Chapter 4 Don't Mention Her To Me Again

"Mrs. Ba... Miss James." Gavin almost made a mistake again. He was not used to the new way of addressing Vanessa.

Upon hearing someone calling her name, Vanessa forcefully removed Edmund's hand from her head. To her surprise, she saw that Gavin had somehow managed to squeeze into the middle of the crowd.

"Gavin, what's the matter?"

Gavin was pushed by the paparazzi, causing him to lose his balance for a moment and stumble awkwardly. It took him a few seconds to steady himself. "Miss James, Mr. Bates wants to see you."

Raising her brows, Vanessa flitted her eyes to the black car that was more than fifty feet behind Gavin.

The car window was made of a special material. Despite not being able to see the person sitting inside, she could sense their gaze fixed upon her.

With a smile, she said, "I'm sorry. Please tell Mr. Bates that it'd be better for us to be strangers from now on to avoid any unnecessary rumors."

Edmund and Vanessa were barraged with questions from the paparazzi. Worried that something bad might happen when his fans showed up, Edmund pulled Vanessa toward the car. "Get in first."

Vanessa had nothing more to say. She nodded and followed him into the car.

As soon as she buckled up, a large number of Edmund's fans rushed over to them. Seeing that, Vanessa felt lucky that she was now in the car. She wouldn't want to be attacked by his female fans.

Soon, the Maserati drove away without hesitation.

"Vanessa, did you get hurt?"

Sparing him a glance, she replied, "Don't listen to Nicole anymore."

She had been curious about the surprise Nicole mentioned. Little did she expect it to turn out to be something like this. At the thought that she would be rumored as Edmund's girlfriend and be widely discussed on the internet, Vanessa felt her head throb.

"I think Nicole's idea is pretty good."

Vanessa snorted, "So after all these years of knowing her, you've let yourself be influenced by her?"

"Don't get me wrong. I simply couldn't bear seeing you being bullied, even if that person is Killian Bates." While waiting for the traffic light to switch to green, Edmund turned to look at her with a serious expression.

Vanessa was moved. "Don't worry. No one can bully me."

What could the Bates family do?

Back then, she let them mistreat her because she naively thought that Killian would fall for her one day. Now that she had seen through it, how could she possibly give them another chance to trample her underfoot?

It wasn't until the Maserati was far away that Gavin came to his senses. The paparazzi surrounding him just now had gone to chase after Vanessa and Edmund.

Standing still, he turned around to look at the black car, wondering how to explain it to Killian.

"Mr. Bates." Shortly after, Gavin returned to the car and cast a glance at his boss. "Miss James refused to come over."

"I'm not blind." His voice was cold. He clearly saw Vanessa follow that male star into the car.

Pursing his lips, Gavin added, "Miss James told me to bring you a message."

Killian's expression seemed to have softened. "What did she say?"

He thought that Vanessa was smart enough to ask Gavin to tell him something on her behalf.

"She said you'd better treat her as a stranger from now on in order to avoid rumors."

When Killian heard what Gavin said, his face fell at once. "Great. Don't mention her to me again!" he sneered.

"Okay, Mr. Bates."

Gavin dared not say anything more. He had worked for Killian for a lot of years and could clearly feel that his boss was in a rage at the moment.

"Start driving!" Killian ordered.

Startled, the driver apologized in a hurry.

Killian fell into silence, his gloomy eyes fixed on the crowd that hadn't fully dispersed.

On the other hand, looking out of the window, Vanessa asked, "Nicole told you to bring me here?"

After stopping his car in the parking space, Edmund curled up the corners of his lips. "She cares about you."

Edmund's smile was so radiant that Vanessa found it impossible to resist. "Don't push it, Edmund. Why are you so happy when I've just gone through a divorce? Do you think I wouldn't consider dating someone younger than me or a friend?"

He clicked his tongue. "If you want to be with me for real, I'll wash up and lie on your bed on my own."

Vanessa was rendered speechless. She couldn't afford teasing him.

Then, they got out of the car and walked into the building.

Although CloudRain Entertainment had only been founded for five years, it managed to have several artists who rose to fame in the past two years. Edmund was one of them.

Nicole had just finished filming a movie last month, so she was very free at the moment. Hence, as soon as Vanessa got her divorce, she quickly arranged the surprise for her.

Vanessa seldom showed up at the company; almost none of the employees knew she was their boss. Nevertheless, they were still respectful to her when they saw Edmund personally bring her in.

Upon reaching Nicole's office, Edmund said, "Nicole is waiting for you inside. I'll get someone to bring you something to eat."

Vanessa glanced at him. "You don't dare to bear the consequences after causing the trouble?"

Now that they had done something like this, it was hard for Vanessa to maintain a low profile, even if she wanted to.

Edmund pushed open the door. "Well, you can't put the blame on me. It was Nicole's idea."

"Fine, go ahead and have a rest. It's your day off, but you still came out for me. The company isn't going to give you any special awards for being extra hardworking."

"It's already good enough that you don't blame me." After saying that, Edmund left.

Vanessa closed the door and stepped into the luxurious office. When she walked past the corner, she saw Nicole sprawling on the couch. "Do your fans know how you behave in private?"

Nicole didn't care about what she said and waved at her with the tablet. "Vanny, come here quickly! You're on the trending list!"

"Aren't you the reason for that?"

Pulling her to sit down, Nicole said, "Look. What do you think about this? I'd like to see if anyone dares to make you a subject of ridicule!" She continued, "Don't worry. I've arranged everything. When Zayne comes back after his advertisement shooting, it will be his turn to get on the trending list with you!"

Vanessa hadn't fully recovered from the shock of being referred to as "someone whom Edmund had secretly admired for years" when Nicole's words left her momentarily speechless.

However, Nicole didn't think that it was enough. She thought that Vanessa had suffered a lot in the Bates family over the years. Now that Vanessa was finally divorced, Nicole was determined to let everyone know how good Vanessa's life was.

"Since you have parted ways with Killian today, we need to have a party to celebrate it. I've block-booked the Nite Tavern to show off how rich you are!"

"Are... you going to pay for it?"

The smile on Nicole's face froze at once. "I...It won't seem sincere enough if I pay."

Vanessa let out a snort. "Why are you pretending to be rich when you are not?"

"Because you are!"

Vanessa was at a loss for words, again.

"What a terrible friend!" she grumbled inwardly.