### Chapter 18: Double Cheese Foam~
The CEO’s Office at Hawthorne Group.
Ethan Hawthorne looked up from a mountain of paperwork and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His gaze drifted to his phone; the pinned chat at the top of the screen remained quiet.
It was his wife’s first day back at work at Sterling Group.
With her skills, handling trivial matters would be no problem for her. But... that irritating ex of hers was there.
Ethan Hawthorne’s brow furrowed at the thought of Benjamin Sterling using so excuse to get close to her.
His fingertip hovered over the screen for a mont before he finally sent a ssage:
"What did you have for lunch?"
At almost the sa ti, Erza Sinclair knocked and ca in. "Mr. Hawthorne, shall I have the restaurant send lunch up, or do you have other plans?"
Ethan Hawthorne didn’t answer right away, his eyes still fixed on his phone. An idea suddenly struck him. ’What if I go to Sterling Group? I could say I just happened to be passing by and ask her to lunch...’
Once the idea appeared, it quickly took root and sprouted.
He wanted to see how she was doing in her new environnt, to subtly stake his claim, and more importantly... to make sure that Benjamin guy wasn’t buzzing around her.
’But... would that be too obvious?’
"Mr. Hawthorne?" Erza Sinclair prompted again when he remained silent.
Ethan Hawthorne looked up, his voice betraying no emotion. "You can go have your lunch."
Erza Sinclair perceptively noted that his boss seed a bit distracted today and tactfully excused himself.
The office fell quiet once more.
Ethan Hawthorne stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, his gaze turning in the direction of the Sterling Group building.
He imagined her, perhaps busy with work or eating with her colleagues.
Just then, his phone vibrated, and he snatched it up imdiately.
Maxine Rhodes’s reply was simple: "Eating in the cafeteria with my colleagues."
Not a single wasted word—true to her style. Ethan Hawthorne stared at the ssage, his thumb stroking the edge of his phone.
It was clearly too late to go to Sterling Group now.
"Erza," he said, pressing the intercom button. "Find out roughly how many people are in the Sterling Group’s project departnt."
Erza Sinclair frowned. ’Is that sothing a normal person could even find out?’
But then again... his boss was no normal person.
Soon enough, Erza Sinclair reported back with a number.
A mont later, Ethan Hawthorne opened a food delivery app. He carefully selected a top-rated, high-end beverage shop and ordered a signature milk tea and a delicate tea pastry for every employee in the Sterling Group’s project departnt.
For Maxine Rhodes’s order, however, he made a special substitution, changing it to her favorite cheese foam tea and adding a note: "Double cheese foam."
The Sterling Group Cafeteria.
Maxine Rhodes, Coco, and Bubbles found a table by the window.
Bubbles nudged Maxine gently with his elbow and whispered, "See that new guy over at the serving station? Was I wrong? With those looks and that physique, he’d totally be the poster boy for our company!"
Coco followed his gaze, then a mysterious smile spread across her face. She leaned in close to the other two and whispered, "I heard... he’s Vice President Warren from Finance’s... well, you know."
She gave a knowing wink. "And he’s not the only one. Vice President Warren has a ’number four’ on the side, a fitness instructor, and there’s more..."
Maxine Rhodes’s brow furrowed at the gossip, a clear look of disgust flashing across her face. "It seems this company needs a complete house cleaning. The project departnt is about to be restructured, so it’s a good ti to clear out these parasites feeding on the finance system."
"So cool!" Bubbles gave a thumbs-up, then picked up the serving chopsticks and placed the largest braised chicken drumstick on both Maxine’s and Coco’s plates. "Our future President Rhodes needs to eat up! You need your strength to whip this office into shape!"
As the three of them were heading to the elevator after lunch, laughing and chatting, the young woman from the front desk suddenly appeared, leading a large group of delivery drivers toward them.
"Director Rhodes! There’s a huge delivery for you at the front desk! Soone said it’s afternoon tea for the entire project departnt! And it’s from Imperial Tea House!"
Her loud announcent didn’t just stun the project departnt staff; even colleagues from other departnts turned to look in surprise.
"Imperial Tea House? Isn’t that the crazy expensive milk tea place?"
"The new project director is such a big spender?"
"Wow, Director Rhodes is the best! She’s treating us to dinner and buying us afternoon tea!"
"Is it too late for to transfer over?"
The project departnt staff, pleasantly surprised, crowded around Maxine Rhodes to thank her.
Maxine Rhodes herself was stunned. ’Wait, when did I order milk tea?’
Swept along by the crowd, she returned to her office and saw her own special drink waiting for her: a cheese foam tea with 70% sugar.
’Only a handful of people know I like it this way. Who could it be?’
Just then, her phone screen lit up. A ssage from Ethan Hawthorne popped up: "Looks like I ssed up the address on my milk tea order. It got sent to your company. Sorry, could you deal with it for ?"
Looking at his transparently flimsy excuse, then at the perfectly warm milk tea in her hand, the corners of Maxine’s lips curled into a faint smile.
She looked down and typed her reply: "Okay. In that case, it’s perfect for a little morale boost for the project departnt. Thanks."
「7:30 PM, a private room at Riverwatch Pavilion.」
The entire project team was present, and the atmosphere was buzzing.
As the guest of honor, Maxine Rhodes was being toasted by her colleagues one by one.
Bubbles had just finished his third joke, sending the room into fits of laughter, when the door to the private room was pushed open.
"Having a party?" Benjamin Sterling stood in the doorway, his crisp suit clashing with the casual atmosphere of the private room.
His eyes swept across the room, finally landing on Maxine Rhodes in the seat of honor. "Director Rhodes, a departnt dinner and no one tells ? If I hadn’t heard from the front desk, I would’ve never known my star team was here celebrating."
The cheerful atmosphere instantly froze. Bubbles’ joke died in his throat, and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the door.
Maxine Rhodes set down her glass. The faint smile hadn’t completely left her lips, but her eyes were once again distant. "This is an internal team-building event for the project departnt. Besides, didn’t you make it here anyway, President Sterling, uninvited?"
Just then, Rose Joyce, clad in a white dress, appeared behind Benjamin Sterling.
Seeing the room full of colleagues, she imdiately broke into a sweet smile. "Why has everyone stopped eating? Please, continue, don’t let us interrupt you~"
As she spoke, she looped her arm through Benjamin Sterling’s with practiced ease. "Benjamin and I heard you all were celebrating, so we just had to co and see."
Then, Rose Joyce walked right up to Maxine Rhodes. "Maxine," she said, "I wasn’t feeling well today, so I had Benjamin stay and take care of for a while. You’re not mad, are you?"
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