bells, very popular." The employee said with a smile.

Serena looked over here and there, finding them very creative.

Serena liked them as well, mingled around for a while.

Until someone stood before her.

She looked up, it was Silas Hawthorne.

He embraced the ginger, scratched its chin, smiled and said, "No more playing around, Jasper Ford and Ethan Lynch are waiting for dinner."

"But you can bring the ginger to play with Seraphina." He added.

Speaking, Silas even took a cat bell pendant, attaching it to her bag.

Serena looked and liked it immediately.

"Let’s go." Silas said, the restaurant was already reserved.

Serena looked outside; the sky was dimming, it was time to eat.

On the other side, in the restaurant, Jasper Ford and Ethan Lynch were both there, with Bianca Lynch sitting nearby.

Bianca glanced at Jasper, then at Ethan, and sighed deeply.

Serena indeed agreed to an engagement with Silas Hawthorne, what about these two?